He is waiting for me when I get to the grocery store. His truck is the only one parked in the far corner of the lot. I knock on the passenger side door. He unlocks it, and I get in without him looking at me. He puts the truck in reverse and starts backing out before I even have my seatbelt on. It’s not until we pull out of the parking lot and onto the highway that he finally says…
We got up and turned on the news while I made breakfast for everyone. There it was: Orlando. Pulse. Shooting. Gay Night Club. Latin Night. Many Fatalities. We sat there stunned. I was living in Houston at the time, but had grown up for 17 years in Central Florida. My heart shattered.…
What was it like for LGBTQ people before photos could be readily shared and made visible on social media? Their pictures—which were often the only proof of them living their queer truths—must have meant something so much more. What were their lives like and what did it take to survive when it was dangerous to be out? Rio Grande Valley native Alexandra Nichole Salazar Vasquez explores those questions and more in her podcast, 'Jotxs y Recuerdos.'…
I’m always having to explain myself. I’m Colombian. Colombian as in coffee, vallenatos, and magical realism. I’m black. Black as in oppression, drum-heavy beats, and tight curls. I’m queer. Queer as in rebellion and unintentionally radical love. And I’m southern. Southern as in barbecues, sweet tea, and big, open skies.…
In the Northeast, we’re raised to believe that the region is the most liberal, open-minded, accepting place in the country (outside of California, at least). I thought to myself—if this whitewashed, racist, homophobic, heteronormative place is supposed to be liberal, then what is the South considered? Hell? …
It’s been eight years since I left the Valley, but the Valley is my very being, and I carry it everywhere I go. The Valley and my queerness are equal parts of me. They’re both intrinsic to my identity as a queer Tejana — a diehard Texan with Mexican roots, a proud lesbiana, y Xicana.…
A third of my heart is buried in the Kentucky hills, a land of rich, black soil that nurtured my mother’s childhood. My father’s parents immigrated to the United States from Austria and Mexico, but my mother’s family has lived in eastern Kentucky for generations—far back enough that we don’t know where many of them originated before Appalachia.…
I am a queer woman, Dianic witch, feminist, femme, multiracial woman, and southerner. I was born in Tennessee, grew up largely in Florida, and now proudly call Texas home. I am a certified sexuality educator, doula, yoga instructor, and a mom to two amazing kids. Needless to say, I am never bored! But while I can now claim these identities as my own, I spent most of my life trying incredibly hard to be someone else.…
