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Quintessentially Queer: Helping My Ex Find Love

Posted on September 17, 2020
A photo of queer women.

Queer women are famous for staying friends for life. Our exes are often our besties, business partners, and extended family. While straight people debate if exes can ever stay friends, queer women have made it a cultural norm. I loved you once as my lover and forever as my friend—even if we aren’t a match for lifelong romantic entanglement, I still want to be around you because I enjoy and value our connection. It seems pretty simple in the dyke…

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Changing the Game: Trans Athletes and the Fight for Inclusion

Posted on September 11, 2020
A photo of Changing the Game.

A political war is being waged against transgender Americans, and young trans athletes are caught in the crossfire. Mack Beggs is one of four transgender athletes featured in Changing the Game, a documentary that profiles the lives of young trans athletes in an effort to raise awareness about the complexity surrounding the transphobic policies that transgender high school athletes are forced to navigate just to compete. “I think it’s many things at once,” Alex Schmider, associate director of transgender representation at…

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Mulholland to Marfa: How a Couple Destined for Hollywood Found Home in West Texas

Posted on August 21, 2020
A photo of The Lincoln owners in Marfa, Texas.

Marfa is a liminal space. It’s undeniable—the dusty roads, the streets that are somehow simultaneously vibrant and silent, and of course the infamous Marfa Mystery Lights. The small West Texas town exists on a plane that isn’t quite here nor there; a spot in the nether between Central Texas and the adobe settlements of New Mexico. If a film were to be made of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast and Marfa were chosen as the filming location, no one…

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Away We Go: Redefining Travel in the Age of COVID-19

Posted on July 29, 2020
A photo of travel during COVID-19.

If you would have told me at the beginning of 2020, “Jas, all of your trips will be cancelled this year,” I would have never believed you. Me? I’m going on vacation no matter what. Well, COVID-19 had other plans. Now, “vacation” looks like traveling from the bedroom, to the kitchen, to the couch.…

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Beyond the Visual: The Radical Feminism of Audio Erotica

Posted on July 21, 2020
A photo of audio erotica.

Porn can be divisive—and, often, whether you view the erotic subject as good, bad, or neutral depends largely on the lens and framework of your gaze. On one side is the camp that sees almost all porn, as long as it's between consenting adults, as fun and fine. On the other side are the folks who equalize all types of porn and generalize them all as bad. This latter group is an interesting mix of liberal feminists, violence prevention advocates,…

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Black, Queer-owned Bakery ‘Suga In Your Tank’ Serves Up Cookies and Smiles in Houston

Posted on July 15, 2020
A photo of oatmeal cookies from Suga in Your Tank.

Desmond Briggs has adored baking from the time he was a child growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. There he spent countless weekends baking with his grandmother in her kitchen, whipping up delicious desserts and absorbing her love for the hobby. Now, as the owner of the Houston-based bakery Suga In Your Tank, Briggs is fulfilling his baking dreams while positively impacting the daily lives of others. “It’s something that I am passionate about,” Briggs says. “I am so overwhelmed with…

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What is Queer Trauma?

Posted on July 8, 2020
A photo of queer trauma.

I’m standing in line to check out at my local grocery store. COVID-19 is breathing down my neck: as an entity, as a presence, as an atmosphere. Behind my homemade fabric face mask and my meticulously sanitized disposable gloves, I’m buying two weeks of groceries for my queer household. …

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Is Dating Actually Worth It?

Posted on April 9, 2020
A photo of the cons of dating.

Growing up, we’re all fed the same fairytale ending: We’ll find our person, they’ll offer us love and devotion, they’ll complete us, and together, we’ll settle into a life of fulfillment. From story books, to romantic comedies, to the arc of almost every book, romantic partnering is presented as the ideal. Surprise, things aren’t that easy.…

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