Longform

Female impersonator Stanley Rogers, Bonnie Blake, and Cat Schmidt donation one of her drag king outfits to the St. Louis LGBT History Project. | Courtesy Steven Brawley

A History of St. Louis’ Drag Scene

A History of St. Louis’ Drag Scene

St. Louis’ LGBTQ+ ancestral family tree includes countless drag performers and gender nonconforming individuals. Currently, St. Louis lays claim to having the world’s oldest performing drag queen – John Chaney, who performs at the age of 94 as Bonnie Blake, a St. Louis legend. Chaney and others have paved the way to advance LGBTQ+ rights

‘We Have to Fight’: Incarcerated Transgender Missourians Are Latest Target of Missouri Lawmakers

‘We Have to Fight’: Incarcerated Transgender Missourians Are Latest Target of Missouri Lawmakers

Jessica Hicklin may be best known as the trans woman who took the state of Missouri to court over access to gender-affirming care while incarcerated, with a successful ruling in 2018. Now five years later, as Missouri state legislators are sponsoring an array of bills targeting transgender health care, she describes this as a dark

The Hearse Chaser: Steven Brawley Preserves LGBTQ History

The Hearse Chaser: Steven Brawley Preserves LGBTQ History

The nickname came up for the first time this past summer. When I heard of my friend Ed’s passing, in addition to being saddened by the loss of a special person, I was immediately concerned about his personal collection of local LGBTQIA+ history. What would happen to it? I got nervous. While I was researching

Arch Rival Roller Derby Is a Queer Sanctuary

Arch Rival Roller Derby Is a Queer Sanctuary

When I joined St. Louis’ flat-track roller derby team in 2016, one of the first things I was told was, “Nobody joins roller derby if they have a perfectly happy life. Usually, they’re dealing with some shit.” That was certainly the case for me. I was 22, newly enrolled in graduate school at Washington University

Sex Work: The MO Ho Justice Coalition Is Here to Help us Get Free

Sex Work: The MO Ho Justice Coalition Is Here to Help us Get Free

Many in the queer community are quick to remind us that Stonewall was a riot and that it was started by trans sex workers of color. Images of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera flood Instagram all year round, but especially during Pride Month. We love to cry out that Pride exists because of the

Biker Clubs and Queer History: Stories of Rebel Queers in St. Louis

Biker Clubs and Queer History: Stories of Rebel Queers in St. Louis

Picture it: St. Louis, 2003. You’re a young queer person from southern Illinois, in the big city for your first-ever Pride parade. You’re scared shitless, horny as hell and trying to look cool. You’ve managed to score prime real estate on the parade route because in your nervousness you accidentally showed up two hours early.

Meth at the Melrose

Meth at the Melrose

My husband sleeping by my side, I woke from a Saturday afternoon nap two summers ago to my friend and downstairs neighbor, whom I’ll call Keith, passionately kissing me. My Tower Grove apartment building, which we called “the Melrose,” was like a big gay frat house back then, a place where it wasn’t uncommon for

Where We Live: Presenting the St. Louis Area’s Top 5 LGBT Neighborhoods

Where We Live: Presenting the St. Louis Area’s Top 5 LGBT Neighborhoods

There was some grumbling in conservative Jefferson County when the 2016 DeSoto Christmas Parade was slated to include the county’s drag bar, Rumors on Ice. Among the garden-variety homophobic comments posted to the event’s Facebook page, one stuck with me: “Go back to the Central West End.” The remark amused me on a couple of

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