I probably couldn’t have told you Pierre (pronounced “peer”) was the capital of South Dakota before deciding to go to Pride there. Fort Pierre, where Pride was held, is a “suburb” of Pierre, just across the Missouri River and in a different time zone. The entire area has a population…

When I told my friends I was going to a Pride in Laramie, Wyoming, their initial reaction was unanimous: Queer horror. I doubt any of us would have ever heard of Laramie had the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard never taken place there. Queer people are murdered every year, but…

August came to the upper Midwest in early June this year. It was already eighty degrees when I loaded into Cookie, my van, at six AM. She doesn’t have AC anymore. The vent fan’s effectiveness fluctuates with road speed and elevation. I was channeling a seventies road trip movie trope…

I hit the road at 7AM on a Friday morning, only an hour later than I had planned. Set up for Ozark Pride in Hardy, Arkansas, was to begin the next morning at 11AM. My destination for that night was Springfield, Missouri, the last big town on the way to…

driving toward queer resistance in deep red america. — I am a fifty-three-year-old, white, married, educated and happy Trans man living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last year I bought this sweet 1988 Chevy G20 conversion van. I named her Cookie Monster because of her royal blue velour upholstery and wall-to-wall shag carpet. My wife and I took her on a…

Today’s edition of completely predictable gay news. — One of the “Top Stories” this past week in The Washington Post was, “Human Rights Campaign hit with racial bias suit by former president fired in Andrew M. Cuomo scandal.” Normally, I might skim over a headline that seemed so unsurprising. A story suggesting possible racism or sexism in the HRC’s administrative structure falls into a similar news category as the daily revelations of Trump’s corruption and narcissism. Do I really need additional evidence for my long-standing beliefs? Stupid clickbait…

But his hat was — Around this time every year, I descend into my creepy, damp Midwestern basement to retrieve my extensive collection of Christmas decorations. My last name is Yule, so I have collected a multitude of items displaying various Yuletide sayings. “Make the Yuletide Gay” has long been popular in my house. I…

I’d like to explain. — It was Trans Awareness Week in mid-November, culminating in the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. I didn’t do anything to commemorate the occasion. I didn’t change any of the profile pictures on my numerous social media accounts. I didn’t light a candle. I didn’t write an article, even…

What must Queer apocalypse culture produce? — As I sit down to write on this crisp Halloween afternoon, instead of doing what all Queers should be doing at this exact time every year — opening champagne leftovers from Halloween brunch, putting on our favorite 90s R&B mix and finding drugs and shiny things for our favorite queer…