I was working a corporate chair massage gig at a random high-rise in Austin, Texas when my colleague started boasting about her upcoming massage stint at Bonnaroo, the four-day-long music festival in rural Tennessee. Colloquially called “The Farm” by festival-goers (aka Bonaroovians), Bonnaroo celebrated its 17th birthday this year, making it one of the longer-standing music festivals in the South.…
We’ve made it to June, and 2018 has proven to be a promising year in queer music. Still reeling from the late 2017 releases of Kelela’s Take Me Apart, St. Vincent’s Masseduction, and SOPHIE’s It’s OK to Cry, we were met this year with new bops by queer faves Janelle Monáe and Hayley Kiyoko.…
When Houston Roller Derby Valkyries blocker Jessica Julien, aka 2xForce, rolls onto the skate track, everything melts away and the competition of the game begins. “For me, roller derby is an addiction,” she says. “I love competition, which is why I have been with the team for nine seasons and have been captain of our travel team for the past three years."…
At first glance, my upbringing was unremarkable. I grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, a Padre Island beach baby. I was firmly white upper-middle class. My mother was white collar, a second-wave feminist trial attorney who carried me in her womb during her last nine months of law school. My father was blue collar, a master electrician and a newly-recovering alcoholic who likes to constantly remind me that I am an eighth-generation Texan. Our ancestors settled here from the Czech…
Comedy as a catalyst for change. Laughter as a social conversation starter. These are the tools openly gay artist and comedian Sampson uses in his daily work—and he loves every minute of it. “I’ve been doing it for over two decades now,” Sampson shares. “I was one of the first Black, openly gay stand up comedians in the country and I’ve used [my work] to bring awareness to a lot of our issues as LGBTQ people. It’s about visibility, dispelling…
Does this make me queer? Dr. Laura McGuire talks queer fantasies, finding the right label, and more in this month’s Asking for a Friend!…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! We’re a week into Pride Month, and while cities across the globe prepare for their festivals and parades, Pride Houston is looking back on the last 40 years, gearing up for their Ruby Anniversary.…
Pride season is upon us, which means it’s the perfect time to rejoice in our identities, commemorate our forequeers, and reflect on the progress that’s still to be made. To kick off our month-long celebration, we’ve compiled a list of our top five LGBTQ southern reads for the summer. Whether you’re kicking back at a Pride pool party or beating the heat inside, these recommendations are sure to satisfy your need to queerly read.…
Hey girl, I see you over there. I see you in the ways that others can’t—both the ways that render you invisible to the majority of society and the ways that make you stand out. You want to be yourself and yet, you want to disappear. That’s normal. Don’t concern yourself with what this all means right now. You are a chrysalis, a green slinking caterpillar of a queer kid, still needing the safety of your cocoon before you let…
Twenty-year-old Spencer Ray is rooted deep in the heart of East Texas. While he’s entering his senior year as a business management student at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Ray has found more than a career path in the Piney Woods—he’s found pride and strength in his identity as a bisexual, transgender man.…
