Welcome to Faded Denim Pride

Happy Pride!

I haven't been super active this month celebrating. Work is unusually busy and personal writing has been hard to accomplish on my personal time. I did briefly go into DC last week, but I was there to celebrate the first day of summer at the Smithsonian. I haven't even watched "Angels in America" (mostly because I have no idea where my DVDs are - and no I won't rent or buy it online). I have been reading Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, which is an updated take on Carmilla  - one of the earliest examples of vampires and sex (particularly feminine sexuality) in the Western cannon.

However, there was one item I recalled that I wanted to look up for Pride.

Several months ago, I published a blog post featuring my Antarctica travel journal for 11 November, 2025. Within that entry, I included the following paragraphs: 

"We sat with W.A.R, Su, and SN at lunch. I again had a sandwich with salad. We talked a bit about LGBTQIA+ history. Su had gone to Virginia Tech and were part of the Denim Protest. The LGBT+ alliance and allies wore denim in solidarity for gay rights during a week in January 1979. At the time, the school and community retaliated against the students. Virginia Tech recently celebrated the 45th anniversary."

I recall thinking about how it might make an interesting blog post for Pride Month. Fast forward six months, and I am sitting down to write this post. I go to look up the Denim Day Protest and I get barely anything. The key words Denim Day are most often associated with an event in April that raises awareness on sexual assault. 

I tried a couple of different search options and even used AI (ugh!) to help aid my search. Not even a wiki page popped up. 

The one of the few webpages that I saw mention it was a post on the Virginia Tech Alumni Relations site. It confirms that between January 15-19th, 1979, a small number of Gay Student Alliance members wore all denim and that they "endured ridicule, taunting, verbal and physical assaults."

The post was from 2019 or the 40th anniversary of the original protest. 

I did a little more digging and was able to find a timeline of LGBTQ+ History at Virginia Tech which includes a little more information on the Denim Day Protest. The website has transcripts to interviews from people who participated and records of responses to the protest.

I'm disappointed that I hadn't written more of that conversation down. I remember that she went into great detail about what lead up to the protest and the community's and school's brutal response to the handful of students who were trying to live their lives. She had explained why they had chosen denim and what it meant to the community in the 1970s.

I didn't record any of it. I thought there'd be more information on the Internet. Wikipedia has an article on everything. Why wouldn't it have an article on this one protest?

At least there is an archive being created on the LGBTQ+ history at Virginia Tech. I can read what other people remember from 40 years ago that I wasn't able to capture from one conversation at the bottom of the world. 

But the limited information is still disheartening. 

Part of why there might not be as much information is that a lot of LGBTQ+ history from before the 1990s has been lost. Between differing ideas on what it meant to be LBGTQ+ through the centuries (see the ancient Greeks and Romans for some of the best examples), relatives burning queer family members' personal writings to prevent scandals, and the huge loss of a recent generation to the AIDs pandemic, LGBTQ+ history is a patchwork quilt eaten by moths. There are those who are working to dig into LGBTQ+ history and preserve it for future LBGTQ+ people (because despite what some may think, queer people have always existed and we will continue to exist without any regard to social propriety). 

However, LGBTQ+ history, like other vulnerable groups' histories, is always on the cusp of being suppressed. In 1933, The Institute of Sexology was targeted by the newly elected German government (three guesses as to who was their leader and the first two don't count). During it's just over 20 years in existence, the Institute collected and researched LGBTQ+ history. They recognized transgender and intersex individuals (though by an outdated terms) along with educating people on sexual and reproductive health.

Everything was destroyed on May 6th, 1933. The loss of research and history is still being felt.

And it's not just LBGTQ+ history being suppressed, even in the United States. Over the past year, our national parks and lands have had to remove references to slavery, violence and genocide against first nations people, and other topics deemed "not beneficial to American history" (whatever that means). Some of these places are fighting back (it's kind of hard not to mention slavery when discussing why Harper's Ferry is a National Park) and ensuring that history is preserved. 

But how much is still lost?

I wish I could provide you with a better summary of that conversation. I have vivid memories of bits and pieces of it, but memories (no matter how vivid) are fallible. I don't have that person's contact information to ask them for an interview and I'd feel a bit weird asking for a blog post. 

