24 Incredible Personal Essays We Published This Year
We told so many amazing stories this year, we really gave Storytelling Time in kindergarten a run for its money.
Big Queer Pimples, or How I Learned to Love (or Tolerate) My Acne
“When the doctor said that such and such a treatment was linked to health problems later in life, I didn’t even blink. I’ll hit 50 and keel over? Fine, I don’t care, get rid of these fucking pimples.”
I Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye So I Wrote You This Instead
This is an essay about leaving everything behind, and I don’t know where to start because part of what that means is that I am leaving you.
La Virgen de Guadalupe: Brown Goddess in My Heart Forever
La Virgen de Guadalupe has always been dear in my heart and always will be, but the way I view her has changed throughout the years, through various lenses with different interpretations, including now as a queer woman.
Sunday Top Ten: There’s A Childhood Hero, If You Look Inside My Heart
Welcome to Sunday Top Ten, a list of things that may or may not be published on a Sunday or number “ten.” Today I’m gonna talk about my childhood heroes, like Shirley Temple and LeVar Burton.
Of A Swamp Witch And A Rural Queer
“It’s so easy to yearn and ache for people to fill the space surrounding you, but it’s so difficult to find those who can do so in a way that doesn’t immediately consume all your hard-won oxygen and freedom.”
Fat-Booty Butch Wears Leggings — Confuses World, Confronts Self
“Form-fitting feels different than tailored and my form is something I’m super protective of — so why the fuck did I decide to wear leggings today?”
Public Displays of Affection: The Politics of Being Queer In Front Of Other Humans
What do you do when you see queer kids making out in the street? When and where is PDA okay for queer people? Who gets to decide when it’s okay or inappropriate?
Imagining the Promised Land
My partner and I often navigate the more challenging aspects of our relationship, and lives, using the language of “imagine.” For me, and presumably for her, the word itself feels better, carries less weight than perhaps, “hoped” or “wanted.”
I’m Not Broke As F*ck Anymore, Does This Mean I Made It
“It’s like you’re so good at your weird, low-cost lifestyle, but you know nothing about the real world.”
Butch Glam: Let’s Broaden What “Black” In Relation to “Female” Can Mean
I am not crazy; I am simply black, and queer, and butch, and transcultural, and therefore alone.
Dear Queer Diary: I’ll Cover You
The gallery of beautiful journal covers is open. Bring your own wine and Trader Joe’s hors d’ouevres for the true art show experience.
Poetry After Dark: Pure (Sex) Poems from A-Camp 4.0
If there’s anything y’all love, it’s sex and pure poetry. So obviously, both took center stage at A-Camp. Here’s a selection.
A Queer of Various Stripes
Intersex and queer identities sometimes match up in ways that we’re familiar with and that conform to our understanding of how these identities are commonly defined. Other times they don’t.
I Talk to Problematic People in Bars
I shall list them in order of least to most awful.
Being Queer And Spiritual (Or Not): The Autostraddle Religion Roundtable
There’s a lot to say about religion and queerness and how the two can (or cannot) interact, which is why we put together this roundtable with 12 different perspectives. We hope you share your own thoughts and beliefs in the comment section.
If Joan Of Arc Can Do It, Why Can’t I?
Ever since I went to a Halloween party at my friend’s church youth group in 6th grade, I’ve been almost inseparable from my Christian identity. But on November 4th, 2012, my heart was all the way down in my toes as I got ready to go to church for the first time as a transgender lesbian.
High Femme: Getting My Weed Card in California
“I have a knot in my stomach, like a kid waiting outside the principal’s office. But I’m not a kid, and this is not a principal’s office. I’m an adult in the great state of California waiting to get her medical marijuana card.”
Dear Queer Diary: This is the First Day of the Rest of Your Journal
While this may seem obvious, anyone who has faced the terror of the blank page knows how difficult—indeed, how treacherous—this step can be. How will you begin?
Please Don’t Thank Me for Loving My Wife
My transgender wife and I are both people with a lot of serious challenges to face, and we chose to confront those challenges as a team. That’s not heroism. It’s love.