In 2021, this may seem like a silly question. Nonbinary is to be not binary, but is it all it means? We could flesh it out in commonly phrased prescripts like, “nonbinary is to be something in between, outside of, or some combination of a man or a woman.” But that definition, while true for many under the enby umbrella, doesn’t sit well with me because it requires a juxtaposition of the binary to make sense of nonbinary.

Let’s compare gender to simple geometry, and say that binary is a 2D square. On one side, you have “woman,” and on…

Transgenderism isn't a word, and its use tells me that you've not spoken with many trans people about the words we do use to describe our experiences.

The way you're using it takes a descriptive adjective and turns it into a condition, which many trans people (myself included) find dehumanizing. Even though your piece is fairly neutral, the use of this non-word made it hard to digest. It made it abundantly clear that you are talking about us to cis people, not talking with trans people about our triumphs.

It's furthermore worth noting that "transgenderism" is most commonly used by…

When transphobes lost their safe space on Reddit, a new forum came out from the woodwork titled “Ovarit,” a website reserved largely for discussions of a trans-exclusionary nature. I was blissfully unaware of this forum until several months ago when I posted “Born in the Right Body,” in which I spoke of how I personally oppose language like “born in the wrong body,” and felt that language should be retired, particularly when cis people are speaking about our bodies without us being present. …

Today, Los Angeles City Council Members Gil Cedillo, Paul Krekorian, Bob Blumenfield, Paul Koretz, Nury Martinez, Monica Rodriguez, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren D. Price Jr., Mark Ridley-Thomas, John Lee, Mitch O’Farrel, Kevin De León, and Joe Buscaino voted to effectively criminalize poverty and homelessness in Los Angeles. Only Mike Bonin and Nithya Raman voted contrary to their fellow council members.

This hostile vote against our unhoused and under-housed neighbors is an assault on people who are merely existing in public spaces in which our elected officials don’t want them to be. Issue 41.18 makes it illegal to sit, lay down, or…

That's a great question and it's one that my partner recently asked me, given that I am a voracious reader.

When I read, I don't necessarily see the scene depicted in whatever I'm reading, but I do understand what it "should" look like. For instance, while my brain doesn't form images based on what I am reading, if I had to draw it I could do so.

It's like the image is there somewhere in the back of my mind, but behind a layer of film that obscures it.

Ultimately, I don't totally understand how neurotypical people "see" scenes in…

I grew up in a particularly religious household, where homosexuality was regarded as practically worse than murder. My mother, who is by all accounts a lovely woman after some significant mellowing out in recent years, raised my brothers and me with a hefty dose of religious fear. We were taught early that sinning meant you went to hell, and being queer was a one-way ticket to an eternity of pain and misery.

I was a feminine child, so I frequently found myself on the receiving end of my mother’s piety. From a young age, I was beaten, bullied, and attacked…

As is the nature of words, language evolves, morphs, grows, contracts, twists, and ever-changes as society itself evolves. When we strictly attach ourselves to the language of the past, we are bound to find ourselves stuck in the past. I have often come across people bemoaning that “transsexual” is no longer completely synonymous with “transgender,” some clinging to themselves as “transier than thou” because their definition of trans aligns more with the words we used in the past.

Words like transsexual and transvestite are not wrong, per se, but they do not apply to all of us. Therefore, they have…

Sophie, a Scottish transfemme musician, died on the 30th of January in a freak accident that sent shock waves through the trans community.

I was familiar enough with Sophie’s music through the Los Angeles trans drag community, and something about Sophie’s death has struck a different chord than other high profile trans deaths. When other girls in our community die, it’s rarely because of an accident. We’ve grown numb to seeing trans women die from suicide, overdose, and murder.

But a trans death from a tragic accident? That’s rarer.

Sophie died when she climbed to the top of a balcony…