First Person Archives

first person

How I Learned To Touch Again After Trauma

I thought I had to choose between being a survivor and being sensual.

Titeänyä Rodríguez

Oct 17, 2025

Passover table setting with a traditional Passover seder plate with symbolic meal, matzah and Haggadah.

first person

At the Passover Table, New Traditions Will Be Born

This year feels like the first of many years where I begin to truly incorporate my partner’s cultural traditions into our family.

Sa'iyda Shabazz

—

Apr 5, 2023

a pale-skinned person's arm with green painted nails and wearing a cuffed-up yellow and black plaid shirt knocks on a brown door with a yellow handle

first person

The Yeses that Surprise You: Organizing Across the Lines of Cis and Trans

Building power across the lines of cis and trans teaches me that there are many people who will fight alongside trans people to win a better world.

Jess St. Louis

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Mar 31, 2023

Michael Imperioli on instagram captions a photo with: " Verified dear brothers, sisters and siblings. fear not, be strong and don’t let the bastards grind you down. love you."

first person

Let Me Be in My Queer Italianx Feelings for a Minute

It was a simple post. So simple and, in the grand scheme of it all, not super meaningful, and yet, I teared up.

Stef Rubino

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Mar 28, 2023

Zoe Whittall has blunt blonde bangs with straight hair past her shoulders and wears a black tee that says VAG on it as well as a jean jacket. There's a green truck behind her.

first person

Send Me to Low Femme Paradise

The problem of having to have a body in the world again.

Zoe Whittall

—

Mar 27, 2023

a Black person's hand reaches out holding white flower's on a postcard-like image with a stamp of a black and red butterfly and the words THANK YOU, EX! printed on it

breakups

Thank You, Ex: For (1) Set of Ghost Hands

I don’t like to think about the endings, which is probably why I’m always haunted, always clinging to things that return even when I should pretend I do not see…

A. Tony Jerome

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Mar 27, 2023

kayla kumari upadhyaya at age 23 wears a backwards hat and an unbutton baseeball jersey and a black sports bra and black high-waisted pleather leggings

first person

I’ve Done This 500 Times

But there are still days when I feel like I’m bad at it.

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

—

Mar 17, 2023

A collage of three photos of the author, Heather Hogan. Left to right: Heather using her cane and compression socks to walk in the rain. Heather wearing a mask in the hospital and crossing her fingers. Heather standing in her backyard in front of her flower pots using a cane.

first person

The Soft Butch That Couldn’t (Or: I Got COVID-19 in March 2020 and Never Got Better)

Is a soft butch a soft butch if she can barely hold even herself together? Is a soft butch a soft butch without her swagger?

Heather Hogan

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Mar 15, 2023

Three retro cans of Cherry Coke surrounded by gummy sodas and bottle caps against a jazz cup pattern

first person

Cherry Coke Triptych

Giving up caffeinated soda was one of the hardest parts of being pregnant.

Sa'iyda Shabazz

—

Mar 10, 2023

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First Person

How I Learned To Touch Again After Trauma

At the Passover Table, New Traditions Will Be Born

The Yeses that Surprise You: Organizing Across the Lines of Cis and Trans

Let Me Be in My Queer Italianx Feelings for a Minute

Send Me to Low Femme Paradise

Thank You, Ex: For (1) Set of Ghost Hands

I’ve Done This 500 Times

The Soft Butch That Couldn’t (Or: I Got COVID-19 in March 2020 and Never Got Better)

Cherry Coke Triptych

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