Everywhere I turned felt like a trap that led to more confusion, doubt and shame. I wasn’t afraid of being gay – I was afraid that I was lying about it.

Queer sci-fi sees a future outside of binary genders, sexualities and relationship structures that have hurt us for generations.

In this painful moment, I saw the beauty of my own culture like never before. This was the best way to celebrate my grandmother’s life, as she was the strongest and bravest woman I had ever known.

Finding people who honor your full self is not easy, but when you do, you have begun relearning love, you have found chosen family.

The expectation to be anonymous in addiction recovery seems counterintuitive for LGBTQ+ people who have spent a lifetime fighting to be visible.

I was leaning heavily on Tori Amos, yet I was misinterpreting the lyrics to affirm poisonous narratives this man was whispering in my ear.

I recently moved into my new physical home and my new spiritual one. This new home is one of acceptance – not only from others, but of myself.

We need employers to make workplaces genuinely safe, warm, and welcoming for all.

I thought I was going to repair the picket fence, but it turns out I was repairing myself.

As I sat in the hospital courtyard, I often considered how many patients may have had undiagnosed ARFID.

The way I moved my body was the one thing I could control in a world that confused and bewildered me constantly.

Here’s a top 10 list of our editors’ picks for 2021, celebrating some of the incredible articles written by our contributors.

Content note: This article discusses domestic violence, assault, homophobia and suicide.   I met him in a gay bar about three months after my separation. I remember him standing there in a tuxedo and our eyes meeting. He came over to me, we chatted for about four hours, and then he left. It would be …

I guessed I was busted for the sex stuff, and I knew I was in very deep shit.

Content warning: This article discusses conversion practices.   What you can’t pray away   I   Sometimes I dream of someone coming up to me in the street; someone I vaguely recognise from the past. They point at me and say, “You.” In that weird way dreams have of collapsing whole timelines and unrelated ideas …

Content warning: this article discusses depression.    In 2015, I forgot who I was. Like a reverse Wizard of Oz, the world suddenly went from vibrant colour to black and white. I felt as though there was a storm cloud behind my shoulder. Joy was being sucked out of my every move.  Depression wasn’t a …

My hairdresser says there’s a different kind of freedom from living out of home, and I finally understand what he means. Since moving out, I’ve recognised a part of my identity that’s come as a surprise for me. Even though I’ve been attending queer book events at the library, and have two copies of Guidebook …

Content Warning: This article discusses domestic and family violence, and police violence.   On 28 May this year, Australia’s inaugural LGBTQ Domestic Violence Awareness Day was launched to highlight domestic, family and intimate partner violence in LGBTIQ communities. On the surface, this campaign seems to be championing a cause none of us would dispute. Its …

Billy-Ray Belcourt (he/him) is a writer and scholar from the Driftpile Cree Nation. He won the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize for his debut collection, This Wound Is a World, which was also a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. His second book of poetry, NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field, was longlisted for Canada …

In 2019, I managed to get myself out of a situation that was onerous but not uncommon. It involved a man who I thought was the love of my life. I knew many individuals to exhibit the traits he displayed throughout our relationship. However, I was unaware of just how typical my experience was for …

When queer friendships can quite literally be a lifeline, it’s hard to resist the urge to attempt to reconfigure and recontextualise relationships that were once exclusively sexual or romantic.

Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault, institutionalisation and trauma.    I have found the experience of writing and performing my work about my trauma of rape and institutionalisation a healing process. Someone on Facebook, who had not spoken to me for about two years, messaged me out of the blue and said, “I’m trying …