“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 […]
This story is the result of collaboration between Queer Kentucky and Cervical Cancer Awareness & Prevention (CCAP) CCAP Across The Map, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to decrease the global rate of cervical cancer through providing cervical health education and increasing access to HPV vaccines and diagnostic screening measures in under-resourced areas around […]
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 […]
As most Kentuckians agree, Evangelical Christian backed and/or owned coffee shops pop up constantly around Louisville and the Bluegrass…especially in Louisville. These establishments cause a weary feeling within the LGBTQ+ community because of the homophobic tension in the air and lack of LGBTQ+ literature laying around. The coffee shop choices are limited and the only […]
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 […]
Whether you’ve been laid off from your job, are working from home, or going in to work with a new set of protective gear and anxieties, your day-to-day routine has likely been impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. And because as humans our external activity, our actions and routines, directly impact our internal activity—our thoughts […]
A few days ago, I had a panic attack. It had been building for a couple of weeks, ever since the Coronavirus started spreading in the U.S., leaving everyone—including me, my staff, and most of my friends—wondering whether we’d still have jobs tomorrow. And then there were the other unknowns: Will I get sick? If […]
A couple of weeks ago I attended my first leather event: the 2020 Kentucky Leather Pride Competition. I went in a virgin (figuratively speaking), and left with a newfound appreciation and respect for the leather community. By the time I arrived, the bar was filled all the way up with queers in leather harnesses, pup […]
The other day, someone misgendered me. Not to my face, but to my boyfriend. He said: “I hear you’re dating Adrian. Isn’t she trans?—or he—or whatever.” My face was on fire as my boyfriend, a cis gay man, nervously relayed the story to me over the phone. Midway through, my thoughts started to spiral. How […]
“All identities are valid.” Queers love to say this, only to raise an eyebrow at the lesbian who mentions her ex-boyfriend, or the trans person who changes their pronouns more than once. All too often, when queers say “all identities are valid” it’s with the unspoken caveat: “as long as you’re absolutely certain, and your […]
Transgender. Recovering alcoholic. Both labels carry stigmas. Coming out as each would change the way people viewed me. Both developments were positive, even cause to celebrate, in their own ways. There were also key differences, like the fact that I understand alcoholism as a disease, which transness definitely isn’t. But reflecting on the similarities between these parts […]
This is a question that the cisgender (or non-trans) people I have dated are often asked by other cis people. It is an example of a well-intended microaggression, a question or comment that is not malicious, but that nonetheless reveals the speaker’s bias toward (in this case) trans people. Please note! You can be supportive […]
One of the first people I came out to as transgender was my ex. We had been together for about two years, and we lived together. I knew the conversation would set off a chain reaction of consequences that neither of us were prepared to deal with. I was stone-cold sober when I’d made the […]
Imagine if, every time you had to use the bathroom, you were required to hold it until the available public restroom was completely empty. Now imagine being stuck in a busy restaurant, needing to pee. There is a long line out the restroom door that doesn’t seem to be dwindling. There are no other public […]
Non-queer people have a hard time empathizing with queer estrangement: the deeply traumatic experience of being rejected by loved ones, not because you’ve wronged anyone, but simply because of who you are, or who you love. They haven’t been kicked out of their house after coming out as gay, or invited home for the holidays […]
The following is a speech that I delivered on November 20th, 2019 at Douglass Blvd Christian Church in Louisville, KY for Transgender Day of Remembrance. I was so honored when Dawn Wilson invited me to speak tonight alongside such eloquent voices and powerful forces of change in our community. But then I started thinking about […]
I started transitioning while working at an Irish pub in Lexington, KY. This is how I usually begin my transition story. I suppose because it was there, at the pub, that I experienced trauma: the double-edged sword that at once disfigured my psyche, and sharpened my sense of justice into a tool for social change. […]
Sometimes allies—those who actively support, uplift, and show up for the members of an oppressed group—make mistakes. And sometimes we say things that we intend to be complimentary or affirming, but which are actually microaggressions: instances of subtle, indirect, or unintentional discrimination. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. “Wow—you seem so stable. […]
Some of us figure out we’re trans the moment we’re first introduced to the gender binary (“mama or dada” “brother or sister” “boy or girl.”) Others perform countless variations of our assigned gender before realizing that all of them feel equally wrong somehow. Some of us wake up one day knowing, and never look back. […]
Strike up a conversation with any gay person about the reboot of the TV series Queer Eye, and chances are they’ll have seen at least an episode or two. But strike up a conversation with a cis gay man or woman about the new TV series POSE, and there’s a good chance they won’t have heard of […]
The short (and obvious) answer to this question is “yes.” Fetishizing trans people, or any group of people for that matter, is problematic because, much like discrimination, the fetishization of a group of people always involves stereotpyes and generalizations of that group. For example: the stereotype that Asian men are more submissive, or that black […]
Using critical reflection and lived experience to crack open concepts of gender, sexuality, identity, community, and more. Is it wrong to fetishize trans people? The short (and obvious) answer to this question is “yes.” Fetishizing trans people, or any group of people for that matter, is problematic because, much like discrimination, the fetishization of a […]
For me, choosing to be visible means speaking freely about my identity and about my experiences if or when I feel inclined to do so. Sometimes this looks like marching in a Pride parade or wearing a rainbow t-shirt to work. Sometimes it looks like writing a blog post like this one. Other times it […]
Originally published in Bodega Magazine I came out as trans while working at an Irish pub in Lexington, Kentucky. The pub, Laney’s, was something of a legend in the minds of the locals. By the time I got there, however, its golden years were long over, and its legacy lived on only in the slurred […]
Adrian Sibernagel The label with which I most identify is “queer.” I also identify as trans (because I transitioned), bisexual (because I am attracted to more than one gender), and male (because that’s how I see and experience my own gender). But what draws me to the label “queer” is that it implies a fluidity, […]
