KRISTIN RUSSO
CEO & Editor-in-Chief
Kristin Russo is the CEO & Editor-in-Chief of Everyone Is Gay & My Kid Is Gay. She also hosted & produced Season 1 of First Person, a video series on gender and sexuality from PBS Digital and WNET. She co-authored the book This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids (Chronicle, 2014), and co-directs Autostraddle’s A-Camp. Kristin holds a Master’s in Gender Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan, and her work has been featured on Newsweek, CNN, Time, The Ellen Show, and more. You can read more about Kristin here!
PAST CONTRIBUTORS
Jasmine An is a queer, third generation Chinese-American who comes from the Midwest. A graduate of Kalamazoo College, she has also lived in New York City and Chiang Mai, Thailand, studying poetry, urban development, and blacksmithing. Her soulmate and forever muse is Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. Her poetry can be found or is forthcoming in publications such as HEArt Online, Stirring, Heavy Feather Review and Southern Humanities Review. As of 2016, she lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand continuing her study of the Thai language and urban resiliency to climate change.
Nick Barsuli identifies as a young gay man living in Chicago. He is actively involved in various LGBT organizations such as Geeks OUT and Chicago Gaymers and manages a bar in Boystown. Outside of work, he writes video game reviews for Geeks OUT and does a few voice acting gigs from his home recording studio.
Riese Bernard is an award-winning blogger, journalist, video-maker and aspiring cyber-performance-artist as well as the editor-in-chief and CEO of Autostraddle.com, the world’s most popular independently owned website for queer women. Her writing has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Jezebel and Nerve.com. Riese honed her advice chops as the co-star of the cult classic YouTube series “Riese & Haviland Vlogs.”
Whiskey Blue is the author of Brooklyn Love, a collection of literary erotica available everywhere ebooks are sold. In her other life, she is a contributor to Psychology Today. She has also written for The Huffington Post, The Atlantic, AfterEllen, Curve Magazine, Bitch, and more. Whiskey holds erotica in the highest regard. Follow her @topshelferotica.
Mal Blum writes often self-referential, first-person narratives, sets them to music containing elements from anti-folk, punk or folk genres and tours nationally, usually alone in a little car, but sometimes with a band or another songwriter for company.
Since the age of 13, Anna Livia Chen has been fighting for the queer community. It began when Prop 8 took away the right to marry from her two moms and thousands of other queer couples in California, and has grown into a high school legacy of queer activism. From being the president of her Queer-Straight Alliance for three years to her involvement as Multicultural Commissioner on her school’s Associated Student Body to serving as the only youth on steering committees for the City of Mountain View’s Diversity Youth Forum and screenings of Miss Representation, Anna Livia has been fighting for safer spaces and starting important conversations all throughout high school. Anna Livia is a Freshman at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania as a prospective sociology major.
Red Davidson was born in Boston and raised in Northern Ohio (though ze considers Boston to be “home” far more than Ohio). Ze is currently a junior at Smith College studying English and Gender Studies. Red is a writer and huge nerd who loves theatre, is obsessed with Harry Potter, and aspires to be a YA Librarian so that ze can spend the rest of zir life talking to teenagers about books. Red identifies as a proud (and loud) bisexual, genderqueer black person.
Kai Davis is a writer, performer, and student from Philadelphia. As a queer woman of color, much of her work centers around race relations, womanhood, and queer identity. Her work has been featured in the San Francisco Opera House, The Kimmel Center, and at various colleges and Universities. She is currently focusing on her college career at Temple University and offering her talents as a junior mentor for a non-profit organization called Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement.
Anita Dolce Vita is a Clinical Research Nurse Coordinator by day and a fashion and culture blogger by night. In addition to serving as the Editor in Chief at dapperQ.com, her work has been featured/mentioned in The Huffington Post, Curve, DIVA, Autostraddle, MTV’s After Ellen, Newsweek’s The Daily Beast, HuffPo Live, San Francisco Weekly, Canada’s Globe and Mail, Beijing Review, Disruptive Women in Health Care, and Bosnia’s Manjine.BA.
Tyler Ford is an agender poet who is passionate about helping others to become the best possible version of themselves. They are a staff writer at Rookie and live in New York City.
Becky Garrison contributes to a range of outlets including The Washington Post‘s On Faith column, The Guardian, Free Inquiry, Religion Dispatches, The Humanist, Believe Out Loud, and American Atheist. Her seven books include Roger Williams’ Little Book of Virtues, and Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church.
Broderick Greer was reared in Texas, went to college in Tennessee, and is now a master’s of divinity student at Virginia Theological Seminary. He enjoys jogging, traveling, Beyoncé, politics, and vanilla milkshakes.
