Art of a masc-presenting person with curly hair, cane, and a lesbian flag wrapped around their neck holding the hand of a fem-presenting person with an aromantic and asexual badge on their cardigan. They are moving in front of a crowd behind them. There is text above them that reads, “All of my friends turned out to be queer.”
Poetry

All of my friends turned out to be queer

An illustration of a pride flag flowing on a flagpole with an American flag flowing behind it on the same flagpole. The flagpole is shaped like a spear. The flags have soft pink lighting on the exteriors of it. Behind both flags is a black star shape. There is black text beneath both of the flags that reads “Defy, Protect, Celebrate.” The background is a gradient fading from white to pink.
Art & Illustration

Defy, Protect, Celebrate

Digital illustration of an androgynous person covered fully in flags from countries around the world with a yellowish tone tiny on top, and with minimal features outside of downturned eyes gazing upwards. The person is surrounded by and is holding monarch butterflies, and is also surrounded by yellow birds in flight. There is a blue sky with clouds in the background, with text that reads "Protect Our Migrants" in curly, free-flowing lettering.
Art & Illustration

Protect our migrants

Chest up depiction of a white man in reflective white rimmed ski goggles with the letters POC on the side, a black ski helmet, a dark blue jacket, and a purple and white Olympic jersey on a light blue background. He is facing 3/4s to the left with a focused expression. Colorful lines and other textures flow off of him to the right, indicating movement.
Art & Illustration

Elis Lundholm: The first (out) trans athlete in the Winter Olympics

A guy with short, black curly hair and tan skin has a determined, angry facial expression. His hands are curled up in fists and he's in a fighting or kicking stance. His brown boot is extending towards the screen. The word "ICE" written on the bottom of the shoe and the word "OUT" spanning out underneath it. The background is off-white and there is a gray shadow behind him, as well as a red outline around him. He is wearing a cream colored shirt and blue jeans.
Art & Illustration

Step on ICE

A room with a lamp shining on a vinyl record, with sheet music scattered around it.
Arts & Entertainment

Between the lines: utilizing music to shape mood in fiction

Featured

Art of a masc-presenting person with curly hair, cane, and a lesbian flag wrapped around their neck holding the hand of a fem-presenting person with an aromantic and asexual badge on their cardigan. They are moving in front of a crowd behind them. There is text above them that reads, “All of my friends turned out to be queer.”
All of my friends turned out to be queer

Kaden / OutWrite I plead guilty to perpetually falling in love With the ritual of her hands weaving Watercolor sunsets into the shapes of women; With their voice, always the loudest in…

Arts & Entertainment

A room with a lamp shining on a vinyl record, with sheet music scattered around it.
Between the lines: utilizing music to shape mood in fiction

Music is woven into our everyday lives. It starts our mornings, softens our nights and sustains us through the difficult moments between. A single song can brighten a day. A familiar melody can feel like coming home. It is no surprise, then, that music plays an equally vital role in the stories we tell. Music doesn’t merely sit in the background of our favourite movies and television shows; it shapes how we feel, what we notice, and what we understand about the characters before they even utter a word. Sometimes, music whispers secrets to the audience that even the story itself is too timid to reveal. This rings especially true in queer stories, where music expresses desire and intimacy and evokes emotion that the narrative might otherwise leave unspoken.

Opinion

a black and white drawing of Marsha P. Johnson with a feather in her hair and a trans pride color necklace and trans pride colored flowers in her hair. The words trans power are above her shoulders.
What Trump’s gender manifesto says about trans power

As you read this article, the Trump administration is attempting to rewrite history by erasing evidence of transgender Americans’ existence over time. At the start of 2025, the Trump administration released an executive order defining the parameters of sex and gender titled “DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,” also called Executive Order 14168. This order aims to limit the government’s ability to advance the goals of what Trump terms “gender ideology” (or the belief in the fact that sex and gender are two separate identities) by requiring government agencies to acknowledge sex and not gender, defunding gender affirming healthcare and excluding transgender resources from mental health agencies, prisons, schools and more.

Welcome to OutWrite!

Established in 1979 at the University of California, Los Angeles, OutWrite Newsmagazine is the oldest queer college publication in the United States. OutWrite strives to build a growing educational platform through a multi-media approach that uplifts and empowers the often silenced voices of the incredibly diverse queer community. We aim to challenge dominant cisheteronormative narratives through an unapologetically anti-queerphobic, anti-racist, and progressive lens.

Community
A Minute of Your Time: Notes from the Canvassing Trail

The door standing in front of me is worn with age. It may have once been a pleasant shade of blue, but its extended life has stripped it of color. This weary door is my most daunting enemy. All I…

Community
I

Like many in our community, I’ve been following the Republican presidential primary process with an ever-increasing amount of pure, unadulterated glee. As many have argued, the longer this circus goes on, and the zanier it gets, the better things look…

Community
Gay and Pro-Life?

Huxley forecasted the ethical issues of human genetics, almost prophetically, in his 1931 novel Brave New World. In his future world, humans were selected before birth based on certain traits that were more socially ‘desirable’ in the dumbed-down dystopia he…

Creative Writing
Not Good Like Us

Fight fight fight Kill kill kill They are the enemy Not good like us I am the teen lesbian Kicked out by my parents She is not my daughter Not good like us Nowhere to run Nowhere to hide No…

Community
The “Truancy Ticket Law” and Why It Matters to Queer Youth

If you went to high school in Los Angeles you have heard of LAMC 45.04 a.k.a the “truancy ticket law”. Under this municipal code, any high school student not in class after the first bell is subject to ticketing with fines of at least to $250. Basically, running late is a crime for students. More often than not the kids getting ticketed are on their way to class. Also the vast majority of tickets are given to black and brown youth, in disenfranchised, inner city public schools.

Community
Prop 8 Ruling: Now What?

It’s kind of a strange day for the queer community. Yes, a California federal appeals court ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional this morning. But we all know this isn”t the end of the story. As we speak, the law”s backers, ProtectMarriage, are likely filing yet another appeal – this time, the case will be heard by the US Supreme Court, assuming the high court decides to take up the case.

Community
Gay Men Need Diapers: WTF?

A bible-thumping pastor from the South said something homophobic this week.  Big surprise.  But go ahead, watch the whole video and and feel gag at the outrgeousness (or, if you”re a cynic like me, chuckle a bit). Patrick Wood spewed a…