When I first came out, I had a realization that both excited and perplexed me—I could wear anything I wanted. No longer having to appeal to the male gaze, I was free to be aesthetically pleasing to a whole new audience. This is a common experience for queer people who have just come out; they realize for the first time that, because their sexuality is now beyond the normative social constructs, so are their hair and clothing choices.…
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It was our spot—a small table for two, nestled right against the partition dividing the bar from the rest of the restaurant’s clientele. The order was always the same: two chicken Cobb salads, and an order of cheese fries with bacon to start. The waiters knew our names, and always asked us how we were doing with sincerity. It was our spot.…
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The sun started to fall below the rooftops of the houses that lined against our own. Crockpots and slow cookers stood together like a row of soldiers atop the kitchen counter, working patiently toward the evening’s meal. I felt my hands trembling as I mustered the courage to speak. The sentence was caught in my throat. My mother was halfway out the back door when it happened.…
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One thousand miles—that’s how far Nicholas Hooten journeyed to find his identity. Three years ago, the now 18-year-old genderqueer college student left his childhood home in Indianapolis to plant new roots on southern soil, deep within the Sunshine State. The move, Hooten says, felt like a homecoming. “Indiana is such a small state, everyone knows everyone there,” he explains. “I wasn’t out while I was there, and then I moved [to Orlando] and met so many different queer friends. It…
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National Coming Out Day gives the Veer Queer team some feelings, so they dish it out with their very first Portland guest, Kris.…
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Dear Queer Comrade, Coming out is a huge journey. Whenever I talk to people about their coming out experiences, I always ask first how they came out to themselves. Coming in to your own truth is the hardest journey of all. Sometimes we come out to ourselves and immediately tell the world, and other times, we don’t, won’t, or can’t—and that is more than okay. Here are some ideas to help you navigate this chapter of your coming out journey.…
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Coming out, especially when you live in the South, can be hard. How do you come out to your parents? In the workplace? Is there ever a time when you stop coming out? And will Julien ever stop getting so nervous while they're being recorded? In this pilot episode, get to know the Veer Queer hosts, their coming out stories, and how they navigate living in their identities.…
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I graduated high school at 17, and by the time I was 18, the fear of what was to come was overwhelming. I craved assurance that I was going lead a fulfilling life, and it became obvious that to do so, I had to stand up for myself.…
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