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Queer and Trans BIPOC Artists ‘Shapeshift,’ Push Artistic Boundaries

Posted on May 8, 2023
A photo of Lechedevirgen Trimegisto, OUTsider artist.

The Austin-based queer transmedia festival OUTsider, founded by Curran Nault and co-founded by filmmaker PJ Raval, has long been known for pushing artistic boundaries. Last year, I was delighted to profile three of the festival’s BIPOC artists, focusing on how each found moments of liberation in their art during the era of COVID. Although I’ve since moved to my new home in Richmond, Virginia, I was excited to virtually reconnect with my Texas ties to interview a few of the…

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Cinematographer Bianca Cline on Filmmaking, Trans Representation, and ‘Marcel the Shell’

Posted on October 17, 2022
A photo of filmmaker Bianca Cline filming Marcel the Shell.

When Marcel hit theaters in the summer of 2022, millennials flocked to see the sentient one-inch seashell we had all come to know and love from the viral YouTube video of the same name. Marcel is charming and humorously witty and leaves viewers with that comforting tingle one can only experience following a healthy dose of nostalgia. The media frenzy surrounding Marcel’s release was more than Cline was used to, but it offered her the opportunity to not only discuss…

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Changing Pronouns: An Interview with Publicly Private’s Kollyn Conrad

Posted on September 12, 2022
A photo of Kollyn Conrad of Publicly Private

As a non-binary southerner, I’m all too familiar with society’s pushback to gender and sexuality exploration. Like so many other queer and trans folks, my process of finding the identity that feels best to me is one that is ever-evolving. Yet, from broader society—and often, from within the LGBTQ community—we’re not given the grace to navigate identity at our own speed, to be brave enough to come out over and over again as that identity evolves, and to stand in…

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What it is to be an Active Witness: T Lavois Thiebaud and Jason Nodler Talk Collaboration and the Catastrophic Theatre’s ‘4.48 Psychosis’

Posted on January 8, 2022
A photo of 4.48 Psychosis.

I first learned of the playwright Sarah Kane through Houston’s Catastrophic Theatre and founder Jason Nodler in 2011, just a few months after I embarked on a dance theater collaboration with a contemporary ballet and dance theater company I had followed avidly for many years. I was running off the high of what the best collaborative relationships can be. It was through that collaboration that I would meet and date one of the actors cast in the Catastrophic Theatre’s production…

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Representation on Screen: Powerful TV Series Showcase BIPOC LGBTQ Narratives

Posted on August 5, 2021
A photo of BIPOC LGBTQ TV shows.

In my first-ever article for Spectrum South, I elaborated on the need for and importance of more BIPOC LGBTQ representation within the hip-hop and rap scene, arguing that the industry won’t change for the better until more queer artists—and those in leadership roles within the music industry—live and produce openly. This logic, however, isn’t siloed to the world of music; as more and more BIPOC LGBTQ actors come out, and our narratives are written into episodes, the television industry is…

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For the Comics, For the Culture: Black, BLASIAN, QUEER-owned Comic Shop Hosts Pop-Up in Houston’s Third Ward

Posted on July 30, 2021
An illustration of the co-owners of Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co. in Houston, Texas.

Did you know that Houston’s Third Ward is home to a queer-owned, Black-owned comic book shop? From now until July 31, Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co. is operating as a pop-up, with plans to soon be a permanent fixture in the community. The store is creating new comic fans and providing a safe haven for current aficionados.…

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