Why positive representation isn’t always enough

The fourth season of "Sex Education" featured diverse characters, including Queer, Trans, Disabled, and people of color. The season highlighted authentic representation thanks to the contribution of transgender story consultant, Shay Patten-Walker, who tragically died in 2022. The series dealt with trans issues with nuance, particularly the struggle to get gender-affirming care in the UK, and portrayed moving stories of characters like Cal Bowman, who was struggling with dysphoria. Advocacy, the post suggests, is crucial, even amidst representation.

What is music to me?

What is your favorite genre of music? This prompt is a hard one but I’ll try to answer it. I love indie music. And I was a serious top 40 girl for close to a decade. Then I encountered bands like the mountain goats and Against me and then I started working at an Alternative …

#30DaysofPride: Day 11- Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a Trans activist who has been fighting alongside her sisters since the stonewall riots in 1969. She has fought for justice and currently helps fight for trans prisoners with the TGI Justice Project. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, the trans activist came to know herself in the …

#30DaysofPride: Day 21- Essex Hemphill

I wrote this post last year when I was interning at CLAGS and so it’s a little CLAGS-centered but I really like this one!!! So today I bring you an important person in the black gay community, Essex Hemphill. Property of the estate of Robert Giard Essex Hemphill was born in Chicago and grew up …

#30DaysofPride: Day 20- Sarah McBride

Sarah McBride is the first transgender state legislator in the country. This position makes her the nation’s highest ranking transgender official. Serving her home state of Delaware, Sarah, has been advocating for trans people in her state and in Congress. Sarah worked on the campaigns of Governor Jack Markell and Attorney general and son of …

#30DaysofPride: Day 19- Marlon T Riggs

Today is Juneteenth. The commemoration of the day in 1866, that slaves in Galveston, Texas received news that they were emancipated. An important day in the history of America. So I’m going to talk about a filmmaker whose films were revolutionary for the time discussing the plight of the black folks post reconstruction and how …

#30DaysofPride: Day 14- Ceyenne Doroshow

Today’s profile is Ceyenne Doroshow. Ceyenne was on the streets at a young age after she came out to her parents. In a 2018 interview with Trans writer and member of Ceyenne's Daughter, Zackary Drucker, she talks about how she was thrown out and struggled to find housing after graduating high school. And, ending high …

#30DaysofPride: Day 13- Chelsea Manning

The person who exposed the American Military industrial complex for the war crimes they have committed, is Chelsea Manning. She is a true hero of American democracy. In 2008, a website known as Wikileaks was founded under the principle of radical transparency. During that time, Manning, in order to combat her crippling gender Dysphoria enlisted …

#30DaysofPride: Day 12- Pulse, the Shooting that radicalized me

TW: BLOOD, SHOOTING, HATE CRIMES This is a repost of an essay I wrote back in 2018 for my blog. There's a reason why I write these essays about famous people who have had an impact on the history of the LGBTQ equality movement. The reason is, when stuff like the pulse shooting happened, we …

#30DaysofPride: Day 11: Crystal LaBeija

Crystal in The Queen Today’s #30DaysofPride is Crystal LaBeija—the mother of ballroom and founder of the house of LaBeija. In the 60s, Crystal began competing in the pageant circuit in Manhattan (a majority white female impersonation contest) the original name she was going by was Crystal LaAsia but changed it to LaBeija because Latinx queens …