Recognized Amongst Nature

here
a wretched body becomes comfortable turmoil
untangles
from within a forsaken shell
The forest won’t judge flesh
blood   and bone
a family of limbs

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

It is a beautiful thing, wanting nothing at all from someone you love because you live with mutual understanding beyond the primal need for physical touch, found in fleeting evenings doomed to end with someone closing the door without looking back. It is a beautiful thing, telling them that you love them over the phone while you’re crying your eyes out because you don’t know what to do now; then you’re laughing until there’s a moment you allow yourself to forget. I remember life before my queer friends, how it felt begging for someone I could see myself in just enough to spark a casual conversation built on genuine interest instead of twisting those unwilling into sharing hyperfixations created for those of us who know what it’s like to have to fight for the ones you love.

Letter From The Editor (Spring 2023)

Illustrated by Charis/OutWrite This letter was originally published in our Spring 2023 print issue “Color.” Dear Reader, I stand at the end of an era. To be entirely dramatic, I have put my heart and soul into this magazine for…

Portraits of the House

Illustrated by Steph Liu/OutWrite This illustration was originally published in our Winter 2023 print issue “Culture.” From left to right: Angie Xtravaganza, Erskine Christian, Paris Dupree, Crystal LaBeija, Dorian Corey Thanks to “A History of Ballroom: Documenting the Era of…

Birds of a Feather

It started with a Facebook message between two bubbly freshmen-to-be: two California-born Indian girls bonding over Bollywood and books. One message led to another, and we decided to submit a roommate request form to live together in the dorms. It was our first time living away from the home-cooked food of our Indian families. Our shared heritage was what gave us a pocket of familiarity within unfamiliarity.

Recipe for a Resurrection

Collage by Charis/OutWrite This collage was originally published in our Winter 2023 print issue “Culture.”

Creation and Recreation

In the era before the internet, queer communities were localized, each one unique to its geographic area. When the AIDS pandemic spread throughout the world, killing an estimated 1 in 15 gay men in America by 1995, it not only came with a horrific loss of life, but also decimated communities and networks of queer people across the country.

Marigold Memories

Illustrated by Mieko Tsurumoto/OutWrite This piece was originally published in our Winter 2023 print issue “Culture.” Your Love Lives On Willi Ninja Chavela Vargas Stormé DeLaverie  Ernestine Eckstein  Jackie Shane  Ifti Nasim Amelio Robles Avila Lorraine Hansberry Gladys Bentley Marsha…

Performative Pride, Capitalism and Conservative Hate: The Downfall of the Target Pride Collection

“What do you mean they’re out of stock in all sizes? I’m wearing it,” I grumbled from the confines of a Target fitting room. My girlfriend was trying to find me a different size of the bright green Pride jumpsuit that has circulated TikTok, but, as we looked for more of the Pride collection items in different sizes, it became evident that many weren’t available online for pickup, delivery or shipping, despite being available in very small quantities in Westwood’s City Target.

Araki and the Apocalypse

It’s not every day that your new gay crush climbs through your window, confesses their love, and then promptly explodes in a shower of blood “Alien” style, leaving behind a cockroach-like extraterrestrial. But it happens in Gregg Araki’s surrealist sextravaganza “Nowhere.”