Spectrum South

05/17/2024

"Drag has long been a vibrant and multifaceted part of LGBTQIA+ culture, embodying themes of creativity, resilience, and community cohesion. Recently, however, the relevance and legitimacy of drag have been challenged, particularly in rural locales where LGBTQIA+ visibility is notably sparse. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative to understand and affirm drag’s critical role in these spaces as a signifier of enduring q***r culture and social progress."

✍️: Jacob Kelley

It’s imperative to understand and affirm drag’s critical role in these spaces as a signifier of enduring q***r culture and social progress.

03/21/2024

In the wake of increasing societal awareness around the need to support marginalized communities, the concept of “safe spaces,” particularly in the context of the LGBTQIA+ community, has come to the forefront. These spaces are designed to eliminate biases and microaggressions, creating environments that promote respect and inclusivity. But as appealing as this ideal sounds, the notion of a universal “safe space” is both unrealistic and potentially limiting. Let’s explore a more pragmatic approach: shifting from pursuing safe spaces to the creation of “safer spaces.” ✍️ by Jacob Kelley

Let’s explore a more pragmatic approach: shifting from pursuing safe spaces to the creation of “safer spaces.”

12/31/2023

Here’s to a year of progress, success, and personal growth. Let’s get started! ✍️ by Jacob Kelley 🪩

As the year comes to an end, many of us feel compelled to set New Year’s resolutions for 2024. This tradition, while well-meaning, often leads to short-lived commitments that fade by February. Why?

10/04/2023

On the season three finale of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with the Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer, activist, author, and the first openly transgender Bishop in a major Christian denomination, to discuss being our own cheerleaders, finding hope in our current climate, and the evolution and ongoing restrictions of coming out. 🎙️Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at the link below.

On the season three finale of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with the Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer, activist, author, and the first openly transgender Bishop in a major Christian denomination, to discuss being our own cheerleaders, finding hope in our current climate, and...

09/02/2023

On this month’s episode of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Sarah Luna, a Texas-born sociocultural anthropologist, professor, and award-winning author, to discuss her coming out experience in San Antonio, her research on migrants, s*x work, and missionaries, and her latest project on sapphic and transfeminist activism in Mexico City. 🎧Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or by clicking the link below.

Host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Sarah Luna, a Texas-born sociocultural anthropologist, professor, and award-winning author, to discuss her coming out experience in San Antonio, her research on migrants, s*x work, and missionaries, and her latest project on sapphic and transfeminist activism in...

08/02/2023

As an ally, there’s plenty you can do to reshape the workplace and amplify LGBTQ+ voices. Actionable steps, like calling for authentic representation, can push employers to reconsider their position on diversity and help LGBTQ+ peers get the promotions and pay raises that they deserve.

As an ally, there’s plenty you can do to reshape the workplace and amplify LGBTQ+ voices. Actionable steps can push employers to reconsider their position on diversity.

07/28/2023

Professor Jerry Watkins serves as an associate teaching professor in the Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. His fascinating book Q***ring the Redneck Riviera: Sexuality and the Rise of Florida Tourism focuses on the LGBTQ history of a region not often discussed on the map of the q***r South: the Florida Panhandle.

Spectrum South's Nikita Shepherd sat down with Watkins to chat as he was wrapping up his semester of teaching. They learned a lot about the unconventional q***r history of an overlooked region—where Stonewall made no impact, but tourism reigned supreme, and efforts to “unq***r” the region were fought not with protests, but with beach parties. And they also learned about one southern gay man’s defiant journey out of shame into pride, in which it took a trip across the Atlantic to be able to learn the history of the gay bar in the humble coastal town where he grew up. Read the next installment of our "Historians of the Q***r South" series below.

As a teacher, Jerry "Jay" Watkins is deeply committed to putting LGBTQ folks back into the story of America.

07/26/2023

On this month’s episode of Asking for a Friend, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Dr. Erin Atkinson, a prenatal genetic counselor in Houston, Texas, to discuss q***r family building, access to competent s*xual healthcare, and the nuance of s*x chromosomes. 🎙🎧 Listen now: spectrumsouth.com/podcast/afaf-ep-16

06/27/2023

On the Pride month episode of Asking for a Friend, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Sunflower Summit, a q***r Latinx artist, producer, and mental health professional, to discuss finding wholeness in their q***r identity, how their music and mental health journeys have intertwined, and the importance of storytelling. Listen now: spectrumsouth.com/podcast/afaf-ep-15

06/26/2023

"As a q***r of faith and the product of generations of Jewish people who fought to continue to exist and q***r brethren who paved the way for me to live openly, I cannot help but continue to pray for one more moment of courage—one more moment of strength in the battle I need to fight." Spectrum South writer Dr. Laura McGuire offers their fellow LGBTQ+ siblings a prayer for Pride month. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

As a q***r of faith and the product of generations of Jewish people who fought to continue to exist and q***r brethren who paved the way for me to live openly, I cannot help but continue to pray for one more moment of courage—one more moment of strength in the battle I need to fight.

06/25/2023

Fifty years ago this weekend, a horrifying tragedy struck the New Orleans q***r community. On June 24, 1973, an arsonist attacked the Up Stairs Lounge, a French Quarter gay bar, killing 32 people. Until the Pulse massacre in Orlando in 2016, it was the most lethal attack on the LGBTQ community ever perpetrated in the United States. Yet even today, few people have heard of it.

Robert Fieseler has done more to change that than nearly anyone. His 2018 book Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation won a slew of awards and quickly became the definitive account of the tragedy. During a recent trip to New Orleans, Spectrum South writer Nikita Shepard sat down with the author at a cafe in the Bywater neighborhood near the home that he shares with his husband of 17 years.

Over nearly three hours of avid conversation, they got the inside story behind the lethal fire and its impact on the history of LGBTQ New Orleans. Read the next installment of our “Historians of the Q***r South” below.

Fifty years ago this week, a horrifying tragedy struck the New Orleans q***r community. On June 24, 1973, an arsonist attacked the Up Stairs Lounge, a French Quarter gay bar, killing 32 people. Until the Pulse massacre in Orlando in 2016, it was the most lethal attack on the LGBTQ community ever per...