Please share a bit about your upbringing, and what in your early life inspired you to write? That is the first question one might ask a celebrated author when writing a thoroughgoing profile piece that addresses her motivations, her wealth of compositions and her heritage. But, what if one already…

Hello, my name is Nicole Akoukou Thompson. I created this GoFundMe campaign on behalf of my nephew, Jami Jones…and his parents, Natalie Gwin (2/27/1968–8/29/2021) and her beloved husband Carthral Jones (7/27/1974–9/14/2021). Within the last two weeks, Jami, my beautiful 21-year-old nephew, lost both his father and stepmother to COVID-19. It’s…

Tying the knot could mean a loss of health coverage, income support and other essential resources for millions of Americans. To many folks in the queer community, the phrase “marriage equality” harkens memories of the decades-long uphill battle culminating in a watershed Supreme Court ruling in 2015, whereby same-sex marriage…

When a struggling gay nightclub reopens for the summer, 19-year-old Jordan scams their way into a job as a women’s restroom attendant. The series “Stalled” will be available on Youtube Channel starting May 24. Jordan’s inability to talk to people offline makes them a terrible candidate for a job…

Originally published on GayCityNews.com. The Netflix documentary series “My Love: Six Stories of True Love,” released in mid-April, is a case study on long-term romantic relationships. The year-in-a-life account quietly explores the varied societal, communal and emotional experiences of its protagonists. Over the course of six hour-long episodes, the limited…

Originally published on GayCityNews.com. The patron saint of New Orleans, Big Freedia , is irrevocably known for her contributions to the rump-shaking sub-genre of rap known as bounce music. Still, she also has a penchant for homestyle cooking, community development, and legacy-building. In other words, the sky’s the limit for…

Originally published on GayCityNews.com. Queer aesthetics heighten film and television, and LGBTQ women contribute significantly to that space, providing visibility, vulnerability, and originality on screen. Cite “But I’m a Cheerleader,” “The Watermelon Woman,” and “Happiest Season” as evidence. Tapping into their well of experience, culture and queerness, LGBTQ actresses evoke…

Originally published on GayCityNews.com. We don’t get redos, but we do get new opportunities. People’s Pottery Project, a Los Angeles-based artist-driven initiative, offers those opportunities to formerly incarcerated women, trans, and non-binary individuals by way of clay and ceramic art. Full-time artists at the studio benefit from skill-building, paid job…

We’ve reached a tipping point. Barriers and inequities uniquely experienced by Black individuals in the US are televised, streamed, and tweeted. Against a backdrop of police brutality, systemic anti-Black racism, a faltering age of cultural appropriation, and Karen-related pettiness in the thick of a global pandemic, there has been a…