I'm an educator at our local aquarium, and a few weeks ago, I had a band of young girls come up to me and listen attentively as I taught them about whale vertebrae and feeding patterns. One question seemed to prompt the next, and they stayed with me until the end of my shift. After I said goodbye, a young girl chased after me and shouted down the hallway. hey! I turned around to answer any lingering whale questions, but to my surprise, she just gave me a big hug. And she told me, "i want to be just like you when i grow up." In my search for "queer joy." I usually find myself coming up short. Because it would be amazing if I felt pride and joy in my identity, but usually I just wish that I could be like everybody else. It's exhausting to feel so often like a square peg in a round hole, but sometimes all you need is a whale cart. Sometimes it's just one thing that makes all the rest okay, and if "queer joy" feels like a million miles away, "queer getting by" or "queer keeping-my-head- above-water" is just as important. My guess is you're reading this in search of queer joy and I'm sorry I can't make content to fit that bill. but you being here searching for it is really beautiful, too.
Art & Illustration
Whale Cart

Created by Zoë Collins (She/Her) This piece was originally published in our Spring 2022 print issue “Reflections of Radiance.“

illustrated patchwork quilt with a different scene on each panel, including a sun tattoo, a map of california and texas, a pinky promise, a pitcher pouring out water, a paintbrush with red paint, and a skeleton with an exposed heart.
Poetry
patchwork

This poem was originally published in our Spring 2022 print issue “Reflections of Radiance.”

we are
building a new life
painting a new life
writing a new life

illustrated movie poster reading "jackson harris presents: I hate it that you know me. featuring the heart psychic. magician you don't listen." it depicts a black woman with a magenta afro wearing an off the shoulder deep pink flowy top and gold bangles as she. holds a beating anatomical heart.
Creative Writing
i hate it that you know me

magician you don’t listen
all your tricks have worked on me
I’m in a hundred million pieces and we last spoke in my dreams
please lead me back inside the gardens where our lives and love have peaked

monochromatic dusty pink illustration of two female silhouettes walking down the street under a street lamp
Creative Writing
piper&jenny

Jenny and I met in the early days of middle school, when everyone was all acne and gangly legs, and got on like a gasoline-soaked house gets on with a match. Frankly, it was a nightmare for our parents. My mom, who I know had been quietly worrying about my ability to make friends, was suddenly unable to enter a shared space in our house without me bombarding her with requests to go to Jenny’s house, stories of something funny that Jenny had said at school today, of Jenny’s new puppy that she got last week.

black and white comic by steph liu (she/her) titled "tied too tight". top panel depicts two girls, one with a high bun and the other with long hair. the former ties a red string around the others finger, a pool of thread on the ground beside her. text reads "i think i did it wrong". bottom panel depicts the two, bodies made up of the same string, dancing together and holding each other. text reads "i think i took this string that tied us together and wove it into a love story."
Art & Illustration
Tied Too Tight

Illustrated by Steph Liu (She/Her) This comic was originally published in our Winter 2022 Volume 2 print issue “Wanting: A Queer Beauty & Burden.“

digital painting of two pairs of young children. one shows a boy and girl kissing while the other are two shy girls holding hands in secret
Opinion
There is Not Only Sex in Homosexuality

Illustrated by Cole Lopez (They/Them) I am going to start this piece with a declaration of what it is not: it is not a cry against sexuality and sex. The fight for equality in the queer community includes the fight…

photo of a Brown nonbinary person with shoulder-length black hair, glasses, a yellow sweater over a white button down, a black face mask, and black pants. they stand in the UCLA botanical gardens on their phone with a flower tucked behind their ear.
Creative Writing
Fragile Dandelions

Photo by Zoë Collins This piece was originally published in our Winter 2022 Volume 2 print issue “Wanting: A Queer Beauty & Burden.“ I love you.  The first time I said it, my hands shook, my heart beating as fast…

digital illustration of cupid with pale skin, flowing blonde hair, and grand pink feathered wings. he winces and cries, struck by an arrow and bleeding pink glittery blood
Art & Illustration
Love Conquers All

Illustrated by Chrys Marr (She/They) This illustration was originally published in our Winter 2022 Volume 2 print issue “Wanting: A Queer Beauty & Burden.“

painterly digital artwork depicting a pair of amber eyes with subtle pink eye makeup. their skin is light and their eyebrows are dark brown.
Creative Writing
Aliveness

Artwork by Cole Lopez (They/Them) The morning my grandfather died             I slept. An ocean away I dreamt             that an angel leaned to kiss his cheek And I tried to push it away but instead              I screamed  My hands passing through…

illustrated candy grams reading "from: Out Write, To: You"
Community
Valentines from OutWrite

Graphic by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He) We asked our staff members for their experiences with and opinions on Valentine’s Day. Here’s what they had to share! “I’m actually experiencing my first Valentine’s this year with my girlfriend, and even though the…

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I'm an educator at our local aquarium, and a few weeks ago, I had a band of young girls come up to me and listen attentively as I taught them about whale vertebrae and feeding patterns. One question seemed to prompt the next, and they stayed with me until the end of my shift. After I said goodbye, a young girl chased after me and shouted down the hallway. hey! I turned around to answer any lingering whale questions, but to my surprise, she just gave me a big hug. And she told me, "i want to be just like you when i grow up." In my search for "queer joy." I usually find myself coming up short. Because it would be amazing if I felt pride and joy in my identity, but usually I just wish that I could be like everybody else. It's exhausting to feel so often like a square peg in a round hole, but sometimes all you need is a whale cart. Sometimes it's just one thing that makes all the rest okay, and if "queer joy" feels like a million miles away, "queer getting by" or "queer keeping-my-head- above-water" is just as important. My guess is you're reading this in search of queer joy and I'm sorry I can't make content to fit that bill. but you being here searching for it is really beautiful, too.
Art & Illustration
Whale Cart
illustrated patchwork quilt with a different scene on each panel, including a sun tattoo, a map of california and texas, a pinky promise, a pitcher pouring out water, a paintbrush with red paint, and a skeleton with an exposed heart.
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patchwork
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monochromatic dusty pink illustration of two female silhouettes walking down the street under a street lamp
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black and white comic by steph liu (she/her) titled "tied too tight". top panel depicts two girls, one with a high bun and the other with long hair. the former ties a red string around the others finger, a pool of thread on the ground beside her. text reads "i think i did it wrong". bottom panel depicts the two, bodies made up of the same string, dancing together and holding each other. text reads "i think i took this string that tied us together and wove it into a love story."
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photo of a Brown nonbinary person with shoulder-length black hair, glasses, a yellow sweater over a white button down, a black face mask, and black pants. they stand in the UCLA botanical gardens on their phone with a flower tucked behind their ear.
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