A partial list of our contributors includes:
Wayne Self, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Wayne Self is a playwright and composer whose musicals explore the spiritual lives of people who live outside of society’s prescribed gender expectations. Through his essays, art and advocacy, Self has helped people across the political spectrum understand and model a more inclusive spirituality. His recent blog post on the Chick-Fil-A controversy, spotlighting the intersection of religion, politics, and LGBT issues, garnered over one million hits worldwide, and sparked a major dialogue on his small blog among conservatives and progressives alike, catapulting him from relative obscurity to national prominence in a matter of days.
Self has written two musicals: Wise Up! and Cadillac. Wise Up was premiered in 2011 at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco to stellar reviews and sold-out audiences. Cadillac was workshopped in 2011 at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. His most current project is a musical tribute to the 32 LGBT and allied victims of the 1973 arson fire at the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans, LA.
He lives in Orange County, CA with his partner of 18 years.
Zach McCallum, Managing Editor, Contributor
Zach McCallum is a fabulous, blue-haired, queer, disabled transman who lives just outside San Francisco with one housemate, three algae-eating snails, ten tropical fish, and twelve pet rats. He hails originally from both Michigan and Tennessee, and has the love of apples and the Southern accent to prove it.
At various times he’s earned a living (or in some cases more like a pittance) as a graphic artist and animator, a user experience designer, a stage manager, a theatrical director, a makeup artist, a phlebotomist, a janitor, and a writer.
He writes essays about gender, culture, feminism, spirituality, and the best flavor of pie. He also writes fiction (mostly gay romance) and poetry about anything that catches his ADD eye.
Madelyn Boudreaux, Copy Editor, Contributor
Madelyn Boudreaux is a Louisiana native now residing in the Mormon capital / the Advocate’s “Gayest [Small] City” of 2012, Salt Lake City. She identifies as queer, bisexual, poly-amorous, and defiantly dominant, when she’s not too busy holding down a job with a major corporation, taking photographs, playing with her dogs, being a career goth, and kicking shins.
John Voorhees, “Hootenanny” Editor
John Voorhees is host and producer of a podcast called That’s Soundacious, dedicated to exploring the world of independent folk music through live recordings and interviews. He and his wife Tanya perform as a folk duo called The Story Is Everything. They reside in Gulfport, MS.
SpryGuy (pseudonym), Editor of SpryGuy’s Quick Takes
Spryguy is a progressive political junky and internet addict, scrounging the internet for links and stories to use to fight against ignorance and injustice. Which sounds a little grandiose for a 40-something guy who sits at his laptop twelve hours a day, tweeting on Twitter. An informed citizenry is not only necessary for a functioning democracy, but it’s necessary for a just society… and I like to delude myself into thinking I help shed a little light in the darkness, with the help of a few retweets. You can follow me at www.twitter.com/Spryguy if you wish, or just check out my (nearly) daily quick-takes here.
Michael Baugh, Contributor
Michael Baugh is a certified dog behavior consultant, and teaches dog training in Houston, TX. He specializes in behavior change related to canine fear and aggression.
Michael is a contributing author to The Dog Trainer’s Resource, a guide book for developing dog trainers. He also writes regularly for Houston PetTalk Magazine and All Things Dog Blog. Michael is passionate in both his writing and in his practice about reward-based learning grounded in well-tested behavior science. He’s a self professed “behavior geek” who avoids the Whispering label. ”I usually speak at full volume,” he says with a smirk, “Helping folks with their dogs shouldn’t be shrouded in mystery. There’s usually a clear and simple path for improving behavior. I help people find it.”
Michael appears twice weekly on Fox 26 Morning News with his beloved retriever mix, Stella. He lives in Houston with her, his partner, Tim and their chihuahua mix, Stewie.
Hank T. Cannon, Author, “Theocrat”
Hank T. Cannon spends his days in a dark cave auguring dead trees and dispensing nuggets of wisdom and encouragement to graduate students when they are not looking at him like he is insane. It is not glamorous or immensely lucrative, but it is worthwhile work. Plus, being able to make someone who is having a bad day smile is worth it. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, it gives him time to write. Hank has completed a few novels but Theocrat is the first one that has seen the light of day. Science fiction and science fantasy are his drugs of choice.
David Gerrold, Contributor
David Gerrold is an American science fiction author whose works include “The Trouble With Tribbles”, one of the most popular episodes of the original Star Trek television series; creating the Sleestak race on television’s Land of the Lost; and several novels and novellas including the Hugo and Nebula award-winning story The Martian Child, based on his own experience adopting and raising his son, Sean. The Martian Child was made into a movie starring John Cusack, and David is credited with coining the term “computer virus” in his novel When HARLIE Was One, but his proudest accomplishment to date is still being Sean’s dad.
Ryan Legg, Contributor
Ryan Legg is a twenty-something, half-British transguy living on the Northern California coast. He has a queer agenda. It includes things like:
- Buy groceries
- Don’t get punched in the face
- Seriously, buy groceries, grown men cannot survive on Pop Tarts alone
- Get a knighthood
(That last one might be reaching.)
He’s a feminist atheist, which is less scary than it sounds. He’s also geeky, fandom-affiliated, tattooed, and pierced. A bachelors in counseling gives him license to stroke his chin and say ‘hmm’ a lot, though he tries to keep that under control. He is overly entertained by puns.
His soul is blue and smells faintly of cedar.
Saunia Powell, Contributor
Saunia Powell was born unto a peculiar people (Old Order German Baptist Brethren) and raised in a peculiar faith (Pentecostalism). Taught how to live “called out” from normative society from an early age, Saunia furthered her queer identity throughout her twenties as a female director in the male-dominated theatre, a partnered lesbian in rural China, and a Christian theologian in Berkeley, California.
Orphaned at 29, she dropped out of a PhD program and became a hospice chaplain, living up close to the center of grief in every possible way for a time.
Often on a cross-country move, many suspect she is homeless to her core. Truly, ‘home’ seems to be Saunia’s topic of choice, from where in the country to set up house to issues of spiritual belonging. She maintains that no matter how queer or ill-fitting our identities, our bodies, our Gods, or our families may be, “home is where your cats are.” If, on the off chance, you get parted from your felines, it’s anybody’s guess.
She excels at losing vehicles: Bicycles stolen: 9, Scooters stolen: 1, Cars stolen: 3 (though one came back with a large Buddha stone sculpture in the driver’s seat.)
Archen Keyes (pseudonym), Contributor
Archen Keyes is a former child solder in The Lord’s Army (but he never marched in the infantry or shot the artillery). He is a San Francisco Bay Area community organizer with sympathies toward feminism, queer theory, and atheist-oriented religion and spirituality. He reads, writes, and talks about LGBTQ sociability, non-Western activism, and anything else that sparks his interest.
