Before I knew what “trans” was, I knew not to be it. As an overtly masculine Black girl in Texas, the state was already out to get me for my skin. Even worse though, my own Black community was out to get me for being different. …
Community takes care of its own. That’s why, on December 10, the Greater Houston LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce will host its annual Chamber Holiday Food Drive to ensure the city’s LGBTQ+ seniors have plenty of food on their plates this holiday season.…
The language and sentiments surrounding this pandemic, from calls to action to “flatten the curve,” to the anxiety around human contact and intimacy, are reminiscent of another ongoing issue impacting our community—the HIV epidemic. …
By Barrett White The land where Eureka Springs, Arkansas, sits is Osage land. Though the Osage people protected their land from neighboring tribes, they allowed people from any tribe—hostile neighbors or not—to bring their ill onto the land to visit the natural springs, believed to have healing properties. This historic, benevolent gesture of goodwill is well-remembered in present-day Eureka Springs. Just ask locals David and Ethan Avanzino, who jointly run the Wanderoo Lodge—an LGBTQ-owned and -operated outdoor adventure lodge in…
The 2021 Houston Fringe Festival, which will present three showcase-style evenings of fringe performances hosted by the Pilot Dance Project and curated by Adam Castaneda, will take place October 15–17, 2021, at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH). Among the artists selected to perform are Urethra Burns, Ayan Felix, and duo Stephanie Saint Sanchez and Jay Mays, LGBTQIA+ artists who will present explorations of gender and sexuality. …
Art for the People pays homage to The De Luxe Show, one of the country’s first-ever integrated art exhibitions, which took place 50 years ago in 1971 at the old DeLuxe Theater. The DeLuxe Theater originally opened in 1941 and served the city’s Black community. After the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, segregated movie theaters were no longer needed, and the DeLuxe Theater closed in 1969. However, the building remained standing and, in 1971 when the De Menils tasked…
By Autumn Rendall After 25 years, QFest—Houston’s international LGBTQIA+ film festival—is hitting screens for the last time. The festival kicked off with its competition short film screenings on September 24 at Aurora Picture Show and will continue with two more in-person screenings of the feature film Swan Song (September 26 and October 2, both at 5:00 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston). All feature and short films will also be available to screen virtually through the Cinenso platform…
As in states across the country, anti-trans bills are plaguing Alabama. Once again, conservatives have manufactured a problem so that they can craft a solution that causes undue suffering to an entire community already persecuted by conservative lawmakers in the state. Fiendishly, the community in question is children.…
On a recent drive through a rural community in the South, I stopped for a bite to eat at a local restaurant. A few months ago, I started an online business making rainbow crosses and other queer, Christian, and ChristoPagan items on Etsy. I try to wear the cross I made for myself as much as I can, and the exchanges I have had because of it have been deeply moving.…
In my first-ever article for Spectrum South, I elaborated on the need for and importance of more BIPOC LGBTQ representation within the hip-hop and rap scene, arguing that the industry won’t change for the better until more queer artists—and those in leadership roles within the music industry—live and produce openly. This logic, however, isn’t siloed to the world of music; as more and more BIPOC LGBTQ actors come out, and our narratives are written into episodes, the television industry is…
