News :: Commentary

Transmissions: Stand in joy and Pride

Transmissions: Stand in joy and Pride

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Jun 14, 2023

Pride, in 2023, feels a bit surreal. For months, we have heard the worst people on the right relentlessly labeling LGBTQ people — and in particular transgender people — as groomers, preying on the nation's children.

Transmissions: In the company of Pride

Transmissions: In the company of Pride

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • May 31, 2023

June is upon us, and with that Pride season.

Transmissions: The trans body

Transmissions: The trans body

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • May 17, 2023

As overplayed a term as it is, we are living in what amounts to a modern day witch-hunt, with transgender people replacing women in pointy hats.

Requiem for a Drag Queen

Requiem for a Drag Queen

  • by Michael Yamashita | NewsIsOut.com
  • May 12, 2023

The New York Times obituary for Barry Humphries extolled the life and career of a beloved actor of stage, screen, and television. You could be forgiven if you didn't recognize his name, but surely not if you did not recognize his alter ego.

Transmissions: Silenced

Transmissions: Silenced

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • May 3, 2023

At the Montana Statehouse in Helena, history is being made.

Guest Opinion: The Castro Theatre belongs to the community

Guest Opinion: The Castro Theatre belongs to the community

  • by Tom Ammiano and Michela Alioto-Pier
  • Apr 24, 2023

For over 100 years, the Castro Theatre has been an architectural and cultural jewel in our city's crown and has evolved as an icon of the LGBTQ community and culture.

Transmissions: Under the influence

Transmissions: Under the influence

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Apr 19, 2023

It sounds positively cynical to say this, but we live in an era of spectacle and circus, provided to us hour by hour via social media.

The revolution, as always, will be led by drag queens

The revolution, as always, will be led by drag queens

  • by Michael Yamashita | NewsIsOut.com
  • Apr 6, 2023

At the root of revolution is revolt—a revolt against oppressive power. Once again in our history, we must rise up against a deranged right-wing front that is harnessing political and social power to legislate and discriminate LGBTQ+ people out of existenc

Transmissions: Weapons

Transmissions: Weapons

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Apr 5, 2023

On March 27, a gunman used an AR-15 military-style weapon to shoot open a lock to a door at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

Transmissions: Lies and deceptions

Transmissions: Lies and deceptions

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Mar 22, 2023

There are many who want to claim that transgender lives are built on falsehoods, that everything about us is a lie.

Transmissions: An alchemist's passing

Transmissions: An alchemist's passing

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Mar 8, 2023

In 1994, when dinosaurs still roamed the Cretaceous Earth, I was but a budding trans woman. I was still largely trying to find where I fit in this thing called "transgender," and fighting through a mountain full of shame and guilt over who I was.

Transmissions: Six days in February

Transmissions: Six days in February

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Feb 22, 2023

On the afternoon of February 11, a girl by the name of Brianna Ghey was found on a path in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire, England. Pronounced dead at the scene, she was the victim of multiple stab wounds.

Transmissions: Being dragged into a culture war

Transmissions: Being dragged into a culture war

  • Feb 8, 2023

Decades before the upper floors of a three-story building at the corner of Broadway and Kearny in San Francisco became a co-working office space, it was home to a nightclub called Finocchio's.

Transmissions: Our history, and what it tells us

Transmissions: Our history, and what it tells us

  • by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
  • Jan 25, 2023

Legislative sessions have started in statehouses across the country, and with them, scores of new anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans bills.