Vol. 2 · June 2026
01 - Nature
I read the book Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian (2025). I was craving something that would teach me something about nature and I have learned so many things about the queerness around us. I’ve also learned a lot about the influence of colonialism on the traditional scientific frameworks we use to classify and define the natural world. There are threads of autobiography as the author explores the relationship between her body and queer bodies in nature.
Overall, very eye-opening and interesting for me, as someone who has not done a lot to explore the queerness of their body OR nature.
NATURE FACTS!!
Clownfish live in strict social hierarchies within an anemone, led by one dominant female and one breeding male. If the dominant female dies, the breeding male's biology physically transitions, and he becomes the new dominant female. A younger, non-breeding male then steps up to become the new breeding male.
On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, roughly 31% of Laysan Albatross pairings are female-female couples. They court each other, bond for life, and defend nesting territories together. One of the females will mate with a male outside the bond to get a fertile egg, and then the two moms raise the chick together.
In the deserts of the American Southwest, several species of Whiptail Lizards (like the Desert Grassland Whiptail) have entirely dispensed with males. The entire species is 100% female. They reproduce via a form of asexual reproduction where unfertilized eggs develop into healthy clones of the mother.
02 - Vocabulary
I haven't done much real "gender exploration" in the last year; I haven't needed to. That kind of stuff is usually triggered by getting to know myself in different contexts, but I've been laying low for a while. Still, it's nice to check in, I guess.
An umbrella term for gender identities that fall outside the strict man/woman binary.
Reclaimed as a flexible, inclusive term. Always follow the lead of the person using it for themselves.
Someone who falls between romantic and aromatic. They experience romantic attraction rarely, weakly, or only under specific conditions.
My pronouns are still they/them. Asking someone's pronouns is a small act of respect.
"I felt safest when I was unwitnessed by other people. I could move outside of society’s gaze, outside the grip of cultural prescriptions and interventions. My hair could run wild, I could dress androgynously, I could be covered in mud. Being in the culvert or the forest was a chance to move amphibiously, to shape-shift, to creep, to oscillate like algae in a riffle, to be neither a boy nor a girl and have no particular identity at all."
— Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian03 - Movies & TV
Here are some things I've watched in the last year.
04 - Pride
I don't do many pride events IRL but I do like to take some time in June to reflect on where I am and how I'm feeling about things. This month I'm thinking about what it actually means to have "pride."
For me this year, it meant diving in head-first to find out more about the history, what people are making/doing, and reading different perspectives. I am proud to be among such courageous and insightful people in this community.
05 - Wins
Since July 2025, there has been a historic surge in mutual aid funding, independent health networks, and underground networks ensuring people get the care, safety, and community they need, regardless of what a state legislature decides.
Budapest Pride defied local government bans and political suppression, successfully gathering over 100,000 participants and dozens of supportive international diplomats to march for visibility.
Saint Lucia's High Court officially decriminalized homosexual acts, striking down colonial-era provisions that carried penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Saint Lucia joins Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis in a growing wave of decriminalization across the Eastern Caribbean.
The European Union's highest court issued an historic ruling declaring that a same-sex marriage legally performed in any EU member nation must be recognized and respected across the entire EU.
While hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across USA state legislatures in early 2026, tireless advocacy from civil rights groups successfully blocked or killed major restrictive bills.
"My personal connections to these organisms have brought me a sense of queer belonging and comfort in the heaviest of times."
— Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian07 - Thanks for reading!
I'm going to be honest I started making this at the beginning of the month and then forgot about it until the end of the month. I took a lot of coding shortcuts that I was going to clean up but I guess it'll just be messy!
Even though I've been laying low generally this year, that doesn't eliminate the impacts of constant exposure to people who hate us. Whatever level of "connected" you are, I hope you're staying safe and secure and under nice soft blankets with the people you love.
xo MaxLinks & Credits
This is my second pride webzine. You can visit Vol. 1 if you'd like.