Andrea Gibson’s Work Lives in the Realities of Chronic Pain
There’s a long and powerful queer lineage of artists whose bodies were politicized, pathologized, and misunderstood and who still chose to create from that place.
Andrea Gibson Kept Sincerity Alive
The loss of Andrea Gibson is not just one that rocks the poetry world, but the world at large.
I’m Afraid To Move to the City of My Dreams
Moving in with a partner is one thing; moving cross-country with that partner is another.
No One’s Doing it Quite Like the Dykes in Orlando Are Doing It
In Orlando, there are no official dyke bars, but that hasn’t stopped the local lesbians from providing year-round nightlife and social options throughout the city.
Lowkey, I Chose To Be a Lesbian
I understand why people are often outraged at the idea of “choosing” your sexuality.
I Miss Feeling Hot
My surgeon informed me that I’d have to spend the rest of Pride Month with my hair pulled back, ointment gooped on, and absolutely no hotness allowed.
Coping Mechanisms That Might Make My Friends Side-Eye Me (And Honestly? Valid)
Did it keep me from texting my ex at 8 p.m.? Surprisingly, yes.
My Childhood Was Abusive. The Effects of CPTSD Kept Me From Realizing It
It took me over two decades to readily consider myself a victim of abuse.
At 28, I Blew Up My Life To Train in Jiu-Jitsu and as a Dominatrix
Beneath the latex and leather is sacred work.
My New Year’s Resolution Was To Do More Drugs
I rang in the New Year with my friends, watching an endless stream of K-Pop music videos and eating lots of mushroom chocolate.
I’m Finally Living the Friend-Filled Summers I Grew Up Watching On-Screen
I was always especially envious of the way movies depicted childhood summers, like in Now & Then.
All the Time We Had
You always called me angel. At first I didn’t like that. It felt dysphoric, which was confusing, because you were trans yourself, “more” trans than me, having spent years on testosterone, having looked, even before any intervention, more like a guy than I ever could.
I Suddenly Hate Aging and It Makes Me Feel Like a Bad Lesbian
I don’t know when I became a vain person, but I swear I used to be better. Becoming a competitive athlete in my thirties has not helped.
Summer Is for the Midwest Princess
The only job a 16-year-old lifeguard really has is to kiss their coworkers and fuck around. Sadly, I took this job far more seriously than I should’ve.
The Sex of the Game
That competitiveness I felt with her, the joy I derived from getting in her head was, I realized later, erotic in its intensity, intimate in its knowledge. I wanted that hotheaded point guard to be my hotheaded girlfriend.
I Found My Family of Freaks
Every day, I get a little closer to having to say that final Goodbye to my gym family.
Without Poetry or Queerness, I Do Not Exist
When I write, when I kiss my girlfriend, when I read Carl Phillips, when I do poppers at the club, all of these things are me announcing my place in the family of things.
Everyone Deserves Sports
We cannot pretend trans people have not been athletes, and we cannot deny trans people access to this important sphere of life.
An Apocalypse Is a Great Way To Test a Relationship
“Lisbon would make a fantastic apocalypse city,” I said to my girlfriend as we struggled up and down the city’s cobblestone streets. Unbeknownst to me, the next day I would catch a glimpse of what Lisbon might look like during an apocalypse.
A Lifetime of Needles
I got my first trans surgery a couple months ago, and I went into FFS with as much curiosity about the experience as I had excitement for the results.