An Unnerving Silence
Gay men from my era went through a more difficult time in the ’80s and ’90s; we faced homophobia, discrimination in our jobs, and buried many of our friends and lovers due to the AIDS crisis. Those of us that s...
Backwoods Queer: Life as a Gay Man in Rural Georgia
There’s a sharp divide in the experiences of queer people across the state of Georgia. From the rural backwoods to metro Atlanta, life is entirely different in many ways. I’ve experienced both, and the drastic ...
The Armorettes Taught Me What it Means to be a Man
The musty gym bag stays in my closet, ironically enough. Inside, a crumpled black wig fights for space with a sequined dress, heels, a string of fake pearls, and a bag of makeup. After more than 20 years since ...
Friendship in Transition
One of my heterosexual cycling buddies and I were sitting in my living room during Pride weekend when a towering, curvy woman appeared in my doorway. I smiled at the woman and she grinned back, a glint in her e...
Fortune Cookies & the Lotto Whisperer
You know this stuff can’t be real but you check it out anyway, just in case. If my fortune cookie prophecy is correct, things are about to look up. I go to a hair salon where the stylist is a solo practit...
On Brian “Voter Suppression” Kemp
I understand this isn’t a scientific question, strictly speaking, but stay with me on this one, because it’s a conversation we need to have. Do we have evidence that Brian Kemp is not literally the Devil? I don...
Ally in the South
Tiny chicks from the sticks can have enough brass to stand up for LGBTQ.
You Say You Want A Revolution
LGBTQ politics are inherently revolutionary. The community hasn’t had a choice. When you’re up against an oppressive system that doesn’t want you to exist, you’re obliged to become a radical. Sure, your emotion...
A. Bentley Hudgins: The other virus ravaging Atlanta’s queer community
Recently, I was able to be a part of a movement that resulted in an amendment to the Macon-Bibb Charter and Code of Ordinances that now prohibits discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orien...
Charles Stephens: Collective memory is an act of resistance
I am a black gay man from the South. I came of age in the '90s and early 2000s. Like most of my generation (those of us in the gap between Generation X and Y), I grew up with a vague notion of what it meant to ...
Dàzon Dixon Diallo: When does sexual and reproductive justice matter? All the time
Sexual and reproductive justice (SRJ) matters all the time for everybody. Originally created in 1994 by a small group of black women reproductive health and rights activists, reproductive justice (RJ) has becom...