Category: Read with Pride – LGBTQ+ blogs and articles

When we think about World War II, our minds often jump to European battlefields or Pacific island campaigns. But the Sino-Japanese War: China’s eight-year struggle against invasion: was one of the most devastating theaters of the entire conflict. And within that chaos, amid displacement, flooding, and constant uncertainty, love found a way to survive. Even …

Rivers of Resilience: China during WWIIRead More

www.readwithpride.com Imagine living a life where every moment could be your last. Where a single wrong word, a misplaced glance, or a letter intercepted could mean torture, imprisonment, or death. Now imagine living two of those lives simultaneously. Welcome to the world of gay spies in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, …

Double Lives: The Spies of the OSSRead More

Not every war story involves trenches and battlefields. Some of the most compelling, and quietly dangerous, romances unfolded in rooms filled with maps, typewriters, and the constant click-clack of bureaucracy in motion. While soldiers fought on foreign soil, another kind of battle played out in propaganda offices and map-making departments across wartime capitals. These were …

Lines on a Map: The Home Front BureaucracyRead More

When the men marched off to war, someone had to keep the home fires burning, and the assembly lines moving. What history books often gloss over is that the factory floor became more than just a place of rivets and rations. For many gay men who remained stateside during World War II, these industrial spaces …

The Factory Floor: Hidden Love on the Home FrontRead More

Imagine living in a country where the rest of Europe is literally burning, but your streets remain untouched. Where you can hear about concentration camps on one side and bombing raids on the other, but your biggest concern is whether the coffee ration will last the month. That was Sweden during World War II, a …

A Cold Peace: Sweden's Neutral Zone during WWIIRead More

History doesn’t always tell us the whole story, especially when it comes to the quiet, hidden love between men who fought side by side. During World War II, while over 1.3 million Filipinos supported guerrilla operations against Japanese occupation, there were undoubtedly untold stories of connection, devotion, and romance blooming in the most unlikely of …

Jungle Journeys: The Philippines Guerrilla WarRead More

Picture this: It’s 1943, you’re huddled in a snowstorm on a Norwegian mountainside with the man you’d die for, literally, and between you and freedom stands a heavily guarded Nazi facility that needs to be blown sky-high. Welcome to one of history’s most daring wartime operations, where courage came in many forms and love had …

Mountains of Courage: Norway's Wartime SaboteursRead More

When you think about World War II romances, your mind probably jumps to classic Hollywood scenes, American GIs in Paris, British pilots during the Blitz, maybe even resistance fighters in occupied territories. But here’s a story you probably haven’t heard: Brazilian soldiers in the snowy mountains of Italy, fighting alongside Allied forces and forging connections …

Samba in the Snow: Brazil's Italian CampaignRead More

There’s something achingly beautiful about a love letter written in wartime. The paper might be yellowed now, the ink faded, but the words, God, the words still burn with the same desperate intensity they did decades ago. When two men loved each other during times when that love could get them court-martialed, imprisoned, or worse, …

Ink and Immortality: The Letters That Saved UsRead More

Let’s talk about one of the most fascinating contradictions in queer culture: bodybuilding. On the surface, it’s all about hyper-masculinity, heterosexual swagger, and “alpha male” energy. But scratch beneath that oiled, tanned surface, and you’ll find a sport absolutely drenched in homoeroticism, gay appreciation for the male form, and a legacy that’s been intertwined with …

Pumping Iron: Gay Culture in BodybuildingRead More

There’s something inherently queer about surfing. Maybe it’s the rejection of the nine-to-five grind. Maybe it’s the tight-knit communities that form around shared passions rather than societal expectations. Or maybe it’s just that surfers have always understood what the rest of the world is still learning: that freedom looks different for everyone, and the ocean …

Surfing the Rainbow: Gay Pride on the WavesRead More

Let’s be real, when you’re queer, the relationship with your body can be… complicated. Whether it’s navigating dysphoria, dealing with the aftermath of discrimination, or simply trying to feel at home in your own skin, many of us in the LGBTQ+ community have experienced that disconnect. That’s where yoga comes in, and no, we’re not …

The Power of Yoga: Mindfulness and the Queer BodyRead More

Boxing has always been the ultimate test of masculinity: or at least, that’s what the sport wants you to believe. It’s blood, sweat, and testosterone wrapped in leather gloves and machismo. For decades, the ring has been one of the last bastions of hypermasculine culture, where being “tough” meant fitting into a very specific, very …

The Ring of Truth: Gay Boxers Breaking BarriersRead More

There’s something beautifully queer about cycling. Not just the spandex (though let’s be real, that’s part of it), but the whole damn thing: the endurance, the community, the way you push through hills that seem impossible until suddenly you’re at the top, wind in your face, pride in your chest. For decades, the LGBTQ+ community …

Cycling for Change: Pride on Two WheelsRead More

There’s something undeniably captivating about watching a gymnast in motion. The explosive power of a vault, the controlled grace of a floor routine, the impossible-looking strength holds on the rings: gymnastics is where raw athletic ability meets artistic expression. And for many in the LGBTQ+ community, it’s also become a space where identity, authenticity, and …

Gymnastics: Strength, Flexibility, and IdentityRead More

There’s something undeniably magnetic about volleyball. Maybe it’s the way six people move as one coordinated unit, or the electric energy of a perfectly timed spike. Or perhaps it’s because volleyball has long been a space where LGBTQ+ athletes have found belonging, visibility, and a community that celebrates them exactly as they are. In the …

Volleyball: Teamwork and Visibility on the CourtRead More

Let’s talk about cheerleading: the sport that’s been misunderstood, underestimated, and stereotyped for decades. But here’s the thing: queer athletes aren’t just participating in cheerleading. They’re revolutionizing it, claiming space, and proving that this high-intensity sport deserves respect, recognition, and a whole lot of pride. From Sidelines to Center Stage Cheerleading has come a long …

Cheerleading: Redefining the Sport with PrideRead More

There’s something beautifully poetic about climbing mountains when you’re already used to climbing other kinds of barriers. The gay mountaineering and climbing community has been reaching new heights, literally and figuratively, for decades, creating spaces where LGBTQ+ adventurers can be fully themselves while conquering peaks, scaling rock faces, and finding chosen family along the way. …

Climbing Higher: The Gay Mountaineering CommunityRead More

Let’s settle this once and for all: ballroom dancing is absolutely a sport. Not “kind of” a sport. Not “artistic sport” with air quotes. It’s a full-blown, sweat-inducing, muscle-burning, competition-level athletic pursuit that’ll leave you gasping for air faster than a 5K run. If you’ve ever watched two people glide across a dance floor in …

Dancing is Sport: The Competitive World of BallroomRead More