Teach For America • June 2, 2021

Opening Doors for LGBTQ+ Students

Queer and trans mentors offer support and embody possibilities for LGBTQ+ students. They also help shape those students’ futures.

The Texas Observer • May 20, 2021

Fighting Anti-Trans Legislation Takes a Toll on Texas Kids and Families

A record-breaking wave of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced by state legislatures across the country this year. Texas lawmakers filed the most of any state, the majority of them attacking trans youth.

Texas Monthly • May 17, 2021

Step Into Frida Kahlo’s Garden at a Lush New San Antonio Exhibit

At the center of Frida Kahlo’s home at the Casa Azul in Mexico City was a garden. Teeming with lush bougainvillea, fruit trees, cacti, and native plants like agave and yucca, Kahlo’s garden was a creative refuge and a source of inspiration for her art.

Texas Monthly • April 16, 2021

10-Year-Old Activist Kai Shappley on Fighting for Trans Kids in the Texas Lege

“I do not like spending my free time asking adults to make good choices,” ten-year-old Kai Shappley told a roomful of Texas legislators on Monday. “It makes me sad that some politicians use trans kids like me to get votes from people who hate me just because I exist,” she told the Senate Committee on State Affairs.

Texas Monthly • March 2, 2021

Frida Kahlo’s Art Broke Taboos Then and Now. A Dallas Exhibit Highlights Five Lesser-Known Works.

With depictions of her everywhere, it’s easy to lose sight of the reason why people are so fascinated with Frida Kahlo in the first place: her art. Kahlo’s self-portraiture and surrealist renderings of a complex life filled with grief and pain continue to capture the imaginations of many.

Autostraddle • October 7, 2020

Letting Go of Latinidad

I’m not here to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month. During a year full of grief, anger, and despair exacerbated by a pandemic and a near fascist government, it’s time instead we look inward and let go of our concept of Latinidad.

Remezcla • September 22, 2020

Tejas Made: What Reproductive Rights Look Like For Latines In Texas

Abortion is legal in Texas, but over the last decade, state legislation has drastically restricted access to both abortions and reproductive healthcare overall.

Texas Monthly • August 18, 2020

The ‘Country Queers’ Podcast Challenges Preconceptions About Rural Areas

“My hope is that the project is shaking up a little bit of that in multiple ways—shaking up how people might think of rural areas and shaking up how people might think about where queerness can thrive.”

Spectrum South • February 17, 2020

How LADY Queer Collective is Making Space for LGBTQ Women in Dallas

It’s rare to find dedicated LGBTQ women spaces in Dallas. Sue Ellen’s, one of the last lesbian bars in the country, is probably the only one I can name. But there are a handful of LGBTQ groups carving out spaces across the DFW area for queer people to find community.

Spectrum South • September 16, 2019

This Queer Non-Binary Femme Makeup Artist Wants to Look Otherwordly in Small-Town Texas

Jeannette Celine, known as Gayylien, is a non-binary, Xicanx femme makeup artist who seeks to transform themself into a “freak” using makeup and body paint.

Spectrum South • August 15, 2019

To Be Queer and to Be Outside

I’ve lived in Texas my entire life and I’m just now appreciating the stunning nature found here—and how it heals me as a queer person living in this conservative state.

Autostraddle • June 26, 2019

What the Border Wall Destroys

I know the Rio Grande Valley intimately; it’s where I’m from and who I am. I’ve been thinking about the complexities of the borderland my entire life, trying to make sense of it — to make sense of myself.

Autostraddle • June 22, 2019

“Vida” Showrunner Tanya Saracho on Working in a Room Filled With Latinx Creators and Getting Queer Sex Right

In its second season, Vida continues to explore the nuances of queer and Latinx identity, grief, power, family and delivers the hottest queer sex scenes on TV.

Autostraddle • May 1, 2019

Cherríe Moraga on Delving Into Her Queer Chicana Memories in “Native Country of the Heart”

Queer Chicana feminist Cherríe Moraga examines this kind of cultural loss for Mexican-Americans assimilating in the United States in her latest book Native Country of the Heart.

Spectrum South • March 25, 2019

This Café and Bookstore is Creating Alternative Ways for QTPOC to Build Community in Dallas

Niecee X, a 29-year-old community organizer and artist, is trying to change the scene in Dallas by organizing QTPOC-centered open mics, intentional conversations, and dinner parties with the hope of one day opening Revolution Café and Bookstore to offer new ways of forming community.

Spectrum South • February 20, 2019

Black and Queer-Owned Vegan Pop-Up Electric Kitchen Lights Up Dallas Community

It’s important for Electric Kitchen founders Chanise Condren and her wife, Ashley Garner, to create recipes that don’t alienate people from vegan food just because it’s vegan.

Autostraddle • November 2, 2018

Lupe Valdez Is a Gay Latina Running for Texas Governor; That’s Something at Least

Let’s take a look at Valdez’s past, her record as sheriff and what she hopes to stand for as governor.

Autostraddle • October 22, 2018

What You Need to Know About Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s Homophobic Presidential Frontrunner

Brazil is headed to a high-stakes runoff presidential election on October 28th that will have huge implications for the largest country in Latin America, perhaps even the world.

Spectrum South • September 25, 2018

Bitter, Brown, and Femme: Meet the Founder of Popular Feminist Page Xicanisma

Cassandra Alicia, the 29-year-old founder of the popular Latinx feminist social media page Xicanisma, isn’t afraid of making her 106,000 Instagram followers uncomfortable. In fact, her tagline is “dismantling oppressive isms through tears.”

Autostraddle • September 24, 2018

An Ode to Fat Tomboy Femmes: Effortlessly Cool Plus-Size Outfits

I’m still defining “tomboy femme” style for myself but it gets exponentially harder to find inspiration when all I see is fashion for white, thin bodies.