I try to go to my parents’ for Christmas, but inevitably we get into an argument and I end up taking the bus back to Spanish Harlem. On the way home, I notice the Indian restaurant on the corner is open. I order takeout and spend the evening with my roommate’s ragdoll cat, a bowl of bhindi masala and Dreamgirls on HBO. To this day, it remains my favourite Christmas of all time.
It’s the most wonderful time to be queer! Get in the Christmakwanzakah open thread and tell us all about your holigay season!
Who are you channeling this year when it comes to holigay style? Get in the Christmakwanzakah open thread and tell us!
That is what makes food kind of magical. To me it’s not just about fuel (or in this case, sugar), it’s a tradition, or a way to feel close to someone, or a ritual, or a meditation, or a time to grieve the past, or remember it fondly, or a time to be silent and work something with your hands, or a time to laugh and listen to my rubbish music and get flour everywhere. When our parents divorced it felt like all that was familiar had gone, but in that loss we managed to carve a space out that was ours.
So here is my recipe for sibling bonding through the medium of gingerbread cookies.
“About half the year, I’m obsessed with beauty products and rituals and slathering things all over my body in the hopes that they’ll be the latest miracle product to change my life. The other half of the time, I’m the laziest motherfucker around.”
For us queer folks, even when families are fairly accepting, the cultural divide between us and our mostly-straight families can make holiday get-togethers a little (or a lot) awkward. There’s nothing quite like your weird uncle dropping a slur in the middle of Christmas dinner to liven the mood!
Take a moment this week to dig in to these longreads.
Because we, as individuals, may not have a particular connection to a particular lesbian bar that has gone under doesn’t mean that the death of the lesbian bar, in general, isn’t a tragedy.
Want to watch a fat het man chain smoke? Want to watch a skinny gay girl sob? Want to watch them inexplicably, suddenly become best bffs? This is your flick.
Sure, Chanukah kind of doesn’t matter in the hierarchy of high holidays but that doesn’t mean its origin story can’t help your parents see the error of their ways. The Maccabees are the rebel heroes that took down a patriarchy of religious intolerance. The Macabbes fought for…what? Oh, right. Acceptance of who they are: Jews. And what are you doing when you light those little candles? Celebrating those Maccabee heroes. Your parents are literally celebrating the idea of acceptance and tolerance every night of Chanukah. Now is a good time to remind them of that. Besides, the Maccabees look kind of gay to me.
Remember that time Riese’s mom taught us how to make latkes with applesauce for Hanukkah? They were delicious! You should make them!
