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In The Mix: Bartender Jojo Martinez Serves Cocktails With Flair

Posted on November 10, 2017
A photo of bartender Jojo Martinez.

Mixologist Jojo Martinez is raising the bar—both behind and beyond it. The San Antonio native turned Houston transplant is the founder of J. Martini Services, a full-service bartending company for weddings, parties, and special events (many of which give back to the LGBTQ community). But owning your own business doesn’t come easy—Martinez says copious amounts of hard work and sacrifice are behind her success.…

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Queer Southern Staples: Where Did All The LGBTQ Bookstores Go?

Posted on October 31, 2017
A photo of LGBTQ bookstores.

For a brief time beginning in the 1970s and stretching up to the 2000s, a new species of community institution sprinkled the southern landscape—the LGBTQ bookstore. Once prolific, these stores are now endangered. While LGBTQ visibility and community participation has expanded exponentially, economic changes have forced nearly all small bookstores to either close or shift their retail focus. Yet a few determined LGBTQ and feminist bookstores—from the funky Faubourg Marigny Art and Books in New Orleans to feminist stalwarts such…

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50 States, 50 Pieces of Art: Artists Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin Excavate Queer American History

Posted on October 24, 2017
A photo of the Texas installation of 50 States by Jake Margolin and Nick Vaughan.

A few years ago, visual artists and married couple Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin stumbled upon some little-known 19th century queer history in William Benemann’s Men in Eden. This uncovered book charts the journey of William Drummond Stewart, a Scottish lord turned fur trader, and his male lover Antoine Clement as they led an expedition of around a hundred men from St. Louis to what is now Wyoming. Inspired by this caravan of same-sex loving men, Vaughan and Margolin crafted…

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Asking For A Friend: Spooky STIs

Posted on October 17, 2017
An illustration of lesbian STIs

I know I'm supposed to get tested for STIs regularly and, while I do get tested at my annual well woman's exam, I feel like maybe that's not enough? I'm not in a monogamous relationship right now, sometimes have casual sex, and when [I do], it’s with other women and isn’t always "protected" sex. How often should I be getting tested for STIs? Also, I've never been tested outside of my annual exam. Are there free STI testing centers I…

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‘Welcome to the Jungle’: A Mother and Son Trip to Vietnam and Cambodia

Posted on October 6, 2017
A photo of author Josh Inocéncio at Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Our last mother and son venture—to New York City in 2014—was shattered of all joy when I came out to her as gay at the airport before we departed Houston. But hey, she coaxed me. That, and since my dad and I had hiked Mt. Fuji in Japan, my mom hungered for a trip with me. And I wanted her to go, especially amid the busyness of her new position at work. She longs to see the world, and we…

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Queer: Rooster Teeth’s Mariel Salcedo

Posted on September 29, 2017
A photo of Mariel Salcedo on Always Open on Rooster Teeth.

Mariel Salcedo has become a Rooster Teeth fan favorite, previously producing and guest starring in the now cult classic, Free Play, before taking on her current role on Always Open. For the production company’s LGBTQ devotees, however, she’s more than a comedic Internet celebrity—she’s someone they can connect to on a deeper level, someone they can call their own.…

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No, I’m Not Sleeping with Your Bisexual Boyfriend

Posted on September 20, 2017
An illustration of three bisexual hearts.

The last time Dan and I had spoken seriously was during our road trip out West where we spent three summer weeks crisscrossing national parks and mountain towns. The journey was our Americana rite of passage, as well as my graduation trip—Dan still had two years left to go, but I had finished undergrad just two months prior. Over a thousand miles away from home in Houston, we buried—or so we thought then—the rumors about each other’s sexuality, particularly mine.…

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Asking For A Friend: Where Do I Fall On The Sexuality Spectrum?

Posted on September 1, 2017
An illustration of the sexuality spectrum.

We love to talk about sex and sexuality as something everyone enjoys, but this isn’t completely true or inclusive. Many folks fall along the asexual spectrum, and for them, sex isn’t the main course in their life, but an occasional snack or, in some cases, is completely off the menu. An asexual person is generally defined as “someone who does not experience sexual attraction.” However, asexuality—just like any sexuality or gender identity—is a spectrum.…

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