Falling in Love with Hiking in the Columbia River Gorge

Last month, while I was back in the States, I had the chance to participate in Queer Adventure Storytelling. It’s a monthly event were queer people can come together to tell and hear stories about a variety of adventures. It’s hosted by Jenny Bruso, who started the Unlikely Hikers Instagram account and Travis Clough of the Venture Out Project. I told the story of how I came to consider myself a hiker, and I thought I’d share that here.

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LGBTQ Safe Zone Training for Peace Corps Staff

Back in May, Peace Corps put out this press release, titled “Peace Corps Announces New Service Opportunity for Same-Sex Couples.”

It stated:

“Expanding service opportunities to same-sex domestic partners who want to volunteer together further diversifies the pool of Peace Corps applicants and the skills of those invited to serve overseas in the fields of education, health, community economic development, environment, youth in development and agriculture. Married heterosexual couples have been serving together in the Peace Corps since its inception in 1961. Currently, 7 percent of Peace Corps assignments are filled by married volunteers serving together.”

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Gender Roles and Gender Identity in Thailand

In Thailand, there are some pretty strict traditional gender roles. Men and boys do manual work while women and girls clean. In the social hierarchy, women are considered lower than men. However, gender is a construct. There are lots of people around the world who challenge the ideas of what gender means and how it’s expressed. Thailand is particularly well known for people who challenge traditional notions of gender identity and expression.

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