But if LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable groups' histories are to be preserved, it's up to the individuals to share that with the next generation. I'll hopefully never forget that conversation from 11 November, 2025 on a ship in Antarctica.  By writing this blog post, I am sharing that an event called the Denim Day Protest did happen at Virginia Tech in 1979 and the reaction to it. I am sharing current links to the sources I was able to find. I am sharing that I knew someone who was part of making history. 

Because history is happening every day. 

In our age of social media and near instant news sharing via the Internet, so much information is being preserved in the digital space. And though we like to think the Internet is forever (and in many ways it is for any embarrassing photos posted in high school or college and that poorly thought out tweet you vomited out while black out drunk at 3:00am), it isn't. The digital space is just as prone to destruction and loss as paper and stone are. Most of what is preserved on the Internet is from passionate individuals who are happy to (perhaps overshare) their interests. 

I seem to be one of those people. 

Anyway, I hope everyone who participated had a Happy Pride. I'm going to go finish my book.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please, like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me. 

Welcome to Pride Month Book Recommendations

 As we approach the final few days of Pride Month, I wanted to share a few book recommendations that feature LGBTQIA+ writers, topics, and themes. It's been a tough month from many of us this year. Some of these books may be an escape for you, others a hope for a better future, and a few might inspire you to action. These books are different genres - fiction and non-fiction. Some teach us a history that has long been squashed in the name of "propriety". 

Starting out in non-fiction...and what I'm currently reading, I'd like to recommend Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States by Samantha Leigh Allen. Allen is a transgender woman who grew up Mormon, went to BYU, and eventually found her true self in Atlanta Georgia.

Though I haven't yet finished this book, it's been a mood lifter. There's a temptation for coastal liberals and LBGTQIA+ people to write off the the southern and midwestern parts of United States - not that their politics make a good case for them. However, Allen emphasizes that Queer people are all over the United States, they are not afraid to fight for their rights, and they don't want to (or can't) leave their homes. 

The book was written during the early days of the Trump administration and chronical Allen's trip across the United States with her friend who is a transgender man. They learn and recount about the problems and issues faced by the queer people in red states and deeply conservative areas. Though things continue to become more difficult, this book shines a light of hope for places that seem the most aggressive to LGBTQIA+ people.

Following up with some historical non-fiction is Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement by Wendy L. Rouse. 

This book is more for the academically inclined readers. That doesn't mean it's not a good book, it's just a bit of a dense read. It's packed full of information around the Queer history of women during the Suffrage Movement - much of which had been suppressed, ignored, or erased. The Suffrage Movements had many distinct periods from its inception up to when the 19th Amendment was passed in the United States. The LGBTQIA+ community was there for all of it.

It also doesn't just cover the middle to upper middle class white queer community, but includes stories and information on the contributions of Black, Indigenous, Asian, and other minority communities. 

My final non-fiction recommendation is a little different from the above works. The graphic novel Fine: A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing starts as a small project to define what it means to be a woman and turns into a self reflective, soul search piece that leads Ewing to realize they are non-binary. 

The graphic novel isn't told in a linear fashion, instead recounting interviews Ewing had with many different people as it applies to their own journey to discovering their identity. The drawings are fantastic with Ewing depicting their interviewees' stories with beautiful detail. 

Like Real Queer America, Fine focuses on gender identity in the midwestern United States. This is primarily because this is where Ewing is from. The interviews start in 2012 and go to 2019 with flashbacks to interviewees and Ewing's own pasts. 

Moving to fiction, but continuing with journey of self discovery, I'd like to recommend the poetic YA novel The Girl and the Goddess: Stories and Poems of Divine Wisdom by Nikita Gill. 

I've made it no secret that Nikita Gill is my favorite poet (as of writing this). I've been collecting her work for a few years now. What makes The Girl and the Goddess different from her typical work, is that there is an overarching narrative that links each poem and story. There's a lot of magical realism mixed with Gill's Indian background. If you love poetry, Hindu goddesses, and Queer main characters, definitely check out The Girl and the Goddess.

