![A photo of several participants in the Queer Writing Space](https://outwritenewsmag.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/10.11.24-Mary-Nassar-320x225.jpg)
Writing Helped Me Find My Queerness — Here’s How It Can Help You Find Yours: UCLA’s Queer Creative Writing Space
Whatever creative practice(s) you choose to incorporate into your life, I hope you find safety, joy, and queer liberation in them. That’s where queer liberation and liberation of the world lies — the stories we tell and the art we create.
![A neon sign reading Circus of Books above a neon sign of a train.](https://outwritenewsmag.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/9.13.24-Queer-Neon-Lights-Sarah-Belew-640x450.jpeg)
Queer Neon Lights: A Light in the Dark at the Museum of Neon Art
Although the Museum of Neon Art may be a small piece of the Los Angeles area art scene, it can be a light in the dark for many. In a time where so many queer spaces are moving online, MONA is a small queer refuge in the heart of a busy city that works to maintain the legacy of queer spaces that came before it.
![A graphic drawn in a colorful, sketchy style of the words "Poetry is not a luxury" shooting rainbow beams past three greyscale people.](https://outwritenewsmag.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/poetry_is_not_a_luxury-soren-640x450.png)
“Poetry Is Not a Luxury”: Building New Queer Worlds One Word at a Time
Audre Lorde asks us to view life as something to be experienced, not a problem to solve — to view our feelings as cherished sources of power and knowledge instead of treasures to bury deep inside. Our poetry and dreams unlock those wells of power that can lead to true lasting action.
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“This Is a Space of Love”: UCLA’s Palestinian Solidarity Encampment
On Thursday, April 25, UCLA activists erected a pro-Palestinian solidarity encampment in Dickson Plaza. The organizers intend to remain in place until UCLA has fulfilled their primary demand for divestment from corporations and institutions complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. Over a hundred students congregated behind makeshift barricades, many with tents for overnight stays.
We Are Entering Our 2024 Election Voting Era: Why Voting Slays
At thirteen, I remember my parents frantically looking through a box in their closet containing important documents. They were searching for their citizenship papers, even though they had been United States citizens long before the election of a candidate whose campaign centered around deporting immigrants. My mother found the documents, held them closely, and sighed, relieved that everything was in order. Such was not the case for many other immigrants in the United States. Extended family and friends we knew were forced out of their homes, and their lives were forever changed. The fear that ensued from the results of the 2016 election was how I was first introduced to voting.
Seeking Safety: LGBTQ+ Migrants Fight for Asylum
Whether through proposed restrictions, new waves of immigration, or the continued unjust vilification of migrants, stories of U.S. immigration are constantly circulating in many different forms of media. However, a topic that frequently remains unnoticed by a majority of the public is that of the immigration of LGBTQ+ people and the specific struggles that LGBTQ+ migrants face.
Oklahoma School Bans Gender Change
In 2023, there were at least 32 hate crimes that led to the deaths of transgender individuals. Many trans people may choose not to disclose their trans identity in situations where they feel it is unsafe or unnecessary to do so. Transgender children increasingly face an onslaught of demeaning and even life-threatening pressure to disclose from peers, parents, and, now, educators.