On February 5, Janet Mock, a 29-year-old trans activist of color and author of Redefining Realness was interviewed on Piers Morgan Live. Throughout the interview, he continually referred to her past identity “as a man,” claiming that she “was a…
Too Gay for Town?
Photo by Pierce Place/Creative Commons Of all the places in the country one might expect virulent outcries against the idea of a new gay bar, a small town in Mississippi is not the most surprising. If Los Angeles citizens signed…
Gender Health: Coming Out
“You must come out,” cried Harvey Milk in 1978, in a time when living one’s entire life closeted remained a common practice. But Harvey Milk urged his queer audience to come out to everyone they knew, everyone involved in their…
Feminism, The Swimsuit Edition: Forging a New Miss America?
Of the institutions and events in the United States that might be admired for leading the charge toward equality, beauty pageants are not likely to be considered among them. In a culture that is overwhelmingly, unbearably concerned with the manufactured…
Social Networking and Sexuality
Tumblr What has become particularly interesting to me of late is the encounter between sexuality and the internet—in particular, Tumblr. Anonymity has always come as a double-edged sword, but for those of us who located ourselves within the queer community,…
Pretty Little Liars Does It Better Than You Think
Still via ABCFamily/Freeform It’s true: ABC Family is not a channel especially known for its award-winning shows. And perhaps “Pretty Little Liars” does not from the outset seem a show of particular note: its source is a series not noted…
My Struggle for Identification
Photo by ToastyKen/Creative Commons I’ve identified as queer for about five years. After a process of reckoning much the same as many other coming out stories of the kind—though in my own fortunate case, my own terror was a far…
Racism and Sexism: Not the Tale of Generations Past
Photo by Fred Murphy/Creative Commons Though election season this year, as ever, focused largely on the question of the presidency, it was in the matter of Congress that America bore witness to several surprising and heartening changes. Among these are…
UCLA Spotlight: Women’s Bodies, Women’s Votes, With Gloria Steinem
Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr On October 7, 2012, Gloria Steinem came to UCLA to offer a lecture called “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Votes,” and, amidst the crowded hall in Broad (one which she would comment later as disliking—as she does many…
Book Review: Ash by Malinda Lo
Credit to Little, Brown and Company The retelling of fairytales has never been uncommon, and today’s mainstream productions certainly speak to that fact. Within the last four months alone, there have been two big screen releases founded upon Snow White,…