We Find Freedom in Black Trans Joy
We place joy at the center of our spaces, because spaces created for us are often only interested in our trauma and pain.
S L I C K: Lesson Learned
“Ms. DeLovely, will you please stop by during my office hours?” Your voice stern, but laced with sweet concern. I’m already dripping. Clearly this is a role you were born to play. “Yes, Professor Luna.”
Also.Also.Also: Sports Are Back! But Are We Supposed to Cheer?
The WNBA and NWSL are back — but during Covid, is our entertainment really worth the players safety? (The answer? No.) Also: Chase Strangio, Raquel Willis, and why our gender identity language isn’t enough.
Live Show This Sunday to Benefit Women For Political Change, Minneapolis!
Featuring El Sanchez, Jes Tom, Junauda Petrus-Nasah and Be Steadwell, 100% of ticket proceeds go to support Women for Political Change in Minneapolis!
How to Wear a Mask Without Fogging Up Your Glasses
14 tips for living your mask and glasses life fog-free.
Lez Liberty Lit: Bodies Are Not Metaphors
How to find a queer incarcerated penpal, why it is correct to capitalize Black, “The Vanishing Half,” “You Exist Too Much,” living in the Cool Zone, it’s time for publishing to ditch its conservative authors and more.
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 again, this is not so hopeless after all.
My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies: Natalie, the TV Team’s Resident Bisexual
I’m not even sure I believe in love at first sight but every time I watch “Imagine Me & You” — I really, really want to.
Pop Culture Fix: Kristen Stewart Made a Movie for Netflix About Her Life in COVID Isolation
Also: Top Chef winner Melissa King is gender-fluid; Zendaya talks to MJ Rodriguez about her breakout roles and learning her own worth; The Handmaid’s Tale season four trailer; and a new Scream maybe?
EXCLUSIVE: Staceyann Chin Performs Her Poem “Crossfire” with Video Artist Sekiya Dorsett
Chin’s work is invaluable always, and in the current moment. We’re glad, then, to bring you this new and gripping performance of the book’s title poem, from Haymarket Books and directed by Sekiya Dorsett.
One Last Letter From This Editor
I’ve had three full-time jobs for this company for 11 years and today I’m taking the triumphant step of knocking that down to two!
Ferguson and Community Trauma: Defining Peace For Ourselves
We see violence not only in the crimson of blood spilled far too many times but also in the varying shades of brown on the skins of people of color. To be a person of color in the United States, and in the global narrative, is to be the shadow of violence.
No Filter: Ama Elsesser Will See You Soon
Kiersey Clemons and Quinn Wilson were very cute babies and Chef Melissa King wins Top Chef All Stars!
In Pursuit of a Pirate
We were just friends the first night she stayed over. I only had a single bed and there was little choice but to press our bodies close together: one big spoon and one little spoon. My desire for her followed me around like a lost dog. It would scratch at the door, whining and begging to be let out.
14 Knuckles: I Want to Buy You A Matte Black Audi
I was always thinking about them — what I’d bring, what I’d wear, what we’d do when we saw each other next. I wanted to dote and caress every moment of every day. I was willing to do damn near anything for them. I was consumed by what I can only term “I want to buy you a matte black Audi” energy.
You Watched “Disclosure,” Now Watch These Shorts, Web Series, and Indies Made by Trans People!
Sam Feder’s remarkable new documentary “Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen” is only the beginning of our story. Even more trans artists are forging their own paths with these indies and web series.
On the Front Lines: Alternative Forms of Protesting Police Violence
Alternative forms of protest are necessary to make activism accessible. Sometimes, they’re even more effective at creating change than a permitted march.
Black Trans People Have Been Modeling Mutual Aid Before It Became a Buzzword
For the Gworls is a prime example of how Black trans organizers have found ways to keep one another safe, housed, and healthy despite violence at every turn.
Sasha Geffen’s “Glitter Up the Dark” Weaves a Shimmering Web of Queer Music History
Geffen digs into the collision between gender and technology in music and beyond to demonstrate how pop and rock music have been a vehicle for gender disruption for their entire existence.
The Private Activism Of Personal Connection
There are multiple ways to be an activist. It does not have to be a large public gesture. In private, trusting conversations with someone very different from you, you can create the space for revolutionary change. Connecting with each other on every scale contributes to a stronger global fight against injustice.