Hello! I’m Yvonne S. Marquez.
I’m a Dallas-based writer, editor, and journalist. I’ve written about gay things for most of my career. You might know me from my work at Autostraddle.
I’m a queer Tejana — a Texan of Mexican descent. I was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, a region along the Texas-Mexico border, and have only ever lived in Texas. It’s my home. I’m also queer and identify as a lesbian. These identities are integral to my world view and my writing.
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. My interests in journalism began in high school when I started competing in academic journalism competitions and wrote for the school newspaper. I majored in magazine journalism at UT Austin and worked for The Daily Texan. In college, I sought out LGBTQ stories as a way to make sense of myself and ultimately, it gave me the courage to come out. My first job post-graduation was at a local gay and lesbian magazine where I profiled gay business men and women, families, and leaders in the community. Ever since then, I’ve been dedicated to reporting on issues impacting queer and trans communities.
Read my work at www.yvonnesmarquez.com.
What can I expect from Queer Tejas?
Once you sign-up, each newsletter will be sent directly to your inbox. There will be a new Queer Tejas every other Wednesday. I will alternate between personal essays, link roundups with reflections and political analysis relevant to gay-ass Texan interests, and Q&As with queer and trans Texans who are doing amazing work.
Why This Newsletter?
It’s been a minute since writing felt like it was mine. Up until recently, I wrote for a trade publication and I felt disconnected from what I was producing. Frankly, I’m starting this newsletter because I want to write whatever the fuck I want. I feel constrained by the fleetingness of social media and the pressure to digest and process the fast-paced news cycle in real time. I have something to say but, before you know it, it’s on to the next thing. Writing is the way I understand the world around me, so I hope my newsletter will offer me the space to think and reflect.
My newsletter will focus on LGBTQ issues, queer culture, reproductive rights, immigration, border communities, Latine ~identity~, movement journalism and more. I hope you are as excited about this newsletter as I am.
Stay tuned and subscribe! Thanks for reading.
Illustration by Dani Cortez
