story by Melinda Lejman Many women of color are not afforded protections in the U.S. healthcare system. CHOICES Memphis Center for Reproductive Health intends to create seamless access to high quality healthcare for expectant mothers when it opens a new birthing center. CHOICES’ focus…
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by Sarah Rutledge Fischer These are not the coming out stories of adolescence and youth, full of parental disapproval and schoolyard bullying. These are stories of grown women confronting their sexuality in the midst of careers, heterosexual marriages, and families. In 2010, a book…
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story by Anita Moyt Tom Campbell photo by Tom Dearen Imagine a father so proud of his son and daughter, he beams. Imagine a grandfather, with pride in his voice, as he tells of his nine grandchildren, the ones who gave him a Tshirt…
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story & photo by Robin Beaudoin The Weaver family sits down for breakfast at Edge Alley. Mom, Terri, and dad, Harold, tease their millennial daughter Jessica, who gazes over her avocado toast, “I just really love avocados.” The theatrical, spirited clan is so at…
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By Anita Moyt, with contributions by Joy Doss | photos courtesy of Tristate Black Pride and Terryl Buckner Terryl Buckner was honored by Tristate Black Pride on June 15, 2017 at the National Civil Rights Museum during the opening ceremonies of Tristate Black Pride…
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story by Amanda DeVlugt with her soon-to-be wife, Suzanne Szanyi | portrait photo by Lisa Cline Photography, snapshots courtesy of Amanda DeVlugt It’s any normal day in August in Memphis: 100% humidity, weather reports a heat index of 101 degrees, oh, and the first-ever…
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by Garrard Conley Garrard Conley, the young man in the ExGay program lead by John Smid (see previous article), has written about the pain of his experience in his book, Boy Erased. Deadline.com reports that multiple distributors are bidding for Boy Erased (screenplay…
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blog entry reprinted with permission from author John Smid first published May 23, 2017 | gracerivers.com Serendipity: Unexpected surprise in finding one’s own Truth Thirteen years ago a young 19-year-old man came into a program I was leading called “Love In Action.” He…
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by Sarah Rutledge Fisher Even the best made funeral plans are vulnerable. When it comes to unmarried couples, straight or LGBT, what happens to one’s remains after death is generally determined not by long-term partners, but by the next-of-kin. Though the wishes of the…
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by Vincent Astor | photos courtesy OUTMemphis, and David Sheppard ©2017 DIFFA According to a Chicago Tribune article from September 7, 1989, Heart Strings was ‘an upbeat musical production that brought its songs and dances of hope in the fight against AIDS’ to 30…
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