Nevertheless They Persisted

Pain by iProzac. Creative Commons License This tragedy isn’t played out on stage or on screen. It’s about a human who finds themself relying on substances to exist in the world. That doesn’t sound healthy. Yet they’re scared that if they don’t numb themselves sufficiently, they won’t be able to sustain existence. They constantly reflect on the balance of self compassion and allowing their mind to breathe while not repressing emotions entirely. They can’t go back to that level of depersonalization. Their physical world continues to shrink. Wondering—dreading—what happens next. Wondering what kind of hellish life is this to live. Wondering when the suffering will come to some terminal state. ...

January 30, 2025 · 3 min · Skyler Lemay

Queer Solidarity and the Impact of Visibility Tanking

Portion of the exhibit “Crossing Boundaries: Portraits of a Transgender West” I recently experienced an exhibit highlighting the history of transgender people on the West Coast from 1860-1940 at the Oregon Historical Society. It captured details of people moving out West to be themselves, the instability they experienced wondering when they would be discovered, the beauty of a gender affirming surgery happening in 1918, and the persistent cycles of trans erasure and sensationalization. ...

January 13, 2025 · 6 min · Skyler Lemay