personal essay

death is sad

greatest hits

first person

Before You Know It Something’s Over

“He didn’t feel any pain. He died instantly.” That was how she told me that my father was dead. I was 14.

Riese —

Jun 15, 2014

okcupid

personal essay

first person

Take the Lead: A Beginner’s Adventure at Queer Tango Festival

“Trying to be cool about it, I stood next to a woman with gravitas who immediately turned to me and asked me to be her partner. She told me she’d…

Kris —

Jun 12, 2014

femmes

greatest hits

first person

Beyond Definition: On Queer Black Love and My Kaleidoscope Identity

“My queerness was exactly the durable and malleable fabric that brought me here to this love. I am so grateful to finally have this powerful Black revolutionary in my life,…

KimKatrinCrosby —

Jun 10, 2014

disability

personal essay

first person

Unalterable: On Accepting Myself As A Queer Person With Dwarfism

“I am a person with restricted growth (or little person or person with dwarfism), and I am queer… I did not come out as queer until I was in my…

Lesley —

Jun 4, 2014

coming out a little later

greatest hits

coming out

Confessions of a Beauty Queer: The Best Goodbye of My Life

“I was simply a girl who thought she liked girls at one point in her life, but prayed it away, and now life was good. Right?”

Djuan Trent —

May 29, 2014

gun violence

misogyny

politics + activism

On Continuing to Live In the Same World that Made Elliot Rodger (and Many Like Him)

“Our fear of being dismissed or not believed is so strong that sometimes we need to wait for an unequivocally misogynistic event to talk about it all, just so we…

Rachel —

May 28, 2014

alcohol

personal essay

lgbt pride

Sober in the City: Surviving Pride Without Liquor

Here are some tools I employ to protect my sobriety while still allowing me to participate in all of the fun. If you’re concerned about being a sober queer at…

Ginger Hale —

May 22, 2014

how to be gay

personal essay

relationships

Loving the Women Who Look Like Me: Queer Black Women in Love

I realized that one of the hardest parts about accepting my sexual orientation was that I literally did not believe that Black women were lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, asexuals or queer.…

Helen —

May 19, 2014

alcohol

greatest hits

health

Sober in the City: Redefining My Queerness On Fire Island

Other than partying, what did we like, what were we good at, what defined us? One area that many LGBTQ individuals, including myself, struggled with was redefining what it meant…

Ginger Hale —

May 8, 2014

feminism

personal essay

lgbt history

Rebel Girls: Women’s Studies Saved My Life, And I Want It To Change Yours, Too

“I try to remain impartial about most things,” she told us, “except for two: Ronald Reagan and Phyllis Schafly.”

Carmen —

Apr 30, 2014

bisexuality

greatest hits

first person

For All The Girls I Loved Before I Knew I Could

Kelly cut off all her hair and started dating Katie. I started chasing around after a guy who looked like Ellen DeGeneres and trying to make sense of the mess…

Adrian —

Apr 23, 2014

intersex

periods

first person

Lessons Learned From Menstruation Pop Quizzes While Being Intersex

“That being said, I’d like to live in a world someday where people don’t automatically assume my body looks and functions a certain way, that makes room for people like…

Claudia —

Apr 22, 2014