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Queering the Tarot: The Five of Pentacles

Last month we looked at greed and uncertainty in the pentacles, and I promise the Pentacles get cheerful again! Just, uh, not right now. Fives in general are our cards of duress and heartbreak, and this one specifically speaks to financial loss and poverty. Pentacles are Earth energy, and Earth is anything that keeps us […]

June 5, 2018
Pride Month Must Sees: Smaller Events You Still Won’t Want to Miss!

I struggled with what I wanted to cover and how for this month’s Queer Arts Must Sees. There are obviously a lot of big, important events happening all over the Twin Cities. That includes out of towners dropping by and a host of regular events (see the list of recurring events at the end of […]

June 1, 2018
Around the Region: WI attorney general attended anti-LGBTQ conference on state dime

Wisconsin Wisconsin’s Attorney General is taking heat for using state funds to attend an anti-LGBTQ conference, WPR reports: Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel came under fire from Democrats on Tuesday for reports he was paid to speak at an anti-LGBT group’s conference last year. According to state records first reported on by the Associated Press, […]

May 22, 2018
Policy and Laughter Blend Beautifully With The Theater of Public Policy

If you’ve never been to a show at the Theater of Public Policy, you should go–soon. This part Town Hall, party comedy show brings conversations about government, policy, and reform to Bryant-Lake Bowl audiences in an accessible and fun format. The theater invites experts in a field related to government, policy, or social justice to […]

May 9, 2018
Queering the Tarot: The Four of Pentacles

The Four of Pentacles denotes success, but it’s one I’ve always had a hard time connecting with. The figure pictured in a traditional Rider Waite tarot deck is holding on to his coins tightly, refusing to let anyone else touch them–and refusing to take chances or move forward in his own life for fear of […]

May 1, 2018
Spotlight On the Arts: Catherine Charles Hammond

Queer art for queer people really stands out, even in a beautifully artistically saturated area like the Twin Cities. There is something so unique about the voice that comes through when you hand someone a microphone and let them tell their own stories. For this reason (among others), the music and performances of Catherine Charles […]

April 23, 2018
Uprising Theatre Company’s Twisted Deaths Tackles Death Head-on

“I just want to live my life and die my death.” -Ryan Brown in Twisted Deaths In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll start by saying that I’m a deathworker. Part of my spiritual work is helping people prepare, both emotionally and administratively, for their own and their beloveds’ deaths. Honest conversations about death, in […]

April 21, 2018
Around the Region: Chippewa Valley is becoming more LGBTQ friendly

Wisconsin BluGold Media takes a look at LGBTQ climate in the Chippewa Valley: In the past year, the Chippewa Valley has made strides in its efforts to strengthen the LGBTQIA+ friendliness in the community. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire ranked No. 3 in the country on the list of best colleges for LGBTQIA+ students, while […]

April 12, 2018
A Different Kind of Intimacy Comes to the Walker

Many of us remember the ‘80s and ‘90s as being a time of hilariously bad (but comforting) clothes, music, and TV shows. It’s easy to forget through rose colored nostalgia glasses that these were also incredibly charged and polarized times socially and politically. Conservative lawmaking tried to push marginalized people even further into the margins, […]

April 6, 2018

Andy Birkey

Andy Birkey has written for a number of Minnesota and national publications. He founded Eleventh Avenue South which ran from 2002-2011, wrote for the Minnesota Independent from 2006-2011, the American Independent from 2010-2013. His writing has appeared in The Advocate, The Star Tribune, The Huffington Post, Salon, Cagle News Service, Twin Cities Daily Planet, TheUptake, Vita.mn and much more. His writing on LGBT issues, the religious right and social justice has won awards including Best Beat Reporting by the Online News Association, Best Series by the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and an honorable mention by the Sex-Positive Journalism awards.

Claire-Renee Kohner

I am a trans woman who in 2014 came out as trans to my family and friends. I’ve started a blog to provide an insight to what I’m going through and what I’m about to experience. The journey should be fun, so keep your arms and legs inside the cart, it’s going to be a wild ride.

Sally Jo Sorensen

Bluestem Prairie is a hip (but not cynical) rural magazine for those who prefer to take their corn with a progressive chaser and tongue planted firmly in cheek. The site is owned and edited by Sally Jo Sorensen, who lives in Maynard, Minnesota, a small town of 266 people in Chippewa County.

Cassandra Snow

Cassandra is a queer writer, activist, and artist working out of Minneapolis, MN. She is a professional tarot card reader, and runs Gadfly Theatre Productions, a queer and feminist theatre company. Her life’s work is on creating safe spaces and transformative experiences for marginalized people from all walks of life. To find out more about her as a tarot reader, check out cassandra-snow.com. For more information on Gadfly, visit gadflytheatre.org.

Jonah Sandy

Jonah Sandy joined The Column in the summer of 2014 after graduating from The Blake School in Minneapolis. He worked on the school’s Spectrum Newspaper for four years, as a staff writer, page editor, and Editor-in-Chief. He also founded and wrote for Kaleidoscope Magazine, a still-developing online publication written by and for LGBTQIA/queer-identified youth. In addition to covering the arts and social justice for The Column, Jonah is TheColumn’s youth liaison. Contact him on Facebook (facebook.com/jonah.sandy) with any story ideas!