Browsing Tag

trans

Don’t Create Safe Spaces: Shift Toward Safer Spaces

A photo of a queer person in a safe space.

In the wake of increasing societal awareness around the need to support marginalized communities, the concept of “safe spaces,” particularly in the context of the LGBTQA+ community, has come to the forefront. These spaces are designed to eliminate biases and microaggressions, creating environments that promote respect and inclusivity. But as appealing as this ideal sounds, the notion of a universal “safe space” is both unrealistic and potentially limiting. Let’s explore a more pragmatic approach: shifting from pursuing safe spaces to…

Continue Reading

Historians of the Queer South: Announcing a New Spectrum South Series

A photo of books by historians of the queer South.

We know you don’t have time to read every book and listen to every podcast out there. But chances are, you’re curious to know more about our history (and herstory, and theystory). That’s why we’re launching Historians of the Queer South, Spectrum South’s new series of articles profiling the writers and researchers who are helping to tell our stories. Each month, we’ll share a new article highlighting a scholar who we think has made a particularly important contribution to our…

Continue Reading

REVIEW: Elisheva Fox’s ‘Spellbook for the Sabbath Queen’ Explores the Paradox of the Queer Texan Experience

Author Elisheva Fox

As a queer Texan, Elisheva Fox’s debut poetry collection, Spellbook for the Sabbath Queen, moved me in recognizable, yet surprising ways. If you have any relation to the area, you will adore the scenery of this book, not only in familiarity (sometimes lacking in poetry) but through the handling of queerness in Texas. The poet draws you into an array of colors, from violets to bluebonnets, from gray-green waters to golden grass. Fox cycles between the vibrancy of the “Texan…

Continue Reading

Queer and Trans BIPOC Artists ‘Shapeshift,’ Push Artistic Boundaries

A photo of Lechedevirgen Trimegisto, OUTsider artist.

The Austin-based queer transmedia festival OUTsider, founded by Curran Nault and co-founded by filmmaker PJ Raval, has long been known for pushing artistic boundaries. Last year, I was delighted to profile three of the festival’s BIPOC artists, focusing on how each found moments of liberation in their art during the era of COVID. Although I’ve since moved to my new home in Richmond, Virginia, I was excited to virtually reconnect with my Texas ties to interview a few of the…

Continue Reading

AFAF Ep. 13: The Evolution of Queer Southern Law with Sarah Saint and Milan Pham

On the season three premiere of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Sarah Saint and Milan Pham, two queer southern lawyers, to discuss the future of marriage equality in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, queer parental rights in family planning, and the evolving legal landscape for trans folks in the South.…

Continue Reading

Texas Asia Society Screens New Documentary Exploring the Lives of Trans Youth in Iran

A photo from the film This Is Not Me.

On January 25, as part of the Festival of Films From Iran, the Texas Asia Society, in partnership with Rice Cinema, MFAH Films, and the Normal Anomaly Initiative, will present producer and director Saeed Gholipour’s 'This Is Not Me,' a moving documentary portrayal of the lives of two young transmasculine youth in Iran, Shervin and Saman, as they pursue the gender realignment options available to them.…

Continue Reading

Never Getting it Quite Right: The Perfectly Imperfect New Year’s Offering of Merel & Tony’s musical film ‘ALMOST PERFECT WORLD,’ in Collaboration with Houston Artists T Lavois Thiebaud and Stephanie Gonzalez

A photo from Tony & Merel's 'ALMOST PERFECT WORLD' music video.

I first came to know of T Lavois Thiebaud—and became immediately obsessed—upon discovering their collaboration with musical duo Merel & Tony for the video Matroesjkpop. So I was delighted to learn about their new collaboration, ALMOST PERFECT WORLD, a musical film “rendered righteously imperfect” and meant as a New Year’s offering for 2023. This new film is whimsical, melancholic, wild, thoughtful, frenzied, and contemplative, which is also the perfect way to describe this magical collaboration. ALMOST PERFECT WORLD was conceptualized and…

Continue Reading