I’m standing in line to check out at my local grocery store. COVID-19 is breathing down my neck: as an entity, as a presence, as an atmosphere. Behind my homemade fabric face mask and my meticulously sanitized disposable gloves, I’m buying two weeks of groceries for my queer household. …
By Kelly M. Marshall Transgender women of color have often been left out of the narratives of the collective LGBTQIA+ experience, especially when it comes to our history of liberation. It’s only recently that Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major Griffin-Gracey, Stormé DeLaverie, and others have been featured in the spotlight and honored for the sacrifice of their blood, sweat, tears, and even lives during the Stonewall Riots and the ensuing decades of our uprising for queer rights. This…
The season of the witch has arrived. Simply scroll through Instagram and see for yourself: crystals, herbs, spell recipes, aesthetic posts of perfectly curated altars, candles, witchcraft 101 tips and tricks, the list goes on. Walk the aisles of any bookstore, and they’re front and center: books on witchcraft, magic, the moon, astrology. Tarot is experiencing a rebirth, a reinvigoration.…
There are very few queers I know who haven’t dabbled in astrology or Tarot at some point. Beyond apps like Co-Star, The Pattern, or Galaxy Tarot, these divinations create opportunities to re-frame and reorient ourselves in the face of uncertainty. They provide space for us to get still and quiet, and to ask ourselves what we really want, what we really believe, and who we really are. …
By Kelly M. Marshall I never set out to walk the path of a teacher. When I committed to yoga as my primary spiritual discipline, I was an anxious, depressed, dumpster fire of a human being. My relationship with myself and any changes I made before that day were motivated by shame, fear, and perfectionism. I wore myself out trying to fit the mold of what I thought a worthy and good human being looked like. It was through the path of yoga that…
Yin and Yang. Shiva and Shakti. God and Goddess. Man and Woman. Modern spiritual practices go on ad nauseam about these concepts of the “divine masculine” and “divine feminine.” While these paradigms have infused our spiritual and religious ideologies and dogma for as long as we have been a cultured species, this attachment to binary gender archetypes is, in reality, a very new concept that stems from Western colonialism and modern Judeo-Christian ideas, rather than humanity’s religious, indigenous, and spiritual…
This year, OUTsider Fest celebrated its fifth year with enthusiasm, collaborative spirit, and queer BIPOC avant-garde delights. Artistic director Curran Nault and president PJ Raval opened their home to morning Conferences on the Couch, casual round-table panel discussions of the previous night’s performances and exhibitions, and created a space for the different artists to discuss their views and work through the lenses of different academically salient topics. In the afternoon and on into the evening, performative works ranging from theatre…
I’m an artist, and Workout! With Erica Nix started out as performance art. I used to dance for a punk rock band and, instead of go-go dancing or dancing in this cute, sexy way, I would do aerobics and act crazy on stage. I’d weigh myself afterwards, get pissed off, and throw a huge fit and hump food, spray Cheez Whiz on people, and throw donuts. It was a lot of fun! A lot of people would come for the…
Self-care is not just Instagram fodder, Lush bath bombs, aromatherapy, and crystals. It’s not selfies, expensive beverages, salads, yoga poses, or even spa services. Self-care is actually work. And it often can be free. It’s akin to the psychological concept of re-parenting, or self-stewardship. It is adulting 2.0. It’s an essential skill that combats the effects of living in the relentless consumerist culture we’re steeped in. But don’t let that discourage you, because here are my top 5 self-care tips…
Only in the last few years or so has access to hormone therapy for the transgender and gender non-conforming population become more readily available in the South. Yet, recipients are often barred from hormone therapy by “medical gatekeeping,” which requires each patient to produce a letter of diagnosis and recommendation from a licensed mental health professional and attend up to six months of psychotherapy. Thanks to WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) and people like Dr. Colt Keo-Meier, however,…
