Originally published in the San Antonio Current. “We hope to come back with a gold medal,” realtor and fitness instructor John Barrera tells me on the Brackenridge High School tennis courts. “They’re very nice,” chimes in Barrera’s doubles partner, Pablo Cruz, who’s worked as an AT&T project manager for 25 years and counting. Rightfully giddy…
Syphilis and HIV Rates Remain High Among SA’s Gay and Bi Men
The incidence of syphilis and HIV has increased over the past three years among San Antonio’s gay and bisexual men according to data provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The rate of syphilis and HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) increased in Bexar County from 2014 to 2015, the…
SA’s Homeless LGBTQ Youth Find a Safe Space to Become Themselves
Originally published in the San Antonio Current The mass shooting at an Orlando gay club this month killed 49 people, wounded at least 50 others, and, in the minds of many within the LGBTQ community, violated a sacred space. In his comments following the tragedy, President Barack Obama called the Pulse nightclub, the site of…
Challenging Transphobia Within Queer Spaces
Originally published in the San Antonio Current When I was asked to attend a friend’s queer-friendly Studio 54-themed party last year, I hit up my favorite thrift stores as soon as I could to find the perfect Bianca Jagger-inspired ensemble. The night of the party came, my look was red hot, and I spent the…
High Rate of STI’s Among Gay and Bi Men in SA
The rate of sexually transmitted infections remains high among gay and bisexual men in Bexar County according to statistics provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The numbers reflect that with a rate of 46 percent, gay and bisexual men in Bexar County represent almost half of all new cases of syphilis in…
Most Influential 2015: Dawn Lafreeda and Lupita Corbeil
Dawn Lafreeda, CEO of Den-Tex Central Inc., started her business career as a Denny’s waitress without a college education. Now the owner of 75 Denny’s locations, her hard work has paid off. She cites her humble beginnings as part of her inspiration for giving back. “Coming from nothing, I understand how hard it is to…
My kid came out to me…and now to you
I talk about my children quite often in my writing and my speaking engagements. But I only talk about what they are comfortable with me saying, and at the level they are comfortable with. They tend to be pretty open, but this particular bit of information isn’t something I have shared in the past. Why…
Midcentury Modern Family
John Price and Joseph Pizzini are remaking homes for the next 50 years It all started with a maxed-out credit card. (This is actually almost true.) It was in New Braunfels, and the year was 2000. John Price found himself about to lose his home to foreclosure, so he decided on a Hail Mary…
Boylesque legend Tigger! is stripping to change the world
“It makes sense that you want to hear from all genders. There are more than two.” Tigger!, the 50-year-old burlesque godfather who’s making his Texas debut as tonight’s headliner for the 4th Annual San Antonio Burlesque Festival, has always been wary of confining himself to gay audiences, so his crowds have often been a mixed bag.…
A conversation with poet Richard Blanco
“We forget that to be an intelligent, thriving human being means to pull from all sources of information, knowledge, and understanding.” Richard Blanco received our democratic society’s version of literary knighthood in 2013 when President Barack Obama chose him as the nation’s fifth inaugural poet. He is the first Latino, the first openly gay man,…