Empowerment

How I told my husband I am gay
In mid 2021, pride month was approaching and, at this point, Joel and I had been talking a lot about my queerness. Mostly, the conversation went to more vague and open-ended ideas. For the most part, I was pretty content with being “queer”. Not having to put a label on what I am or what I like. And even though I appreciated not having to dust off the old label maker, I still wanted to feel seen and known for my queerness. I shared with Joel one day how a small gesture from him would feel huge to me. I wasn’t expecting much. And actually, I don’t know exactly what I was expecting. But something in me longed to have my partner say, “I see you and I love you just the way you are.” The gesture Joel made was anything but simple or intimate. He is a go big or go home-r so he bought an ally shirt, posted pansexual colored posters in our front window and made a Tik Tok about his support for his pansexual wife. All of this was a surprise. When I drove home and noticed the colors in the window, I had a mild panic attack. I kept thinking about how exposed I suddenly felt. Then I got inside and was shown the Tik Tok. I instantly went into freeze mode. Sure, I appreciative of the attempt at honoring my request. I knew I could expect some discomfort with the announcement. Some backlash from people we know who don’t approve. And even some celebrations. What I didn’t expect was the blindsided feeling that I had. Why was that the case? Joel had done what I asked for. I definitely felt “seen” just not in the way I needed to be seen. It was like all eyes were on me and my super sweet, supportive husband. He was the hero who bravely stood before my dragons and slayed every single one of them on my behalf. But something was eating at me. Pretty soon it consumed me. One night I laid awake and thought, “but what if I’m not pansexual?” And the other thought, the one that I couldn’t dig down deep enough into the dragon’s layer to rescue… “What if I’m a lesbian?”
By Sam Hawk4 years ago in Pride
Metamorphosis
I just started packing for next week's trip. This one's a hard trip to prepare for - not just because there's a pandemic going on and I'm in the extreme high-risk category, but because I'm worried about what I've packed. Did I get everything I need? What did I forget? Did I buy too much? What if I got the sizes wrong, the colors wrong, the styles all wrong? What if I didn't get the right food in the right flavors?
By Meredith Harmon4 years ago in Pride
Trans & Nonbinary Musicians are Silenced No More
A New York publisher is releasing the first-ever volume of songs written for and/or by transgender and nonbinary people.
By Ben Nelson4 years ago in Pride
Hero’s exist
I was never the best at writing or showing off any skills whatsoever to the best of my abilities when it came to film and tv production. I’m not gonna lie I had no idea what I was doing but frankly I don’t think anyone really ever does when they start in their first semester of a 2 year technical school. Unless of course you grew up thinking you knew more than everyone else and already mastered the technique but just wanted a degree to look good for yourself. Unfortunately I wasn’t like that, I had issues I’ll admit, no idea how to work a camera, no idea of how to bring any of my ideas to life. Once, I tried in middle school but that was a complete fail. College came up after 3 years of graduation and then I’m in. My first semester already, nervous yet eager to learn. That’s when I first saw him, old yet so unique in his own way, smart and didn’t know just yet but he would be the biggest inspiration of everyone in his classes life. It started with a proper introduction of everyone, then following an introduction to himself. His name was Steve. People called him Alien Steve because he loved Aliens and it was also surprisingly part of his email address. Anywho, steve was a bright and talented guy, he’d been teaching for so many years of his life but also has helped in so many big film and tv shows. Coming from a bad spot in his life to enjoying it in the spot light with so many great actors and directors, he was very well loved and respected. He’d sent students to work for film projects and they’d land major roles in the industry like C.I.A Miami, The avengers, different horror movies and so on. When I heard his story I knew he’d be the key to a better mind and would help me love the film industry more than I had already did. He didn’t teach from books, he taught from knowledge and experience. Wisdom of his own words that meant more then just words out of a textbook. When he was asked why he didn’t use one he’d respond with “A textbook doesn’t actually teach you anything and it’s not always correct, I choose to teach you with my experience because you will need to learn it from someone who knows more than just a book.” To be sincere, he made college so much fun and easy for us.
