graphics by Liana Kindler A close friend semi-outed me in June. She asked me and my best friend what our sexualities were. It was a very open environment; we were at a small grad party of about ten friends, half…
In Defense of Valentine’s Day
Image by Dave Gunn/Creative Commons I love Valentine’s Day. There. I said it, and I’m not even slightly ashamed. I’m not ashamed of my torrid love affair with chocolate, or the fact that while I prefer daisies, I find a…
OKCupid Adventures
Image by OutWrite So I’m on OkCupid. Originally, I saw my roommate on Tinder and thought that it looked fun to collect hot people but my Windows Lumia phone couldn’t support the app. Recently, I found the knockoff version of…
Piss Politics: The Problems With UCLA’s “Gender-Inclusive” Bathrooms
Image by OutWrite On the eighth floor of Bunche Hall, I stand baffled before one of the twenty-five or so “gender inclusive” bathrooms on campus, except this bathroom doesn’t seem very inclusive at all. There are two signs with sliding…
By Any Other Name: What UCLA’s Preferred Name Policy Means for You
The cold sweat. The pit of dread in your gut. The gnawing sense of unrest as the professor moves down the list, calling out student names in alphabetical order. And then they reach you, call out a name you no…
This Week on Queer (Internet) TV: Lesbian Vampires, or 20 Reasons to Binge-Watch Carmilla
Still by Jordan Hall, Steph Ouaknine and Jay Bennett In light of upcoming finals and the impending wave of panic and self-loathing that’s sure to crowd my senses in these coming weeks, I’ve decided to do a favor to myself…
Give Us a Mask and We’ll Tell You the Truth: An Ode to Halloween
Photos by Kennedy Levi/OutWrite This is the night we celebrate the divine, the beautiful, the messy, the legendary in ourselves. Halloween has passed and chances are that just because you were a little too old to go trick-or-treating, (all the…
I Am the Gay Cousin: Thanksgiving Edition
Photo by Kennedy Levi/OutWrite There’s one in every family… and it might be you. A glimpse into the art of surviving being queer at your friendly family Thanksgiving. Thursday is a holiday and that means I have to see my…
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Photo by Ben Townshend/Creative Commons At 2:30 am on Thursday, October 2nd, Aniya Parker was shot point-blank in the head on an East Hollywood side street. She was Black, and she was transgender. She did not die instantly, but passed…
The Chronicle Life of an Asexual
Illustration by Gabe Hongsdusit/OutWrite I was maybe seven when my mom told me, “Don’t open your legs.” That was pretty much the extent of any talk around sex or relationships that I ever received from her. Sexuality is shameful. I…