I’m writing this with fireworks exploding in the background. My neighbors like extended holiday celebrations. It’s been going on for days–just like the two weeks of fireworks around Christmas time. I suppose they’re celebrating independence. I am not feeling so much like celebrating independence right now. National Issues of Personal Independence Sure, there are all…
Tag: Pride
From Pride 2022 to “Don’t Say Gay”
Yesterday marked the end of Pride 2022. All of the corporate rainbow logos will go back into the closet for another year and whatever rainbow capitalism items were in the stores will be marked down. Remember to stock up for next year, okay? Pride has been unusually challenging for me this year. I’ve been going…
Queer Pride and Self-Care
I’ve written a number of pieces for this website about my experiences as a rape survivor. I’ve written about how important it was for me to change my own language about my experience–to use the word “rape” instead of “sexual assault.” And I’ve written about consent and mental health, I’ve written about the way we…
Coming Out: That Lightbulb Moment
A note on language. This story about coming out is being told through the prism of memory. So the scenes that take place in the late ’80s and early ’90s contain some language that implies a gender-binary. We have allowed that language to stand to reflect the author’s understanding of the world in that era,…
Every Time: A Poem for Pulse
Thank you to Laura Viau for this poem. This is Laura’s first appearance in our magazine. It has been 6 years and a few days, as of this publication, since 49 people were murdered at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Every time the day approaches There is some part of me that knows Way before…
Learning to Take up Space
Pride started as a riot. And since then it’s been somewhere between a protest and a party. What if this year, for me, Pride Month is about figuring out how to take up space and find my seat at the table? In other words, about finding my Pride? These days, I take up space mainly…
Disability and Queerness: Celebrate the Whole Person
Talking through Issues with my Writing Community I rely on my writing community a lot. For inspiration. Support. Feedback. They’re an important part of my life, and not just as a writer. So recently, when I was talking to Adam (mentor, 2 Rules of Writing co-founder, good friend) I mentioned that I’d been having a…
Pride on the Calendar! (Caturday Questions)
Part of what brings us together as humans is that we celebrate anniversaries. Cats, of course, have no patience for keeping a calendar. To this day, Big Cat has no idea why every year on June first (Big Cat does NOT know that it’s June first) his Human-Mom serves up a big platter of rainbow…
Little Victories in the Fight against Homophobia
I fell in love with the art of drag long before I really understood or accepted my own queer identity. We can learn a lot from drag queens. And not just fashion tips. The news has me exhausted and worried lately. But today, I’m going to take a lesson from Bianca Del Rio: ”Not today,…
Pride Means Protest, Now More than Ever
Is this our last Pride celebration? Pride Means Finding a Place where We Belong So, come on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, let’s dance tonight… In my twenties, I worked with an organization that provided services for LGBTQ youth. I loved doing this work; it’s part of what propelled…