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…
The Contra-versial Nuances of Queerness
CW: Queerphobia, transphobia, acephobia, biphobia “Gen Z queer people are hard to figure out,” reads a now deleted tweet by Natalie Wynn, known by her online moniker, ContraPoints. “They’re like, ‘I’m an asexual slut who loves sex! You don’t have…
Clothes and Deconstructing the Gender Binary
Illustrated by Nick Griffin (He/Him) CONTENT WARNING: transphobia, internal transphobia, enbyphobia, transmedicalism You never really liked looking at yourself in the mirror. Dressing rooms always made you uncomfortable. Bathroom mirrors were the worst. To be fair, self-confidence wasn’t exactly your…
Trans Characters in Fiction
In my experience as a reader on the lookout for transgender characters in works of fiction, the quintessential novel features a gloomy high school protagonist, who leads a pained existence and is often verbally and/or sexually assaulted by the end…
Unseen
I am unseen, unspoken, unknown. I sing with the tongue of a liar, for even I will not give voice to that precious truth which lives behind the softness of this face, behind the contours of this deceptive body.…
Trans and Trapped: Behind the Wrong Bars
Graphic by Hannah Boston Life inside of a men’s prison is not easy for anyone, but it is especially difficult for trans women. The U.S. prison system houses transgender individuals on the basis of their genitals instead of their gender…
ABCs: E is for ENDA
Illustration by Gabriel Brenner ENDA stands for the Employee Non-Discrimination Act , federal legislation that would prevent employers from firing, harassing or discriminating against LGBTQ employees based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Since 1974, (the first being The Equality…
ABCs: C is for Cisgender
Like me, you’ve probably never heard of this term and therefore don’t know the privilege tied to being cisgender. Good thing you’re reading this though; education on the existence of all parts of the queer spectrum is not only something…
TranSpoken Word: The Quiet Struggle Expressed
Photo by Yhz1221/Wikimedia Commons The hum of voices in the crowded and softly lit Hedrick Fireside Lounge slowly faded out when the first performer tapped on the mic. Sitting in the back, I could see the audience seated in a…