Gabi Gregg is a Chicago-based writer and brand consultant who started her blog in 2008 after noticing the lack of fashion resources for plus size young women. The first blog of its kind, GabiFresh mixes style advice, outfits, and body positivity while rejecting outdated fashion rules and the concept of dressing for your body type. She has contributed to Vogue.it, Refinery29, xoJane, and Rookie Mag, and became a monthly columnist for InStyle Magazine in 2012.
Rachel Halder is currently an MA in Religion candidate at Claremont School of Theology, studying holistic spiritual trauma healing for those who have been marginalized by the Christian Church because of sexual abuse and/or LGBTQIA sexual identification. She is passionate about interspirituality, believing that mystical spirituality is the origin of all world religions, and that at their mystical core all spiritual paths lead to Love. She blogs about sexualized violence at Our Stories Untold, about spirituality at Heart of Thought, and when she’s not writing or speaking you can find her hiking mountains or walking through the forest, communing with pachamama’s beautiful earth creation. Follow her on Twitter @raegitsreal
Riley Johnson is an award-winning activist, educator, and consultant on trans issues. He is also the founding executive director of RAD Remedy, a collectively-operated organization dedicated to connecting trans, gender non-conforming, intersex, and queer folks to accurate, safe, respectful, and comprehensive care. The organization’s database is the first review and referral site dedicated to trans, gender nonconforming, intersex, and queer health. Riley is currently based in Chicago with aims of moving to St. Petersburg, Florida in 2016. Follow him on Twitter @lovefortified
Aaminah Khan is a professional Jill-of-all-trades: writer, activist, English tutor, refugee support worker, former medical student, pop culture analyst and angry Twitter ranter. She has written for Black Girl Dangerous and the Muslim Feminists Project and been featured in The Huffington Post, Geeked! Magazine, Human Parts, and The TransAdvocate. Aaminah tweets, tumbls, answers ask.fm questions, blogs on WordPress and generally terrorises bigots on social media as @jaythenerdkid. In meatspace, you can find her adjusting to her new life in the United States, where she recently immigrated from Australia to be with her husband and fellow crusader-against-ignorance, PJ.
Alyse Knorr is a an author, a poet, and the co-founder and co-editor of Gazing Grain Press, an inclusive feminist press, and teaches English at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She received her MFA in creative writing from George Mason University.
Sara Schmidt-Kost is an out, queer Educator in Minneapolis, MN. She spent five years as a leader in the LGBT student organizations at St. Cloud State University where she completed her undergrad in Secondary Social Studies Education. Sara currently co-leads the in-school and after-school GSA groups at the middle school where she works, and she is thankful for the opportunity to support her students as they grow into fully-functioning adults. She has also created a training workshop on LGBT Issues in Schools and has presented it to groups of Social Studies teachers, other educators, and students alike.
Sara Kyle resides in the Bronx, where she earned a BS in Business Administration – Marketing at Fordham University. She is the founder and managing director of a digital marketing company, and joined Everyone Is Gay in 2014 to help launch and manage The Parents Project.
Erika Lynn is a white, feminine of center, mentally disabled organism who loves to frolic in fields and splash in the ocean. She’s lived a life as multiple genders and sexual orientations and enjoys critically exploring how gender and sexuality influence many aspects of our lives. Her approach to activism is intersectional, and she strives to be as race, ability, class, gender, sexuality and body conscious and positive as possible. Read more of her work here.
Grace Manger is the Senior Managing Editor at My Kid Is Gay. A graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, she now lives in Portland, Oregon. In her spare time, she can be found reading feminist theory, writing letters, and doing handstands around the world. Follow her on Twitter @gracemanger
J Mase III is a black/trans/queer poet and educator currently based in NYC. He is an advocate of queering scripture, fierce scars and can often be found blogging for the Huffington Post, spitting poems around the world and running the first ever talent agency focused on trans & queer performers of color at www.awQwardtalent.com
Mel Mendoza is an excommunicated Jehovah’s Witness who decided to turn her experience into an opportunity to help others in similar situations. She lives in LA. She started a Tumblr blog for people who come from conservative religious households and are LGBTQ so they can ask questions, read advice, and find community. It’s called aplacetorebuild.tumblr.com. She spends all of her time running a business, writing, exercising, dancing awkwardly, telling bad jokes, going to concerts, biking, and exploring Los Angeles all while spending time with her lovely girlfriend.
Jo Michelle is a trauma-oriented mental health provider working with children and families, schools, and wherever else she’s needed in Western Massachusetts. Past commutes have ranged from daily subway rides to driving past cow pastures, and their identity and presentation have meandered in kind. She accepts all pronouns and, when he’s not working toward an MSW or being loud about social issues and social policy on social media, daydreams about creative therapies and raising chickens in the woods.
