Published Writers

Private: 5010A – Alison Wisneski, another chapter

Categorizing in the lesbian community is something that happens pretty frequently. It's funny, really – here's this community that's kind of already sidelined for being "different," yet we do the same thing internally. I really struggle with it, as I believe many who identify as a lesbian do. I very much know who I am and what I Continue reading

Private: 5029 – Laura Jayne Martin, “The Gray Bar”

Walking across west 12^th street I was nervous. I was very nervous. It wasn't my first time at a gay bar, but it was my first time bringing my straight friends to a gay bar, and it was definitely the first time any of them had ever been to one. (The scandals of ten years ago are nothing today. It makes me wonder about ten years Continue reading

5048 – Kim Yaged, “\ˈau̇t\”

I spent my early 20s, aka my homo heyday, in Chicago. While I had no interest in participating in parades and gay pride, living mere steps away from Halsted Street, aka Boys Town, I also had no choice. Gay pride came to me. And while prancing boys, vomiting drunks, and annoying crowds promenading across my front Continue reading

Private: 5004A – Stephanie Schroeder, another chapter

I'd describe both my demeanor and style of dress as urban cowgirl. My standard outfit consists of faded Levi's, a black T-shirt and black boots. I live in New York City and that's an acceptable dress code for almost everywhere. In fact, black is almost required, at least for writers and artists. My jeans may not fly at fancy, Continue reading

5003 – Jenning Medina

Some time ago, my mother decided to take a leave of absence from work and take my kids to Puerto Rico so I could have the time and space I needed to finish my college degree. Though it helped me in terms of my career, it was one of the darkest periods of my life – my children had always been my purpose, and suddenly Continue reading

5004 – Stephanie Schroeder, “Being Queer”

Before I am queer I am two or three years old with severe asthma. I have been captured and put into an oxygen tent. I am scared to death. The nurses are big and mean and they don't like me because I do not cooperate. I try – and succeed – at escaping the giant frightening contraption that is suffocating me despite Continue reading

5010 – Alison Wisneski

Two years ago, I was engaged to my boyfriend of six years in the Midwest, preparing for a life as a baby-making machine and a homemaker. But for some weird reason, it never sat right with me. I wanted to travel. When I dreamt of going to faraway places, I was always by myself. Snapshots passed through my Continue reading

5014 – J.E. Reich, “The Places I Have Come Out”

In the school library. My father is away at a conference for a distant summer in Germany. He will be the hardest to tell, I reason, for the missed linguistic cues, the generational gap as precarious as a lion's hinging jaw, or rather, because he just doesn't get it. It's a safe bet. I write him a ten-page email, glancing at the other Continue reading