Cami Thomas brings her whole self to her artwork, always. She’s a Black queer St. Louisan and her work lives in that intersection. Her latest film, Keenelan, reflects all this and is also a universal story — a meditation on love in all its messy glory, in which anyone can see themselves reflected. After touring…
St. Louis Native Debuts Queer Thriller at STL Filmmakers Showcase
Filmmaker Josalynn Smith’s debut feature, Ride or Die, kicks off Cinema St. Louis’ 25 th annual Filmmakers Showcase on Friday evening. Produced by Jamie Foxx’s company Foxxhole, Ride or Die premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. Smith grew up in St. Louis and graduated from Columbia University’s Film MFA program and has been based…
Planned Parenthood and the Metro Trans Umbrella Group Provide Gender-Expansive Care
A collaboration between Planned Parenthood and Metro Trans Umbrella Group has helped almost 700 gender-expansive folks in the region access gender-affirming hormone therapy in the past year and a half. The program, funded by a four-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, is called TRANSforming Community, TRANSforming Care, or TC2. TC2 prioritizes access for…
Letter from the Editor
It’s been a while, my friends! Five months, in fact — one more piece of pandemic pandemonium was the postponement of our June issue. We’re stoked to be back, and proud to once again be partnering with Pride St. Louis, who’s bringing Pride is Alive to Ballpark Village August 27-29. This issue is full of…
A Listening Ear, and So Much More: SQSH to the Rescue
Sometimes, you just need someone to talk to. For Luka Cai, that someone was hard to find growing up in Singapore — especially when it came to their queer identity. “I never had any positive queer or trans role models growing up,” they say, “so I had a lot of internalized transphobia.” Cai — trans-masculine,…
Letter from the Editor: March 2021
One year ago, I hurried out of my office on a Thursday afternoon figuring it might be a few weeks before I returned. I snagged a computer monitor to use at home with my laptop and told my plants to think like a cactus. Those plants, I assume, are fully dead at this point, and…
Pod Help Us All
The best podcasts feel like being at a party with your cleverest friends, and Eric Williams’ That’s a Gay Ass Podcast hits the sweet spot. The podcast goes deep with comedians and celebrities, posting the provocative and fully tongue-in-cheek question: “Whose fault is it you’re gay?” Muny Kids alum Williams is NYC-based these days but…
Bloom Where You’re Planted
Everyone knows that plants need the sun to flourish. For the more than 70 plants currently calling Joey Beaver’s St. Louis apartment home, an extra dose comes from their caretaker Beaver, who can fairly be called a human ray of sunshine. Beaver’s plants and his marvelous social media posts starring himself and a few leafy…
Letter from the Editor: Melissa Meinzer
As the year draws to a close, I think I join most of humanity in wishing this particular one a hearty good riddance. We’ve been through an utterly bruising year: a brutal political season, a pandemic that is killing record numbers of people — most especially Americans — and related economic ruin that’s seeing livelihoods…
Self-Care Tips from the Pros: Make Your Plan to Navigate the End of 2020
Fraught with expectations and heavy on the socializing, the end-of-year celebratory blitz can be tough at the best of times. And — let’s be real — these are not the best of times. So we reached out to a few counselors in the city for tips on how to best navigate the waning days of…