two illustrations of ggggrimes, a Black nonbinary person with dark hair and matching gold glasses, septum ring, and earrings. On the left they present as Gabriela with long hair with tight waves, a black v-neck sweater, and a smile in front of a dark violet background with leaves. On the right they present as Theo with locs, a mustache, an orange durag, a dark shirt with blue flowers, and a neutral expression in front of an orange patterned background
Community
Queer Next Up: ggggrimes

ggggrimes (they/he/she) is a Black non-binary artist from the Bronx, NY. Their work portrays queer people of color living beautiful, colorful, and honest lives, with a focus on trans people.

pink and blue graphic with polka dots featuring several logos, including 2022 US Trans Survey, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, the TransLatin@ Coalition, and the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Politics & News
National Center for Transgender Equality Announces Launch Date for 2022 U.S. Trans Survey

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) recently announced that the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey (also known as the USTS) is set to launch on October 19th.

cartoon illustration of an asian female college student with long black hair tied into a low ponytail wearing a hoodie and backpack. she looks at the bulletin board in her old high school, viewing a poster reading "our school loves lgbtq+" with a rainbow flag.
Opinion
Do Progressive High Schools Facilitate Queer Joy?

In the fall, I discussed how internalized homophobia produced complicated feelings about my old middle school’s increasingly progressive attitudes towards queer identities and rising numbers of “out” queer students. I unpacked my slight resentment toward those queer students, who seem to have an easier time exploring their queer identities out in the open since they exist in a less oppressive environment. 

cover spread for OutWrite's Spring 2023 issue "Reflections of Radiance"
Archives
Letter From The Editor: On Queer Joy (Spring 2022)

Dear Reader, I would first like to introduce myself. My name is Christopher and I am OutWrite Newsmagazine’s resident trans/(gender)queer Marfanoid and now Editor-in-Chief. I am finishing up my third year as a part of the OutWrite family and UCLA community, having grown from a hopeful, L-G-B-T, physically exhausted pure Mathematics major to the proud queercrip and rejected art student studying Communication and Disability Studies, who led two of the biggest disability rights actions in the University of California’s history. It’s been an interesting few years, and our collective isolation has allowed me plenty of time to reflect.

photo of The Mother Birdie, a white nonbinary person with short, bright red hair, bold red lips, and their chest painted with realistic planets and stars
Community
Drag, Deafness, and Defending Queer Youth with The Mother Birdie: Disability Pride (Month) Spotlight

Photo by The Mother Birdie As we make it to our fifth piece in the Disability Pride (Month) series, I am excited to introduce our spotlighted advocate, Birdie (they/them). For those who are on TikTok, you may know them as…

Photo of Juniper, a white autigender person with a brown and blond mullet, neon green glasses, a colorful short sleeved dressed patterned with flowers, a colorful crayola themed tote bag, and black Dr Martens standing powerfully in its backyard.
Community
Colorfully Controlling One’s Identity with Juniper Harwood: Disability Pride (Month) Spotlight

Photo by Juniper Harwood In this next piece for the Disability Pride Month series, we are spotlighting Juniper Harwood (it/xe), an Autigender artist who brings aspects of its life and xyr opinions into its artwork, including the mediums of embroidery,…

graphic showing an iPhone screen with an iMessage conversation. the sender sends a red heart and question mark, the recipient represented by the rainbow flag sends a trans flag with a canceled symbol. below the phone reads "dating sucks" on a pink background
Community
What’s HER Problem?: 5 Issues in Trans Dating

Graphic by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He)Co-Written by Lorely Guzman (They/He/She) and Mia Riedel (She/Her) Dating can be a messy experience, but when you’re trans, it’s a minefield. Even amongst the queer community, who tend to be more open-minded than their straight…

photo of Rhiannon, a white nonbinary person with colorful makeup and a red Protect Trans Youth shirt
Community
Art as Activism with Rhiannon Salt: Disability Pride (Month) Spotlight

Photos and Artworks by Rhiannon Salt (They/He) **Content Warning: brief mentions of abuse and toxic relationships, mentions of dissociating and other symptoms of chronic illness and mental illnesses** This article will highlight the moments when the CW is relevant, but…

collage of 3 La Loteria cards on a blush colored background. Card 6, La Sirena depicting a mermaid. Card 22, La Bota depicting a tall black boot. Card 4, El Catrin depicting a tall Spaniard in a tuxedo.
Art & Illustration
La Loteria Queered

This project was originally published in our Winter 2022 Volume 1 zine “Queer Rage, Resistance, & Renaissance.“ The artwork for La Loteria was originally introduced by the Spaniards in 1769 to the Indigenous people of what is now Mexico. It…

Creative Writing
To Be Ugly

Created by Christopher Ikonomou (Xe/He) This project was originally published in our Winter 2022 Volume 1 zine “Queer Rage, Resistance, & Renaissance.“ I will never be pretty. Most people’s view on “growing up ugly” consists of a nerdy brunette taking…

Featured Posts
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 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
An illustration of a light-skinned girl with long light brown hair in a pink sweater holding hands with a girl with brown skin and her dark brown curls tied up in a bun in a white turtleneck and red shirt. They both look backwards and up, their faces filled with worry. Blue silhouettes of people with angry faces loom above them.
Arts & Entertainment
The Oversexualization of Lesbian Relationships in Media
A photograph of a white and orange rugby ball on blue artificial turf. In the background are UCLA rugby players.
Sports
A Try at UCLA Women’s Rugby — Interview with Kelsey on UCLA Athletics and Being Trans
A map of Asia over the progress flag
Politics & News
Asia’s Steps Toward Queerness in 2023
A photograph of a desert landscape including various shrubbery, cliffs, and distant mountains. The ground is edited to be a deep purple, and the sky, light pink.
Creative Writing
A Jigsaw Puzzle Is an Act of Creation
A digital illustration of a rainbow folding fan which reads "Rest In Peace." Surrounding the fan are a variety of roses in the colors of the nonbinary pride flag: black, white, yellow, and purple. The image's background is lilac.
Politics & News
The Loss of Jesús Ociel Baena, Mexico’s First Nonbinary Magistrate, and What it Means for the Community
Follow Us