personal essay

christianity

personal essay

first person

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Or How I Divorced Jesus and Learned to Love Sex

“I didn’t know much about gardens, in general, but what I was working with seemed less like the married person’s vegetable patch the church described and more like a Narnian…

Heather Hogan —

Oct 23, 2014

lesbian travel

personal essay

travel

5 Weirdo Things I Saw While Driving Across America

When you drive across the country, you plan to see some things ahead of time. Other things you just stumble across.

Maddie —

Oct 23, 2014

90s nostalgia

gamergate

geekery

Counting Down On Gamergate

I’ve played games all my life, and I stand with Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian and Brianna Wu. #StopGamerGate

Laura Mandanas —

Oct 17, 2014

intimate partner violence

personal essay

first person

Because If I Was Honest, Everything I Knew Would Explode

“That instinct, to lie or protect the men who abuse us, is hard to explain. It comes from being afraid of the person who is abusing you, of course, but…

Tina —

Oct 1, 2014

mental health

personal essay

first person

The Big Reveal

“In fact, the strain of hiding my illness would likely have caused me to break down with even more frequency. How would she have coped with those dysphoric, hallucination-ridden breakdowns…

Jenna Leigh Evans —

Sep 30, 2014

bisexual awareness week

bisexuality

first person

Bisexual Awareness Week: We See Each Other, And That’s Something

The first ever Bisexual Awareness Week created space to organize resources, initiate connections and speak about our experiences in a new way.

Adrian —

Sep 27, 2014

personal essay

first person

Calluses and Cow Sheds: How I Found My Queerness in Rural America

“That year I spent a lot of time watching the goats and cows eat grass. Mostly because I found their single-minded focus incredibly comforting. Also because our fences were shoddy…

Lila —

Sep 26, 2014

ferguson

personal essay

first person

Because I’m Black, Too

“That risks making a wound of my blackness. My blackness is not a wound; it is a gift I’m trying, consciously and earnestly, to understand and protect and witness.”

Chelsey —

Sep 24, 2014

personal essay

regular

health

Sober in the City: An Atheist Walks into AA

“The fellowship said I was thinking too hard about it, that I was stubborn, and that I was not willing to admit that there were forces bigger than me. What…

Ginger Hale —

Sep 24, 2014

beer

family

first person

Drinking My Way Through Texas: A Beer Diary of Sorts

I can’t tell you about the head or what it has “notes” of. But I can tell you about some beers I really enjoyed, a few I didn’t, and the…

Adrian —

Sep 8, 2014

greatest hits

personal essay

coming out

Learning to Use Chopsticks: Coming Out as Korean-American

“At 27, I came out as Korean-American. I was always Korean, of course. I checked the “Asian” box when filling out a form. My ethnicity was written on my face…

KaeLyn —

Sep 4, 2014

body image

mental health

first person

The Ersatz Emancipation of Femininity: On Being a Bulimic, Brown Lesbian

“When I was thirteen years old I began starving myself. I did so, in short, because I wanted so desperately to be thin. And by thin, I mainly meant white.”

Cleo —

Sep 2, 2014