Spectrum South - The Voice of the Queer South

Posted on December 17, 2019

It's the most wonderful time of the year…or so they say. Packages are wrapped, lights are hung, and holiday songs fill the airwaves. People are making plans to gather together with both their given and chosen families. Whether you celebrate Yule, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanza, this is a time of year that builds many bridges between who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. It’s a season of faith, family, and truth—a combination that can be…

‘On Body and Soul’: The Hesitations and Liberations of Touch

Posted on December 11, 2019

Imagine that you find yourself attracted to someone. Imagine the urgency with which they occupy your thoughts, the impulse of being drawn to them. And yet all the while, you remain incapable of vocalizing the force that belies your attraction to them. How did we become entangled like this? To desire another is to be left speechless with nothing to rely on but the language of want, a language that becomes imperfectly processed through the body. Moving between snow-covered dreamscapes…

A Meta-Community for the Arts: Spring Branch’s Zócalo Artist-in-Residence Program Kicks Off with a Queer Perspective

Posted on December 6, 2019

A photo of Zócalo artists-in-residence Input Output.

By Aubrey F. Burghardt The Zócalo, or main square in central Mexico City, has long served as a gathering place. The plaza was once a well-known ritualistic mecca in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, and acted as a cultural hub of sorts, a safe haven for smaller communities within the larger population. In the Spring Branch neighborhood of Houston, Texas, another Zócalo exists—a luxury-living apartment complex that not only provides communal housing but a homestead of cultural and creative energy as…

All He Ever Needed Was the Music and the Mirror: Houston’s Otis Berry Tackles Toxic Masculinity through Dance

Posted on December 4, 2019

In 2019, Good Morning America found itself embroiled in a scandal after co-host Laura Spencer appeared to mock the United Kingdom’s Prince George for taking ballet classes. That stigma—the notion of what boys should or shouldn’t do—is all too familiar to Houston-based dancer Otis Berry, who works to extinguish it with every kick.…

Asking For A Friend: Am I Non-Binary Enough?

Posted on November 29, 2019

A photo of Dr. Laura McGuire on gender roles.

What does it mean to be non-binary? Does non-binary identity look a certain way? Dr. Laura McGuire answers these questions—and shares their personal story of coming out as non-binary—in this month's Asking for a Friend.…

Emergent Pathways: Houstonian Dr. Kaden J. Stanley Offers Trans-Centered Mental Health Services

Posted on November 27, 2019

A photo of Emergent Pathways owner Dr. Kaden J. Stanley.

Houston-native Dr. Kaden J. Stanley comes from a family that greatly values higher education. He spent his childhood cheering for his North Carolinian parents’ Atlantic Coast Conference basketball teams and dreamed of, one day, becoming a Duke Blue Devil himself. In the sixth grade, Stanley and his parents agreed that he would continue his schooling at a college preparatory academy. The school he would attend from sixth through twelfth grade was, as Stanley describes, southern Baptist and radically fundamentalist—Senator Ted…

Let It Snow: Netflix’s New Holiday Rom-Com is Pure Queer Christmas Magic

Posted on November 25, 2019

The nights are getting longer, and drinks are beginning to shift from pumpkin to peppermint. The temperature is dipping down into cold weather (and then up, and then down again, because Texas). That can only mean one thing—the season of cheesy Hallmark-esque holiday movies is now upon us. This year, everyone who is tired of the same rehashed heteronormative storylines has a reason to rejoice! Let It Snow, which debuted on Netflix earlier in November, has an absolutely adorable queer…

Opinion: On The Need for Trans-Inclusive Abortion and Healthcare Services

Posted on November 21, 2019

Abortion is a polarizing issue, but every person who can conceive a child is worthy and capable of making the private decision whether or not to have the procedure. Historically, the anti-abortion crusade has been heavily targeted toward cisgender women. Yet, cisgender women are not the only people who can get pregnant or receive an abortion—many transgender men, intersex, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people can too.…

A Legal History of Queer Sexualities in the Holy Roman Empire: The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina

Posted on November 15, 2019

A photo of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina.

The Holy Roman Empire can often be difficult to talk about in sweeping terms because of its decentralized nature. But in 1530, the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (also known as the Lex Carolina), would mark the first body of German criminal law and attempt to unite the various principalities and kingdoms in the Empire. It also set the foundation for the prosecution of queer identity and life.…

The Bayou City Be All: Reflections on DiverseWorks’ Night of Performance Beyond the Binary

Posted on November 11, 2019

On October 20, DiverseWorks gave us, the city’s queer community, a generous gift—the “Bayou City Be All: A Night of Performance, Fashion, and Music Beyond the Gender Binary.” The two-part event, promoted as a community-driven project, commemorated the vibrant and unapologetic art, culture, and tunes stewarded and crafted by our own gender non-conforming, genderqueer, and non-binary makers.…

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