Another YA Novel that's perfect for the upcoming spooky season (I know Halloween and fall are a few months off, but go with me here) is Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Thomas is a non-binary Latinx author and Cemetery Boys is their debut novel.

I loved this book. It's perfect for someone looking for a spooky paranormal mystery with a splash of romance. The main character, Yadriel, is a Mexican American transgender boy trying to prove to his family of brujos that he too is a brujo...not a bruja. 

Yadriel thankfully does have a fairly good support system, despite not being fully understood by his family. However, this novel does have some violence, mentions child abuse, and features homeless children - some of whom lost their family to deportation or jail. It doesn't shy away from the realities of being Latinx, Black, Queer, and/or transgender in the United States (the book takes place in Los Angeles). 

My next recommendation is a straight up horror novel. Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester is unapologetically feminist.

Taking place in the American south, with most of the action set in the great city of New Orleans, Such a Pretty Smile radiates the heat and humidity that accompanies the novel's uncomfortable atmosphere. One of the main characters is a young girl coming of age and dealing with her crush on her not so nice best friend. The other main character is the girl's mother, still haunted a past she can't fully remember.

I did find the message and themes of the book to be a little on the nose at times, but that doesn't take away from the horrific imagery or monstrous actions happening with little explanation. Make no mistake, this isn't a creature feature in the traditional sense. This book won't chill you to the bone, but sit in your gut like a stomach bug.

And my final recommendation is: 

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor as the illustrator. I had the opportunity to meet Axelrod a few years ago as she was one of my Writer's Group's presenters. I've been following her on Twitter for years and was so excited when she announced her superhero comic Galaxy: The Pretties Star. 

I was even more excited when DC Comics picked it up to part of it's superhero universe. 

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star doesn't start out with it's main character, Taylor fighting any supervillains. She's just your average high schooler playing basketball and hiding out as a human boy in her small town. You see, Taylor is actually a princess from another planet. Her Earth family are comprised of the survivors of a an attack on their home world. Taylor is forced to assume the identity of a human boy as an added layer of protection, but she's not a boy.

Unfortunately, their an accident with the device that keeps Taylor's identity a secret and her real form is revealed - much to the annoyance, hate, and hostility of her community. All Taylor wants to do is live her most authentic life and go to the homecoming dance with her girlfriend, Kat. But the school administration don't want her anywhere near the school. 

The art is fantastic and so colorful. The story is great and you're rooting for Taylor the whole way through. Also there's a corgi sidekick named Argus who is just the best!

So there are my recommendations for Pride Month reading. The list may be coming out at the end of the month, but the books here will keep you occupied throughout the whole year.

Let me know if you've read any of these books and if you have any to recommend for me.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to 2021 Pride Month

I realize that this is the last weekend of Pride Month for the LGBTQ+ community. To be honest, I thought June was going to last longer than it did - I'm not sure how I came to fall under this assumption as June has always had 30 days in the total of my existence, so...

It felt like June flew by in a blink.

My way of celebrating Pride Month has typically consisted of me watching Angles in America  and picking up a poetry book by one of my favorite LGBTQ+ poets. I'd also watch a bunch of YouTube videos about the history of LGBTQ+ people.

This year I didn't change my habits all that much with one exception. I went to my first Pride Festival.

I honestly never felt a strong desire to go to a Pride Festival or celebration. Between trying to understand my identity, avoidance of large crowds, and having to travel a long distance to even attend, I didn't feel like I was missing out on much.

I probably wouldn't have gone to the Festival this year, except that I stumbled upon the Pride Festival by accident. I didn't even know it was going on until the morning of. And as luck would have it, I was free that day to celebrate. 

The experience started by me going to my local Farmer's Market. As I was about to turn into the parking lot, I saw someone putting up a little sign advertising the event. My curiosity peaked, I checked out the area that was being set up before buying my weekly groceries. In the span of about 10 seconds, I had made up my mind that I was going to return in an hour or so. 

The festival was small compared to what I'd seen on TV for the ones in New York or DC. There was a stage area for a band and music, several dozen booths selling pins and T-shirts, face painting, and free giveaways. There was a huge "LOVE" pop-up with the "O" painted as a rainbow for photo-ops. Restaurants with outdoor seating were packed and had rainbow streamers everywhere. Snacks were available and the brewery was selling white t-shirts for a tie-dye experience along with their usual selection of beer, kombucha, and hops tea.

