La Botánica, a vegan eatery and bar, is defying norms in the San Antonio restaurant scene. In a city that loves queso-filled Tex-Mex food and in a state that boasts damn good barbecue, La Botánica offers an alternative option with Mexican-inspired, plant-based food created by queer chef and co-owner, Rebel Mariposa.…
Her Destination Unknown (HDU), a Houston-based queer women’s social club, is gearing up for their 8th annual AIDS charity auction on February 25 at Pearl Bar. The benefit will showcase 10 eligible queer ladies, who will donate their time in the form of a date to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going to a local LGBTQ organization that is walking in AIDS Walk Houston.…
Austin-based yoga instructor Abi Robins’ life changed when they stepped into a yoga studio for the first time in 2013. A friend in Siloam Springs, Arkansas dragged Robins to a hot power yoga class, which contradicted Robins’ preconceived idea that yoga was simply breathing and stretching in a quiet room. After an intense workout that left Robins drenched in sweat, they laid on their back for five minutes in the final shavasana resting pose. In that moment, they felt a…
The worst part of Zipporah Jarmon’s period is that it forces her to wear panties for a few days out of the month. The problem is—as a 26-year-old masculine-presenting gay woman—she doesn’t usually wear panties. Instead, she feels more comfortable in men’s boxers. But during her period, Jarmon’s options are limited. Women’s boxer briefs are often still very feminine and shorter in length than she prefers. Men’s boxers, her usual go-to, don’t have a place for a pad. Jarmon wondered…
Texas filmmaker Stephanie Saint Sanchez used to work at a mom-and-pop video rental store for many years. She would wander through the aisles and look at the covers of the shop’s nearly 70,000 movies, mesmerized by the fact that each film started off as a small idea in someone’s mind—and, for better or for worse, they persevered and saw their idea through to the end. …
What was it like for LGBTQ people before photos could be readily shared and made visible on social media? Their pictures—which were often the only proof of them living their queer truths—must have meant something so much more. What were their lives like and what did it take to survive when it was dangerous to be out? Rio Grande Valley native Alexandra Nichole Salazar Vasquez explores those questions and more in her podcast, 'Jotxs y Recuerdos.'…
It’s been eight years since I left the Valley, but the Valley is my very being, and I carry it everywhere I go. The Valley and my queerness are equal parts of me. They’re both intrinsic to my identity as a queer Tejana — a diehard Texan with Mexican roots, a proud lesbiana, y Xicana.…
