personal essay
'Pro Hoe' Is My New Definition of Sexual Freedom
Kink was integral to developing my sexual identity free of the stereotyping of Black women I experienced.
For Gay Men in Indonesia, There's No Place Safer Than Twitter
It's the only place where we can feel like we belong to a community—but without the pressure of revealing everything about ourselves.
Getting 'California Sober' Showed Me a Kinder, Gentler Way to Do Drugs
When I quit every substance except weed and psychedelics, I could still party and expand my mind, but without the selfishness and addiction.
Not Over It, Not Fixed, and Living a Life Worth Living
Healing from sexual abuse and trauma isn’t a journey with an end point. An excerpt from ‘Whatever Gets You Through.’
We Don't Need a White Wellness Savior to 'Fix' Chinese Food
There are real problems with Lucky Lee's framing of an entire cuisine as “unhealthy.”
Getting Sober as a Bartender Means Quitting the Clown Act
I had chosen not to be an artist. I had chosen to be a clown, and I wasn’t happy with it. So I stopped.
Meghan Markle's Relationship With Her Dad Makes Me Feel Better About My Own
My father wasn’t at my wedding, either.
As a Queer Person, I Have a Love-Hate Relationship With Weddings
With little to no hope on marriage equality in Indonesia, my own wedding day is a day that will probably never come.
I Voted For The First Time In Thailand And Felt Like My Voice Didn't Matter
'We were led to believe that this time we could help change the course of the country, that we had the power to create a better future for ourselves, using our voice. Yet once again, they suppressed us.'
'Five Feet Apart' Portrays the Grueling Realities of Cystic Fibrosis
"CF is also disease I’ve fought bitterly for 32 years since being diagnosed at six months old...'Five Feet Apart' acknowledges the hard truths of fighting a losing battle."
My Indian Mother's Refusal to Cook Taught Me Everything About Womanhood and Food
There is plenty to tell about my mother, but no recipes bound and weighted by rituals, no tales of a mother figure carrying the weight of my family’s life at the table.
Strangers Offered Me Drugs in Manila, and I Ended Up in a Cramped Jail For a Week
The first-person story on a man's brief but horrifying experience in the Philippines' criminal justice system.