Browsing Tag

University of Houston

Taking Things ‘One Gay at a Time’: Houstonian Mycah Angelou Taylor’s New Podcast is All Things LGBTQ

Posted on February 2, 2021

A photo of One Gay at a Time podcast creator Mycah Angelou.

Mycah Angelou Taylor's podcast, One Gay at a Time, feels like listening to a good friend talk about anything and everything. Every other Wednesday evening marks the launch of a new episode, in which Taylor dives into topics ranging from their own coming out tale, to the “lavender tax,” to the intersection of Blackness and queerness. Whatever the discussion of the week may be, Taylor both educates and entertains their audience.…

Important Intersections: Dr. Jess Waggoner Teaches First Transgender Studies Course at University of Houston

Posted on August 21, 2019

Growing up in rural Alabama was difficult for University of Houston professor Dr. Jess Waggoner. Yet, despite being surrounded by gendered expectations, they persevered and found ways to express themselves as a young, queer, non-binary person. In particular, singing in church and reading were ways they could be momentarily free. “As a fat, femme, disabled, non-binary scholar with a deep love for glitter, crop-tops, bolo ties, and camp, finding my place in the academy has not always been easy,” says…

Transouthern Youth: Meet Mycah Angelou Taylor

Posted on February 25, 2019

On the track, University of Houston freshman Mycah Angelou Taylor’s journey is clear—get from point A to point B as fast as possible. Their personal journey to finding and embracing their identity, however, has been much less linear.…

I AM LIFE: The T.R.U.T.H. Project Centers Female Voices for World AIDS Day

Posted on November 26, 2018

A photo from The T.R.U.T.H. Project's I AM LIFE.

As a young artist, Kevin Anderson regularly poured out his soul in the spoken word scene. He soon realized, however, that the vulnerability and lived truth he was sharing with the artistic community was not being returned. When at the mic, poets would often code-switch, changing the pronouns of their same-sex lovers to that of the opposite sex—until one day, a colleague didn’t. Rather than offering support, the poet who followed the act used his platform to belittle this fellow…

Providing Platforms: Emilio Rodriguez Brings Queer Latino Play ‘Swimming While Drowning’ to UH

Posted on March 30, 2018

A photo of Emilio Rodriguez, playwright of Swimming While Drowning.

“You just don’t have the look.” This was the argument that queer Latino actor and playwright Emilio Rodriguez continuously faced from casting directors. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre studies from the University of California at Irvine, Rodriguez eagerly entered the industry only to have one audition inquiry after another declined. “So, I began writing roles for characters that look like me,” Rodriguez explains. “To represent characters who were experiencing what I went through, no matter what…

Black Like Us: A Candid Conversation About the LGBTQ Experience Comes to University of Houston

Posted on February 21, 2018

For some in the Black community, the LGBTQ experience is a touchy subject—for others, it’s an untouched issue. Our silence and suppression has taken a toll on both of our communities, leaving many of our people struggling in uncomfortable gray spaces or even completely in the dark when it comes to questions of identity. “Black Like Us: A Candid Conversation About the LGBTQ Experience,” an upcoming facilitated community dialogue that will be held in collaboration with the University of Houston…

Teaching Queer Houston: Houston We Have History

Posted on December 15, 2017

A photo of the Houston We Have History Banner Project.

I first visited the Montrose Center, Houston’s main LGBTQ community center, in 2016 for a playwriting workshop. During one of our breaks, I snooped around, checking out the schedule of events. What caught my eye most, however, was the Houston We Have History Banner Project—a colorful timeline of queer Houston history that stretches down the third floor hallway. As I mentioned in the first installment of this series, during my second year of teaching Intro to LGBT Studies at the University…

Teaching Queer Houston: Mind Mapping Montrose

Posted on November 6, 2017

An illustration of a mind map of Montrose, Houston.

When I moved to Houston in 2012, there was no question about where I would be living. As far as I was concerned, Montrose was everything. Conversation over. During my childhood visits to Houston, my dad would drive the scenic route from our Galleria-area hotel to downtown. As we rode down Westheimer Road, I’d stare out the window as we passed Dunlavy Street, Waugh Drive, Montrose Boulevard, and Taft Street, romanticizing what it would be like if dad just stopped…

Gender Infinity: Conference Creates Safe Space for Trans and Gender Expansive People

Posted on September 25, 2017

Now in its seventh year, the Gender Infinity conference returns to the University of Houston on October 13 and 14. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Colt and his spouse and fellow Gender Infinity co-founder, Becca, on the upcoming conference, their activism, and the future of gender.…

Exploring Identity: How Spectrum South Inspired College Students to Embrace Their Truths

Posted on August 4, 2017

Illustration of diverse people exploring identity.

Shortly after my summer class began, Spectrum South launched with its series of narrative pieces in which the publication’s core group of writers explored their own queer and southern identities. While each piece was unique to the writer, all of them spoke to the intersections of identity and journeys of queer self-discovery. This inspired me to use these pieces—written by queer millennials—to get my students thinking about their own identities (queer and not) on a deeper level. Each student was…

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