Beauty and the Beast’s Failed Attempt At Inclusion
This past weekend, Beauty and the Beast let me down. I was promised an openly gay character and instead, I got a man who may or may not have had a crush on an arrogant, [...]
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We Will Keep Fighting
It took me 23 years to come out even though no one close to me was homophobic. It took me 23 years to come out even though I had no religious affiliation telling me not to. [...]
Finding New Meaning At the Pride Parade
This year’s gay pride parade was my second since coming out. Last year, attending the parade was a way for me to celebrate my own personal triumph in finally accepting and [...]
The Right to Live, The Right to Love
A few nights after the horrific massacre in Orlando, I attended a vigil at Chicago’s Center on Halsted to honor the victims. I listened to the speakers challenge the LGBT [...]
Faces of Pride Episode 5: Jesse
My friend Jesse is my guest today for Faces of Pride Episode 5. Watch below to hear her speak on what she’s learned since coming out. Also, click here to check out [...]
My Sexual Identity and Me
I’ve been thinking a lot about identity lately and about the role my sexuality plays or should play in my day-to-day life. Right now, my sexuality plays a very small role [...]
The Victory Fund, Providing Support For LGBT Politicians
“You can. We can. We must.” Illinois State Representative Kelly Cassidy recently spoke these words at The Windy City Toast, a fundraiser held by the Victory Fund, which [...]
In Some Ways I Am Still Afraid: Openly Discussing My Sexuality
“Do you have a boyfriend?” a 12-year-old girl I know asked me a few weeks ago. Of course, I didn’t, but I didn’t have a girlfriend either. A simple no would not [...]
Silly Reasons I Was Scared To Come Out
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about some of the reasons I was afraid to come out. It’s funny because at the time they all felt so valid, like the biggest deals in the [...]
Label Me Proud: My First Gay Pride Parade Since Coming Out
Last week I went to my second gay pride parade ever and my first since coming out. At the last one I went to, maybe five years ago, I wore shimmering blue eye shadow and [...]
Defeating Our Inner Battles: What The Gay Marriage Ruling Means To Me
I have been out for about nine months now, so I haven’t been fighting the equality fight as long as others have—at least not outwardly. For most of my life so far, my [...]
Feeling Lighter: How Being Gay No Longer Consumes My Life
I haven’t written in a while because I haven’t learned any lessons lately. I’ve been waiting for something to happen to me, but there have been no crazy new experiences [...]
On Caitlyn Jenner: Why Everyone Should Care
I was angry when the media first began speculating that Caitlyn Jenner might be transgender. I was angry for all the obvious reasons, sure, angry that they invaded her [...]
Gay Stories Are Human Stories: Discovering The Universality of My Experiences
In October, I wrote a Huffington Post article called The Brain on 23 that went viral. The piece discussed the fear that comes with graduating college and figuring out [...]
College In The Closet
I was a little bit in love with a friend of mine in college, and my inability to acknowledge that at the time tore apart my friendship with her. I was tortured by my [...]
Building A Life In The Gay Community
Since I have come out, I’ve been putting myself out there a ton. I have been going to gay bars and dance parties and readings and happy hours and events. I have been on [...]
Learning To Date Part 5: There Is No Normal, There Are No Steadfast Rules
When I first started dating girls, I was very concerned with making sure I acted in whatever way was considered ‘normal’ in the lesbian dating community. I was [...]
Knowing Without Knowing: How Denial Kept Me In The Closet
“When did you first know you were gay?” is one of the single hardest questions for me to answer. When someone asks me that now, I say that I have always known, and that [...]
Exhausted, Angry, and Overwhelmed: What I Wish People Understood While I Was Coming Out
Coming out is exhausting. The first few weeks of telling people were some of the most draining in my life. Each person I told required an intense emotional [...]
Faces Of Pride Ep. 4: Courtney And Adam, A Transgender Love Story
Meet Courtney and Adam. Adam is transgender, and they are in love. Watch below to hear them beautifully articulate how love transcends labels and how being true to [...]
Gay Bars and Gayborhoods: Discovering My Love Of The Gay Community
It is midnight on a Monday, and I am singing at the top of my lungs. Idina Menzel’s greenified face is belting Wicked’s Defying Gravity on screens throughout the bar, and [...]
Crushes On Straight Girls: Dealing With Them In The Closet Versus Out Of It
Crushes on straight girls suck. While it is hard to have a crush on anyone who is not reciprocating those feelings, it is even harder to have a crush on someone who you know, [...]
Homophobia: The Smaller Wars We Have To Fight
One time in college, I was sitting in my friend’s living room watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars, a show in which the incredibly beautiful Shay Mitchell plays [...]
Faces Of Pride: Stories of Coming Out Ep. 3, Hillary
My wonderful friend, Hillary Handler, is my guest today for Faces of Pride Episode 3. Watch below to hear her speak on her love of the gay community and what she’s [...]
What I Learned From The First Girl I Dated
The night I met her, I spent the evening getting ready while dancing around my room screaming Carly Rae Jepsen’s Tonight I’m Getting Over You. I was so finished letting a [...]
Becoming Comfortable Calling Myself Gay
“I just wanted to let you know that I am going to be dating girls from now on.” That is the way I came out to most people. It was either that or I’d simply begin to [...]
Faces Of Pride: Stories of Coming Out Ep. 2, Jordy
The lovely Jordy Shulman is my guest today for Faces of Pride Episode 2. Watch below to hear his journey through coming out at 15 and learning to love himself for the [...]
BlogMail: On Finding The Courage To Find Your Voice
I had a creative writing professor who used to tell us that if we were having trouble getting words out, to pretend that we were writing a letter. Letters, he said, are [...]
Generational Differences When Showing Support For A Gay Loved One
Throughout the first few months of my coming out, I noticed a distinct difference between how friends my age showed support and how older people did, and I think the [...]
Review: The Pulse Fashion Show, A Celebration of Inviduality
The Pulse Fashion Show began with a spoken word performance. The poet lamented over the “name brand smiles” she saw worn by children of two-parent households and moaned [...]
