Items
topic_interest is exactly
LGBT
-
2022-10-16
One Last Trip With My Old Face
This is a story about my first trip out of state after the pandemic began. During lockdown, I reconnected with an old friend and was later invited to his wedding. It was my first time going to Chicago and I had a wonderful time. -
2022-06-04
After coming out during the pandemic, many LGBTQ+ folks look to 2022’s Pride with a mix of emotions
This is a news story from The Seattle Times by Scott Greenstone. Pride has changed quite a bit over the last two years due to COVID. For a while, Pride celebrations were held virtually. The in-person events in 2022 will now resemble what Pride was like prior to the virus. Included in this article are personal stories of people who did not come out until the pandemic, with this year being the first year they will attend Pride in-person. For some, they didn't realize they were trans until the pandemic hit. Rhys Hutton, for instance, did not know he was trans, and is also coming to grips with having autism. Hutton's story of how he came to the realization started on TikTok when the algorithm kept showing videos of trans-masculine people. This exposure helped him figure out his identity more. Stories like this are not uncommon, according to a recent Gallup poll, ten percent of Millennials and twenty percent of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+. -
2022-03-31
'A Cry for Help': More than a Third of High Schoolers Report Poor Mental Health During COVID, CDC Study Finds
This is a story from USA Today by Adrianna Rodriguez. This is about the mental health in teens during the pandemic and how it has affected them. The CDC study that is cited says that 44% of high schoolers reported feeling persistently sad or helpless during 2021. Over half of the students surveyed were reported to have experienced emotional abuse from a parent, with 11% saying they have experienced physical abuse. Nearly 30% of students reported a parent or another adult in their house had lost a job. In a demographics breakdown, LGBT students reported more suicide attempts and poorer mental health than their counterparts. One third of students say that they have experienced racism. This article is meant to help show the impact COVID has had on people and the way lockdowns have impacted high schoolers specifically. -
2020-12-10
How Does A Pandemic Affect The Progression of a Relationship? (Corrected)
This interview examines how a relationship between my close friend, Abby, and her girlfriend Julia was affected by the pandemic. As pointed out in her answers, they began dating right around the time that the pandemic began, and ended in early November, so the entire course of the relationship took place while the pandemic was going on. This interview represents individuals who are part of the LGBT community (Abby is bisexual, her ex-girlfriend Julia identifies as a lesbian), and gives the opportunity for them to share information about a relationship that may be looked over due to its lovers. -
2020-12-13
How Does A Pandemic Help One Explore Sexuality?
In about September or October, I remember my friend reaching out to our group chat about how she was questioning her sexuality. This questioning soon led her to the realization that though she had identified as straight her whole life, she felt that the label of bisexual fit her better. Next thing I knew, she was dating a girl. When I decided to seek out material related to the expression of sexuality during the pandemic, I knew immediately that I wanted to dive deeper into her story and see if the pandemic had anything to do with the situation. One of the biggest issues I had with this interview was making sure that I was not overstepping any boundaries and getting too personal, going back to the ethical responsibility that historians/archivists have to respect the privacy of those who are aiding in their contribution. However, I feel that not only did I find more out about the effects of the pandemic, rather, I found more out about my friend than I had expected to. -
2020-03-12
COVID-19 Productivity Plan
HIST30060: A ‘COVID-19 Productivity Plan’ in the making. In the early days of the pandemic, my girlfriend and I were excited about entering lockdown. An eventual lockdown felt inevitable in mid-March, so we sat down at our local café to plan all the things we hoped to achieve. The plan reflects the sense of novelty and strange excitement many experienced in the beginning. -
2020-06-29
Love and the Pandemic
Trying to keep a relationship together-- let alone happy or healthy-- during this pandemic has been tough. I had to move out of my home and back in with my parents in March, and that meant my partner and I didn't get to see each other for almost six weeks, the longest we had ever been apart. We decided to move in together in May, even though we'd only been seriously dating for less than six months, and three of those months we had been separated due to COVID. Spending 24/7 with another human being, no matter how much you love that other human being, can also be an adventure, as toes are unavoidably stepped on. Still, most days I think we're doing pretty okay. One of the things my partner and I are doing to maintain a sense of normalcy is modifying our old hobby of playing Pokemon GO. Before the pandemic, we used pick a restaurant on Mill for dinner and then catch Pokemon in the surrounding area after. You would think that Pokemon GO would be safe to play right now-- because you can play outdoors and also it's easy to play while maintaining social distancing-- but we've actually really struggled to find places to play where people are wearing masks and respecting social distancing protocols. Mill Avenue, for example, is a literal cesspool with packed bars and no face masks in sight. At Kiwanis Park a few weeks ago, I heard a woman loudly complaining about having to wear a mask. Everything feels dangerous because it seems like people don't care if others get sick. Luckily, with some patience and persistence, we've found places to play that are both safe and allow us small moments of joy. Yesterday, we headed to ASU's campus, which has been mostly empty and requires face masks. We kept our masks on the whole time and saw less than five people. Normally, even picking up groceries from Fry's feels like a terrifying experience to me, and last night was probably the first time I've been out in this entire pandemic and not been paralyzed with fear the whole time. It was nice. Probably about as nice as things can be in a pandemic? I included this video from the end of our Pokemon adventure as we went back to the car. I like the video because it bears the obvious signs of Summer (sweat, traces of sunscreen smudges on my glasses, tank tops), the obvious signs of the pandemic (face masks, empty campus), and the obvious signs of two people dating (smiles, jokes, joy). -
2020-06-25
The pandemic is threatening to close the iconic LGBTQ landmark Stonewall Inn for good
From the article: "It's not going to close tomorrow or the next day, co-owner Stacy Lentz told CNN, but the Stonewall Inn's future is in jeopardy. Payments for the bar's insurance and rent, in addition to normal operating costs, continue to mount even though coronavirus has closed their doors."