Identity

I Am Allowed To Be Who I Am
It has taken a long time to embrace my sexuality, and I am still learning to embrace it at 47 years old. I remember the day before I was getting married to my man. I didn't come out to him until the day before we got married because I wasn't sure how he would take me.
By Carol Ann Townend2 years ago in Pride
The Journey to Self-Love. Top Story - March 2024.
“If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love someone else?” The famous quote from the Queen themself: RuPaul. The purpose of the quote is simple: self-love needs to be the foundation for any relationship. However, the road to discovering self-love may take years for many, myself included.
By Iris Harris2 years ago in Pride
The Life and Death of Nex Benedict. Content Warning.
Note: Nex's friends have stated that Nex was transmasculine and used he/him and they/them pronouns interchangeably. Throughout this article, I will be using he/they pronouns to refer to Nex.
By choreomania2 years ago in Pride
Everything You Need to Know About Giolì & Assia, The Power Couple Taking the Music Industry By Storm
Giolì & Assia are two Italian multi-instrumentalists, singer-songwriters, DJs, record label owners, videographers, artistic directors, editors, graphic designers, and performers who are “in complete control of their creative world.”
By sleepy drafts2 years ago in Pride
I am no different to them. Top Story - March 2024.
With the brutal and violent deaths of two 16-year-old's Nex Benedict (they/them) and Brianna Ghey (she/her), one year apart, and nothing but an ocean dividing them. Nex Benedict was attacked in a bathroom of their school, they weren't attacked because of an argument they were attacked and sustained injuries that killed them over their choice to be themselves. Brianna Ghey, another 16 year old, was stabbed over 20 times to death, again, not because of an argument, not over gang affiliations or anything like that, she was killed over her decision to be who she was.
By Ashyr H.2 years ago in Pride
The two interior designers. Top Story - February 2024.
I was around six years old when I realized I was queer. I haven’t entirely grasped the concept yet, but I knew I was different in some way. That terrified me. I can remember, clear as day, my lamentations about whether I can hide it or fix it somehow. The guilt was suffocating, my little heart racing with anxiety and paranoia because I was mortified over the prospect of anyone finding out. I was stuck and isolated with no one to confide in. I’m sure you’ve heard this exact story a million times before and I’m not here just to garner sympathy with it. What I want to talk about is a turning point in my process of growing up and it all started with two interior designers we hired to refurnish our apartment.
By Glass Shards2 years ago in Pride
My First PRIDE Parade
(This piece is for the unofficial challenge in Queer Vocal Voices. The prompt is "What Does Pride Mean To You".) I didn’t know what to expect at the first PRIDE parade I went to. The gay community where I live is…challenging for a lack of a better term. (I will save that story for another time.) Being just out of the closet, I had no idea what the point of the parade was. Until I did some research into why we have pride parades. That is when I learned of the Stonewall riots, and the first parade the year following the riots.
By J. Delaney-Howe2 years ago in Pride
Are you selfish ?
In the kitchen at a companion's party, you're amidst a significant moral problem. Popular logicians murmur guidance in your ear.
By Bhavana gowda2 years ago in Pride
Series Review of, "Feel Good"
Back in 2023, I tried writing this article. Only, when I published it I didn't think of how the title and the cover photo would look together and well...
By sleepy drafts2 years ago in Pride
Horror of Queerness. Top Story - February 2024.
Pride was for other people when I was younger. Living in the Midwest didn’t really give me a lot of insight into what queerness is. Despite having a bisexual mother and trans neighbor I had no honest idea what it was. There were a ton of examples of it growing up. Both problematic and I suppose as unproblematic as they could be at that time.
By Raphael Fontenelle2 years ago in Pride
What's Inside
There are many kinds of power, used and unused, acknowledged or otherwise. The erotic is a resource within each of us that lies in a deeply female and spiritual plane, firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognized feeling.
By kp2 years ago in Pride
A Cake Too Beautiful
Have you ever seen a cake so immaculately decorated, you didn’t want to cut into it? Sometimes that’s how I feel about love. The idea of it can be too beautiful to actually dive in. I think that’s especially true of dating apps. Sometimes I like just knowing I COULD match, or simply knowing someone else wants to match with me. It’s the idea of being wanted. But that’s not love, because love requires that initial step of bravery, the ability to trust another person with my vulnerability. But first and more importantly, it’s about loving myself. Because if I don’t love myself, I can’t fully and truly love someone else. And that desire to be wanted would only be a reflection of my own insecurity and fear that I’m not worth loving. So it then becomes easier to say no than to say goodbye.
By Kate Gall2 years ago in Pride