queer

When people tell me that they think Halloween is a peculiar date for an anniversary, I think I’ll start responding by saying: “Is it really?”

I remember smiling a lot, not necessarily because of the hookup, but because I was proud that I was allowing myself to finally live and to experience simple pleasures instead of being stuck in constant rigidity.

In the future, I don’t want to be someone’s experiment. But this is not to say that I discourage people to experiment with queerness; rather, I think it’s necessary to explore one’s sexuality and I encourage more people to learn about themselves.

Not all queer media needs to have sex scenes, but whether or not the characters have sex, I want that decision to be made with me and other queer people in mind.

After regaining our strength, we slowly got up and put on our clothes. While my hookup had shown no interest in talking to me before having sex, he seemed more open to chatting after.

At the intersection of Broadway and 41st Street in Temescal sits Brenda’s, a casual counter-service joint featuring New Orleans-inspired cuisine. I had the privilege of sitting down for a phone call with Brenda to discuss her experiences navigating the culinary world as a queer woman of color.

There’s almost always the white, cisgender, straight-sized protagonist and their exploration of their queerness, all packed with a nice little bow and colorful pop music. There’s never a plus-sized, anxious, brown bisexual floundering in college.

Instead of treating queer sex and relationships as something normal and human, these straight women treat queer men in sexual or romantic acts like a guilty pleasure, which contributes to their dehumanization.

Before I even entered middle school, I recognized that I was seen as undesirable. Even though my Asian family members were quick to reassure me of my attractiveness, they would also call the majority of Asian men ugly.

I “came out of the closet” about two years ago. Coming out didn’t matter to me because it doesn’t make me any more or less queer, but it felt as though it was expected of me before I could ever date another woman. It felt as if it was one hurdle I had to pass before reaching another.