If you’ve done any work learning about positive female sexuality in St. Louis in recent years, you probably know Nikia Munson. The educator, facilitator and explorer has long understood the importance of creating safe and respectful spaces for sexual self-discovery and learning. In 2014, Munson joined Sex Positive St. Louis, the community resource for discussion,…
Sayer Johnson is a busy dude, to put it mildly. The executive director and co-founder of the Metro Trans Umbrella Group, or MTUG, always has another project in the works to serve his community — to make life easier, safer or better for his trans siblings. MTUG, founded in 2013, offers meet-ups, trainings and panels…
Sean Michael is the mastermind behind the socially conscious theatre troupe the Q Collective. Founded in February 2018 in the context of the #MeToo movement, various protests and the Women’s March, the Q Collective has a mission of “exploring the spectrum of gender, sexuality and romantic orientation” through the lens of intersectionality and acceptance. Before…
Sitting in the garage with family in 2012, Shawn Jennings Kohrs stumbled upon a Facebook post that changed his life. A woman in Kentucky wrote with intimate details about how her thirteen-year-old son knew he was going to die, but still worried about her well-being. “Two seconds in I was invested, and knew I had…
Tony Corso — better known around these parts as Boo Boo — revitalized the Bartender Revue at Just John a decade ago, making it the hotly anticipated annual event it remains today. The annual drag comedy event, held in January, raises money for charities handpicked by Corso and Just John co-founder Jeromy Ruot. Founded in…
Mo Costello, the Mo in MoKaBe’s Coffee House, insists that her establishment’s standing as a community cornerstone has nothing to do with her. “I get a lot of credit for this, but we’ve literally just allowed the space to be the space,” says Costello, a youthful, angular mother of three adult children who has been…
Years ago, dining out as a vegetarian meant lots of limp pasta topped by wan microwaved mixed vegetables. Questions about ingredients yielded a rolled eye or a too hastily supplied answer. The bad old days are over, and leading the charge locally is Tree House (3177 South Grand Boulevard, 314-696-2100), the South Grand mainstay that…
When Janessa Highland became show director at Martha’s Vineyard in Springfield, Missouri, in 2011, she knew she was following in big footsteps. That included those of Alicia Markstone, the 2002 Miss Gay USofA at Large, who had gone from small-town Missouri to Florida to be the show director at the famed Suncoast Resort Hotel. But…
Blacklisting is an art deeply woven into the culture of St. Louis, a city that produces cold winters, but even colder shoulders. The July and August 2017 efforts of a disgruntled rival to blacklist photographer and producer Chuck Pfoutz, however, completely lacked the hallmarks of our local style. There was no subtlety and intrigue, no…
The year’s end is always a time of dichotomies: outrageous indulgence starting at Halloween and lasting through the New Year, followed by resolute promises to live on kale, water and spin classes the day the calendar flips over. It’s a time for reflection, for new growth and for looking ahead. I’m feeling like 2019 is…