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Identity

Stories Untold: Five Black Queer Trailblazers Who Thrived in the South

Posted on February 28, 2019

A photo of Black queer hero Lucy Hicks Anderson.

Black History Month has always been about telling the stories that have gone untold—the triumphant stories of the societal impact and progress made by those who were not always accepted as members of society themselves. In school, we often learn of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington Carver, Malcolm X, and Madame CJ Walker. As the years go on, we hear these same stories over, and over, and over again. And while these stories are important to celebrate and…

Transouthern Youth: Meet Mycah Angelou Taylor

Posted on February 25, 2019

On the track, University of Houston freshman Mycah Angelou Taylor’s journey is clear—get from point A to point B as fast as possible. Their personal journey to finding and embracing their identity, however, has been much less linear.…

Postgender Pride: Pride Houston Town Hall to Discuss Non-binary Grand Marshals

Posted on February 19, 2019

A photo of Pride Houston's non-binary Grand Marshal category.

This year, Pride Houston is expanding its mission of inclusivity ahead of its celebration, themed “Summer of ’69,” by adding a “Gender Non-binary” Grand Marshal category alongside its traditional “Male” and “Female” classifications. Lo Roberts, board president of Pride Houston, notes that this change marks the beginning of an ongoing dialogue to move away from gender-related options. “We’re trying to take the organization back to the people, back into the community,” Roberts says.…

Keep Questioning: The Restrictive Nature of Labels Within the LGBTQ Community

Posted on January 28, 2019

Finding your identity within the LGBTQ community can be confusing to say the least. When I started to question my own identity in college, I anticipated finding guidance and opportunities for growth. Instead, I wound up exhausted. What began as an exciting journey to self-discovery soon became a downward spiral that resulted in feelings of doubt and a sense that I didn’t belong.…

First They Came for the Socialists: Navigating Gay Jewish Identity Following the Pittsburgh Tragedy

Posted on December 4, 2018

The Shabbat music begins, but the usual exhale of my weekly worries doesn’t come. There is a tension in its place—a tightness. Typically, I find only the comfort of community and familiarity at a Shabbat service. But today, as I glance back at the strikingly oversized crowd, I am acutely aware that we are all targets. It’s an unwelcome feeling—one that I have not experienced since my days of fearing schoolyard bullies in the ‘80s and ‘90s.…

Transouthern Youth: Meet Nicholas Hooten

Posted on November 23, 2018

A photo of transouthern youth Nicholas Hooten.

One thousand miles—that’s how far Nicholas Hooten journeyed to find his identity. Three years ago, the now 18-year-old genderqueer college student left his childhood home in Indianapolis to plant new roots on southern soil, deep within the Sunshine State. The move, Hooten says, felt like a homecoming. “Indiana is such a small state, everyone knows everyone there,” he explains. “I wasn’t out while I was there, and then I moved [to Orlando] and met so many different queer friends. It…

Cell Lust: Emilý Æyer and Traci Lavois Thiebaud Explore Transience of Nonbinary Identity

Posted on November 13, 2018

“You can call me ‘she’ today. Ask me again tomorrow.” This is the concluding line of Cell Lust | a body |, a one-hour performance art piece exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). Cell Lust, in its transitory existence, shares enlightenment on the topics of our cosmic bodies (and their requests for relational discourse between sex, gender, and nonbinary identities) through an intense, invasive experience. Its two creators, Houston-based artists Emilý Æyer and Traci Lavois Thiebaud, compacted narrated…

Sweet or Unsweet Intersections: Nurturing My Blooming Bisexuality in the Deep South

Posted on November 7, 2018

A photo of bisexuality author Aubrey F. Burghardt.

I may have only come out two years ago, but I’ve known myself forever. I knew that I didn’t care how love manifested in my life, just that it would be abundant and diverse. My parents attended Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, and I spent a large portion of my childhood near the campus. Situated on winding roads with crunching leaves, the campus was conveniently located near the home of my grandmother, who took care of me after…

Why Are Straight Folks Obsessed with LGBTQ Folks’ Bodies and Sex Lives?

Posted on November 5, 2018

So, who is the man and who is the woman? We’re both males. We’re partners. We share duties and don’t subscribe to traditional gender roles. At least, that’s how it is in my own relationship. And here we are, six years together, and people still believe it’s okay to ask me if my partner or I shapeshift into a lady behind closed doors, as if the notion that two people of the same gender can live together and share their lives,…

‘I’ Will Not Be Erased: Activist Alicia Roth Weigel Gets Intersexy in the Lone Star State

Posted on October 26, 2018

A photo of intersex activist Alicia Roth Weigel.

What is intersex? It’s the ‘I’ in LGBTQIA, but it’s still something that not many folks know about. Intersex is a condition in which individuals are born with reproductive and sexual anatomy that does not fit into the institutionalized “male” or “female” boxes. In honor of Intersex Awareness Day (October 26), we caught up with Alicia Roth Weigel, an “intersexy” “policy, advocacy, and campaign strategist for the progressive movement.”…

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