Texas is way more queer than you think. Don't let politicians tell you otherwise. Welcome to Big & Bright 🌈⭐👏, our glittering corner of the internet celebrating the full spectrum of queer life in the Lone Star State. Kind Clinic and Texas Health Action are underwriting our original reporting and curation of queer Texas culture and news. All essays, reporting, and analysis are editorially independent.
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Culture
Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit knew she’d draw attention at the Texas Capitol last week. While speaking against Senate Bill 18 — which would withdraw state funding from any municipal library that hosts drag queen story hour events — she wore a Texas flag top with a white skirt listing the
News
In another move to intensify the surveillance of transgender Texans, the state has been keeping tabs on drivers who’ve updated the sex listed on their identification documents, The Texas Newsroom reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety collected drivers’ information and sent it to an internal email account made
Culture
Brick Savage is not a monster. But in a wrestling ring, they play one to perfection. And if there’s one thing Brick Savage does better than playing the monster, it’s breaking the rules that try to contain them. The first thing you notice about 36-year-old Savage
Culture
A wide-brimmed hat, high-heeled boots, shiny silver spurs — the cowboy’s aesthetic is quintessentially Texan. It’s also kinda gay. OK. Really gay. Yet for many people, the word “cowboy” still brings to mind a John Wayne type — a swaggering avatar for a conservative ideal of American manhood.
Culture
Last month, I went to my homegirl’s wedding. We’ve been cool since high school, and the wedding was in our old stomping grounds: the south-eastside of Fort Worth. Aside from a few folks here and there, the reception was all-Black — chopped and screwed music flowed from
News
It’s no secret that Texas is one of the most “extreme state legislatures on LGBTQ+ issues in the country,” as the senior director for legal policy for The Human Rights Campaign told the Austin American Statesman. In the first few weeks of the 89th session, organizations like GLAAD, Equality
Culture
State Representative Venton Jones, a Democrat from Dallas, started Texas’ 89th legislative session on the right note: Love. Jones proposed to his long-time partner, Gregory Scott Jr., on the House floor at the Texas Capitol after being sworn in. “Our love symbolizes resilience, and our story reminds us that
Arts & Entertainment
Editor’s note: This story mentions threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community. For 25 years, a growing number of people have honored Trans Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20 as an annual memorial to the lives of transgender and gender nonconforming people lost to violence. The 38 trans and
Culture
Last week, Americans voted to reelect Donald Trump, a man who was found legally liable for sexual assault and ran an historically racist campaign — all while threatening a large-scale mass deportation and a whole host of homophobic and anti-trans policies. A New York Times analysis showed the former
News
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has officially pulled an attack ad in which he was accused of using a photo of two students — both minors — without permission, according to Chron.com. The transphobic ad features images of the two girls from Oregon at a track meet next to a photo
Crime & Justice
EXCLUSIVE At Austin’s Pride Parade in August, while rainbow-painted police horses stood guard and brightly decorated floats passed by, officers tackled two men, using kicks and pressure points to pin their bodies to the ground. They were taken to jail on charges of ignoring law enforcement commands and
Crime & Justice
Editor’s note: This story mentions threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community. Before dawn on a Sunday morning in April, the bars in Austin had just closed. Joshua Ybarra started walking to his Uber. Then he heard an anti-gay slur hurled at him from behind. Three men leapt