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I Won’t Be Home for Christmas: Making My Own Holiday Traditions

Posted on December 22, 2017

An illustration of Christmas trees for the holidays.

I have never celebrated Christmas on December 25. When I was younger, if you had asked me when Christmas was, I would have told you the 21st or 22nd, depending on the year. My sister and I never had the luxury of waking up to a relaxing Christmas morning, running downstairs to our awaiting gifts, and reveling in the rest of our Christmas breaks. Our Christmas was always a production—a whirlwind of bows, baking, and busting our asses to make…

Asking for a Friend: Out of The Closet and Into The Streets?

Posted on December 20, 2017

An illustration of coming out of the closet.

Dear Queer Comrade, Coming out is a huge journey. Whenever I talk to people about their coming out experiences, I always ask first how they came out to themselves. Coming in to your own truth is the hardest journey of all. Sometimes we come out to ourselves and immediately tell the world, and other times, we don’t, won’t, or can’t—and that is more than okay. Here are some ideas to help you navigate this chapter of your coming out journey.…

Through A Queer Lens: A Conversation With New Orleans Photographer Chris Berntsen

Posted on December 18, 2017

New Orleans has always been an epicenter for all things queer, eccentric, and avant-garde. From Mardi Gras to NOLA Pride to Southern Decadence, queerness thrives on the centuries-old streets of the Big Easy. That magic is what keeps New Orleans transplant and photographer Chris Berntsen rooted in the city. With each snapshot, Berntsen views New Orleans and its residents literally and figuratively through a queer lens, discovering new connections along the way.…

Teaching Queer Houston: Houston We Have History

Posted on December 15, 2017

A photo of the Houston We Have History Banner Project.

I first visited the Montrose Center, Houston’s main LGBTQ community center, in 2016 for a playwriting workshop. During one of our breaks, I snooped around, checking out the schedule of events. What caught my eye most, however, was the Houston We Have History Banner Project—a colorful timeline of queer Houston history that stretches down the third floor hallway. As I mentioned in the first installment of this series, during my second year of teaching Intro to LGBT Studies at the University…

All This and Heaven Too: San Antonio Retrospective Celebrates Gay, HIV-Positive Artist Chuck Ramirez

Posted on December 14, 2017

A photo of gay artist Chuck Ramirez, whose retrospective, All This and Heaven Too, is at the McNay Art Museum.

Sometimes, less is more. That can certainly be said about the life and creations of openly gay artist Chuck Ramirez. His work has been described as a form of photographic minimalism created in the span of a relatively brief but productive period (1995-2010). Ramirez’s death following a cycling accident at age 48 shook the arts community, but seven years later, his artistic stock continues to rise as collectors and museums around the country become privy to his many accomplishments.…

Holidays in the Aftermath of Harvey

Posted on December 13, 2017

A photo of gay Houstonian Ian L. Haddock after Hurricane Harvey.

Six days into Hurricane Harvey, things hit me. I was living in a motel room provided by FEMA with only a few sets of clothes, the photos I could grab, and my laptop. The space was decent and clean, but my heart was cluttered with the fear of the unknown. Don’t get me wrong, I’m resilient. Like thousands of other queer-identified people, I have been homeless before, couchsurfed many times, and learned to do whatever it takes to survive. It is…

A Place to Call Home: Finding Peace in My Queer Jewish Identity

Posted on December 12, 2017

A photo of queer Jewish Houstonian Brittany Weinstein

When my family celebrates Hanukkah, I know two things to be true every year: I will eat entirely too much and I will be interrogated like a criminal suspect. I don’t have a single family member or Jewish friend who hasn’t been asked, “So when are you going to marry a nice Jewish boy?” What am I supposed to say to that? “Well bubbe, I actually have a live-in girlfriend. We’ve been together for five years. We sleep in the…

The Cowboy in Me: Baring My Queer Christian Country Soul

Posted on December 8, 2017

An illustration of a Christian cowboy hat.

Writing this feels like taking a selfie. Normally, focusing too much on myself makes me uncomfortable. But I hope it can help others who relate. Let me begin by saying that I feel more like a soul than a physical body. Like souls tend to be, I’m moved by and connect with art. I feel nestled beneath towering prison walls when I listen to a dark Johnny Cash album. Like I’m lying in a field of bluebonnets when the Dixie…

Yuletide Pride: A Queer Guide to Surviving the Holidays

Posted on December 6, 2017

A photo of queer heart lights for the holidays.

Happy holidays! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Blessed Yule to all! With all of the hustle and bustle of these magical winter festivities, it seems impossible to feel alone. Yet, as queer folks, many of us often do. Sometime between Thanksgiving and the New Year, the feelings of loneliness and isolation begin to creep in. If we are single, have strained relationships with our families of origin, or are struggling with our identities, these feelings can be…

Southern Pride: I Want to Remember The Sins of Our Ancestors

Posted on December 4, 2017

A photo of Ariel Emmerson in Jefferson County, the home of her ancestors.

My connection to my “half” southern heritage has always felt tentative. Growing up, my identity was deeply rooted in my Pacific Northwest upbringing. Despite moving back and forth between Washington state and the D.C. area, my middle school and high school years in Bellingham, WA shaped my sense of place and belonging. During these years, it was easy to romanticize my southern heritage, to see the South as a distant and foreign place, and to laugh and gently tease my…

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