In high school, I remember very clearly when my boyfriend gave me a book that would change the way I felt about my favorite genre. I love science fiction, and fantasy – and I always have. But I always searched for role models, people I could identify with in the fiction that I loved. There were no people with disabilities… Read more →
Today I went to Deirdre’s and got to spend some time with the perfect little furry therapist. I took photos, because who DOESN’T want kitten therapy pictures? I think the kitten brought a little levity to everybody’s day. There was no cancer talk. Just ogling, cuddling, and photographing the precious little cat. I am a great believer in the presence… Read more →
I haven’t been fully open with my readership about what is happening with me this summer, but today I am going to open the curtains and tell people where I am. I am refusing to turn away from a friend who has a brain tumor. I flew across the country on short notice, and I am here for two months,… Read more →
On June 26th 1993 Lawrence v. Texas was handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ensuring that people in same sex relationships were safe from prosecution based upon who they wanted to have sex with. On September 21, 1996 President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, causing marriage in the United States to be confined… Read more →
Two years ago I wrote a piece for Offbeat Bride called Blind Women Get Married Too One year ago on Sunday, I married my now husband. (You can see the wedding profile on offbeat bride right here!) I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a visibly married disabled woman, and how people seem to be completely… Read more →
I’m choosing to run this story in the ‘Sexual Assault and Disability’ series because not all sexual assault or sexual damage is physical. It can also be mental. In the case of Purity Culture, it is an all encompassing world. It is an enforced code of ethics, and that too can leave scars. In the case of this story, purity… Read more →
I remember being very little and going to a few meetings of what was called the “Daisy Scouts”. I don’t remember why I stopped going, but I do remember being very uncomfortable with the idea that we had prayer circles. When people returned or refused their Eagle Scout medals I payed attention, recognizing that the Boy Scouts of America were… Read more →
Yesterday was the first day that same sex couples could get married in Washington State. And my home state did me very very proud. It also has reduced me to a puddle of tears at least 3 times in the last 48 hours. I have been raised by a community – and much of that community was queer, or trans,… Read more →
Yesterday was the first day that same sex couples could get married in Washington State. And my home state did me very very proud. It also has reduced me to a puddle of tears at least 3 times in the last 48 hours. I have been raised by a community – and much of that community was queer, or trans,… Read more →
I grew up in a world most people will never see. My childhood was one where I knew about chest tubes, how to use syringes, running jokes about biohazard signs. I learned what sex was at the same time that I learned what death was. I wore plastic gloves more often than any child did in my grade level. My… Read more →