Kelli Miller is a 26-year old, non-traditional student attending Ohio University who is currently in her junior year and is studying mainly philosophy and psychology. She has a great interest in feminist and queer theory and is quite comfortable delving into the topics. Kelli has a passion for writing, and as it would happen, philosophy. She often talks academically about sex, which has a tendency of baffling others who aren’t used to that sort of discourse. When not delving into such details on those topics, she enjoys such enjoyable activities as playing D&D, video games, juggling, and, on occasion, unicycling.. Kelli’s also into cats, because they are wonderful, wonderful creatures.
Dannielle Owens-Reid is an author, public speaker, and performer living the dream in Los Angeles, CA. After her work as co-founder of Everyone Is Gay & My Kid is Gay, she began a collective called Radimo to share her experiences and the experiences of those who inspire her.
Hanna Pennington is an 18 year old first year college student. She is a queer feminist poet and drag queen enthusiast. In the past, she curated an art show about gender, written for the Boston Women’s Health Collective blog, and worked with Everyone Is Gay as an intern. Her passions include cartooning, diner breakfast at odd hours, and Halloween stickers.
Kate Scelsa is the author of the young adult novel “Fans of the Impossible Life” (HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray). She grew up in New Jersey, went to school at Sarah Lawrence College, and now lives in Brooklyn with her wife and two black cats. Kate also performs with theater company Elevator Repair Service and is half of The Kate and Vin Scelsa Podcast, available on iTunes. Follow her on Twitter @katescelsa
For years Dr. Justine Shuey has been helping individuals of all ages expand their knowledge around sexuality and gain confidence in their sexual expression. Dr. Shuey presents at colleges, medical schools, hospitals, organizations and conferences all over the United States and Canada, teaching medical students and health care professionals how to incorporate reproductive health exams and sexuality discussions into their practices in a respectful way that eases anxieties. She also teaches undergraduate Human Sexuality courses at several universities, and serves as a volunteer and board member at GLSEN of Central New Jersey. Dr. Shuey is currently working towards a second doctorate degree (a Ph.D.) in Human Sexuality from Widener University.
Eva Sweeney is a 30-year-old genderqueer disabled female who works primarily as a freelance writer. Her topics include disabilities and sex, gender, and lesbian culture. She is also the creator of a documentary called, Respect: The Joy of Aides. She currently lives in L.A. with her two dogs.
Carmella Van Vleet is a wife, former teacher, and the mother of three young people (ages 22, 20 and 18) who she thinks are pretty cool despite the fact they insisted on growing up. Carmella is also a full-time children’s author who’s committed to including LGBTQ families in her work whenever possible. You can visit her at www.carmellavanvleet.com.
A.J. Walkley earned a B.A. in literature from Dickinson College in 2007 before heading into the U.S. Peace Corps as a health volunteer in Malawi, Africa. Upon her return to the States, she became a United Nations correspondent and freelance writer working out of New York City, before moving to the Los Angeles area. She is currently writing out of Phoenix, Arizona. Walkley has three novels to her name: CHOICE (2009), QUEER GREER (2012) and VUTO (2013); VUTO was inspired by her experience in the Peace Corps. Walkley is currently working on a novel based on the life of a wrongfully convicted Texas inmate.
Dr. Kelly Wester, PhD is a counselor working with various mental health concerns including self-injury and suicide among adolescents and young adults. She also is a university professor training future counselors for various settings. One of her goals is to help others understand and work with individuals who engage in non-suicidal self-injury.
Allyee Whaley has long strived to create balance in the universe by listening attentively, advocating ruthlessly, and loving compassionately. She is an openly polyamorous queer based in New York City who will talk your ear off about anthropology, human sexuality, social justice, and mystical creatures. Follow her on Twitter!
Mo Willis is a co-founder of Brooklyn Boihood, a collective whose mission is to “spread love through community-building events, music and art while sharing our journey as bois of color who believe in safe spaces, accountable action and self-care.”
Haley Zilberberg is a 20-year-old Miami native. She is studying social work and creative writing at the University of Central Florida so that one day she can make change in the world and write about it, too. She interns for Inklette Literary Magazine and volunteers for an LGBT organization in her free time. Haley’s writing has appeared in Loud Zoo, First Class Lit, Rhizomatic Ideas, and Inklette Magazine.
Constance Augusta A. Zuber is a New England writer interested in history, sex practices, libraries, what she’s going to eat next, and Virginia Woolf. She writes about books (particularly those by trans authors) online, sells sex toys in a college town, and is working on an undergraduate degree in Sexology. Her personal, professional, and academic work is based in her experiences as a white, Jewish, trans woman with clinical depression and anxiety. Follow her on Twitter @augustazaber