Free tiny flags were given to anyone who asked. I got one and it now lives on my balcony in the banana pepper plant's pot. 

I arrived in time to catch part of the drag queen show. It was a lot of fun and everyone was dancing. Groups of teenagers wearing Pride flag capes hung out on the edges of the crowd, talking and laughing. Families with kids wove between booths. Dads wore rainbow tutus to match their kids and there were a few people in kilts.

I was quickly drawn to the booth selling books. It had an array of LGBTQ+ books: romances, fantasies, essays, and poems. Some of the books had been on my wish list and I quickly grabbed them. I also grabbed a book of essays about being LGBTQ+ while growing up in the deep south. I haven't started any of them yet and my "too read" pile is ever growing, but I know I'll get to them sooner rather than later.

Afterwards, I mostly sat and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was supposed to storm in the afternoon (and did start raining on my walk home), so I didn't stay too long.

Overall my first experience was great. Most people still had masks, but since I've been vaccinated, I've felt a lot safer going out in crowds. I loved how natural it all felt - no one needed to put on an act, we could all be ourselves. 

I'll likely try to attend other Pride festivals in the coming years - though I don't know if I can handle some of the bigger ones. 

The ability to openly celebrate being LGBTQ+ is a special privilege. Not even a decade ago, gay marriage wasn't legal. It wasn't until 1962 that gay sex began to be decriminalized in the United States. It took until 2009 to have anti-discrimination laws in place for the LGBTQ+ community.

The history of LGBTQ+ people is also constantly being overlooked or erased. LGBTQ+ people didn't just show up out of now where in the mid-20th century. We've always been a part of the human condition. 

Things still aren't ideal and are very far from perfect. There's a lot of open hostility against the transgender community - especially for Black transgender women. There are still plenty of countries that will jail or even execute someone for being LGBTQ+. Being open in America is still a risk, but at least many of us can be open.

But I'm hopeful.

The two generations of LGBTQ+ people before mine were devastated by the AIDs epidemic, but they built the stage that my generation was allowed to dance on. I believe that the next generation will make it go viral.

Happy Pride Month. 

Now, I'm going to finish watching Angles in America.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me.

Welcome to Holidays All Around

Today is the last day of LGBTQ+ month. I hope everyone had a wonderful Pride Month. I only manged to get into New York City once this month, but I saw tons of rainbow flags and welcoming signs. I even managed to locate a nice cafe with a Pride Flag right on the corner of Gay St.

June wasn't just LGBTQ+ Pride Month. There were a few other whole month celebrations going on. Some are internationally recognized, but others are country specific:

• African-American Music Appreciation Month
• ALS Awareness Month (Canada)
• Alzheimer's & Brain Awareness Month (USA)
• LGBT Pride Month
• National Safety Month
• National Smile Month (United Kingdom, May and June)

Tomorrow begins every child's favorite month long celebration (if they know about it) National Ice Cream Month. I probably won't be celebrating - mostly because I can't eat ice cream - but it sounds like a great month for children on summer holiday.

However, don't just have month long celebrations. There are a few days set aside to celebrate any number of reasons. 

Most of us in the United States are familiar with the bank holidays (days where people with 9-5 jobs get a day off and schools and banks are closed). Days such as Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Labor Day, and Veterans Day. The next big one is coming up this week: Independence Day!

Then there are the religious and/or cultural holidays we learn through society, such as Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Hanukkah, Halloween (Samhain), and Easter. We might not get a day off of school (with the exception of Christmas) or celebrate all of them, but most people in the United States at least know about them. 

By the way National Grinch Day (Grinch-mass) is December 1st

And of course there are the religious / memorial days which have been absorbed and slightly altered by our culture. These would be the Valentine's Days (a saint's day that's turned into a day all about love), St. Patrick's Days (another saint's day that's become a reason to celebrate the Irish heritage in America), and Cinco De Mayo (this isn't Mexican Independence Day, but it has been embraced as a day to celebrate Mexican heritage in America - when not stereotyped by drunk white people).

