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Identity

Unlearning: The Evolving Education of Queer Adulthood

Posted on August 14, 2020

What does it mean “to know?” How do we confirm a belief, or distinguish between bias and truth? As children, we believe what we are told. Our parents, caregivers, communities, and teachers tell us how the world works. We are given plenty of answers but rarely feel empowered to question them. As queer people, many of us were told that we didn’t have the option to be who we are—either explicitly or through the omission of our identities in conversation.…

Queers Who Cover: Reclaiming Modesty Through a Feminist Lens

Posted on July 1, 2020

Last month, I began a journey to tell the stories of fellow LGBTQ people who follow the religious practice of hair covering—an exploration that was born from the need to find and connect with others who are both queer and called to outwardly express their deep-faith practice. I was overwhelmed with the response to my first article on Bailey Gammon, a young, disabled, queer Quaker who covers—numerous other queer folks across the faith spectrum reached out, wishing to share their…

Reflections on Racism: Surviving as a Black, Non-binary Person

Posted on June 18, 2020

A photo of a protest sign against racism.

I was at a week-long Girl Scout sleepaway camp the first time I remember experiencing racism. It was right after the counselors had called for “lights out” in the bunk. There was some problem in the cabin and, to get my attention, one of the other campers called out to me—“Hey, Black girl.” She knew my real name. She’d known for days. Yet, she chose to address me as “Black girl” instead. I don’t remember what she said after that,…

All Black Lives Matter: The Erasure of Black Trans Lives from the BLM Movement

Posted on June 16, 2020

The Black Lives Matter movement was founded on July 13, 2013, by Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza, and Patrisse Cullors, in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter has since developed into an international human rights organization that aims to end systemic racism. Garza (who identifies as queer) initially helped to bring an intersectional lens to the movement—intentionally addressing how race, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity impact oppression. Yet, as Black Lives Matter has grown into…

The Realities of Being a Queer Black Mother Raising Black Sons in America

Posted on June 9, 2020

A photo of black queer mother Genét Delagrange.

As a Black, queer, single mother of two young Black boys, I am struggling to have faith in society, our justice system, and humanity. When I was a young girl, I had a knack for sniffing out injustice. I had an innate fire in my belly that drove me to stand against anything I considered to be inequitable or wrong. I would relentlessly debate my mother and grandfather on issues of racial injustice, always seeking to understand why things were the…

The Gay Nineties: The Sapphic Love of Adele & Ruth

Posted on May 20, 2020

A photo of LGBTQ history couple Adele Densmore, 21, and Ruth Latham, 18.

The article describes two women, Adele Densmore, 21, and Ruth Latham, 18, the former of whom presented masculine (in her brother’s clothing). The two of them lived in nearby St. Joseph, Missouri and, per the article, were a romantic couple for all intents and purposes. There is some confusion, though. For example, the piece describes Densmore as the one who preferred to dress in men’s clothing, while the accompanying sketches label Latham as the one wearing a top hat with…

Queers Who Cover: Finding Pride and Healing as a Queer, Disabled Quaker

Posted on May 7, 2020

A photo of Bailey Gammon, a disabled, lesbian, Quaker who chooses to wear a head covering.

I have always loved God. Yes, at times, I couldn’t stand to be around organized religion. And yes, at times, I even wanted to embrace Agnosticism or Atheism, simply because of the pain I felt from having religion weaponized against me. But even still, I could not escape the joy and validity of my relationship with the divine. As I have made peace with my queerness, I have also begun to re-embrace those aspects of religion and the church that…

Teresita La Campesina: Queering Ranchera Music, Performance, and Memory

Posted on April 29, 2020

A photo of trans Latinx performer Teresita La Campesina.

In 1996, in a Washington DC queer bar called Escandalo (which translates to “scandal” in English), the transgender ranchera artist Teresita La Campesina gave a performance of the Lola Beltrán song “Puñalada Trapera.” A heart-wrenching ballad that rebukes an ex-lover for stabbing the narrator in the back (so to speak), it is one of the few remaining recordings of Teresita’s live performances. She was never given the opportunity to record an album of her own. The rendition is pretty classical…

Mi cuerpo es un mundo: Translating My Lineage, Language, and Body

Posted on January 24, 2020

At some point in time, somewhere in Guadalajara, Mexico, this picture was taken. My Abuelita Guadalupe, my mother’s mother, sits between her sons David and Moises. In 1973, she would take my mother, Patricia, and her son Carlos with her across the border here to Houston. Some of her other children were already in Texas, while some never crossed. Abuelita would be diagnosed with Leukemia just four years later and, as such, decided that she wanted to die in her…

Free to Be: Navigating My Queer, Non-Binary Identity as a Child of the Southern Suburbs

Posted on January 14, 2020

A photo of Spectrum South writer Addie Tsai.

For the last month, I’ve been on tour for my first book, Dear Twin, a queer Asian young adult novel about twins and childhood trauma. The book centers a queer Asian romance between Poppy, a half-Chinese, half-Japanese queer teen and her girlfriend, Juniper, a self-identified butch Korean girl. When audiences ask me about the characters’ relationship, I say that, when writing this book, instead of envisioning a queer future, I instead envisioned a queer past—one in which I could have…

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