Writer.
By Evan Brechtel Originally published to Chosen Magazine on October 9, 2018. The above image is illegal, banned by a Russian court in 2017. Its creator, A. V. Tsvetkov, was subsequently sentenced to compulsory psychiatric care after uploading the image to Vkontakte, a Russian social media site. This image isn’t feared by Putin’s government and …
Continue reading "Gay Satan: Queer Russia and the Erosion of Democracy Part II"
Originally Published to Chosen Magazine on August 7, 2018. By Evan Brechtel He had recently alienated our NATO allies at the G7 Summit. After that, in the UK, he’d refused to hear a question from a journalist whose network he didn’t approve of and his presence in the country brought millions to the streets in …
Continue reading "Gay Satan: Queer Russia and the Erosion of Democracy (Part I)"
Originally published to Chosen Magazine on June 23, 2018. By Evan Brechtel June in New York City. Sweat trickles down backs and necks a little faster. Most of the flowers have bloomed—even the ones between cracks on the sidewalk. Rainbows ride on a merciful breeze. There’s a percussive energy surrounding Pride month. It thrums far …
Originally published to Chosen Magazine on March 10, 2018. By Evan Brechtel “Gender is a construct. Tear it apart!” bellowed a wigless Sasha Velour, the eventual season nine winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race, in a performance on one of the season’s climactic episodes. It’s a mantra that many can learn from, including the show’s own host. …
Originally published to Chosen Magazine on May 16, 2018. By Evan Brechtel In the first days of May, James Miller, the 69-year-old defendant who stabbed 32-year-old Daniel Spencer to death when Spencer allegedly made advances toward him, was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder. A Texas jury bought the argument that a same-sex advance …
Continue reading "Panic! as a Defense: Our Murderers are not Our Victims"
Originally published to Chosen Magazine on April 19, 2018. By Evan Brechtel The adage is trite, but there really is strength in numbers. Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay official elected to public office, knew this in 1978 when he implored queer people of the nation to come out and, in turn, “break down …
Continue reading "Counted Out: The Willful Ignorance of Excluding LGBT Americans from the US Census"
Originally published to Chosen Magazine on February 11, 2018 By Evan Brechtel It’s about three Fridays ago. I’m at Rise in Hell’s Kitchen, somewhere on my second whiskey, which is always when I begin making friends. Three of us--still somewhat strangers--are outside smoking. “So you guys live in Manhattan?” he asks. “Yeah, in Harlem,” the …
Continue reading "“But I’m A Queer Leader!”: Racism And Our Dismissal Of It In The Community"
