personal essay

native american

personal essay

politics + activism

September 7, 2016

“My ancestors didn’t fight for nothing. They didn’t keep going on that long, cold, hard march from our ancestral homeland to “Indian Territory” just so that I could give up.…

Jen Deerinwater —

Sep 13, 2016

lesbian movies

movie review

film

How This 1976 Landmark Lesbian Film Helped Me Find Myself

How did I, a girl growing up in 1970s New York City, relate to a drama about two women who fall in love during WWI? And, why has it remained…

Donica —

Sep 1, 2016

butch

lesbian health

first person

How Endometriosis Helped Me Become a Tenderhearted Butch

“Instead of getting medical care, I had a work colleague help me to my hotel room and pour me a tumbler of whiskey. I downed the whiskey with a handful…

Jules —

Aug 31, 2016

personal essay

first person

Love Letters Across the Atlantic: How Distance Changes Your Relationship

“To date long distance then live with the other in person is to be in two versions of the same relationship. One wishes desperately for the future and is fueled…

Tierney Nash —

Aug 29, 2016

fullscreen

latina

first person

Orlando Made Me Love You, Dammit!

He shouted “Repent” since the sign was not sufficient, I guess. I found myself going up to him while topless Amazons danced in his face. I found myself going up…

Gail —

Aug 23, 2016

mama outsider

personal essay

first person

Mama Outsider: Reminder Notes to a Dancing Girl

“It is the weekend Beyoncé releases her “Formation” single and a bad queen has just performed it without breaking a sweat. I am watching the queen and learning that the…

Asha —

Aug 19, 2016

#blacklivesmatter

orange in the new black

politics + activism

Digital Mixtapes and Protests: Oh, To Be A Queer Black Millennial

“For a moment, I forgot about the summer of 2015. I forgot about the panic I experienced, the insomnia, the depression. We watched the new season of Orange is the…

Nicole Marie —

Aug 16, 2016

dolly parton

fullscreen

music

My Virtual Brunch With Dolly Parton

“Dear Editor: You are cordially invited to have brunch with country music icon Dolly Parton this Sunday, August 7th.”

Heather Hogan —

Aug 10, 2016

bhm

coming out a little later

first person

I Didn’t Know How to Be Poor, Black, Biracial, AND Queer; So I Wasn’t

“I wasn’t in denial, I had just become extremely successful at compartmentalizing difficult emotions that I had no idea what to do with.”

Jasika Nicole —

Aug 9, 2016

disability

personal essay

first person

On Vulnerability as a Disabled Person

I need to call my “vulnerability thing” what it was: ableism. Internalized, sure, and deliberately kept that way (like it would only cause harm if it got out), but all…

Carrie —

Aug 8, 2016

mama outsider

personal essay

first person

Mama Outsider: How I Learned the Definition of Obscene

“I was unstable and grieving and more suited for a patient friendship than the dramas of new love. But I loved her and in thirst, I acted unlovingly by climbing…

Asha —

Aug 4, 2016

personal essay

rape culture

first person

If I Didn’t Have The Bruises to Prove It, Was It Really a “Bad One”?

“Was it a bad one?” My boss’s face read of pity and sympathy as he asked me this seemingly innocent question. He was referring to my rape.

Samantha Moorin —

Aug 3, 2016