Ashley Berning
‘Because Art’ – John Killacky’s Latest Work Reflects On His Journey
John Killacky’s book, Because Art, was released in 2021. Killacky is an artist, a community activist, philosopher, and an LGBTQ elder who has seemingly lived several lives in one. Currently, he is a state representative in Vermont, and graciously took the time to tell me about his life and art, and the relationships between art, political activism,…
Fiercely Independent: Nina Luna
Nina Luna is a Minnesota native who has been writing music since she was young. Her mom was a huge Bob Dylan fan and a recording artist herself, so when Nina got the opportunity to record some of the guitar-based tracks she’d written, she jumped at the chance. After high school, she attended college in…
LGBTQ Under 40 – Casey Nichols
Casey Nichols grew up in Ogden, Utah, part of a Mormon family in the conservative town, where everyone is pressured to conform. “I saw firsthand several of my fellow LGBTQ friends not live through high school due to the immense pressure to be perfect,” he says. “LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to attempt…
SECOND 25 YEARS OF PRIDE: 1998-2022
Things were looking up for LGBTQ people in the 1990s. Although discriminatory legislation was being passed, like the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996 under President Bill Clinton, support among the American public continued to grow. When Ellen DeGeneres declared, “Yes, I’m Gay” on the cover of TIME in 1997, following the same revelation…
LGBTQ Under 40 – Alfonso Wenker
Alfonso Wenker is a 2009 University of Saint Thomas graduate, and the founder of his consulting company, Team Dynamics, which helps teach employers how to diversify their companies and retain new talent. “We launched officially in the summer of 2017, and when we first started, we thought we would do all kinds of nonprofit facilitation….
It’s A Dog’s Life At Dogtopia
Dogtopia is a daycare, spa, and boarding service company for dogs that began in Arizona and has expanded to nearly two hundred locations nationwide and in Canada. Last year, Eric Hipp and Eric Nancekivell opened Dogtopia of Roseville, one of several locations in the Twin Cities Area. They graciously led us on a tour of…
FIRST 25 YEARS OF TWIN CITIES PRIDE: 1972-1997
In order to understand the origins of Twin Cities Pride, we need to travel back to 1972, the year of the first Pride march and picnic. That year, the Vietnam war was raging. Men were still being drafted to fight, and antiwar protests were at their peak. President Nixon won a second term in a…
Melanie Willingham-Jaggers: Beauty in the Margins
In 1990, a group of teachers formed an organization called GLSEN (pronounced like “glisten”) with the intention of making schools a safer place for LGBTQ children. Over forty years later, GLSEN has authored resources for educators, conducted research on LGBTQ students, lobbied Congress for safer schools, and has been instrumental in the creation of GSAs…
Denny Jacobson – A Bright, Shining Light
Denny Jacobson realized he was gay at a young age – five or six, he says – but in the 1950s, that wasn’t something people talked about. Despite having a supportive mother, he was assaulted multiple times as a child, later struggled with substance abuse, and witnessed his friends dying of AIDS while the president…
Filmmaker Connor O’Keefe – A Cinematic Exploration of Transness
Connor O’Keefe is a 24-year-old filmmaker who grew up in Minneapolis and is currently studying in California. His short documentary, Imagine a Body, is on the film festival circuit this year and will be available to watch online via the New Yorker in June. It’s an honest exploration of the transmasc experience, focusing on the spiritual side of…
