by Erica Nix

Keeping Austin Weird: How One Queer Woman Learned to Let Her Freak Flag Fly.

I’m Erica Nix. I’m from Arlington, Texas. Arlington, when I was growing up, was a pretty conservative place. It wasn’t really that cool to be different, and I al...

by Alfred Engstrand

Put It In Writing: Gay Man Learns Tough Lesson After Losing His Partner – and Everything They Built.

Hello, my name is Alfred Engstrand. I’m from San Antonio, Texas.  When I was 25 years old, I was approached by an older gentleman who needed my help to run his restaurant, In 48 hours, the business, she inherited the restaurant, our home that we just got. My father, for the first time came to my rescue, and he was worried about me, and he thought I ...

by Ivy Le

From Bi Erasure to “Flaming Bisexual”: Bi Asian Mom Learns the Value of Visibility.

Hi, I’m Ivy Le from Dallas, Texas. I thought everybody was bisexual. My family immigrated from Vietnam, so I actually grew up in two really conservative cultures; VietnameseAnd I was like, “Okay, I think I got what you’re saying now.” And it was then, because I had the awareness, I was ready for these calls to action. I immediately ...

by Rick Anderson

X-Men & Real-Life Heroes Inspire Gay Man to Become a “Super Lawyer”

Hi, I’m Rick Anderson. I’m from Pearland, Texas. I grew up in the Clear Lake, Friendswood area in my early childhood in the eighties and nineties. And it was a communiAnd as that was happening, I reached out to that wonderful Baylor lawyer and it was just called them out of the blue. I think I was kind of panicking at the time. I called him and...

by SJ

“We Can’t Be Patient Forever.” Trans Person Finds Joy & Community After Cutting Ties with Family

I’m SJ. I’m from Dallas, Texas.  I grew up in a house where it wasn’t really normal for us to talk about our feelings. That was really difficult for me. As a chSo after toiling over this decision for a really long time and really thinking through all of my fears about it, I realized that it was something I had to do. I couldn’t con...

by Amara Richardson

From Heartache to Hope: How a Lesbian and Her Wife Built Their Dream Family.

My name is Amara Richardson, and I’m from San Marcos, Texas.  I was 24, and my first close friend had started her family and had her first kid. And it was all new to me as And we had to think about all of the things that went into the process of doing something like IVF, finding a doctor, the expenses of the IVF whole process, all the hormones that ...

by Morgan Davis

Trans CPS Investigator Resigns Rather Than Support Texas’ Anti-Trans Policies.

My name is Morgan Davis. I’m from Austin, Texas.  A year ago, I was an investigator with Child Protective Services. At the time, Governor Abbott, the governor of Texas, askSo I immediately went outside to staff the case with my supervisor. I’m on the phone with my supervisor, “Impeccable, let’s close it.”  “No, unfortu...

by Jeremy Rashad Brown

Queer Man Leaves Behind Homophobic & Racist Microaggressions at Corporate Job & Thrives in the Arts

Hi, I’m Jeremy Rashad Brown. I am from Waxahachie, Texas.    Seventeen years ago, I went to UT where I majored in American studies and music business. And upon graduatAnd so I took a leap. I saw that as my opportunity to go ahead and see what being an artist is in this world, and even more specifically within the city of Austin. I liquidated my...

by João Kiser

“I Don’t Want You To Go.” Gay Soldier Dares to Love Amidst a Backdrop of War & Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

I’m João Kiser from Milledgeville, Georgia. I came out when I was 16 and then I joined the military at 21, which was something I did not want to do because of the kind of mI remember the last day, the day before he left because they deployed – you go back really early in the morning. The hardest thing was getting up to go to work and he was li...