How a Queer Disabled Student is Fighting for Health, Safety, and Education

How many people do you notice in your lectures wearing masks? How many coughs do you hear? Even though federal and state government policies treat COVID-19 risk with little concern, health science research continues to demonstrate the necessity of masking to prevent its contraction. COVID is a multi-systemic, vascular disease that damages every system in your body. Each COVID-19 infection that you contract results in cumulative damage, weakening the immune system. Weakened immune systems aren’t able to fight off infection as readily, meaning that any sickness can potentially be life-threatening and disabling. Unchecked immune system damage forces constant sickness to be many people’s new reality.

We Are Not Disposable: The Disabled Student Union’s Protest for Remote Access

Photo by Rowan O’Bryan “UCLA ab-le-ist!” replaces the “fight-fight-fight” in the UCLA iconic 8-clap at last Friday’s Disabled Student Union (DSU) protest for remote instruction. Many wore white in solidarity.  As we head into the second year with the coronavirus,…

Taking Care of Yourself When It’s Hard To Care

Photo by Zoë Collins (She/Her) During these, ahem, unprecedented times, it can sometimes feel hard to care about anything, let alone care about ourselves. I’m sure you’ve come across numerous self-care articles over these past few months, and I’m sure…

Distance Has Never Stopped Queer Love

Graphic by Kas Greenbaum (They/He) The coronavirus pandemic has changed how people are able to connect to each other. Masks stop not just germs but smiles; social distancing prevents not just transmission but hugs. Young queer people especially have found themselves…

Quarantining in the Closet

Graphic by Nick Griffin (He/Him) The day UCLA sent us home, I felt the identity I spent months cultivating, months accepting, recoiled into hiding. The validation I received from queer circles at UCLA, those that accepted who I am and…

Being Queer in a Small Town during COVID-19

Photos by Jaden King When UCLA announced that online instruction would begin Week 10 of winter quarter and last until April 10, ultimately to be extended throughout the remainder of the academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I contemplated…