I created my own soap opera to get through heartbreak and quarantine

When the pandemic hit, I used “College Heights” to work through my own neuroses

For LGBTQ+ Nigerians, Twitter is home for unbridled queer celebration

In the community colloquially known as “Qwitter,” users find safety, comfort and joy with other queer folks—often for the first time

By January Ikeoluwa

My Safe Space

My phone, a window to a brave new queer world

Watching LGBTQ2S+ content on the small screen of my iPhone is queer escapism, freedom from my everyday mundanities

By Sarah Taher

My Safe Space

A tiny apartment in Lagos is my personal oasis

In my small-roomed sanctuary, I can exist in a space where my queerness is not policed

By Nelson C.J

Love Like Mine

The journey to myself

All it took was one phone call to start a process of growth, healing, learning and unlearning

By Samantha Peters

Xtra Weekly

Topline: The ABCs of Black queer history

From Alvin Ailey to Lena Waithe

By Tre’vell Anderson

My Safe Space

Building a pandemic garden helped me find glory in nature

I’m no cottagecore queer, but tilling the land in my parents’ backyard brought a comfort I was missing in New York City

By Gaby Messino

Personal Essay

How sneaker culture saved my life

A young man returns to the hobby he shared with his father as a way of survival

By Daria Lynn Cottingham

Love Like Mine

The ongoing struggle for racial justice forced me to drop my racist ex

Part of being an ally is knowing when to leave a toxic situation

By Omar Taleb

Dispatch

From the frontlines of democracy in D.C.

Senior editor Zaina Arafat was in Washington when the insurrection on Capitol Hill broke out

By Zaina Arafat

Personal Essay

Getting sober and coming out

For a long time, alcohol worked to suppress my questioning—until my questions became too powerful to ignore

By Niko Stratis

Love Like Mine

‘Sweeter than fiction:’ How Taylor Swift led me to my boyfriend

I knew I wanted to explore every facet of love that I could—the kinds that Taylor Swift sings about

By Brandon Trush

Books

‘What will you do if your kids grow up to be straight?’

In her new memoir, author Jane Byers jostles with the realities of queer parenting while adopting her twins

By Jane Byers

Politics

I underwent conversion therapy. It stopped me from transitioning for decades

As the Canadian government tables a new bill to ban the practice nationwide, a survivor shares his experience—and wonders if the legislation will be enough

By Jules Sherred

Personal Essay

A transgender, bisexual, non-binary writer calls their future into being

Coming out: A prelude

By Dede Akolo

Love Like Mine

I stopped lying to myself, thanks to a stranger at a bar in Guatemala

For the first time in my life, I wanted someone and felt wanted in return. I had never known what that felt like

By Jack Cape

Love & Sex

What it’s like to nurse when you’re non-binary

In an essay from their new collection, “Like a Boy but Not a Boy,” andrea bennett reflects on the joys and limitations of non-binary parenting

By andrea bennett

Love Like Mine

I find myself through coming out to strangers, again and again

If they say something ignorant or hurtful, I can choose to never see them again. I don’t have that option with my loved ones

By Xiaoxiao Meng