Gender Identity: There are many intersecting factors in the life of LGBT people that may determine their well being and mental health. One of the most influential factors, especially in the life of LGBT youth, but also while growing up, is the support of one’s family. People’s first circle...
Straight people who are homophobic: We live in a society that likes to believe that progress has been made – even though many members of our society condemn whatever progress and seem to prefer going backwards; that was accurately demonstrated through Trump’s election as president. Many people will argue that we...
Gender Orientation: The Explanations and Recriminations We have recently learnt that it is possible for someone to murder another or even commit suicide, for no other reason other than to avoid the risk of being outed. Sexuality has become such a controversial issue that we are willing to go...
Gay Community Solidarity: Do we really know how to look after one another? It is indeed a very touchy subject because it may sow the seeds of division within an already beleaguered community. You speak about it and you risk uncomfortable questions. As the LGBTIQ community did not have...
Intersex people must stand up against genital mutilation of children. Among all the current discussions centered around gender identity as a spectrum, whether or not people believe it is different from the sex binary male-female, there is often the misconception that biological sex can be divided in as rigid,...
With the conservative government of Trump in the US, which will put the lives of thousands of LGBT+ people at risk, and the contrasting climate in bright examples such as that of Malta that made conversion therapy illegal, the debate on the so called “corrective”, “reparative”, or “ex-gay” therapies...
Among the biggest issues the LGBTQIA+ community faces globally, are mental health issues and the discussion around them is one that needs to be had over and over again, in order to establish change in the life of individuals, and shape communities into safer, caregiving spaces that can encompass...
Sexual Assault: The Crime that Dare Not Speak its Name. One of the downsides of being part of an unprotected minority; is the possibility that few will care when you are a victim of crime. For quite some time, there have been stories of date rape within the LGBTIQ...
I remember how one of my favorite parts of young adult novels was the one when a parent had to go through the agonizingly awkward, for both parties, process of having The Talk with their teenage kid or kids. I remember how all the taboos I had developed around...
I’m writing this list from a position of privilege. It’s the privilege of not being told I’m broken because I’m a sexual person – which means that I experience sexual attraction to others, that I’m not one of the asexual people. What I have is called sexual privilege; it’s...
You’re probably already tired of hearing about how every story in the LGBTQIA+ community is written by a different author. Yes, we get it, each and every one of us is unique, and how that couldn’t be so, in a community with people coming from different countries, racial backgrounds,...
Coming out is one of the most widely discussed aspects and experiences concerning the life of LGBTQIA+ people. It is a concept surrounded by numerous myths, misconceptions, and pieces of advice. There are no coming out standards, there is no handbook to guide you through this journey. There are...
Why African Witches bewitching LGBT? Even voodoo refuses to work. The intersection between African traditional religion and the gay lifestyle is a complicated one. Although few of the traditional Africa mythologies specifically talk about homosexuality, it is nothing more than an omission of ignorance. It is certainly not a...
What the LGBT community needs is allies. Every letter of the acronym does, in common but also in particular ways: we all need allies to stand by us and fight against specific problems of varying shapes and sizes. Especially the less privileged identities and intersections of the community need...
Non-binary people are not trans if they’re not transitioning, or hoping to transition, in either a physical or a social way. False: identifying somewhere outside the gender binary — and therefore as a gender different than the one you were assigned at birth — brings you under the trans...
“Are you Gay?” My Top 7 Ridiculous Answers….Ever! I was having lunch at my favorite restaurant on Broadway when I overheard two girls in their early 20’s, talking smack about a guy named Jonathan. I didn’t really mean to listen to their conversation but they were practically seated right...
