When Chef Marcu, also known as Marcuz James, first started his private catering business Palate Marcu: International Kitchen in 2019, he felt like he was thrown into a pool of cold water when he agreed to cater for 500 people at the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference. “I had no idea what I was doing,” Marcu […]
Category: News
Posted inCommentary
Moving beyond the biases in online LGBTQ+ dating
Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic three years ago, social interactions have existed almost entirely on virtual platforms. We work virtually, we hang out with our friends virtually and, most importantly, we date virtually. Over the past three years, we have met people almost exclusively at face value, and while long-distance or chronically online […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: Queer dating shows, 40 years of gay softball and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. The City of Brotherly Love Softball League has […]
Posted inNews
What to expect from Disney’s first “Pride Nite”
If you’ve been following the DeSantis vs. Disney news, you may have seen that on the same day that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posed the idea of building a prison complex near Disney, the megacorporation announced its first-ever “Pride Nite” on social media. The DeSantis administration has been in a very public battle with Disney […]
Posted inNews
Reponses to the expansion of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill
The Florida Board of Education has voted to expand “The Parental Rights in Education Bill” (CS/CS/HB 1557), also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, to extend to all grades, kindergarten through twelfth grade. The bill “prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity.” Failing to comply with this law could cause teachers to […]
Posted inLGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Crisis
Thousands of LGBTQ+ youth need homes but foster parents need better vetting, training
About 30,000 children age out of foster care each year and 70% of those children wind up homeless. The majority of the homeless population under the age of 18 are LGBTQ+ youth, often who can’t find an inclusive home and enter group homes where more prevalent mental, sexual, and psychological abuse turns them to the streets.
Posted inCommentary
What’s “inappropriate” about LGBTQ+ book ban rulings
The dramatic rise in banning LGBTQ+ books for young people has been a concern in the U.S. for a couple of years now and shows no signs of slowing down. While local school districts can pull books from their classrooms and individual towns can take books out of their public libraries—as hundreds did in 2021 […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: TRANSlations film festival, a book for allies and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. The Seattle Trans Film Festival kicks off May […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
Monica Palacios stands up and out
“Just comadres? I don’t think so,” is one of the many brilliant lines Monica Palacios has delivered onstage, commenting on Mexican women singing passionate mariachi songs together. Named one of the most influential Latinx performers ever, Monica Palacios was born to be a comedian. She was one of the first out Chicana lesbian comics to […]
Posted inBIPOC LGBTQ+ Artist Spotlight
Artist Kitoko Mai explores dissociative identity disorder through art
Meet Kitoko Mai. Mai is a Black, non-binary, disabled, emerging multidisciplinary performance artist, originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mai’s pronouns are she/her and they/them. Also, meet Cheyenne, Niles, and Annie. They are three separate and distinct personalities, but they all exist within Kitoko Mai. As a multidisciplinary artist, Mai engages audiences in art […]
Posted inTop Stories
Drag performers of color reflect on ‘queer joy’ – and the current backlash to their art
With roots stretching back thousands of years, drag performers have recently become a cultural Rorschach test. Just as the art form has catapulted into mainstream spaces – thanks, RuPaul – it has elicited fear in cultural conservatives, who, as the Bay Area Reporter has been reporting, are seeking to limit its public visibility through state […]
Posted inTravel
Byron Bay, Australia: A queer-welcoming coastal vacation oasis
While driving from the Ballina airport to Byron Bay, New South Wales, I came across two things I’d never seen before. The first was a “Watch Out: Koalas Spotted” sign. The second was a police station covered with rainbow banners and flying a Progress flag. While in Sydney for WorldPride, I, a few fellow journalists […]
Posted inCommunity
Latina lesbian Rosa Lopez honored with street sign toppers in West Dallas
Dallas’ gay Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez, who represents District 6 on the city council, unveiled ceremonial street sign toppers May 31, honoring Rosa Lopez.
Posted inCommentary
The news never stops
Those of us who report the news affecting the LGBTQ+ community can often feel whiplashed. In my 48 years in LGBTQ+ news, I can’t remember many moments when there weren’t many important and exhausting stories happening at once. It seems we never have a moment to process one issue when another comes along. For me, […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: 365 days of gay, Jinkx Monsoon to join “Doctor Who” and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. New book celebrates 365 days of LGBTQ+ icons […]
Posted inBIPOC LGBTQ+ Artist Spotlight
Aeryanah Von Moi: Finding liberation through theater
Aeryanah Von Moi has lived in Philadelphia for 27 years and has had a wealth of creative and professional experiences, including as an assistant to Family Court Judge Tiffany Palmer, where she still works. But it was acting that liberated her “in so many different ways.” Von Moi’s experience in theater began in the early […]
Posted inTop Stories
The power of Drag: A look back through images
Drag is nothing new. It has existed proudly and out loud for centuries. If you attended a performance of William Shakespeare’s plays at The Globe in 1599, your Juliet, Lady Macbeth and Desdemona would have been played by men dressed in drag. In the states, former enslaved person William Dorsey Swann (Born: March 1860 – Died: Dec. […]
Posted inBIPOC LGBTQ+ Artist Spotlight
Fabrizzio Subia navigates loss and grief through art
When it comes to loss, Fabrizzio Subia may know more about that than most people. Having dealt with everything from familial loss to the erasure of his history, the Ecuadorian-American multidisciplinary artist (who has also done things like host the open-mic event Tortas y Talento) has unveiled the video installation “Año Nuevo (2023)”—a grief performance […]
Posted inCommentary
The revolution, as always, will be led by drag queens
At the root of revolution is revolt–a revolt against oppressive power. Once again in our history, we must rise up against a deranged right-wing front that is harnessing political and social power to legislate and discriminate LGBTQ+ people out of existence. Once again, the revolution will be led by drag queens. The earliest uprising of […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: Seattle Kraken & Dallas Stars show their Pride, a sweet proposal and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. https://www.tiktok.com/@seattlekraken/video/7215706756293414186 The Seattle Kraken and Dallas Stars donned their rainbow colors […]
