Veer Queer discusses co-host Julien Gomez’s recent nomination for Non-Binary Grand Marshal of the Houston LGBTQ Pride Celebration. …
Episode 24: Houston LGBTQ Pride Non-Binary Grand Marshal Nominees
Posted on March 14, 2019
Should LGBTQ+ Folx Leave the Christian Church?
Posted on March 13, 2019
Over the past several months, LGBTQ+ folx have been overrun with spotlight as Christian denominations’ dysfunction has been prominently displayed. It has never been an easy feat to identify as both a Christian and LGBTQ+, but in the modern day, some would say that they are completely opposing viewpoints. Balancing the two can feel like hiding both of your identities under a rock. With the recent headlines surrounding the Southern Baptist Church’s and the United Methodist Church’s decisions on LGBTQ+…
Return to the South: Photographer Ransom Ashley Chats Re-embracing Louisiana Roots
Posted on March 11, 2019
Like so many southerners, photographer Ransom Ashley, 26, had to leave his hometown before fully embracing his roots. While growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, he was bullied for being “different.” As a gay adolescent, he turned to art as a way to channel his isolation. “I started photography as an outlet to navigate my feelings about who I was,” remembers Ashley. “It became my version of a diary.”…
An Ode to Mami: Lessons on Womanhood
Posted on March 8, 2019
My first idea of womanhood came from my mother. I remember being a child in Colombia, physically looking up at her, and seeing her ooze femininity—although I did not have this word yet. It’s the nineties, and my mother wears lots of dresses and skirts and crop tops and shorts. I remember her in flowing skirts made of sheer fabrics and tank tops with thin straps that she wore without a bra. She always wore lots of jewelry—necklaces, earrings, and…
An Open Letter to America from a Queer, Mexican Immigrant
Posted on March 6, 2019
Dear America, I arrived in this country when I was four years old. My mother had married a man, an American citizen, who would become my stepfather and we left behind our previous home in a small ranching community in Mexico. Even though I was young, I remember that period in my life like it was yesterday. I was nervous to arrive in this new place where the people looked different and spoke a different language than me. Even the houses…
Racing to the Top: How Arqueze Girdy is Transforming the World of Rodeo
Posted on March 4, 2019
“I’m always on my way to a rodeo,” says Arqueze Girdy. “Today, it’s Liberty.” The 27-year-old barrel racer graciously made time to meet me while traveling to east Texas for the next stop on her jam-packed weekend rodeo circuit. We hoist ourselves into the front seat of her Dodge dually pickup truck—which, by the way, is hooked to a 20-foot aluminum trailer carrying her beloved competition horses—and quickly dive into conversation. Her delicate voice is grounded in a steady, welcoming…
Photo Recap: Spectrum South Sunday at ‘Bootycandy’
Posted on March 1, 2019
The Spectrum South Sunday performance of Robert O’Hara’s Bootcandy was held on February 24, 2019 at The Catastrophic Theatre. Autobiographical in nature, Bootycandy uses O’Hara’s experiences growing up Black and queer to dramatize the story of Sutter, a young gay man who takes us on a whirlwind journey through the homes, churches, dive bars, motel rooms, and nursing homes that marked his childhood. The subversive comedy is a fast-paced, eclectic memory piece in which scenes, sermons, and sketches from Sutter’s childhood come together to comment on how being Black…
Veer Queer Episode 23: Black and Kink
Posted on February 28, 2019
As Black History Month wraps up, the Veer Queer crew sits down with Qweenie, a Houston-based Dominatrix, to talk about being Black in the Kink scene.…
Stories Untold: Five Black Queer Trailblazers Who Thrived in the South
Posted on February 28, 2019
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…
Episode 23: Black and Kink
Posted on February 28, 2019 As Black History Month wraps up, the Veer Queer crew sits down with Qweenie, a local dominatrix, to talk about what it's like to be Black in the Kink scene.…
