We fought hard for it. We rallied and protested and pushed legislature for it. We celebrated in courthouses and petitioned our elected officials for it. And after a decades-long battle which many of us didn’t think we’d outlive, we...
With all due respect to Ryan Crawford and his wonderful column, I’d humbly like to submit my version of a Love & Lust in Queer Seattle: The Case for the PRIDEful Lesbian. Another Pride over. How’d you do? No, I don’t...
In case you’ve been binge-watching Orange Is the New Black and haven’t set foot outside for the last month, there are rainbow flags flapping from buildings everywhere. Drag queens’ schedules are completely booked solid through...
My first one night stand was in college. Or more accurately, my first one night stand occurred on-campus in a parked car, where I was obliged to slap and streak the steamy window à la Titanic. We’d met at Neighbours nightclub where...
Anthony Martinez just wanted a prom date. Gay, out, and a junior in high school, he announced on Twitter that he needed someone to bring to the dance. Those of us who graduated high school 15+ years ago may expect to hear he pretended to...
Gorgeous vaginas on every wall. Paintings, portraits, sculptures: one mural of labia majora gaped so wide it made me yawn. And the penises! Glass dildos, phallic ink drawings, they dangled from all the slivers of space that the vaginas...
The teacher would display colorful diagrams of side-profile penises flayed in half, mysterious tubes floating about, one testicle resting inexplicably above the other. You would open a text book to view what looked like an alien squid,...
Maybe he’s at a bus stop sitting cross-legged at the knees, tapping his phone with an airy flick of his wrist. Or perhaps he’s laughing with friends at Purr, imitating the choreography from the music videos on the screen. You might...
“Man-haters,” some call them dismissively. “Angry feminists.” “Male wannabes.” “Bull dykes.” People spit out all types of terms when describing butch lesbians. We size up her masculinity the moment we see her. How does she...
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray recently appointed a task force of 30 community members to strategize ways to reduce the city’s increasing amount of hate crimes and brainstorm ideas to make neighborhoods safer for LGBT folks. This comes at a...
Last week’s installment of “Love and Lust in Queer Seattle” was a salty rant against Valentine’s Day and the pressure it brings to overextend oneself for the sake of forced romantic gestures. But despite my bitterness, all the...
Of all the secular holidays we celebrate in America, Valentine’s Day is by far the most pathetic. At least St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t take itself too seriously—we all know we’ll end up with green shit smudged all over our faces,...
The state of “knowing” something without proof is often vaguely labeled as something like faith, blind trust, even fool’s hope. To claim one knows something implies it is fact; that one’s commitment to this belief is based on...
Hi y’all. Ryan here. Some of you know me from volunteering at the Gay City Health Project, singing for Seattle Pride Idol, or my work in tobacco cessation and weight loss coaching. Or maybe I’ve left my boxers at your place. For those...