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…
St. Louis Arts Community Teams up to Promote Dance, Poetry and Voter Registration at the Missouri History Museum through “Dance the Vote”
The St. Louis arts community has teamed up to promote voter awareness and registration through the “Dance the Vote” campaign. This project brings together local artists who seek to make a difference during this election season by getting people registered to vote before the October 10th Missouri voter registration deadline for the upcoming November 6th…
True Tales of Transgender Aging
Too often, the narrative on transgender people is simplistic: it either focuses on the very real tragedies of bigotry and hate-based violence, or it is entirely youth-focused. But there’s a whole cohort of trans people who are facing another obstacle, one that comes for everyone eventually: age. Photographer Jess T. Dugan and her partner, professor…
Coming of Age in Popular Culture: For Author Donald Miller, It’s Academic
With several LGBT plays under his belt, Donald Miller felt confident that he could tackle writing a media focused textbook due to his love of all things pop culture and his master’s degree in media communications from Webster University. The task proved far more daunting and time consuming than he could’ve ever imagined. Even with…
Unity, Pride, and Shade: Summer Issue has it All
We’re honored to partner with Pride St. Louis and #Boom to bring you this combined Official Pride Guide and summer issue of Out in STL. Pride is when we take stock of where we are as a community, and while there will always be conflicts and rivalries (and shade!), I’m seeing more unity and collaboration…
Jake Bain: Grace Under Fire, On and Off the Field
After Jon, an eighth-grade student at a St. Louis area private Catholic school, heard about how a star football player at John Burroughs School had come out and managed to remain calm despite being put on blast by the infamously hateful Westboro Baptist Church, he decided to reach out to the player. His Instagram conversation…
Bisexuals: Here, and Also Queer
If you went to Tower Grove Pride last year, maybe you saw a quietly revolutionary booth. It hoisted pink, lavender and blue flags for bisexual pride. Amid the immediately recognizable rainbow flags that have drenched Pride celebrations for decades, the bisexual flag is still uncommon — despite some estimates, including a 2011 study by the…
Pride, All Summer Long
Every June, millions of people across the United States and the world celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month. Through marches, picnics, parades and festivals we remember the 1969 Stonewall Riots that started it all. One thing rings true: It is a time for community, a time to come together. So in addition to the massive Pride St.…
Pride and Zero Prejudice
“What’s unique about The College School is that we are a private, independent school for everyone,” says Vincent Flewellen, the school’s director of equity and inclusion. We’re seated in an open area that I happen to know was once used as a library. It’s next to the principal’s office and directly across the hall from…
Spark Something Great Over Dinner Saturday Night
Eat, vote, and change our world on Saturday by funding someone’s great idea. Each month, FoodSpark St. Louis hosts potluck style dinner parties that serve as micro-incubators, with informal but focused conversations on art, politics, identity and more. For the past four months, events have been centered on the LGBT community, in partnership with QTPOC:…