First-hand reflections on life, resilience, and the queer Southern experience. These personal stories share triumphs, struggles, and lessons learned to remind readers they’re not alone.
If you have any suggestions for content in this area, please feel free to contact us.
Gender identity is not always fixed or easy to define. In this article, we explore what it means to be genderqueer or genderfluid, how identity and expression can evolve over time, and why self-discovery can be an empowering part of the queer journey. Understanding these identities helps create space for authenticity, reflection, and self-acceptance.
Adult friendship can feel like a slow, vulnerable rebuild, especially after you’ve known rare, effortless connection. This essay explores why it’s harder after childhood, what research says about the hours it takes to form real bonds, and how queer adults can hold hope while chosen family grows.
After years of living in survival mode, joy can feel unfamiliar or even unsafe. This personal reflection explores queer joy after trauma, hyper-vigilance, and learning to trust safety again.
A personal reflection on queer self acceptance, learning to stop apologizing for who you are, and choosing peace over being understood. This piece explores boundaries, self respect, and the quiet confidence that comes from no longer shrinking yourself for others.
I grew up without a roadmap, carrying grief, queerness, and survival instincts that often looked like fire. This is a reflection on forgiveness, spirituality, and becoming tempered rather than broken.
Finding LGBTQIA+ community can take time, courage, and patience. Drawing from my own experiences of starting over and building connection, this article offers encouragement and practical ways to find or create community wherever you are.
The leather community is far more than a stereotype. It has played a vital role in LGBTQIA plus history through activism, caregiving, cultural leadership, and the celebration of authentic identity. This piece explores the roots of leather culture, the people who shaped it, its influence during the AIDS crisis, and the moments of liberation that helped transform personal and collective queer journeys.
The holidays can feel complicated for LGBTQIA+ people, which is why safe and affirming spaces matter so much this time of year. This piece explores how queer communities create connection, comfort, and joy through chosen family, local hubs like District Dive in Orlando, and community care that carries people through the season.
As the holidays approach, many LGBTQIA+ people reflect on the families who raised us and the ones we’ve built along the way. This cornerstone piece explores the meaning of chosen family – its history, love, loss, and the enduring power of belonging within queer life.
I didn’t plan to write this today, but seeing the reminder that it’s the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death brought me to tears. His story shaped how I understood the world as a young queer person trying to survive in the South. Matthew’s courage, kindness, and authenticity still light the way for so many of us who continue to live out loud, unbroken, and full of love.
Growing up queer in a small Southern town meant silence, shame, and eventually homelessness. This is my story of rejection, survival, resilience, and finding community.
Growing up gay in the South during the HIV/AIDS crisis meant living with silence, shame, and fear. I saw friends die, faced an inconclusive HIV test that shook me, and carried the weight of stigma in a time when being out could cost you everything. This personal story blends lived experience with the history of Ryan White, ACT UP, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence while celebrating progress in treatment, prevention, and visibility. Today, HIV is a manageable condition with PrEP, PEP, and modern medicine, but stigma and disparities remain. Read on to remember the past, honor those we lost, and learn how to protect yourself and others with today’s resources.
End of content
End of content
Every blog post on Queer and Unbroken has a story behind it. The questions I wrestled with. The moments that didn’t fit in the final draft. The parts that felt too tender or too personal to publish here.
On Patreon, I share Behind the Blog, a reflection series that explores what shaped each piece and why it mattered to write it.
Both free and paid Patreon members get access.
If these stories resonate with you, you’re warmly invited to join us.
