Top Stories
Stories in Pride that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
#RiseInPride: Intersectionality Isn't Optional
Over the years, my understanding of pride has expanded dramatically. Learning and embracing the history of my community has allowed me to further explore and understand my own identity. Lesbianism is sacred, and our identities are complex and diverse.
By Gabriella Pomales5 years ago in Pride
Get Off Your Duff Reading List: LGBTQ+ Edition
By doing this little series I've found, much unexpected, but not surprising, that most of the LGBTQIA+ books out there are geared towards young adults in the high school range (more on this later) and most are about gay boys. It was actually very difficult to find any novels written specifically to represent that 'A', for asexual, or 'I' for intersex. There's also not much as far as trans masc literature is concerned (where a cis female transitions into a male). To that end, the first (to my knowledge) middle age (10+) trans masc novel is coming out in September that specifically tackles a middle schooler's transition, before and after.
By Alana Boyles5 years ago in Pride
I Am Who I Am and I Am Who I Was and I Am Who I Will Always Be
Great old Emrys said such a line just to confuse the guards but honestly what truer words ever been spoken and if you don't understand the reference I highly suggest you watch Merlin, it's on Netflix. But, let me continue on with that and tell you how I take that statement and apply it to my everyday life. Growing up always feeling a little different from the rest of the pack I learned two things; like a chameleon, you can either learn to camouflage yourself to appear and behave like what society says is pink and blue or you can open up your feathers like a peacock and walk proudly. I was born in the late 90’s so just like any time before 2012 I’d say work still needed to be done, however, I was a stubborn child so I did both which sounds counter-intuitive but it’s not.
By Billie-Jules5 years ago in Pride
on maps & queerness
Every Wednesday afternoon, my sweet therapist reminds me there’s not a roadmap for my life, and every Wednesday afternoon, I nod along reluctantly while I spend the rest of the week still secretly seeking. I've spent most of my life thus far desperately searching for a model, a checklist, a map that even with all its winding roads and detours still ends at a fixed destination, a summit with a panoramic view of all the trails that led me to this accomplished endpoint.
By Emily Long (she/they)5 years ago in Pride
Being Unapologetically Me
Growing up, I was never confident in myself or my sexuality. I was always chasing people around, desperate to be accepted which got me in some pretty messed up situations. I always put my faith in the wrong people and got let down every single time. When I got out of my hometown, I realised that the world is so much more accepting than I realised. I came to the conclusion that I didn’t have to be afraid to be myself and I started being unapologetically, me.
By YesItsMocha5 years ago in Pride
#RiseInPride
Growing up, I always felt disconnected from family and friends. I’ve never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. I’ve never been sexually attracted to someone. As I grew up, I realised that I am a Cis-gendered woman, whose pronouns are she/her, and that is Asexual, bordering on Demisexual, who is Bisexual under certain circumstances. Basically, whilst I’m not sexually attracted to any gender, if I have a deep connection with someone, there is a potential for me to be aesthetically attracted to them (which is a really fancy way of saying that I can have a crush!).
By Rebecca Smith5 years ago in Pride
The sun rose and I flew to the birds
When I was first craving words to describe my queer identity, I was obsessed with birds. The birds didn't need words and I didn't want them either. I was working in the engine room onboard a research ship, and we wouldn't return to land for thirty to fifty days at a time. As I struggled to break from the ideas of myself as man that I had adopted over the course of my young life I fell down Google holes trying to find a way to present my body to the world. I longed to dissolve into salt-entrained air with the albatrosses.
By Joe Nasta | Seattle foodie poet5 years ago in Pride
Stories By LGBTQIA+ Vocal Creators & The Perfect Songs To Go With Them
Every time a new challenge is announced on Vocal that interests me, I jump at the chance to enter. That's the logical thing to do, right? And the most recent challenge that asked Vocal+ members to create a Pride Playlist seemed right up my alley considering that my playlists are full of songs by LGBTQIA+ artists. So I did what anyone would do in that moment and submitted my entry.
By C.R. Hughes5 years ago in Pride
I Grew Up Without a Mirror
The first time I saw a queer person on TV, he was a gay man in a soap opera. I knew he was gay because that was everything he was. He was an obnoxiously loud hairdresser who constantly flirted with the straight, macho men around him, demonstrating a severe lack of boundaries and making everyone uncomfortable. This man, whose every quality made him more a woman than a man, had limp wrists, a persistent lisp, and constantly put his hands on his hips. His purpose was clear: he was here to be ridiculed.
By Amanda Fernandes5 years ago in Pride
