“The first Pride was a riot.” This slogan went viral in June of 2020, after countless white queer Louisvillians were activated by LMPD’s murder of Breonna Taylor and the growing global uprising against police brutality. Its primary use was to agitate the ruling class Gays™️ who were critical of the Black Lives Matter protests by […]
Not long after I got sober, I developed a sense of urgency toward the world I’d spent so much of my life trying to escape. If I wasn’t sleeping or at work, I was facilitating trans-inclusivity workshops, writing this column, lobbying at the capitol, attending direct action trainings, organizing fundraisers, or fighting for changes in […]
image source: Washington Post Note from Editor-in-Chief and Executive Director of Queer Kentucky, Spencer Jenkins: Queer Kentucky has had past relationships with some of the subjects within this article. Gill Holland previously donated $1,000 to Queer Kentucky in 2020 and also donated $1,000 to TAUNT, an archived project under the Queer Kentucky umbrella. We have […]
Editor’s Note: Regarding boycotts: This article is the second installment in a series that is intended to raise awareness around the systemic injustices that poor, queer, working class Louisvillians (specifically baristas) experience, and the ways certain local religious institutions and powerholders contribute to these injustices. While increased awareness often does, and should, result in action, […]
Editor’s Note: Adrian Silbernagel is a former employee of Heine Brother’s Coffee and is currently one of the co-op members of Old Louisville Coffee Shop. We understand that a bias exists, and we also know that this story is incredibly important and we’ve matched commentary with factual information. You can always send a letter to […]
Coming out as queer as a young adult was my first step into the world of financial insecurity. Thanks to my white middle class upbringing, I knew little about systemic injustice and the evils of capitalism. I couldn’t have guessed that trans people are twice as likely to be unemployed, and four times as likely […]
“Why did you stay?” is a question survivors often hear after they leave their abuser. It’s a loaded question, whose bullets spell blame. I can tell by a person’s face when they are thinking it as I share what it was like transitioning in the workplace while working for a transphobic employer (let’s call him […]
Dysphoria and discrimination deters many trans people from the doctor.q
Recently someone asked me if trans men transition in order to gain male privilege. My initial reaction was to laugh in their face. But then I realized that, misguided though it was, the question contained an important kernel of truth. So I decided to write this think piece instead. While someone could hypothetically decide to […]
I was newly single and very depressed. In an effort to empower me, my caring friends suggested I get laid. “The best way to get over someone is to get under someone,” they said. A true Pisces, I disregarded their suggestion. I didn’t need to get laid, I needed to wallow. And anyway, how was […]
Soon, coffee shop choices won’t burden the morals of our community. In addition to Day’s, the cooperative, Old Louisville Coffee Co-op will open serving as a Queer and BIPOC community hub with delicious coffees, teas and pastries. The co-op will be announcing their target opening date and location soon. One founder of the co-op is […]
This weekend, I had to ask a favor. A big one. I needed someone with a truck to help me move four one hundred and twenty pound restaurant booths and an undetermined number of wooden chairs and tables down from the second floor of a restaurant under construction and across town. And I needed to […]
LGBTQ folks face alarmingly high rates of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. These experiences are often traumatic; they trigger our acute stress response and desensitize us to subtler injustices. Consider exploitation: the type of injustice that all workers under capitalism experience regardless of race, ethnicity, sexuality, or gender. Exploitation is the reason many LGBTQ […]
Pre-transition, I didn’t know any actual trans people. So in the months prior to coming out, I spent hours each day combing the digital archives of FTM Subreddit, Trans YouTube, and other obscure discussion forums existing on the margins of the internet. An obsessive planner with a propensity for tunnel vision, I was simply trying […]
The following speech was written for the 2021 Trans Day of Remembrance event put on by QueerKentucky in partnership with The Blend and Trouble Bar. Featured Art: Kah Yangni Trans People Are DivineSource: https://www.saveartspace.org/tpas My queerness and my transness are important parts of my identity, because the obstacles I have faced and overcome in order […]
Never in my thirty-four years have I dreamed of marriage, children, a house with a yard, an impressive job, or a fancy car. Once or twice in long-term committed relationships, I have entertained one or two of these, for my partner’s sake. “The reason is… you don’t want kids,” said an ex during The Breakup […]
My first encounter with Parker was definitively intimate. They were responding to a call I had put out for trans protestors who had spent time in the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections. I explained to them that I was a trans man who had been arrested at a direct action a few weeks prior, and […]
The gym has always been my sanctuary. To this day, nothing alleviates stress, depression, or gender dysphoria (i.e., unease with one’s body or sex assigned at birth) than leaving the gym soaked in sweat with pumped muscles. Even pre-transition, gym clothes made me feel confident and affirmed in my gender, the way that my boy […]
For many trans folks, myself included, visibility is a hard-won privilege. For some it is a moral imperative. For others it’s a gesture of defiance. But whatever it means for each trans person on an individual level, visibility is crucial for our community. Without some of us stepping out and being loud and proud advocates, […]
My Loves. I hope I am not overstepping. I am just concerned that you might not be aware of how incredible you are. That once upon a time you truly loved yourself, but as you’ve walked through the world you’ve slowly succumbed to the belief that you are inadequate, or less-than, simply because you are […]
My teens and early twenties were defined by obsessive calorie restriction, multiple hospitalizations, and dangerously low weights. Given its duration and severity, my battle with anorexia is an important part of my story, but one I started to open up about only recently. For me, anorexia has always been about control. When my body, my […]
Misogyny, or hatred of the feminine, is commonly associated with straight culture, specifically as an attitude upheld by straight cisgender men to the detriment of women. While it is absolutely true that misogyny is rampant in straight culture, it is also rampant amongst queers. We queers do ourselves a disservice by not talking about this. […]
I was arrested for the first time a couple of weeks ago, while participating in a direct action here in Louisville. The demonstration was peaceful but powerful, and it was an honor to a part of its execution. This historical moment is a tipping point for racial justice, and I feel lucky to be alive […]
White gay men have been borrowing from Black woman culture for as long as Black drag queens have been running the ballroom / drag show scene. Black woman vernacular is now so ingrained in queer culture that white people, queer and straight alike, think that gay men and Black women sound the same – as […]
When we begin doing anti-racist work, as white people, it can feel uncomfortable. We will experience guilt, shame, and host of other white fears and feelings. Our brains will come up with all kinds of excuses as to why we aren’t the right person for the job: the right person to protest, the right person […]
This year Pride Month coincides with a global pandemic which, much like police brutality, is disproportionately killing the black people in our communities. Here are ten things that you can do this Pride Month to continue the fight for justice for black queers, black trans people, and black people at large. Protest alongside the black […]
This week in Louisville, Lexington, and in cities all across the state and country, protesters are organizing to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the innumerable victims of black genocide at the hands of law enforcement. Participating in these protests, most of which have been met with unnecessary force by the police, has […]
Before hopping into bed with a trans man, communication and consent are key—every trans body and preference is unique.
An introvert by nature, I spend a lot of time by myself, but I have always cultivated close friendships with like-minded queers who understand that word—queer—to be more of a verb than a noun: to queer, as in, to challenge or critique the norms, roles, and labels that are assumed to be fixed and stable. […]
Trans people and gay people share a number of the same experiences and struggles. Most of us “come out” at one point or another, and many of us experience backlash from family, friends, and from society at large for simply being who we are. But each letter in the LGBTQ+ community has its own set […]
