I’m a proud, homegrown St. Louisan. This city is like my own emotional hot-tub party: The water is warm and full of all my favorite people. I’m comfortable and relaxed. I feel validated here, too, in certain ways, but there’s another type of validation that’s rarer — and requires venturing into the unknown. Last winter,…
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5 New Year’s Resolutions For St. Louis’ LGBTQ Fam in 2018
It’s that time of year again, and St. Louis is sparkling with that Midwestern holiday glow. While you’re hanging Christmas lights, shopping for Hanukkah presents and lighting the Kwanzaa kinara, don’t forget that the ultimate test comes at the end of the month with New Year’s Eve. Sure, there’s the task of finding the perfect…
Out to Prove LGBTQ Media Isn’t Dead
Twenty years ago, I was living in Oklahoma City and decided to spread my wings and move to a larger metropolitan area. I wanted to be within a comfortable day’s drive of my family in Tulsa, and I had a few options, none of them ideal. There was no adventure in moving to Dallas. It…
Drawing a Map to LGBT History
A spiffy new enterprise is making use of technology and research to tell tales of the past. It’s an online map that shows you exactly where — to the pinpoint — LGBT history happened in St. Louis. Mapping LGBTQ St. Louis is an interactive digital history project that combines the mapping and research efforts of…
Navigating the Weirdness of Alton, Illinois
I consider Alton, Illinois, the undiscovered Sausalito of the Mississippi River. It’s a picturesque town about 22 miles north of the Arch, a place with dramatic topography and grand vistas. It also happens to have mysteries below the surface. And a Historic Museum of Torture Devices. The museum’s proprietor is Janet Kolar, Alton’s hearse-driving (and hearse-racing)…