The Wiccan / Witch holiday of the Autumn Equinox

Then there are the just plain holidays for the sake of celebration. 

For example, while I was celebrating the summer solstice last weekend, my friend wished me a Happy National Onion Ring Day and Global Smurfs Day (I refuse to open the can of worms as to how people celebrate that one). Today happens to be International Asteroid Day and World Social Media Day (why? just why?). Again I don't plan on celebrating either of these events, but it is interesting and occasionally fun to know.

My personal favorites of these types of celebratory days are Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sep 19th), Star Wars Day (also known as May the 4th), Star Trek Day (Sep 8th), and Pi Day (March 14th). Pi Day in particular holds a special place in my heart because my math classes used to have huge parties with lots of different pie to eat. 

Pretty much if you can think of something to celebrate, there's likely already a day or month dedicated to it. When I was a kid, I was jealous that there was a Mother's Day and a Father's Day, but no Kids Day. There actually is. It's June 19th. The holiday just hasn't been embraced yet by those of us in the United States. 

More recently International Women's Day has been making waves. However, according to my European friends, it's actually celebrated in Europe rather than just acknowledged as a day. Women are often given flowers (or flower crowns...I'm not actually clear) in her home country of Hungry.

This, of course, prompted people to start asking why there wasn't an International Men's Day. Except that there is. If these people had done a quick Google search instead of griping about it on social media, they would know that it's November 19th. 

But let's be real, they didn't care about International Men's Day until International Women's Day became "a thing". 

So the next time you want a reason to celebrate something, check out what holidays are going on that day. There are several websites dedicating keeping up with this information including: nationaltoday.com/ and checkiday.com.

And if you run into someone complaining about how someone has an entire month to celebrate something, but the veterans only have one day. Feel free to let them know that if they actually cared about veterans, they'd know that May is National Military Appreciation Month - which includes celebrating veterans. 

Happy End of Pride Month my friends!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

See you guys in two weeks.

Welcome to the Change that Wasn’t

I know it’s a weird title. Especially since last week I wrote how change is everywhere and needs to be embraced to reach fullest potential. So, why this title?

I often treat change like a life altering event. Sort of a one time shift in my life and everything will be different. Except that’s not how change works,  nor is that how change should be treated.

How many times have I told myself that by X date I will do Y thing, only for me to forget two weeks down the line and realized I’ve missed my deadline?

Too many to count.

And I bet dolllars to donuts that you guys (my readers) have too. These are the changes we are conscious of. The ones we try to plan for, but rarely have the opportunity to follow through with because life gets in the way. Sometimes I’m disappointed that I didn’t follow up with this plan, while others feel so trivial by the time I remember them.

When I moved to New Jersey, I made a rough sketch of my plan for the next five years. I thought I had the whole thing figured out. I’d take the GRE, find a Masters program (though in what was flexible), and move again to be near one of my parents.

I’m now three years into that five year plan and I’ve done maybe two things that I had listed out. Neither of those two things turned out remotely how I thought they would. In fact, looking back on it, I’ve had so many other changes to manage that I pretty much have to scrap that plan all together.

Change still happened, even if it wasn’t the change I was looking for.

There are quite a few days were I don’t feel like I’ve changed all that much and others where I hardly recognize my current self from how I was a year ago. I don’t notice my changes from day to day, but I occasionally realize that the person I was a year ago would have made a very different choice than the choice I ended up making.

Subconsciously or consciously, change happens. One day, I’m pretty sure I’m going to wake up and wonder why my mid-twenties self ever thought they’d always feel so out of focus.

It’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the USA and some people might be thinking of coming out to their friends and family. It might seem like everything from that point on will change, and it might. It’s unfortunate and disheartening that the LGBTQ+ community continues to face prejudice and stigma.  But being true to yourself is even more important and I’ve found that most people are accepting and happy for others who are able embrace who they are.

I can’t help being me no more than a tree can help being a tree.

If you’re in the LGBTQ+ community and need someone to talk to, please feel free to call a hotline such as the Trevor Project (866 488 7386) or reach out to a local support group such as a local GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) chapter.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.