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Identity

Spectrum South Snapshot #3: Shane Farmer

Posted on January 15, 2018
A photo of queer South Carolinian Shane Farmer

I think most people would look at me and believe that I am a plain boring boy next door. I identify as a white, gay, cisgender male. However, I find that my skin features sometimes throw a lot of people off—my darker complexion and other characteristics cause many people to mistake me for Hispanic/Latin (I’ve literally been asked if I’m “like white white”). I grew up in a working-class family where my mom dropped out of high school to take…

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Transouthern Youth: Meet Gwen Lambert

Posted on January 3, 2018
A photo of non-binary transouthern youth Gwen Lambert.

Gwen Lambert believes in trying on labels. As part of their gender exploration, they’ve adopted several labels, only to find most didn’t fit quite right. Now, at age 18, the high school senior has finally found comfort and confidence in their identity as a non-binary, bisexual person.…

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A Long and Winding Road: Finding The Way As A Queer Christian

Posted on December 24, 2017
A photo of queer Christian Sam Fagan.

Like water and oil, Christianity and LGBTQ identity are often seen as separate and impossible to mix. But for southerner Sam Fagan, her faith and queerness are both equal, essential parts to her holistic identity. While she admits the process is ongoing and has not been easy, Fagan has found a way to reconcile the two and finds peace in the balance.…

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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…

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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…

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If Only We Could Remember: Being Queer and Indigenous in the South

Posted on November 15, 2017
A photo of queer indigenous activist Eydka Chilomé.

I am an unapologetic queer indigenous femme woman, activist, artist, and educator with hair on my legs and under my armpits. I currently live in a place called Texas where I bear witness to police killings, klan/neo-nazi rallies, confederate flags, and trump propaganda—essentially white supremacy wrapped in the violently-appropriated indigenous Mexican aesthetic of the “cowboy.” Today, the u.s. South yells the same war cry that my ancestors have heard over and over again—a proud declaration of settler colonialism. …

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Spectrum South Snapshot #2: Mike Rudulph

Posted on November 12, 2017
A photo of Marine Mike Rudulph.

I am a 37-year-old gay man from Alabama. I was raised in a predominately white upper middle-class neighborhood just "over the mountain" from Birmingham, and now own a home in city proper. I live with my partner of over 13 years. We have two cats, Uly and Sergeant, and our pit-mutt, Khaleesi. I am a veteran of The United States Marine Corps, serving eight years during “Don't Ask Don't Tell” from 2000 until 2008. During my career in the Marines,…

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Spectrum South Snapshot #1: Izzy Broomfield

Posted on October 30, 2017
A photo of Izzy Broomfield.

I am a non-binary transfemme panromantic demisexual Appalachian! At least that’s the basic bio version of my identity. I’ve also spent most of my life living in the rural South, so that’s important to me, too, but it doesn’t come before my Appalachianness. My skin’s white, but I definitely don’t identify with mainstream imperialist white supremacist capitalist heteropatriarchy, so my lefty politics are also a central part of my identity (but shhhh, don’t tell anyone! They might think differently of…

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Transouthern Youth: Meet Lily Pando

Posted on October 19, 2017
A photo of trans youth Lily Pando.

Lily Pando tucks a strand of bright pink hair behind her ear before she speaks. I’ve just asked her if she knows where she’ll be attending college—such a mom question, I know. “I don’t know where I want to go to school yet,” she responds. “But I’m definitely on that track.”…

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