Author: louie
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Varòn | Sam Juan, Puerto Rico
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“this car was under water during the hurricane. completely under the water but the mechanic brought it back to life.” varòn, puerto rico photographed by: louie a. ortiz-fonseca
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Vince | Philadelphia, PA
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I finally came to my mom when I was like 21. I literally waited for her to ask me and she eventually did. I went to New York with my gay cousin and she knew so that triggered her to ask . She calls, mind you, while I’m shopping at…
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Sebastian | Philadelphia, PA
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it’s always funny because they say hindsight is 20/20. when i really think about it, when i was little, first grade looking at boys differently than i looked at girls, forcing myself to look at girls the way i looked at boys and not understanding all let all what it…
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Throwback: Xris
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This picture was taken in June 11, 2003 on my birthday. I just turned 17 and we went to Red Lobster to celebrate. Well, that day was an emotional day for me. I was getting ready to be put in the juvenile system and preparing to go into placement. At…
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Throwback: Jesús, Los Angeles, CA
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I still remember this day like it was yesterday. I never imagined myself publicly speaking about my undocumented status nor even speaking of being gay. It took me a while and some courage to speak out of the injustice every single undocumented individual faces on a daily basis, many of…
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Angel | Philadelphia, PA
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“faggot”, he said as he walks past me. he followed up with, “he’s just so gay.” then he was gone. i looked back with my mouth hanging open in utter disbelief. I was walking in the LGBT neighborhood of philly (the part we lovingly call “gayborhood”). this was a few…
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ANGIE XTRAVAGANZA
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“I’m your mother,” she said. It was a promise and defiant declaration to her kids that they would feel orphaned in a world where AIDS, violence, poverty, and homophobia would surely attempt to steal their magic. It was the early 1980’s, pre-gentrified New York, years before “transgender” and “gender non-conforming”…
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Franqui | Orlando, FL
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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…
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My Thank You To Pedro Zamora
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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…
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David | Philadelphia, PA
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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…
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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…
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Fernando | Philadelphia, PA
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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…