Beyond the Binary

Pride Houston 2026 Trendsetter Grand Marshal D’Trique Fitzgerald advocates for LGBTQ inclusion and access, supporting peers through campus leadership, community resources, and a focus on equity and well-being.

Pride Houston 2026 Gender Non-Binary/Gender Non-Conforming Grand Marshal Flawless Oz, also known as Jonathan Demond Barnett, brings decades of drag, comedy, and advocacy to uplift Houston’s LGBTQ community.

Trans advocate Autumn Lauener works at the intersection of disability justice, disaster preparedness, and policy reform, pushing for collective liberation and stronger protections for marginalized communities.

After Planned Parenthood was cut off from Medicaid, low-income transgender patients across the country are facing new barriers to gender-affirming care and other essential health services.

Drag performer Ms Mykie will present Queerdos! at Houston’s Mix-MATCH festival on Jan. 17 at MATCH, blending visual art and live performance to challenge norms around beauty, sex, and identity.

For JuJu Faragher, wellness is a lived, imperfect practice. Through yoga, storytelling, and community work, he centers rest, affirmation, and collective care for LGBTQ people.

After years on the margins, an unofficial Chinese gender-neutral pronoun has been added to Unicode, offering nonbinary people recognition, choice, and visibility across one of the world’s most widely spoken languages.

Here's a look at the stories that most engaged—and enraged—OutSmart readers in 2025.

Playwright Kathy Ng’s surreal new comedy Beautiful Princess Disorder brings queer tenderness, cosmic humor, and a boldly imaginative afterlife to The Catastrophic Theatre stage.

Cleo Roasting Co. and sister café Cavo Coffee are OutSmart’s 2025 favorites, celebrated for queer visibility, women-led sourcing, and brewing Houston community alongside every cup.