illustration of Omar and johnny embracing from My Beautiful Laundrette
Arts & Entertainment
“My Beautiful Laundrette”: A Queer Fairytale

Graphic by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He) Stephen Frears’ “My Beautiful Laundrette” (1985) is a dramedy that chronicles the journey of Omar, a young Anglo-Pakistani man, as he takes charge of his uncle’s failing laundromat business and rekindles a romance with a…

Archives
The LGBTQ+ Acronym and Its Implications: An Analysis of The Genesis of LGBTQ2IA (Fall 2001)

Graphic Illustrated by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He) *This article is a modern analysis of the themes and content of “The Genesis of LGBTQ2IA” (Fall 2001), the first installment of our From The Archive series”* In “The Genesis of LGBTQ2IA,” there is…

realistic digital portraits of Walela Nehanda, Juniper Bug, Sol Diaz, Jubilee Heron Carrell, Arthur Burns, and Bianca Negron. Background lists dozens of identity terms.
Art & Illustration
“Diversity”: A Piece Lost to the Pandemic

Art by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He) Right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, OutWrite participated in the early stages of a still-unnamed Community Issue, a print compiling pieces from all of UCLA’s newsmagazines. Unfortunately, the project fell through in Spring 2020. As…

spotify playlist titled "Best of 2021" by OutWrite Newsmagazine
Arts & Entertainment
Best of 2021: Our Picks for Queer Music

We asked our staff for their favorite queer music from 2021, and they answered! Listen to our full playlist or check out each song below.

Creative Writing
Resisting Norms, Redefining Identity

Illustrated by Steph Liu (She/Her) categories, categories, categories  boy or girlmale or femalegay or straight the world loves to categorize,put us in a boxabsolve us of who we arediminish our rainbow splattered paintinginto a blank, white canvas. rip out our individuality,…

Community
Do You Listen to girl in red? The History and Modern Usage of Signaling in the WLW Community

Graphic by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He) Now, modern queer and WLW communities have adapted queer signaling to their own fashion and pop cultures. girl in red, a Norwegian indie pop band headed by WLW singer-songwriter Marie Ulven, is one of these…

Art & Illustration
Gay Awakening

Illustrated by Stephanie Liu (She/Her)

Arts & Entertainment
Gays in Anime: The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful – An Introspective Look on the 2019 Anime “Given”

Illustrated by Chrys Marr (She/They) **Trigger Warning: mentions of suicide** Gays. Anime. Some may think they don’t overlap, but in fact, there is a rich division of anime known for and characterized by its LGBTQ+ themes. The last few years…

Archives
From the Archive: The Genesis of LGBTQ2IA: The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, ally continuum (Fall 2001)

Welcome to OutWrite’s new “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…

Creative Writing
Holding On to Let Go

Photo by Zoë Collins (She/Her) She felt the presence approach her before she heard the sand shifting beside her head. “This isn’t like you.” She opened her eyes to a half squint. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she responded. “Come…

Featured Posts
A photograph of the police lined up in front of the encampment on May 1 in Royce Quad.
Campus
OutWrite Statement: Ceasing Regular Operations in Solidarity with Palestine
A photograph of a pro-Palestine walkout. The protestors hold various signs and walk down the Tongva steps. One protestor holds their fist in the air in the center.
Campus
OutWrite’s Statement on the Zionist Attacks and Police Brutality Against UCLA’s Palestinian Solidarity Encampment
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
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: What It Is and What It Gives
A digital illustration of a person with wavy short hair wearing a shirt that says, "Voting Is Cunty." Everything is pink.
Politics & News
We Are Entering Our 2024 Election Voting Era: Why Voting Slays
A photograph of yellow, purple, and white flowers in a field of grass.
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
A photograph of a fence along a path to the beach. Each fence post has an individual's name in blue or red letters.
Politics & News
Seeking Safety: LGBTQ+ Migrants Fight for Asylum
A photograph of three people's legs and black heels. From left to right, the people are wearing a short black skirt, a long white skirt, and black slacks respectively. The lighting is a blue to pink gradient.
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
A photograph taken from an aerial view of blurry people walking in various directions. The ground is composed of gray stones.
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
A digital illustration of two groups of silhouetted people. One group is silent and holds the Intersex-Inclusive Pride Progress Flag. The other group is led by an individual holding up their hand and shouting. The background is a light purple, and a light yellow starburst is behind the flag.
Community
The Fight Over Flags
A digital illustration of a green chalkboard with a wooden frame. A white piece of chalk sits on the left side. In the center of the chalkboard is a drawn rainbow.
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
A digital illustration of two women holding hands and looking at a painting of two women. The couple's clothing color palette matches the two women's clothing in the painting. The woman on the left has light brown skin, curly brown hair, a blue bandana, and a brown vest over a light blue long-sleeve shirt. The woman on the right has light skin, straight brown hair, a red beret, a tan shirt, and a black purse. The women in the painting wear a red scarf and a blue scarf respectively.
Literature
The Underrepresentation of Sapphic Identities in Literature: A Historical Analysis
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