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.
Why Queer Education Matters
In March of 2022, Florida legislature passed House Bill 1557: “Parental Rights in Education” Bill, also informally referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill. Signed into law in July of the same year, the bill was proposed as a way to strengthen a parent’s right to make decisions about the type of care and education a student receives in public school. Crucially, this bill prohibits the education of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms before fourth grade, after which it has to be taught in an “age-appropriate or developmentally-appropriate” way.
The Lavender Laws
A deep dive into the history of legal rights for the LGBTQ+ community in the United States
From the Archive: From Russia With Hate (Fall 2013)
Welcome to OutWrite’s “From the Archive” series! This series is designed to provide an opportunity to interact with our organization’s archives, assess the opinions and relevance of our past content, and bring that content into the present. In doing so,…
Unions Are An Emerging Political Battleground
Photo by Zoë Collins (She/Her) In the face of an increasingly polarized racial and political landscape, some commentators have carefully noted that Democrats are at a crossroads in terms of their party’s approach to white appeasement politics, where the party’s…
With Queer Wins this Election, What does this mean for Queer People?
Last updated on 5/2/22 at 4:36pm PT to update a broken hyperlink. Revolutionary. Trailblazing. Tenacity. Coalition. Change. Hopeful. These are some words that were given to me by queer folks when asked for one word they think grasps how these…
They: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year
Graphic by Christopher Ikonomou “They” has been named the word of the year by Merriam-Webster! The online dictionary announced that lookups for the gender-neutral pronoun increased by 313% in 2019. GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Representation, Nick Adams, celebrated the statement.…
Meet Matthew Gifford, the Youngest Openly Gay Candidate Running for Office in America
Photo courtesy of Matthew Gifford for Board of Education “We need to focus on the big picture and tackle the big problems we’re facing – for our schools and for our students – so that we don’t have the same…
Democrats Take House, Governorships, State Legislatures in Blue Wave Election
Democrats swept up the majority in the US House and in several state legislative chambers in last night’s midterm election. In addition, Democrats flipped seven key governorships from red to blue in a massive rebuke to President Trump. In total…
Taylor Swift and the #MeToo Midterms
“It is difficult to imagine that Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court over the weekend had no effect specifically on how Swift and other young victims of sexual misconduct view politics.” Content Warning: Sexual Assault and Harassment Country-turned-pop star Taylor…