By Johnny M4 years ago in Pride
The slow death of the Gay Village
The first time I visited the Gay Village in 2016, it was by accident. At 15-years-old, I stumbled upon the neighbourhood when I took a few wrong turns looking for a thrift store. A sea of colored bulbs and eccentric people welcomed me. Gaggles of gender diverse people chatted in groups, like clusters of wildflowers; unbound by societal pressures. I felt out of place, a stain on their creativity and hyperaware of the disguise I was wearing. I'd managed, so far, to hide my identity from others and even from myself.
By Jordan Mckay4 years ago in Pride
I fell through his bedroom floor!
My life, for as long as I can remember has always had a random moment out of nowhere. Usually embarrassing moments and definitely “only me” moments.
By Christel Luke4 years ago in Pride
You're Too .......
Bald Head! I remember hearing those words in class. It was my second week at the high school in New Jersey. I was so young and naive that I did not understand the meaning of the term and thought that this boy was calling me bald headed. I responded that he needed to look at himself since he had no hair whatsoever. I later learned that the term Bald Head meant basically I was being told that I was too European and part of the establishment. I was so hurt by those words but I was not sure why they hurt so deeply.
By Cora4 years ago in Pride
The Rainbow Barn Owl
I lay here in the loft, breathing small white puffs that turn softly to wisps in the cold night air. They lay long, and distinct across the pin pricked blanket of blackness that is the night sky until the warmth that was within me becomes one with the frosty atmosphere and disappears. I wait in utter stillness. I imagine your wings opening wide for the first flight of evening, immense and strong, able to lift such a large animal into the air, but also agile; able to dive when your keen eyes spot some unlucky prey and make a swift, soft, and precise landing, and I wish you could fly farther, Dear Barn Owl.
By Ashleigh Miller4 years ago in Pride
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO OUR CAUSE
My man Martin. He was the definition of “powerful” as it pertains to whipping up Black votes and stirring up some GOOD TROUBLE back in his time, and as he said in that candid speech on that faithful day in Washington D.C. on August 28th, 1963, I Have A Dream. It might as well have been his John Hancock on the bill Lyndon Johnson signed into law, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, because it was all of his hard work, organizing power, and efforts, to which the FBI assassinated him for. I feel like I’m a part of Martin’s dream. I see myself as a bit of Chairmen’s Fred Black Panther Party and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference members. I use my voice for change, for good trouble, maybe sometimes a little too much trouble, but speaking truth to power in 2022 feels like my man Martin….never even existed. I mean, what kind of crap are we even talking about right now, ACCESS TO VOTING RIGHTS!??! Cue my girl Stacey Abrams. She has been this generation’s version of Dr. King’s public fight to demand Black access to the southern ballots. I do tons of history about America, in my pursuits of understanding and educating Black America. I really am not sure which tribe I come from but here, we don’t even have time to go back to learn, to hear the stories of our truth, to find whatever it was that was stolen from Africans who were brought to America through slave migration because we are still fighting to be free. Y’all know we just got Juneteenth in 2021 right. Lincoln has been dead for decades.
By TREMG4 years ago in Pride
A Love Letter to my Changing Body
Author's note: I am non-binary and transgender, and in October 2020 I begun medical transition using testosterone. This piece examines the self love this choice has encouraged. Originally written in response to a Reddit thread where a young trans man said he was feeling discouraged by how so much discussion of testosterone HRT is just jokes about how sweaty or greasy or pimply we become, and he asked to see some romanticisation of the feelings.
By Will Savage4 years ago in Pride
SKIRT
BOY I’ve always liked skirts. But as I look at myself in the mirror now, I can’t help but feel panic climbing over my skin. I’m wearing a black skirt; it is cropped just above my knees.
By Maiya Steele4 years ago in Pride
A Brief Emancipating Moment
If you've ever gone out for a run or a jog underneath a blazing sun wearing too many layers, then you know the feeling of liberation well. It comes once you extricate your body from the clenching of the sweat-drenched workout clothes and your anatomy can finally appreciate a zephyr caressing your moist skin. You've been longing for that exact moment all throughout the treacherous workout and when it arrives, it's unfettering.
By Jose Antonio Soto4 years ago in Pride