personal essay

covid-19

personal essay

society + culture

Seeing the Wind: How It Feels To Be A COVID Nurse

The first time I took care of COVID patients, I felt helpless. I’d lost access to my purpose, to my spiritual practice that lives within deeply connecting to my patients.…

Mat —

Nov 5, 2020

Asian American

buddhism

first person

The Angsty Buddhist: Learning Anger And White Buddhism

When it comes to Buddhism and cultural appropriation, I still sometimes worry that I’m making a big deal out of nothing, that I’m angry for no good reason.

L —

Oct 28, 2020

bdsm

butt stuff

love + sex

I Have IBS and I Still Want You to Eat My Ass

“Do you think he’ll notice if I just never come out of the bathroom?”

O —

Oct 22, 2020

Butt Week

drugs

first person

Giving Poppers to Cis Women

“A cultural exchange from a person with a prostate to those without.”

Drew Burnett Gregory —

Oct 19, 2020

makeup

mental health

first person

A Scrutinized Body Becomes Art: How Makeup Helps Me Manage my Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Often, use of makeup, especially as a way to cover up perceived flaws, is seen as a symptom of body dysmorphic disorder. But for me, using makeup is not a…

Olivia Zayas Ryan —

Oct 8, 2020

children's books

personal essay

literature

How Writing “The Ship We Built,” a Children’s Novel, Helped Me Come Out

The first draft of The Ship We Built was intended as a valentine for one person. Six and a half years later, The Ship We Built has been released as…

Alexandria Bean —

Sep 3, 2020

asexuality

personal essay

television

Coming Out Twice: On Being Gay and Asexual in a World Without Representation

Every asexual person has a moment when the recognition sets in. Those moments would come a lot easier if asexuality was more prominent in pop culture.

Jessica Vazquez —

Aug 12, 2020

personal essay

television

The Straight TV Couples That Helped Me Realize I’m Gay

Growing up in fandom, I gathered a long list of straight fictional ships without realizing until much later that I had been projecting myself onto the male half of those…

Renee Nuevo —

Jul 27, 2020

abby wambach

Glennon Doyle Melton

literature

Glennon Doyle’s “Untamed”: A Gay Love Story About a Grown-Ass Woman Who Does What the F*ck She Wants

“There. She. Is.” Glennon wrote in her new memoir, Untamed, when she recalled the moment Abby Wambach entered her life. I assumed that would be the central conflict of Untamed.…

Heather Hogan —

Jul 8, 2020

gender affirming surgery

personal essay

first person

Harden/Soften: Finding Sensuality After Top Surgery

My chest continued to breathe new life, even when I was no longer alone. Physical affinity suddenly cropped up in corners I never anticipated.

Elly Day —

Jul 3, 2020

personal essay

first person

My First Pride Was About Building My Queer Future and Mourning a Past I’ll Always Long For

A young black queer girl goes to her first pride parade, tackles her fears of her own queerness rooted in acceptance, and becomes friends with other black queer people after…

M —

Jun 30, 2020

greatest hits

personal essay

first person

How Queer YA Novels Taught Me to Write My Own Happy Ending

Maybe, she finds herself thinking, there could be space for joy in this new life. Maybe, she dreams, as she finishes the last page and immediately starts the book over…

Leah Johnson —

Jun 25, 2020