
For a Spell
Sissie Collectivism and Radical Witchery in the Southeast
Jason Ezell(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Published on 14. October 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-4696-9044-5 (ISBN)
Description
In the Southeastern United States of the late 97 s, a regional network of radical communal gay households formed in the face of rising New Right terror. Comprised of primarily white, self-described sissies, the "Southeast Network," as it came to be known, spanned from the Ozarks, to New Orleans, to Appalachian Tennessee. Though this network was short-lived, its legacy lives on today through Short Mountain Sanctuary, a thriving member of the international network of Radical Faeries. Jason Ezell's intimate account of the formation and dissolution of these sissie houses reveals a little-known history of Southern gay liberation, nonbinary gender expression, and radical feminism and femininity.
Drawing from journals, letters, oral histories, collective manifestos, and newsletters, Ezell illustrates how these gay households nurtured their community through lesbian feminist practices such as collectivism, consciousness-raising, witchcraft rituals, and rural gatherings. As people and practices traveled from one house to another, these linked houses attempted to conjure underground sanctuaries for queer southerners. Preserving their moving stories, Ezell details the visions, experiments, and shortfalls of these radical households in their attempts to build solidarity, resist mounting right-wing violence, and sustain their revolutionary dreams for queer movements yet to come.
Drawing from journals, letters, oral histories, collective manifestos, and newsletters, Ezell illustrates how these gay households nurtured their community through lesbian feminist practices such as collectivism, consciousness-raising, witchcraft rituals, and rural gatherings. As people and practices traveled from one house to another, these linked houses attempted to conjure underground sanctuaries for queer southerners. Preserving their moving stories, Ezell details the visions, experiments, and shortfalls of these radical households in their attempts to build solidarity, resist mounting right-wing violence, and sustain their revolutionary dreams for queer movements yet to come.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
9 illustrations - 9 halftones, 1 table, notes, bibl., index - 1 Tables, unspecified - 9 Halftones, unspecified - Index - Bibliography
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
478 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4696-9044-5 (9781469690445)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2025
The University of North Carolina Press
€23.49
Available for download
Person
Jason Ezell is head of learning and engagement at Miami University Libraries.