IDAHOT 2014 – Coming out again.

VWalter Beck writes about having to come out again when he didn’t even realise it was necessary. Did they not notice the rainbow suspenders? .

“Neither one of them were offended or anything, they were just surprised that this six-foot tall long-haired dude in the black metal t-shirt, dirty flannel, and leather jacket was a queer, a half-cocksucker, a certified ten percenter..”

IDAHOT 2014.

To mark IDAHO(T) 2014, Polari’s editor recalls the homophobic attack that he and his partner endured on his birthday, the day after IDAHO 2013.

“I was thumped to the ground, and kicked; when I tried to get up the more aggressive of the three yelled, ‘Stay down, faggot’.”

Sermon only

In the Church of the Half Loaf, “listen to the sermon, and keep your faggy mouths shut” …

“It’s also an exercise in bargain basement American Christian morality; they can pat themselves on the back and say ‘look, at least we let them in the building and listen to the sermons instead of just throwing them out, see what good Christians we are.'”

IDAHOT 2013.

Sean-Michael Gettys on the headache that is doctors who do not understand, or accept, the status ‘transgender’.

“Once again he questioned my transition and I explained the process I’d been going through. When he asked if I had a letter proving I wasn’t insane, I responded affirmatively.”

IDAHOT 2013.

Jason Carson Wilson writes about the double bind of racism and homophobia, and how that lost him his job.

“My editor found it amusing to find a correlation between the length of my story and the length of my … well, you know. Of course, that’s when he wasn’t labeling me the “angry Black man” EVERYTIME I shared an opinion.”

IDAHOT 2103.

In this story Ira Bohm-Sanchez writes about transitioning in Arizona, the good of it as well as the bad.

“All of the men in this tiny trash closet had directed their attention to our discussion, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable taking part in a dialogue that I normally prance through with ease. Oscar looked at me with a smile on his face as he says, ‘So that means I could fuck you, right?”

IDAHOT 2013.

Musician Andi Fraggs writes about how his school failed to support him when he was mercilessly bullied, and cited Clause 28 as the reason..

“I developed more than a little interest in Madonna. In fact, her music and words would later literally help to save my life. She also helped me to realize from an early point that their was nothing wrong with me.”

IDAHOT 2013.

Jordan Diamant & Aubrey Diamant write about the hateful and terrifying transphobia and homophobia from their family.

“You can expect to be hurt by strangers that is usually a given, but when the act of violence, rage, and humiliation comes directly from a parent or sibling the pain is not comparable to anything I have ever felt before.”

IDAHOT 2013.

Eva Monkey writes a lyrical censure of the beer greased lads on a Saturday night, looking for anyone different to make them feel better about themselves.

“And here comes li’l old queerzy, just trying to get home through the sea of drunken malcontents that make up the jazzier parts of East London on a weekend.”

IDAHOT 2013.

Walter Beck writes about how he was turned away from helping out at a Day of Silence demonstration because he was not a well-groomed a-lister.

“They were the pretty boy types; they stood there in their nice khakis and designer jeans, their perfectly laundered polo shirts, with the bright sun reflecting off their gelled hair. They didn’t have a place for the likes of me.”