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The First Time I Heard the Word “Queer”

Posted on July 23, 2020

I was in the sixth grade at Buckeye Elementary School in Salem, Ohio, a small town of 12,000. There really were buckeye trees lining the street outside of the school. This was a conservative time in a conservative state. The year was 1959. Eisenhower was in his second term. The Edsel was still the attention-getting new car. On State Street (our Main Street), the two focal points were the Woolsworth Five and Dime and the State Theatre, only three doors…

The Realities of Being a Queer Black Mother Raising Black Sons in America

Posted on June 9, 2020

A photo of black queer mother Genét Delagrange.

As a Black, queer, single mother of two young Black boys, I am struggling to have faith in society, our justice system, and humanity. When I was a young girl, I had a knack for sniffing out injustice. I had an innate fire in my belly that drove me to stand against anything I considered to be inequitable or wrong. I would relentlessly debate my mother and grandfather on issues of racial injustice, always seeking to understand why things were the…

Let’s Stop HIV Together: Reflections on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Posted on February 7, 2020

I’ve had the great fortune of spending most of my life doing work in community. But my passion didn’t originally stem from wanting to change the world; it came from the desire to save myself. At age 20, I was introduced to the idea of sex work, a line of work I would ultimately participate in for years to come. When I entered the industry, and therefore began having numerous sexual partners, my mentors and friends stressed to me the…

Opinion: On The Need for Trans-Inclusive Abortion and Healthcare Services

Posted on November 21, 2019

Abortion is a polarizing issue, but every person who can conceive a child is worthy and capable of making the private decision whether or not to have the procedure. Historically, the anti-abortion crusade has been heavily targeted toward cisgender women. Yet, cisgender women are not the only people who can get pregnant or receive an abortion—many transgender men, intersex, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people can too.…

A Legal History of Queer Sexualities in the Holy Roman Empire: The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina

Posted on November 15, 2019

A photo of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina.

The Holy Roman Empire can often be difficult to talk about in sweeping terms because of its decentralized nature. But in 1530, the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (also known as the Lex Carolina), would mark the first body of German criminal law and attempt to unite the various principalities and kingdoms in the Empire. It also set the foundation for the prosecution of queer identity and life.…

YA Author Addie Tsai on Bi-Racial Twinning, Bearing Witness to Trauma, and Queer Representation in H-Town

Posted on October 22, 2019

On a stiff hotel sofa in Waco, Texas, I took out my phone and braced myself to begin reading Dear Twin, author Addie Tsai’s first semi-autobiographical queer, young adult novel. It was October, and I was in Waco for a work event, when I realized I had down time to fill before I had to leave. Her book had been sitting in my inbox since September, and I had failed to start reading it sooner because, 1) I procrastinate, and…

Out of the Darkness: The Power of Queer Education

Posted on October 18, 2019

The mission of Pride Houston is to educate, commemorate, and celebrate. I’d like to focus our attention on that first, foundational bit. One kind of education teaches skills toward a job that earns money. I believe education can also be revolutionary; after all, the Latin root educere means “to lead out.” That kind of education is how we lead each other out of darkness by sharing light—light that we discover we can hold and pass on to others. That kind…

Transgender Lives in Ancient Rome: The Case of Empress Elagabalus

Posted on September 6, 2019

While history often seems bereft of queer lives, nothing could be further from the truth. Transgender people have always been around in one form or another, though the terminology that we’ve used to describe ourselves has changed over time. Much of our history has either been purposefully destroyed, as in the case of Nazis burning queer books, or is reinterpreted through a modern cishet lens. Because of this, it is important to reclaim queer figures in history, such as the…

Photo Recap: QFest 2019 Opening Night Presented By Spectrum South

Posted on August 14, 2019

The Opening Night of QFest Houston 2019, presented by Spectrum South, was held on Wednesday, July 24 at Rice Cinema. The evening included a screening of Jennie Livingston’s revolutionary film Paris is Burning (1990), and an after party of drinks, dancing, mixing and mingling, and performances by Stoo (feat. Luis Cerda and Ricky Lethridge) and emcee Roxanne Collins.…

The Wave

Posted on August 12, 2019

It sounded like a wave breaking. When you’re watching Hamilton and a gun goes off, you expect a bit of audience commotion. You anticipate some sort of reaction to an emotional climax of a two-and-a-half-hour story—a murmur; a shifting in seats; the rustling of fabric on theater upholstery, a breeze through leaves. What sparked the red flag is when it didn’t stop.…

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