Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Pride.
Telling My World I'm A Lesbian
(1) I was in sixth grade when I first saw two girls kiss on TV. I was watching Pretty Little Liars with my mom, transfixed as Emily and Maya lost control to the click of a photo booth. My mom didn’t look up from her color-by-numbers app, but I was stunned. (2) I noticed that the way I felt when my hand accidentally brushed my best friend’s wasn’t normal. I shared a xylophone with her in band class. She smelled like eucalyptus and her hair was shiny. (3) I went to church with my dad and stepmom the weekend of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Nearly 50 people had died, and the priest said they were probably in hell. “We’ll pray for them, but they made their choices,” he told a crowd of nodding heads. My stepmom told me I misinterpreted what he said, her haughty tone echoing from the car’s front seat. I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking long enough to protest. (4) I told my friend group that I thought Lucy Hale was pretty. They laughed and told me I wanted attention. (5) My best friend told me that she thought I was pretty during band class. She whispered. (6) I told my dad while we were driving home from seeing Potted Potter in Chicago. He loves corny Broadway shows. We were stuck in traffic because there had been an accident, but once that cleared up it was a quick drive home. (7) Heaven by Troye Sivan convinced me that that priest was full of shit. Laying in my bed at two in the morning with my earbuds blasting, I felt more sure than ever. (8) My mom asked me if I liked girls while Castle on a Hill by Ed Sheeran was playing on the radio. That song was way too overplayed, but it grows on you. (9) I told my grandparents last, sitting at a table, eating waffles for breakfast. My grandma has always made the best waffles, so they’re reliably on the table any morning I stay with her. I burst out with it and their calm, knowing reaction made me cry. (10) Taylor Swift sang “all these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret,” and that’s what I did while I waited for my girlfriend to come out. (11) She finally told her parents after three years of dating and two before that of pining friendship. We were free. We broke up seven months later. (12) Watching Pretty Little Liars again, my mom’s face scrunched up as a teacher-student relationship is further romanticized on screen. A love ballad blasts as the student waits five minutes to follow the teacher to his apartment, looking over her shoulder as she walks through his door. “You can date whoever you want Emma, you can date an alien for all I care, but never let someone treat you like that,” my mother would rant. To hide my smile, I made fun of her for having a “teacher moment” while curled up in sweatpants and eating pizza rolls. (13) I never actually told my stepmom, but she started talking to me about how much she liked Ellen and Kate McKinnon, so I was pretty confident I didn’t have to. (14) What I didn’t tell my mom was that my best friend was my girlfriend. Three years later, when I finally told her that, she stormed into her room and we didn’t speak for two weeks. (15) When I was in preschool, I heard my grandma say the word “lesbian” while we were in the car. I asked what a lesbian was as I reached over the consul to get more M&Ms, and my stepmom uneasily answered “a girl who likes other girls”. “I like all my friends who are girls, I’m a lesbian!” I realized excitedly. The two made faces at each other and laughed; “No, no you’re not” my grandma told me. With that, they closed up the bag of candy, not wanting to spoil our dinner. I tilted my head to look at the blooming trees outside, not pushing the subject any further. (16) I rewatch Pretty Little Liars sometimes, because the coming out never really ends. Your hands still shake and you still notice every reaction. It doesn’t get easier, but the list goes on.
By Person McPerson4 years ago in Pride
Authentic self
Authentic self We all have something within ourselves, some of us have talents of many and creative minds we all develop a different sense of. I adore the many talents and strengths I possess. With the many talents out in the world and some of the one's I encounter include artwork and singing. In high school as a senior project, I had used my art skills for it . As everyone else stood up to show off their talents and things they love doing, it was my turn to stand up and show what I can do. Well, one of the few things I can do. At first, in the beginning; I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do for my project. Once I heard of it and what we had to do I could think of one thing I really, really, really wanted to do. That was to sing.
By Unique Johnson4 years ago in Pride
A Brief Emancipating Moment
If you've ever gone out for a run or a jog underneath a blazing sun wearing too many layers, then you know the feeling of liberation well. It comes once you extricate your body from the clenching of the sweat-drenched workout clothes and your anatomy can finally appreciate a zephyr caressing your moist skin. You've been longing for that exact moment all throughout the treacherous workout and when it arrives, it's unfettering.
By Jose Antonio Soto4 years ago in Pride
Fantage & Other MMORPGs: A Queer Awakening. Top Story - December 2021.
Six months ago, during the height of Pride Month, I wrote about some of my favorite LGBTQIA+ creators where I naively referred to myself as a "cishet ally." Since then I've done a lot of self reflection and ultimately, a lot of healing from childhood trauma leading to me being able to admit, for the very first time in my 23 years of life, that I am not straight. To be honest, the signs were always there.
By C.R. Hughes4 years ago in Pride
In Defense of a Friend
Looking at this picture of me in 10th grade it would be easy to write me off as a skinny, meek, nerdy kid; which was true for the most part. What this photo doesn't tell you is that even as a skinny, meek, nerdy kid I was fiercely loyal to my friends. Between bullies and algebra they were the only thing that kept me sane at school. These are the people that I ate lunch with, played after school with, grew into my teenage years with, and survived a lot of troubling times with. It was through them that I learned who I was, and what I stood for, but that wasn’t an easy journey.
By Vagabond Writes4 years ago in Pride
The Farewell
It’s a harsh summer evening when Emily gives us the news of her departure. We’re just a group of lanky teenagers sitting on the bank of the river, but the most important thing to us is each other. She prepared a going away present for all of us, something to remember her by. She gives it to me last, pushing back her wild brown curls and pressing something from her equally sweaty hand into mine; I am reminded again of why I don’t want her to leave. We don’t stay much longer after that, and everyone is a mess of sticky sweat and tears while we say goodbye for the last time to Emily. I open my hand on the way home, not wanting to see the gift when I could spend my time looking at her and find a little green gem, wrapped in wire and hung on a thick black string.
By Morgan Starkey4 years ago in Pride
