Browsing Tag

transgender

A Trans God: Far-Fetched or a Fresh Perspective?

Posted on June 25, 2021
A photo of trans God.

It’s Pride month! And with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots right around the corner, we’re seeing a hot debate around rainbow washing and performative allyship for profit by major corporations. Yet, one place remains, more often than not, unwashed by rainbows—the church. As frustrating as rainbow capitalism can be, it is at least an invitation for dialogue. If you are willing to rebrand for 30 days each summer, then perhaps we can discuss what support for the LGBTQ community…

Continue Reading

Chain Mail, Plate, and Swords: A Tongue-in-cheek Look at Fencing and Being Trans

Posted on November 18, 2020
A photo of trans fencing.

For myself and many trans people, figuring out how we wish to present can be very vexing. Luckily, there is a one-size-fits-all approach to gender expression: steel. Where the broad spectrums of gender and sexuality come into play, however, is in what type of armor one wishes to wear. The foul TERFs may say that there are only two genders: chain mail, and plate armor. This is, of course, rank madness! What about the wonderful world of combination chain-and-plate? Not…

Continue Reading

Save Our Sons and Brothers: New Houston Social Org Supports Trans Men of Color

Posted on October 23, 2020
An image of Save Our Sons and Brothers United.

By Jayce Tyler Inspired by parent organization Save Our Sisters United, Save Our Sons and Brothers, or SOSB, is a new Houston-based organization and social network open to trans men and transmasculine people of color. “SOSB looks at the survival and empowerment of our sons and brothers with a holistic view,” the group says. “Thus, we strive to address the social, emotional, financial, physical, and medical needs of the transmasculine people of color within our community.” SOSB aims to create…

Continue Reading

Changing the Game: Trans Athletes and the Fight for Inclusion

Posted on September 11, 2020
A photo of Changing the Game.

A political war is being waged against transgender Americans, and young trans athletes are caught in the crossfire. Mack Beggs is one of four transgender athletes featured in Changing the Game, a documentary that profiles the lives of young trans athletes in an effort to raise awareness about the complexity surrounding the transphobic policies that transgender high school athletes are forced to navigate just to compete. “I think it’s many things at once,” Alex Schmider, associate director of transgender representation at…

Continue Reading

How We Work Through Our Pain: ‘The Missing’ and Trans Suicide

Posted on August 6, 2020
A photo of The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories.

I tend to play video games that are escapist—ones that let me play at being stronger, faster, or smarter. They let me be the hero but rarely do they hold up a mirror to my own life. The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories is a platform puzzle game about a 19-year-old trans girl’s pain—something that I myself remember all too well. The game takes a magic realist approach to how JJ (our protagonist) deals with this pain:…

Continue Reading

Teresita La Campesina: Queering Ranchera Music, Performance, and Memory

Posted on April 29, 2020
A photo of trans Latinx performer Teresita La Campesina.

In 1996, in a Washington DC queer bar called Escandalo (which translates to “scandal” in English), the transgender ranchera artist Teresita La Campesina gave a performance of the Lola Beltrán song “Puñalada Trapera.” A heart-wrenching ballad that rebukes an ex-lover for stabbing the narrator in the back (so to speak), it is one of the few remaining recordings of Teresita’s live performances. She was never given the opportunity to record an album of her own. The rendition is pretty classical…

Continue Reading

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…

Continue Reading

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

Posted on November 21, 2019
A photo of trans-inclusive healthcare.

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.…

Continue Reading