I’ve had the great fortune of spending most of my life doing work in community. But my passion didn’t originally stem from wanting to change the world; it came from the desire to save myself. At age 20, I was introduced to the idea of sex work, a line of work I would ultimately participate in for years to come. When I entered the industry, and therefore began having numerous sexual partners, my mentors and friends stressed to me the…
Health+Wellness
Tarot and Astrology: Tools for Self-Reflection and Personal Growth
Posted on February 5, 2020There 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. …
Mental Health in the Age of Social Media
Posted on January 29, 2020I grew up in a time before social media. As fantastical as it sounds, there was a time before social media existed, where all socializing happened live and in person. Relationships were developed through physical and organic interaction—the old-fashioned way of getting to know someone. Bonds were built slowly and solidified over time. But as social media platforms and apps have entered the scene over the last two decades, the ways we connect were transformed, shifting to focus on increasing…
On Spiritual Teachers: Having Them and Being Them
Posted on January 17, 2020By 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…
The Body Beautiful: New Photo Campaign Promotes Self-Love, Fights Stigma
Posted on January 9, 2020The queer cult classic To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar opens with Vida Boheme (Patrick Schwayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) fixing their hair and makeup to the nines while listening to a house mix of Salt-N-Pepa’s empowering anthem, “I Am The Body Beautiful.”…
Emergent Pathways: Houstonian Dr. Kaden J. Stanley Offers Trans-Centered Mental Health Services
Posted on November 27, 2019Houston-native Dr. Kaden J. Stanley comes from a family that greatly values higher education. He spent his childhood cheering for his North Carolinian parents’ Atlantic Coast Conference basketball teams and dreamed of, one day, becoming a Duke Blue Devil himself. In the sixth grade, Stanley and his parents agreed that he would continue his schooling at a college preparatory academy. The school he would attend from sixth through twelfth grade was, as Stanley describes, southern Baptist and radically fundamentalist—Senator Ted…
Opinion: On The Need for Trans-Inclusive Abortion and Healthcare Services
Posted on November 21, 2019Abortion is a polarizing issue, but every person who can conceive a child is worthy and capable of making the private decision whether or not to have the procedure. Historically, the anti-abortion crusade has been heavily targeted toward cisgender women. Yet, cisgender women are not the only people who can get pregnant or receive an abortion—many transgender men, intersex, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people can too.…
Need A Therapist? There’s A Quiz for That
Posted on October 7, 2019I think the last time I took an online quiz, it was to see what kind of hot dog I was. Spoiler alert, I’m a Chicago-style dog. While these benign online quizzes, first made famous by Buzzfeed, have become popular for passing the time (and escaping from the inundation of celebrity pop culture and political scandals), Houstonian Ryan Schwartz has created one that is actually here to help.…
This Is Your Brain On FaceTune: Why Self-Manipulation Pervades in the Body Positivity Era
Posted on July 26, 2019Queer 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.…
Queering The Enneagram: Self-awareness is the Original Queer Super Power
Posted on May 13, 2019I 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…