photo of VATTICA, a white nonbinary person with no hair, tattoos, and a leather vest
Community
Queer Next Up: VATTICA

VATTICA (they/them) is an artist and self-described soapbox snark for social change who writes alt-rock anthems for our dystopia.

photo of annelle staal, a white nonbinary person with bleached short choppy hair under a bucket hat wearing an oversized periwinkle dress shirt and yellow pants
Community
Queer Next Up: Annelle Staal

Annelle Staal (they/them) is a compellingly honest songwriter and storyteller. A pioneer in the world of virtual performance and a visionary in their artistry, Annelle’s sound varies from blue-eyed soul to organic acoustic pop and nostalgic 80s inspired sounds.

photo of two skeletons embracing amongst a sea of roses
Theater
Love At The End Of The World: A Review of “The Transient Bliss of Death by Fallout”

“Why am I so f****** AWKWARD?” “Alan, it’s not that bad,” you want to say to the dorky guy kicking a blow-up clown. “Pretty much everybody has a ‘Magic Tree House’ phase.”

Of course, you can’t say this because in this version of the world, you would have almost certainly perished in whatever cataclysm left Alan Alderman the last man alive. He now lives in his mother’s basement, explaining his circumstances to a tape recorder for posterity.

Music
Red Cloaks and Breaking Records: How Queer Music Fared at the 2023 Grammys

Music’s biggest night is back! Sunday evening marked the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah in downtown Los Angeles. Nearly all of the industry’s biggest stars filled Crypto.com Arena, hoping to be honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for their songs and albums released between Oct. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2022. But how did LGBTQ+ music fare at the show overall?

still from Mad Tsai's music video "stacy's brother" depicting him surrounded by shirtless high school jocks
Music
Mad Tsai Presents “Stacy’s Brother”: An Interview With The Artist

Jonathan Tsai, a.k.a. Mad Tsai, never really expected fame. Tsai started his career as a bedroom pop artist posting music online, locked in his home during a worldwide pandemic with his ukulele and overwhelming emotions to work through. While he had a significant fanbase before the pandemic, Tsai’s audience dramatically increased during lockdown when TikTok surged in popularity.

illustration of Juniper Harwood, a white neuroqueer person with a brown and blonde mullet and a frilly collar
Community
Queer Next Up: juniper harwood

juniper harwood (xe/it) is a neuroqueer digital and textile artist, and beginner jewelry maker! Xyr art has a lot of nostalgic and colorful themes, and a focus on making things that are fun to look at and touch. Its work is informed by experiences of childhood trauma, rebirth and connection.

compilation of staff picks for the best books of 2022
Literature
Best of 2022: Staff Picks for Queer Books

Enjoy our staff’s recommendations for queer books released in 2022!

photo of Thomas Chinarro, a white man with light brown, short curly hair, round glasses, a loose short-sleeve, off-yellow button up shirt, and black pants, standing in front of the ocean
Community
Queer Next Up: Thomas Chinarro

Thomas Chinarro (he/him) is a 19-year-old British & French singer-songwriter. Previously featured on emerging artist Opaline’s track “To Be Yours,” his new single “violets,” written and performed with mac gray…

photo of Cuee, a Black trans man wearing a black track suit and brown boots with a big smile
Community
Queer Next Up: Cuee

Cuee (he/him) is a 29-year-old Black trans recording artist from Chicago, IL, known best for his interactive and hype live performances. Cuee’s music style blends the lyrical confidence of Missy Elliot and Chance the Rapper with the undeniable swagger and finesse of LL Cool J. His debut single, “Shook,” was released in 2018 and has accumulated over 420,000 streams on Spotify.

photo of Emmet Abrams, a white transmasculine person with shoulder length light brown hair, an open patterned shirt over a white top with pride pins, and a red clown nose.
Community
Queer Next Up: Emmet Abrams

Emmet Abrams (he/they) is a transmasculine writer, animator, and self described “professional jester” based in Los Angeles.

