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Out of the Darkness: The Power of Queer Education

Posted on October 18, 2019

The mission of Pride Houston is to educate, commemorate, and celebrate. I’d like to focus our attention on that first, foundational bit. One kind of education teaches skills toward a job that earns money. I believe education can also be revolutionary; after all, the Latin root educere means “to lead out.” That kind of education is how we lead each other out of darkness by sharing light—light that we discover we can hold and pass on to others. That kind…

Transgender Lives in Ancient Rome: The Case of Empress Elagabalus

Posted on September 6, 2019

While history often seems bereft of queer lives, nothing could be further from the truth. Transgender people have always been around in one form or another, though the terminology that we’ve used to describe ourselves has changed over time. Much of our history has either been purposefully destroyed, as in the case of Nazis burning queer books, or is reinterpreted through a modern cishet lens. Because of this, it is important to reclaim queer figures in history, such as the…

Photo Recap: QFest 2019 Opening Night Presented By Spectrum South

Posted on August 14, 2019

The Opening Night of QFest Houston 2019, presented by Spectrum South, was held on Wednesday, July 24 at Rice Cinema. The evening included a screening of Jennie Livingston’s revolutionary film Paris is Burning (1990), and an after party of drinks, dancing, mixing and mingling, and performances by Stoo (feat. Luis Cerda and Ricky Lethridge) and emcee Roxanne Collins.…

The Wave

Posted on August 12, 2019

It sounded like a wave breaking. When you’re watching Hamilton and a gun goes off, you expect a bit of audience commotion. You anticipate some sort of reaction to an emotional climax of a two-and-a-half-hour story—a murmur; a shifting in seats; the rustling of fabric on theater upholstery, a breeze through leaves. What sparked the red flag is when it didn’t stop.…

Shady Lady: Remembering A Texas Drag Icon

Posted on August 2, 2019

Javier Martinez led an illustrious career spanning a 40-year period as the hilarious, sometimes politically incorrect drag persona, Shady Lady. Beginning in 1976, when Martinez first auditioned for a weekly drag show in McAllen, Texas, up until 2014, when he gave his last performance at the Pegasus Nightclub in San Antonio, Martinez entertained audiences with a unique brand of comedy always stressing pride and unity. …

This Is Your Brain On FaceTune: Why Self-Manipulation Pervades in the Body Positivity Era

Posted on July 26, 2019

Queer people spend a lot of time online. To be more exact, queer folks spend 35 percent more time online than their heterosexual counterparts, and according to a recently published study from Stanford, 65 percent of same-sex couples surveyed met online, compared with 39 percent of their straight peers.…

Transamerica/n: The McNay Art Museum Presents Groundbreaking Exhibition Exploring Gender Identity

Posted on June 17, 2019

A groundbreaking new exhibition opening on June 20 at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, is raising eyebrows across the nation. Billed as Transamerica/n: Gender, Identity, Appearance Today, the exhibition gathers 59 artists from across various mediums to form the first major survey of contemporary art to “explore the construction of identity through gender and outward appearance.”…

Weaponized Womanhood: The Debate on Toxic Femininity

Posted on May 21, 2019

Recently, my male, POC friend posed the following question on an online public forum: “Is white feminism ‘toxic femininity?’” This sparked a debate—mostly among women—who argued whiteness (which comes with systems of power) was toxic, but femininity was not. Others stressed that “toxic femininity” is a term made up by men solely to discredit the realness of toxic masculinity.…

Queering The Enneagram: Self-awareness is the Original Queer Super Power

Posted on May 13, 2019

I was raised as a little girl in the Midwest, but I never quite fit the mold. I found myself adventuring through the woods and spending hours in the Walmart toy aisles, fawning over the hot wheels, Star Wars, and Legos, all the while knowing I was “behind enemy lines.” I prepared back stories about shopping for a brother or a classmate’s birthday, knowing full well the truth would be unacceptable. Self-awareness came early for me, as it does for…

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Sara Ramirez, Activist Bamby Salcedo to Judge Miss & Mr. Trans OLTT Fundraiser

Posted on April 17, 2019

A photo of OLTT founder Ana Andrea Molina.

Organización Latina de Trans en Texas, better known as OLTT, is a Houston-based non-profit organization that provides life-saving resources to the trans Latinx community. The organization was founded by Ana Andrea Molina, an undocumented trans Latina, who currently serves as the organization’s executive director. One of the main services OLTT provides is housing for Latina trans women at the organization’s shelter, Casa Anandrea. In 2018 alone, the organization was able to provide housing to 120 trans Latinas throughout the course…

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