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.
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.
“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.
Cancel RIMPAC! Student Perspectives on Resisting the U.S. War Machine
This is an interview with two student activists regarding their experience at Cancel RIMPAC 2024. The International Cancel RIMPAC Campaign is dedicated to organizing and mobilizing in opposition to the Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC), an imperialist joint military exercise led by the United States.
The Human Cost of RIMPAC and Calls to Resistance
The Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC) is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, hosted by the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet Command in conjunction with 28 partner nations and the U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force, Army, and Coast Guard. The 2024 exercise marked the 29th year since 1971 that the event, held biennially because of its large scale, took place in American-occupied Hawaiʻi.
“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.
Fighting for the Queer Youth: In Loving Memory of Nex Benedict
On Feb. 7, 2024, Nex Benedict, a transgender, Two-Spirit teen of Choctaw descent, was assaulted in their high school’s bathroom by three girls who had reportedly been bullying them and their friends for the way they were laughing. Benedict went to bed with head pain following the altercation and their mother rushed them to the hospital after they later collapsed. They were pronounced dead on Feb. 8.
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.