Featured Posts
A yellow paper sign hung from a tent at UCLA’s Palestinian Solidarity Encampment. Handwritten black text reads “No one is free until we are all free” between a Palestinian flag on the left and a Progress Pride flag on the right.
Politics & News
“This Is a Space of Love”: UCLA’s Palestinian Solidarity Encampment
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Campus
Pride Admit Weekend: What It Is and What It Gives
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Politics & News
We Are Entering Our 2024 Election Voting Era: Why Voting Slays
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Politics & News
Fighting for the Queer Youth: In Loving Memory of Nex Benedict
A photograph of Gwen, an Asian woman with red hair, glasses, and light skin. She's wearing a shirt with fur lining and multiple necklaces. Gwen stands in front of an informational poster entitled "Reducing the Risk of COVID-19."
Campus
How a Queer Disabled Student is Fighting for Health, Safety, and Education
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Politics & News
Seeking Safety: LGBTQ+ Migrants Fight for Asylum
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Campus
Queer Prom: Fantasy Is a Radical Reality
A digital illustration of Claude, a masc Korean person with glasses and a septum ring. He has dark hair and light skin and is visibly anxious. Cracks in the colors of the trans flag spread out from around him. They are surrounded by faceless gray people.
Campus
The Growing Future of Queer Bruins in STEM
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Community
Homelessness and Familiar Faces
A digital illustration of a capybara with an astronaut hat on. Blue and yellow stars surround the capybara. At the top of the image is the text "paw."
Campus
Pride Admit Weekend Needs More Volunteers: Here’s Everything You Need to Know
A digital illustration of a light-skinned masc person in a black cap, black leather harness, and black pants. They have a beard and short hair. They face away from the audience in a dimly lit abandoned gay bar called "Rock Bottom." The only visible light is from their phone open to an ambiguous social media. The room is lit with a deep pinkish purple.
Community
The Destruction of Queer Public Spaces Has Forced Us Online
for tomorrow's article! A digital illustration of a fem person and a masc person looking at each other from the ends of two separate lines. One line is composed of fem people's pink silhouettes, and the other is composed of masc people's blue silhouettes. The fem person has brown skin, black hair in a ponytail, a purple shirt, and a tan bag. The masc person has white skin, short brown hair, a blue shirt, and a black backpack. He looks worried. They are in a school setting approaching a bulletin board with various flyers on it.
Politics & News
Oklahoma School Bans Gender Change
A digital illustration of Barbie, a blonde white woman with blue eyes in a black and white striped top and gold hoop earrings. She looks alarmed. Another woman with a brown skin tone and black nail polish cups Barbie's cheek. The Mattel logo in rainbow is behind Barbie. The top text reads "This Barbie is GAY PANICKING." Next to Barbie, the text reads, "AGHHHHH OMH SHE'S SO PRETTY OMGHA,ASGHJK." The entire image's background is light blue.
Short Story
“What Was I Made For?”: Thoughts of a Queer Barbie
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Community
The Fight Over Flags
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Opinion
Why Queer Education Matters
A photograph of Schuyler Bailar, an Asian trans man with light skin, black hair, and black facial hair. He is shirtless with visible top surgery scars, and he holds the trans flag above his head; the flag streams out behind him.
Community
Schuyler Bailar’s Intersectional Impact as an East Asian Transgender Man
A digital illustration of various sapphic couples from television. The largest couple on the left hand side is Amity, a white girl with short purple hair, a black tunic, a moon necklace, and pointy ears, and Luz, a Latina girl with brown skin, orange-brown hair, a half-cloak, and black studs, from "The Owl House." Amity cups Luz's face and holds her hand. At the bottom right corner are Beatrice, an Asian woman with dark purple hair in a bun and a cross scar on her cheek, and Ava, a white woman with orange-brown bobbed hair, from "Warrior Nun." Ava is smiling affectionately at Beatrice who is speaking. At the top right corner are Sydney, a white girl with short pink hair in an orange tank top and necklace, and Dina, a Black girl with dark curly hair and a white tank top, from "I Am Not Okay With This." Sydney leans against Dina and looks up at her lovingly. Various swirls and hearts surround all the couples.
Arts & Entertainment
From “I Am Not Okay With This” to “Everything Sucks”: A Lack of Lesbians in Media
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Literature
The Underrepresentation of Sapphic Identities in Literature: A Historical Analysis
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Arts & Entertainment
The Oversexualization of Lesbian Relationships in Media
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Sports
A Try at UCLA Women’s Rugby — Interview with Kelsey on UCLA Athletics and Being Trans
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