My Blog
What Allyship Actually Asks of You: Centering, Not Leading
We’ve all been there. You show up to a community event, a rally, or even just a particularly intense happy hour, and you are ready. You’ve got the buttons, you’ve done the reading, and your heart is about three sizes too big for your chest. You want to help. You want...
Beyond the Parade Float: How to Actually Show Up (After Pride Weekend)
If you’re reading this on Monday morning, there is a statistically significant chance that you are currently 40% glitter, 60% caffeine, and 100% exhausted. St. Pete Pride is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve danced down Central Ave, we’ve cheered at the parade, and...
Queer & Neurodivergent: Finding Your People at the Intersection
Welcome to Day 4 of our St. Pete Pride Week series! If you’ve been following along, we’ve been talking about the heart of this year’s theme: Unity Over Division. We’ve looked at the roots of Pride and how to recharge your battery when the glitter gets a little too...
Solidarity Isn’t Performative: Showing Up for Our Trans Siblings
Happy St. Pete Pride week, fam! If you’ve been following along with our series, you know we’ve been talking about the grit, the history, and the glitter that makes our community what it is. But today, I want to take a beat and get a little more serious. As a trans guy...
The Myth of the “Right Way” to Be Queer
It’s St. Pete Pride week, and the glitter is starting to settle in the cracks of the sidewalk. We’re in that beautiful, chaotic middle part of the month where the joy is high, but so is the "identity math." You know the kind: the internal (and sometimes...
Why “Unity Over Division” Isn’t Just a Slogan , It’s Survival
Hey friends. It’s Tristan. If you’ve stepped outside in St. Pete lately, you can feel it. The humidity is rising, the rainbow crosswalks are getting a fresh coat of paint, and there’s that specific buzz in the air that only comes with June in Florida. St. Pete Pride...
Healing & Lived Experience: Spotlighting Black-Led Therapeutic Spaces
Welcome back to the second installment of our Intersectionality & Liberation series. If you missed the first one, don’t worry: we’re just getting started. At Byrnes Counseling Group, we talk a lot about the "vibe." We’ve worked hard to create a space...
The Roots of Pride are Black & Brown: Why History Shapes Our Care
It’s June in Florida, which means two things: the humidity is officially at "soup" levels, and Pride flags are popping up everywhere. For many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, seeing those rainbows can feel like a deep exhale. It’s a signal of safety, a nod of...
Glitter & Grace: How to Recharge Your Pride Battery
If you are currently reading this while horizontal, surrounded by a light dusting of leftover biodegradable glitter, and feeling like your social battery has been replaced by a AA battery that’s leaking acid, welcome. You’ve made it. You’ve survived the peak of Pride...