I was raised as a little girl in the Midwest, but I never quite fit the mold. I found myself adventuring through the woods and spending hours in the Walmart toy aisles, fawning over the hot wheels, Star Wars, and Legos, all the while knowing I was “behind enemy lines.” I prepared back stories about shopping for a brother or a classmate’s birthday, knowing full well the truth would be unacceptable. Self-awareness came early for me, as it does for…
Texas
Veer Queer Episode 27: Trans Rights in Texas
Posted on May 2, 2019In this episode of Veer Queer, Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) Executive Director Emmett Schelling talks current proposed anti-LGBTQ bills and lege updates.…
Episode 27: Trans Rights in Texas
Posted on May 2, 2019In this episode of Veer Queer, Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) Executive Director Emmett Schelling talks current proposed anti-LGBTQ bills and lege updates.…
The Broad’s Way: Houston’s Drag Queen Broadway Revue
Posted on April 30, 2019“Four numbers in and we’ve already had a dildo and a 9/11 joke,” quips host and star entertainer Regina Blake-Dubois during the second-anniversary performance of The Broad’s Way, Houston’s only Broadway drag revue. At the Broad’s Way, the mood is always tongue-in-cheek and campy, like you hope to see at any drag show. But at Michael’s Outpost, the revue’s home stage, the performers bring more than kitsch comedy and silliness.…
Farm to Bedroom: James Stevens’ Holistic Sex Work
Posted on April 25, 2019Blue skies and warm light surround me, as the rich, delightful smells of a homemade breakfast fill the high-rise apartment. Across from me sits James Stevens, his warm, rugged mouth smiling as he talks. The only sign that we’re in the middle of downtown Houston is the low hum of the city below us. He tells me about the architectural and developmental differences between East and West Berlin, his European home for the past three years. Stevens is passionate about…
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Sara Ramirez, Activist Bamby Salcedo to Judge Miss & Mr. Trans OLTT Fundraiser
Posted on April 17, 2019Organización Latina de Trans en Texas, better known as OLTT, is a Houston-based non-profit organization that provides life-saving resources to the trans Latinx community. The organization was founded by Ana Andrea Molina, an undocumented trans Latina, who currently serves as the organization’s executive director. One of the main services OLTT provides is housing for Latina trans women at the organization’s shelter, Casa Anandrea. In 2018 alone, the organization was able to provide housing to 120 trans Latinas throughout the course…
Slew of Anti-LGBTQ Bills Scheduled to Hit Texas Capitol This Week
Posted on April 15, 2019The livelihoods of LGBTQ Texans are on the line at the Texas Capitol this week. A slew of anti-LGBTQ bills are scheduled to be heard at the Texas legislature starting on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, each posing a dire threat to the day-to-day existence of LGBTQ residents in the state—but it’s not too late to fight for justice.…
Welcome to the ‘Gay Shame Parade’: An HTX Queer Comedy Show
Posted on April 12, 2019After the spotlight locks onto the mic and the door to the back room shuts, host Bob Morrissey steps to the front of the jet black room with a Lone Star in his hand and a relaxed grip on the microphone. The lone disco ball spins in the dark above his almost impressively unkempt hair. Within five minutes, Morrissey introduces the show with a story about how he managed to be more impressed with the Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train…
SB17 Threatens Texans With License to Discriminate—and It’s Happening Now
Posted on March 28, 2019SB17 would provide any professional licensed by the state of Texas a license to discriminate based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.” The religious exemption bill is being called the latest aggression against LGBTQ Texans—as well as other individuals not protected at the federal level, such as single parents or people who practice a religion that differs from that of the service provider.…
Shifting the Medical Paradigm: Intersex Activist Pidgeon Pagonis Headlines LGBTQI+ Health Week at UTMB
Posted on March 18, 2019“There are alternatives to what society tells you that you have to be,” muses Chicago-based intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis as we discuss their upcoming speaking engagements at LGBTQI+ Health Week at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. The mantra was passed onto them by their aunt—a rebellious woman who defied gender norms long before Pagonis discovered and embraced their own identity. Pagonis’ father, unapologetic in his own right, also taught them that you don’t always have…