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Val S.

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Published in An Injustice!

·Feb 9, 2022

Japan’s Transgender Community Under Quiet Siege

Sharp horns, beady eyes, and gnashing teeth represent the souls of jealous and tormented women-turned-demons — Hannya. Masks of this kind were common in Noh theater production art and have remained present in Japanese irezumi tattoos. Across the Pacific at a tattoo shop in California, my artist laid the stencil…

LGBTQ

5 min read

Japan’s Transgender Community Under Quiet Siege
Japan’s Transgender Community Under Quiet Siege
LGBTQ

5 min read


Published in The Jump Off

·Nov 22, 2021

The Morning Show’s queerbaiting problem

I’m tired. Are you tired? If you’re a purveyor of one of what seem to be now dozens of streaming services, or just social media, you’ve likely heard that Apple TV’s The Morning Show has a lesbian romance arc this season. Reese Witherspoon — yes, the same woman who “didn’t…

LGBTQ

2 min read

The Morning Show’s queerbaiting problem
The Morning Show’s queerbaiting problem
LGBTQ

2 min read


Published in The Jump Off

·Apr 22, 2021

No one is ‘Invincible’ against teenage angst, exclusive clip

Invincible is, at its core, a story about a teenager — Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) — who just happens to have superpowers. The pilot follows him in his desperate reach for super-puberty, because to a boy with the world’s most formidable hero for a father (J.K. Simmons as Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man)…

Television

1 min read

No one is ‘Invincible’ against teenage angst, exclusive clip
No one is ‘Invincible’ against teenage angst, exclusive clip
Television

1 min read


Published in The Jump Off

·Apr 20, 2021

Girl in Red’s Fall From Grace

You stupid bitch, can’t you see the perfect one for you is me? It sounds like a SheRatesDogs entry, but it’s actually the hook to Marie Ulven, or girl in red’s latest single. Ulven built a cult following as a lesbian crooner in 2017 with “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend,”…

LGBTQ

3 min read

Girl in Red’s Fall From Grace
Girl in Red’s Fall From Grace
LGBTQ

3 min read


Published in An Injustice!

·Apr 16, 2021

I Wouldn’t Eat the Donut: Gay Marriage and the Politics of Pastry

Baked goods, have been centered at the fore of civil rights issues from lunch counter sit-ins during the 1960s to modern Supreme Court rulings over wedding cake — May 22, 2015. I was sitting in a hostel in Salzburg, Austria when marriage equality passed in Ireland. It was pure happenstance, a trip planned in the wake of my college graduation that coincided with the Irish referendum. …

Travel

6 min read

I Wouldn’t Eat the Donut: Gay Marriage and the Politics of Pastry
I Wouldn’t Eat the Donut: Gay Marriage and the Politics of Pastry
Travel

6 min read


Published in Prism & Pen

·Apr 7, 2021

The Monster From Under Her Bed

Bridget Stevenson lives in a normal house on a normal street with a normal name. But she is seven the first time she learns that things are not normal on Normal Lane. She is, she thinks, well dressed for this lesson. It is her mother’s funeral, after all. Aunt Patricia…

Short Story

5 min read

The Monster From Under Her Bed
The Monster From Under Her Bed
Short Story

5 min read


Published in The Riff

·Apr 1, 2021

Music Can Make or Break a Film

Growing up, there was a forbidden VHS tape. Two, actually. The “Titanic” boxset taunted my sister and me from the shelves that housed the television and, underneath it, our parents’ movies. And on it went, until one day we convinced the babysitter that we were allowed to watch a PG-13…

Music

5 min read

Music Can Make or Break a Film
Music Can Make or Break a Film
Music

5 min read


Published in The Jump Off

·Mar 31, 2021

A Brief History of the Piper Perabo Lesbian Cinematic Universe

Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. It’s been fifteen years since the first and last time I saw Léa Pool’s 2001 “Lost and Delirious” — an experience that at the time was so distressing I vowed to never repeat it. …

LGBTQ

7 min read

A Brief History of the Piper Perabo Lesbian Cinematic Universe
A Brief History of the Piper Perabo Lesbian Cinematic Universe
LGBTQ

7 min read


Published in The Jump Off

·Mar 28, 2021

A new hero from Amazon: ‘Invincible’

“Invincible,” which premiered its first three episodes to Amazon Prime audiences on March 26, is a gory animated superhero series for adult audiences. It features the bulging eyeballs, bloodshed, and splattered guts that would realistically come with a punch from Omni-Man (J.K. …

LGBTQ

2 min read

A new hero from Amazon: ‘Invincible’
A new hero from Amazon: ‘Invincible’
LGBTQ

2 min read


Published in The Jump Off

·Mar 27, 2021

What is The Jump Off?

The Jump Off — named for Lil’ Kim’s 2003 banger — is a home for LGBTQ creators to respond to the good, the bad, and the ugly of pop culture. Are you still waiting for your favorite ship to sail? Did your most loved lesbian just die? …

Film

2 min read

What is The Jump Off?
What is The Jump Off?
Film

2 min read

Val S.

Val S.

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