the speakeasy Archives

AAPI Heritage Month

asian

xoai lounges on a white blanket looking blissful in a white dress, long black hair cascading over one shoulder. in the background are a series of portraits of her face in a state of tossing and movement, all in a green hue.

The Right to Breathe

I think of the moment I was born, how I must not have cared at all how loud I screamed. I needed to breathe. I needed everyone to know I…

xoai pham —

May 31, 2021

kehlani

music review

music

Kehlani’s Virtual Concert Was My Queer Full Circle Moment

It wasn’t just a concert, but a gift for their younger self — wrapped in a melodic embodiment of empathy and present-day wiseness.

M —

May 28, 2021

lena waithe

master of none

Image shows a yellow box with the text "Moments in love" inside it and behind it there is an image of branches.

tv feature

“Master of None” Roundtable: Sparks of Queer Black Brilliance in an Unsatisfying Story

“All around I wanted something sweeter. We so rarely see two BLACK women loving each other I was hoping it would be triumphant. I get that love and relationships are…

The Speakeasy —

May 27, 2021

AAPI Heritage Month

Asian American

A the upper torso and face of a person is in oversized portion coming out of a deep green sea against a dark, cloudy night sky.

first person

The Birth and Death of a Name

This is the story of the birth and death of my name, which means that it is a story about transition, which means that it is necessarily a story about…

S Sukardi —

May 26, 2021

lena waithe

master of none

tv feature

Lena Waithe on “Master of None” and Making Messy Beautiful Black Lesbian Art

“I wasn’t afraid to make myself the villain. I wasn’t afraid to make Denise not likable at times, because even in doing that, my hope is that you will see…

Carmen Phillips —

May 24, 2021

lena waithe

master of none

tv reviews

Lena Waithe’s “Master of None” Could’ve Settled for Being Black and Beautiful, But It Chose Complicated Instead

The third season Master of None eschews any clean, simple picture. When a happy love story about Black lesbians in love would have been easier, instead it holds up a mirror…

Carmen Phillips —

May 24, 2021

AAPI Heritage Month

Asian American

A pair of brown hands scoop up water, within the dark turquoise pool gathering in the palms is the reflection of a face.

identity

Mourning the Loss of Indigenous Queer Identities

This is the legacy of colonization. It is the mass extinction of identities and languages that can no longer exist because someone else said they were bad.

Astrud Bowman —

May 24, 2021

AAPI Heritage Month

non-binary

Brown feet walk through the bright green grass with red flowers strewn about. The person has on a green dress like fabric, but it's not shown in clear detail.

gender

What You Think A Woman Looks Like

Recognizing that I was never going to fit comfortably into my American peers’ idea of masculine or my Indian family’s idea of feminine meant freedom to throw out both scripts…

Nat Razi —

May 19, 2021

AAPI Heritage Month

asexuality

In a hand-drawn image in the colors of greens and dark navy blues, a young Asian person with short hair stares at their own image sitting against a mirror inside of a closet.

identity

How Tam Found Empowerment in the Closet

What are you to do when you are a Vietnamese asexual and aromantic woman who grew up in white, cishet, francophone-dominated Montreal in the 1980s and 1990s?

Diamond Yao —

May 17, 2021

AAPI Heritage Month

Asian American

love + sex

The Complicated Nature of Sex for Asian Women

Our trans subject editor Xoai Pham speaks to Jayda Shuavarnnasri, Thai-American sexuality educator and resident #SexPositiveAsianAuntie, about sexual violence, myths about polyamory, and what it means to take up space…

xoai pham —

May 13, 2021

AAPI Heritage Month

Asian American

a collage of three textures - a green forest, a black night sky and a royal blue lipstick mark. there is a flock of birds flying above the composition, and in the far distance, you can see the thin sliver of a crescent moon

first person

When Love Is A Matter Of Desperation

Loneliness is an old bedfellow of mine; despair, my oldest friend. If I can come to embrace those parts of myself I’ve always tried to push away — perhaps, that…

himani —

May 11, 2021

Saturday Morning Cartoons

the speakeasy

Multicolor collage of Yao, with short red hair, signing on to a computer. The colors are shades of jade, purple, peach, and tan.

webcomics

Baopu #85: Portrait Through Immigration

Recounting what’s ignored and lost through the modern process of immigration, at the same time recognizing the power of building back the lost sense of self.

Yao Xiao —

Apr 24, 2021