19 Search results for "queerphobia"

My family’s abusive cisheteropatriarchy is destroying my relationship with my brother
by Indigo My younger brother and I are three years apart. Like most siblings relatively close in age, we quarreled frequently as children. When it came to our extracurricular activities we were rivals. He has always been much more athletic than me, and he excelled at sports. I have always been a high achieving student, […]
On embodying darkness
by Cheikh Athj |disarmament fear is many bodies. torop. allow yourself to feel them, but do not stay stuck. move past fear toward courage, knowing it comes from fear. if you fail, face fear again. without it, there would be no courage. hala: do not stay stuck. once courage is embodied, allow it to push you […]
I thought my transness would betray my Blackness. I was wrong.
by Indigo If I were to introduce myself to anyone today, I would introduce myself as Loni. I would introduce myself as a non-binary afro-boricua whose gender pronouns are exclusively they, them, and theirs. I would introduce myself as someone who is unafraid to correct anyone who refers to me by my given name, or […]
Black youth need more than public health strategies that read sexuality as diseased and immoral
By Jallicia Jolly In the aftermath of National HIV Testing Week in the US, it is crucial that we talk openly and honestly about what it means to live, love, and sex while being Black and young. As an HIV tester and counselor, I am well aware of the conversations about “safe sex” that populate […]
Yes, I can still be unapologetically queer while in the closet
by Indigo One of my personal attributes I am most proud of is my identity as a queer and non-binary afro-boricua. Whether I am in a classroom on my college campus or a house party on a Friday night, I allow my fullest and most authentic self to occupy the space I am in. Among […]
The rage felt so good, until it didn’t: The difficulty of cutting off abusive family members
By Briana Lawrence For some, the family they’re born into doesn’t always take too kindly to Pride symbols like that rainbow bumper sticker on the back of their car. It’s something that irritates the piss out of my mother, who has told me time and time again that she can’t fathom how someone can abandon […]
The Black church taught me to be a docile victim, and now I renounce its lessons
I keep having to come out as “nothing.” To family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else who might make assumptions about my religious identity and affiliations. By “nothing” I mean that I do not subscribe to any organized religion or form of spirituality. Neither do I identify as atheist or agnostic. This is a point that […]