In 2019, Good Morning America found itself embroiled in a scandal after co-host Laura Spencer appeared to mock the United Kingdom’s Prince George for taking ballet classes. That stigma—the notion of what boys should or shouldn’t do—is all too familiar to Houston-based dancer Otis Berry, who works to extinguish it with every kick.…
Barrett White
Need A Therapist? There’s A Quiz for That
Posted on October 7, 2019I think the last time I took an online quiz, it was to see what kind of hot dog I was. Spoiler alert, I’m a Chicago-style dog. While these benign online quizzes, first made famous by Buzzfeed, have become popular for passing the time (and escaping from the inundation of celebrity pop culture and political scandals), Houstonian Ryan Schwartz has created one that is actually here to help.…
Emmy-Nominee Vera Drew on Trans Representation, Her Creative Process, and Adolescent Humor
Posted on September 22, 2019“Please make me sound smart,” laughs Vera Drew, Hollywood editor and recent Emmy nominee for her editing work on Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who is America? We chat by phone as I sit cross-legged at a coffee shop in Houston’s Montrose District. Across the country, Drew drives to a set location in Los Angeles. I assure her that her “rambling” is, in fact, excellent, if not tender, commentary on what it means to be a newly out-of-the-closet transgender woman in the…
The 2019 Houston Mayoral Race: Where Candidates Stand on LGBTQ Issues
Posted on August 2, 2019On August 1, the Pride Forum, a non-partisan collaboration between several LGBTQ organizations in Houston, took the stage at Texas Southern University’s Jesse H. Jones School of Business. Though it was balmy outside, the heat of the mayoral race was nowhere to be found—yet. Seven hopefuls met with moderators Emmett Schelling and LaKeia Ferreira-Spady to discuss the issues most important to the LGBTQ community.…
Genderqueer Artist Stoo’s New Album ‘Supersuit’ Is A Real Catch
Posted on July 19, 2019In 2018, Houston-based genderqueer artist Stoo was ruminating over their intentions as a solo artist. Stoo’s music career had jumpstated with Bling St., a musical duo collaboration between Stoo and Luis Cerda. The duo’s EP, Costume, was unanimously well received, but the band eventually split, leaving Stoo with the freedom to develop their own voice and aesthetic. …
‘Peru and the City: A Pride Comedy Show’ to Showcase Gay Life in Houston
Posted on June 18, 2019The struggle is familiar and has been echoed by countless actors of color: “There were no parts for me, other than the ‘struggling friend,’ the ‘drug dealer,’ or the ‘misfit,’” says actor and writer Peru Flores, who will appear in his own comedy show, Peru and the City, this month at Rich’s in Houston. Flores’ family moved to Midland–Odessa, Texas, from Peru when he was a young teen. In the small town of oil workers and farmers, Flores was taken…
Houston’s Finest Queer Gutter Punk: Introducing Hank Honey
Posted on June 13, 2019In December 2018, Houston-based musician Hank Honey teased us with his first single, “Better Than This,” the precursor to his May 2019 EP release, Taste & Passion. The latter is a collection of earworms that offers the artist range, while insisting the listener get up and dance.…
Call It Emotional Alchemy: Alok Vaid-Menon Returns to Aggieland for Trans and Non-Binary Pride Party
Posted on June 10, 2019In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Young Dems BCS and Transcend, an organization serving transgender and gender non-conforming students at Texas A&M University, will host a trans- and non-binary-centered Pride Party deep in the heart of Aggieland.…
AJ Knight’s TV Show ‘Daisy Boy’ Is A Queer Teen Dream
Posted on May 27, 2019Daisy Boy is the show every queer youth needed in their tweens and teens. While many of us held on to shows like Daria or Lizzie McGuire to comfort the outcast within us, Daisy Boy is the gay answer that we were looking for.…
Bold and Beautiful: This Queer-Owned, Plus-Size Modeling Agency is Taking Center Stage
Posted on May 17, 2019Houston-based plus-size model and entrepreneur Tiffany Page-Pratt learned the definition of hustle from her mother. A hardworking woman, her mom sold Avon and Tupperware on top of her full-time job at the post office. “Watching [my mother] was what built my ambitions,” Page-Pratt says. “For starters, it takes a lot to be a single mother, but to also juggle two and three jobs—I commend my mom for that.”…