Author: louie
-
Franqui | Orlando, FL
•
After Pulse, a lot people were scared to come out now and it sucks because when you let people like that change the way you love your life freely, they win. We as a people, we have to look out for each other. We all need to stop doing the…
-
My Thank You To Pedro Zamora
•
In 1994, a friend of mine (who we will call Lionel) asked me to accompany him to a clinic in West Philadelphia to get the results of his HIV test. Back then, HIV tests were not rapid – it took an entire week to get your results, a week of…
-
David | Philadelphia, PA
•
i always have a problem when people say “post-gay” because what exactly does that mean? there is no escaping the reality that someone is going to mark you as “different.” there’s always going to be struggles and i think we are always going to meet opposition. you realize that other…
-
•
i came here from mexico when i was 7. i was living in oxnard, california until last year. it’s a city where there is a lot of latinx people. so i was always surrounded by them but there was never really any support for the lgbtq community. i’m a trans…
-
Fernando | Philadelphia, PA
•
I moved from Chicago to Philadelphia with not much more than could fit into a small SUV and with no real idea of what the future would hold. In that time I’ve become a far different person and have found a new home with an amazing career, made some great…
-
Alexander | Camden, NJ
•
in our community it’s kinda taboo to talk about mental health, it’s taboo to talk about depression, we don’t talk about anxiety or things like that. i remember the first time i ever talked about depression, i was in high school and i was brought to the church so that…
-
That One Christmas My Friends Saved Me From Loneliness
•
We didn’t grow up celebrating Noche Buena. My mother didn’t bake cookies and we didn’t drink coquito. Chyle, I didn’t even know what a Parranda was until I was well into my 20’s. My mother, who was essentially estranged from her family, didn’t have any traditions to pass down. So…
-
Ivan | Los Angeles, CA
•
Ivan: I have been homeless for two years and even then I still don’t identify as homeless. It’s just this label that’s given by society for scholarship purposes and for the “poor boo-hoo dreamer” purposes. I do have a home. Cali is my home. I can go to San Diego, San…
-
throwback: deivid rojas
•
abuelo, instead of asking, ‘¿why did diosito give me a gay grandson?’ ask ‘how will my grandson survive in this world’?‘how can he risk it all everyday to be his true self’?‘how does he have the courage to go against what I want, what our family wants from him?’‘how can…
-
Never Dreamed You Leave In Summer: Remembering a Love Named Rob
•
his name was rob. he was 26. i met him in the bronxm4m aol chat room. it was 2005 and that was still a thing. his screen name was br0nxprynce. we connected immediately during our chat. dude was funny as hell. for a week, we chatted while i was at…
-
Luis Lao | Camden, NJ
•
i come to philly to turn up, to party. i think it’s great because i meet more people like me in philly and i really can’t get that connection in camden because camden is so negative about being gay or bisexual or transgender. i think without family as support, you’re…
-
Monserat | Seattle, WA
•
I was born in Tonalá, Jalisco in Mexico but I grew up in East LA since I was two years old. Growing up in East LA was one of the most, luckiest opportunities. While coming into a whole new country not having to lose my culture because east la is…