Browsing Tag

Florida

Rainbow Warriors: Queer Indie Trio TOMBOi Talks Supporting Southern Music

A photo of queer band TOMBOi.

Equal parts social justice and rock ‘n’ roll, TOMBOi is not your average indie electronic band. Hailing from Jacksonville, Florida, bandmates Paige McMullen (guitar), Alex E. (vocals/beats), and Summer Wood (drums) use music to share their personal experiences as queer women in the South, promote social equality, and to give back to their community through volunteerism. …

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Top Four Queer Swimming Holes in the South

A photo of queer swimming hole Hippie Hollow.

As summer closes in, I’m struck by the overwhelming desire for a queer swimming experience, a place where we can all gather and connect with the water in a joyful way that simultaneously quenches the heat and the need for community. But I hesitated. Do places like that exist in the South?…

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Southern Rebel: Embracing My Queer Redneck Roots

A photo of a redneck town.

I was born in Tennessee on a bright Thanksgiving morning, surrounded by the same Appalachian Mountains my family had called home since the 1790s. My mother is Mediterranean and Hispanic and hails from the Northeast, but my father’s family has thrived for nine generations in the deepest part of the South. As a little girl, I played on my great-papaw’s 87-acre farm, fishing, shooting, and eating grapes off the vine. Life’s pace is different here. I was gifted my first gun…

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Southern Pride: I Want to Remember The Sins of Our Ancestors

A photo of Ariel Emmerson in Jefferson County, the home of her ancestors.

My connection to my “half” southern heritage has always felt tentative. Growing up, my identity was deeply rooted in my Pacific Northwest upbringing. Despite moving back and forth between Washington state and the D.C. area, my middle school and high school years in Bellingham, WA shaped my sense of place and belonging. During these years, it was easy to romanticize my southern heritage, to see the South as a distant and foreign place, and to laugh and gently tease my…

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Like a Mimosa Blossom: Making My Peace With the Queer South

An illustration of mimosa blossoms in the queer South.

Well, that’s what I always told myself, at least. When I arrived in North Carolina from the Northeast as an effeminate, bookish eight year old, nothing seemed right. Southern twang and slang mystified me, while I struggled to adjust to new foods, schools, and manners. And the homophobic and gender-oppressive bullying I’d always encountered seemed, if anything, to intensify. I couldn’t wait to grow up and get out.…

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What is the South?

An illustration of the south.

Inspired by a friendly yet fiery conversation with my friend about which states constitute “the South,” I decided to curate a more formal dialogue between Dr. Rachel Afi Quinn, Dr. Trevor Boffone, and myself—all queer people based in Houston with roots spread throughout the region—where we could hash out our ideas on what the South truly is. The following is an edited version of our conversation……

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The Road to Truth: Finding Strength as a Queer Parent

A photo of queer woman Laura McGuire at Axelrad Beer Garden in Houston

I am a queer woman, Dianic witch, feminist, femme, multiracial woman, and southerner. I was born in Tennessee, grew up largely in Florida, and now proudly call Texas home. I am a certified sexuality educator, doula, yoga instructor, and a mom to two amazing kids. Needless to say, I am never bored! But while I can now claim these identities as my own, I spent most of my life trying incredibly hard to be someone else.…

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