Meet the New LGBTQ+ Center Director!

After one week as director, Vanessa González-Siegel sat down with OutWrite so we could get to know more about her personal life, what brought her to Los Angeles, and what she hopes to accomplish in her new role.

Stronger Together: The Importance of Community Post-2024 Election

With the results of the 2024 election casting the future of queer rights and safety into further uncertainty and turmoil, it is completely natural to feel afraid. It is important that we allow ourselves time to process and grieve. However, one thing remains clear: now, more than ever, community will be essential in the fight for our rights.

Michael Drake’s Mask Ban Endangers More Than Just Protesters

Neither Drake’s statement nor UCLA’s policy mention the marginalized students harmed by the decree against masks, or the harms historically perpetrated by disproportionate police violence against these communities. 

Writing Helped Me Find My Queerness — Here’s How It Can Help You Find Yours: UCLA’s Queer Creative Writing Space

Whatever creative practice(s) you choose to incorporate into your life, I hope you find safety, joy, and queer liberation in them. That’s where queer liberation and liberation of the world lies — the stories we tell and the art we create.

Voidpunk and a Meditation on Human Bodies

I didn’t want to be human anymore.

Queer Neon Lights: A Light in the Dark at the Museum of Neon Art

Although the Museum of Neon Art may be a small piece of the Los Angeles area art scene, it can be a light in the dark for many. In a time where so many queer spaces are moving online, MONA is a small queer refuge in the heart of a busy city that works to maintain the legacy of queer spaces that came before it.

For the Love of Furries

When you think of furries, what comes to mind? Fursuits? Furry porn? People with cat ears being walked on leashes? Comparatively, when you think of us queers, what comes to mind? 

transmutation of man

Soren Kaur/OutWrite This poem was originally published in our Winter 2024 print, Freaks. Content warning: needles, religious (Christian) themes, scars, self-harm in the beginning, the creation story foretold — the second coming of man, forged by his own hand ~~~~~…

“Poetry Is Not a Luxury”: Building New Queer Worlds One Word at a Time

Audre Lorde asks us to view life as something to be experienced, not a problem to solve — to view our feelings as cherished sources of power and knowledge instead of treasures to bury deep inside. Our poetry and dreams unlock those wells of power that can lead to true lasting action.

The Hard Choice

Being my authentic self was never the hard choice; it never was a choice at all. It was just me.