Dating & Relationships
Bad Gay: Episode 8
A few months ago, I joined a gay swimming club. It’s a “masters” group, which just means you’re too old to be on a college team. It has nothing to do with skill, which I prove weekly. I’m actually a good swimmer. I prefer open water swimming and can swim miles in lakes—no matter how…
Our Couples – Fall Edition: Ryan Schneider and Anthony McClellan
In every Love and Marriage issue, we try to feature some of our own couples who provide with insights on their lives from their own perspective. In this issue, we are featuring one special couple from Southeast Minnesota – Ryan Schneider and Anthony McClellan. Their story is all about love from the start. Let them…
Ask Elise: Getting Over Past Relationships
Ask Elise is an advice column meant for suggestions regarding LGBTQ+ community member dilemmas of any kind. If I am not qualified to answer your question (regarding issues for transgender individuals, people of color, etcetera), I will ask someone who is qualified and cite them. Your question is equally important and may help another community…
From The Editor: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
We lost a great performer and an ally for our community in Tina Turner earlier this year at the age of 81. She leaves a legacy of music and truth in her many years of performing. Turner also serves as a lesson about love. Perhaps it is a reality we all face when we are…
Bad Gay: Episode 7
I’m writing this column on my seventh wedding anniversary. A few months ago, during one of our fights about both nothing and everything, my spouse yelled, “you don’t even know what marriage is.” As much as I would have loved to argue that point with her, I had no ammunition to fire back. Because she’s…
Ten Years of Marriage Equality Captured in Exhibit in Moorhead
The fight for marriage equality was an important milestone for LGBTQ+ rights advocates across the country. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, federally restricting the definition of marriage to be exclusively between one man and one woman. DOMA’s consequences were immense, excluding same sex couples…
Bad Gay: Episode 6
I own a few rental cottages in a resort town. The cottages are “historic” (read: old) and “charming” (read: the floors creak and there’s no central air). But they are walking distance to the lake and I allow renters to bring their pets, which buys me a lot of grace and a 5-star rating. I…
Keeping Up With Mike & Sebastian
LGBTQ Americans may not have heard of Mike and Sebastian yet, but that is all about to change. The extremely handsome duo is currently living in Vienna, Austria but planning to relocate to Palm Springs in 2023 to start a new life together with their 7-year-old daughter Mia. They will be featured on one of…
Jamez Sitings: An Undesired Muse
I wish I could stop thinking about him Wish I’d left him standing thereOn the other side of that wall But no, I had to be nice.Wanted to be inclusive.“Join us”, I insisted. Truthfully. I wasn’t particularly interested Just didn’t want to be alienWith whom I was with. Surprised and delightedWhen we clicked.So very much…
The Little Wedding Co. Specializes in Quick, Budget-Friendly Weddings
The Little Wedding Co. is a queer, BIPOC, and female-owned business based in Minneapolis that specializes in granting couples special weddings for a fraction of the cost as traditional ceremonies. Lavender Magazine spoke with one of the co-owners/co-coordinators, Symone Clay, about her involvement with the company. “It started about a year before the pandemic took…
