Advocacy

the rainbow sheep
Where is the rainbow sheep Who was sent from the golden heavens? Where is the rainbow sheep Who would comfort the ones that fear?
By Ruby Red9 months ago in Pride
Baseball is For Everyone: Part 4
Greetings, Vocal readers and Happy Pride Month! I've addressed the many reasons why America's pastime is for everyone in previous stories, which I'll have down below. I know I said that the previous story of me discussing this topic was the last time addressing opponents of LGBTQ+ people and anything that's related to it. Now, I have even more things to discuss and helpful advice for them. Once you have read this story, please give it a like and subscribe to my page on here. Also, follow me on my socials. Finally, please send me a one-off tip at the end of this story to support my work as I continue to write and publish more stories.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 9 months ago in Pride
Live and Let Live: One Straight Man's Take on Pride
As a cisgender, heterosexual, and white man (I'm Scottish-Italian, so not palest ever, but still white), I often feel that it's not really my place to say anything. But, still, I can't just sit on my hands and not say anything at all.
By Paul Stewart9 months ago in Pride
I Didn’t Disappear. I Refused.
They outlawed my name first. Not the one on my ID — that one they kept, with its masculine “Matthew” and that stiff, false “M” stamped next to sex, like a scar carved into paperwork.
By Rukka Nova9 months ago in Pride
Finding My True Family
Greetings, Vocal readers! I've been very open about who I am for the last several years in numerous stories. I fully embrace my true self daily and unapologetic for it. Despite Republican politicians increasingly attempting to silence and denying our existence, our voices will grow even louder. I'm going to tell a story about how an event changed my life forever. Be sure to sound off in the comments below and be sure to like this story once you have read it. If you have any questions about what I look for in a guy, please also share them down below. Also, follow me on my socials. Finally, please send me a one-off tip at the end of this story to support my work as I continue to write and publish more stories.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 9 months ago in Pride
Intersectional Mental Health Disparities. Content Warning.
This is a researched opinion paper for a Social Services & Behavioral Health class, and I figured that I wanted to share it with the world. I believe that the points touched upon in this paper are valid, now more than ever in this political climate.
By C.M.Dallas9 months ago in Pride
Name Me Thunder
Dedication For the ones who look in mirrors and flinch, but stay. For the hands that bind, the voices that stutter, the bodies that linger too long in shadows. For the souls who loved themselves in fragments, and called that act holy. You are not broken. You are the storm the silence tried to outlive.
By S.L. James9 months ago in Pride
When we Stand Together, We Expand Together
I am not queer. That feels important to say—not to center myself, but to be honest about the position I speak from. I don’t know what it’s like to walk into a room and immediately scan it for safety, wondering if a glance, a joke, or a single word might shift everything. But I know what it means to love someone who does. I know what it’s like to watch someone soften their voice or swallow their truth. I’ve seen people I care about carry themselves with quiet courage in a world that makes their identity a battleground.
By Annie Edwards 9 months ago in Pride
The Bold and the Fabulous . Content Warning.
The art of embracing our true selves is something that we should be doing unapologetically. For yours truly, the journey from hiding the real me to being out and proud was a difficult one. I'm going to share my own personal story and how I'm living my life today as a gay man.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 9 months ago in Pride
Why I’m Proud of My Roots: A First-Generation Immigrant’s Voice
Why I’m Proud of My Roots: A First-Generation Immigrant’s Voice Introduction: Who I Am and Where I Come From They say identity is a journey. For me, it has been an ocean—deep, unpredictable, and endlessly vast. I was born in a land where my name was not strange, my accent was not noticeable, and my food didn’t need translation. But that land became a memory when my family moved across continents, chasing a better life and sacrificing almost everything familiar to start from zero. I became a first-generation immigrant overnight—young, confused, and silently holding the weight of two worlds.
By Afia Sikder9 months ago in Pride
The Assumption of Nancy
After the dust settled from my coming out I sat down with my mom to have a bit of a conversation about it. The first question she had for me was, “Does this mean you will be wearing women’s clothes?”
By Amos Glade9 months ago in Pride
The Doctor's Assistant. Honorable Mention in Pride Under Pressure Challenge. Content Warning.
It was hot that day, when we met. There’s nothing quite like Georgia heat in July; it’s the kind of muggy, sticky heat that just seeps through your clothes and into to your bones, until all you want to do is just lay down and die. We were out in the field, Maggie and me, picking peas and tomatoes with Daddy. The sun was hot enough to fry your brains clear out of your skull and make them drip out of your ears in a lumpy mush, but it did wonders for the crops.
By Natalie Gray9 months ago in Pride