Have you ever had to hide yourself from others to avoid judgment, bigotry and shattered expectations? Have you ever had to keep the real you inconspicuous as a means of survival? Nothing stings more than having family that doesn’t want you — especially during the holiday season. Every year between October and January, many people…
Wellness
A One-Woman March from Hell to Pride
After years of volunteering in other capacities, Jolene Gosha will be running the 2018 St. Louis Pride Parade. The board’s big vote of confidence comes on the heels of many personal and professional triumphs for Gosha in the past year, after reclaiming her life from alcoholism that once felt all-consuming. A One-Woman March A few…
Being a Fit “Daddy” Is Totally Doable. Just Ask This Guy
If you’ve been out on the prowl recently — whether that entails seeking Mr. Right, seeking Mr. Right Now, carousing in after-dark homo hot spots or exploring the internet’s ever-booming global gay boomtown — there’s something about gay men you can’t help but notice: As a group, we are aging. Unlike other groups, however, we’re…
At Last, a St. Louis Cycling Club Free of Alpha Males
Death. Taxes. Dudely bro-dawgs monopolizing bike rides. Some things you must endure, but others you can adjust. For more than four years running, a group of women has converged on the first Monday of every month for a social bike ride: the Monthly Cycle. They pedal a different fifteen-mile route each time through a mix…
World AIDS Day 2017
Today is World AIDS Day, and it’s worth taking a moment to take stock. First celebrated in 1988, it’s a day for people worldwide to show solidarity against the disease. The breathtaking devastation of the epidemic’s mysterious and stigma-filled beginnings in the 1980s is not today’s reality. Fewer people are dying and we understand far…
Why Miss Missouri 2016 Took on Teen Suicide
It’s a Saturday in a small town in Missouri. There’s a beauty pageant underway, and a young teen — we’ll call her Tya — is nervous. She keeps to herself all day long. She thinks she doesn’t fit in with the other girls. She stays at the edge of room, looking in. She has never…