Dear Santa, Howdy from Texas, big man. Hope things are well up at the North Pole, where I assume the ice hasn’t melted, the power grid works, and y’all haven’t deported any elves. I’m writing because I have a few tiny Christmas wishes for next year. Nothing huge. Just small, achievable miracles on par with, […]
Tag: Austin
Posted inOpinion
A Moment With Rob Reiner That Meant Everything
The year was 2015. I was not in a good place. I had quit my lucrative (ha) job in newspaper journalism to enter the equally lucrative world of local television, hosting a late-night comedy show on The CW in Austin. It was exhilarating, but I had no idea what I was doing. I was the […]
Posted inBig & Bright
‘Love Is the Only Motherf****** Way’: Big Queer Wedding Party Celebrates LGBTQ+ Joy and Resilience in Texas
At a bustling venue on Sunday, the speakers boomed with a remix of “Stayin’ Alive.” Heather Schenk and Ty Linhardt had traveled from Chickasha, Oklahoma, for the Big Queer Wedding Party in Austin, where ten couples came to get married and renew their vows in the sanctuary of a former Baptist church. Guests stepped carefully […]
Posted inBig & Bright
I’m a Trans Journalist Choosing to Live in Texas. Here’s Why That Matters.
I was probably 13 years old. It was near the end of middle school, during a wintry holiday vacation back home in Connecticut. I was at my best friend Kate’s house, sitting in her bedroom, and listening to her dish with other girls from my class. Honest, unfiltered talk. Complaints about boys. “Wait a minute,” […]
Posted inBig & Bright
Looking For Queer Community Outside the Bar? There’s a Walking (and Hiking and Yoga and Line-Dancing) Club For That.
It was the summer of 2024. Ash Gordon, a barber from Austin, was ready to hit the road for Queer Camp, when all of his friends and campmates backed out at the last minute. “I was really terrified because I was going to this event alone, there were projected to be 100 people there, and […]
Posted inPolitics
‘We Gave Tax Cuts to the Rich and Made Life Sh*t for the Poor.’ Texas Just Passed 17 New Constitutional Amendments.
Fewer than 3 million Texans bothered to vote this week, but that didn’t stop them from rewriting the state’s constitution — again — mostly in ways that make life easier for property owners, business interests, and the already comfortable. In a turnout so low it barely qualifies as “consent of the governed,” voters approved 17 […]
Posted inNews
‘Hell on Earth’: Texas Airports Are Slammed With Hours-Long TSA Lines and 1,000 Flight Delays
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of flight delays at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. There were 1,000 delays over the weekend into Monday, not 10,000. The Barbed Wire regrets the error. Three-hour wait times. Missed flights. TSA lines stretching out the doors. Texas airports are starting to feel the pressure […]
Posted inEditor's Letter
Texas Is a Lot More Queer Than You Think. I Am Too.
I think I need to start at the beginning, because I’ve never talked about this publicly. During freshman orientation at McGill University, I ended up on a pedestrian-only stone street strung with pink decorations: The Gay Village in Montreal, Canada. There’s a Saint-Pierre-Apôtre Church with a Chapel of Hope dedicated to AIDS victims. Rainbows. Murals. […]
Posted inPolitics
Gov. Abbott Is Apparently About to Ban THC for Texans Under 21
UPDATE: Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Wednesday directing state agencies to ban THC product sales to minors, though he didn’t specify an age threshold. He also directed agencies to strengthen enforcement of existing regulations, while also launching a review of labeling, testing, and licensing rules. The order calls for agencies to work together on a broader regulatory […]
Posted inNews
Texas Law Didn’t Recognize Summer Willis’s Rape. But It Does Now.
Summer Willis’s fifth marathon was in New York City, in March 2024, with a 45-pound mattress strapped to her bare shoulders. Less than a year — and dozens of marathons — later, she tackled another race in Austin. Dropping to her hands and knees, Willis crawled for the first 13 miles as a demonstration of […]