Lindsay White
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 40
Lives in: San Diego
Website: lindsaywhitemusic.com
Instagram: @lindsaywhitemusic
Q: Tell us what it’s like living in America today as an LGBTQ+ artist and how it is impacting your life and your work.
A: Living in America today as a queer artist is a paradoxical experience. I am filled with fury as I witness targeted attacks on queer and trans folks in what is an obvious attempt to obliterate separation of church and state and distract from all the ways our systems and leaders fail to actually keep people safe. What so many don’t understand — or, horrifyingly, do — is how this behavior translates into actual mental, emotional and physical distress, and even loss of life for young people in particular.
Singer-songwriter Lindsay White with her guitar at Balboa Park.
(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Amidst this heavy reality, I’m buoyed by the beauty of my real and chosen family. I’m reminded by these deep connections that communities are successful when they are rooted not only in collective survival but also in unconditional love and celebration of each member. That is the only gay agenda I’ve ever been privy to, and I cherish any person (queer or not) or institution willing to sacrifice their time, energy and privilege to advance it.
From my vantage point as an independent artist who is also a queer woman and new mother trying to survive capitalism in San Diego, I have an acute awareness of the ways my identities and my labor within them are exploited. Yet my cis/white-ness (among other privileges) translates to an enormous degree of insulation from serious harm that so many others don’t enjoy. So my purpose as an artist is to creatively express and leverage as much fury, beauty, awareness, experience and privilege as possible to help untangle the “not-it” mentality that comes practically installed as a feature of the American brand. I believe we are all “it.” We are all connected to and responsible for each other’s safety and well-being. For me, it’s not just about what’s legal or ethical — it’s a reclamation of our one-ness.
Q: Tell us more about yourself and/or your work.
A: To accompany my latest single “Disappearing” (featuring Anna Ballew), I conducted a survey of working mothers and other “heroes” about the experience of embodying roles and identities that are socially revered yet systemically under-resourced. Their responses were curated into a creative community digital art piece called the “Disappearing Project.” On the writing front, I’m expanding “Qulyn,” my journal line “for folks with feels,” while inching toward the completion of my first full-length book, “Dead Mom Talking. ”
Most importantly, I’m continuing to participate in and promote the work of We All We Got SD, a grassroots mutual aid network that distributes food and other resources to neighbors made vulnerable to the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 and other harmful systems. (Anyone who thinks mutual aid isn’t an art form should dive in to find out just how much creativity is required!) A quick link for all these projects can be found at https://lnk.bio/lindsaywhitemusic
San Diego singer-songwriter Lindsay White ain Balboa Park.
(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)