💐💒🔔The Biggest, Gayest Wedding 💞🌈🎩

✨Welcome back, my queer stars, to Big & Bright  🌈⭐👏! In case you missed my introduction in the last issue, I’m Kit O’Connell, and twice a month it’s my pleasure to guide you through the latest in Texas queer news and culture. Although here in Austin it’s finally feeling like winter, this week my heart is full of warmth. 

A special thanks to Kind Clinic and Texas Health Action for underwriting our first sponsored vertical and our newsletter. All essays, reporting, and analysis will remain, as always, editorially independent.

❤️‍🔥 I can’t guarantee we won’t need to fight for marriage equality again in the future, but today at least, LGBTQ+ people can still marry each other. And what’s the point of fighting for our rights if we can’t celebrate them with a big ole glitter-covered wedding? 💞On Sunday, The Barbed Wire teamed up with The 19th News— along with the talented photographer Salgu Wissmath — to capture the scene at Austin’s Big Queer Wedding Party. Folks from all corners of Texas (and Oklahoma!) gathered in the sanctuary of a former Baptist church as Council Member José Miguel Anwar Velásquez reminded us that “love is the only motherf*cking way.” Judge Denise Hernández married eight LGBTQ+ couples, and it was beautiful to watch a community leader stand up for queer love and pronounce one couple “wife and lad.” 🥲 Wait until you see the photos!

Steers & Queers 🐂

What we’re writing and reading in Texas. 

🚽 Texas’ anti-trans bathroom bill went into effect on Dec. 4, but it took years of maneuvering by the far-right to get us to this point. The Barbed Wire teamed up with the Pulitzer-winning Investigative Reporting Workshop to trace the sordid history of bathroom bills and other modern anti-trans laws back to a 2014 controversy over Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). A successful campaign to overturn HERO inspired a national playbook.

Where Did Anti-Trans Laws Start? How a Forgotten Houston Ordinance Turned Into a Massive, Nationwide Culture War

Texas conservatives have spent more than a decade obsessing over the bathroom rights of roughly 1% of the population — and they provided a blueprint for the rest of the country to do the same

By Cara Kelly, Juliana Lightsey, and Investigative Reporting Workshop

⚖️The new law only restricts bathroom usage in public places, meaning private businesses are still free to maintain gender-affirming bathroom policies; we hope you can still pee in peace at your favorite cafe and other haunts. And no one should feel forced to answer invasive questions about your gender. The Transgender Education Network of Texas has a full guide so you can know your rights.

🚨Over the weekend, activists with the Local Queer Foundation staged a bathroom protest in the Texas Capitol, resulting in at least one person being placed in handcuffs and multiple people being banned from the grounds for one year. I wish these queer folks luck in the lawsuits against the state that seem sure to follow! 

🫏 Redistricting in our state means Democrats are fighting with former allies over Congressional seats. The Advocate reports that former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred will be challenging U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, the first out LGBTQ+ person elected to Congress from Texas, to a primary battle.  

🗣️Over on Threads, nishray asks, “can someone non-binary please tell me how i can be polite and say ‘yes ma’am/sir’ but in a non-binary way??” My recent article for Texas Observermagazine offered one versatile answer: “Yes, chef!” Other suggestions from the replies include “Okie Dokie Artichokie,” “my liege,” and “*tips hat* M’theydy.” Also, don’t forget the classics, like “Stay fresh, cheesebags!”

Stars & Stripes 🇺🇸

What’s happening in the rest of the gayborhood. 

🎥 More Charlie XCX on the silver screen, a “campy sleepover romp” from Jan Schoenbrun, and Alexander Skarsgård starring in a gay “dom-com”? Shut up and take my money! I’m in a tizzy over Them’s list of the most-anticipated LGBTQ+ films of 2026. 

🏆 The magazine also invites readers to argue over a new ranking of the 25 best LGBTQ+ movies of the 21st century so far. Go defend your corners!

🏒 Everyone is talking about “this horny gay ice hockey drama” also known as HBO’s “Heated Rivalry.” As Out magazine reports, “‘Heated Rivalry’ stars' nasty back arch and caked-up butt go viral, inspiring fans to hit the gym.” Even The Today Show called it a “steamy sensation.” 

⚕️In a surprise move late Sunday evening, last minute negotiations removed a ban on Defense Department funding for gender-affirming surgeries from the massive National Defense Authorization Act. Erin Reed, of Erin in the Morning, reports that some anti-DEI and an anti-trans sports ban for military academies remain in the measure.

🤡 A leaked memo obtained by the journalist Ken Klippenstein reveals that the FBI is making fresh lists of so-called extremists, including anti-ICE activists and those who support “radical gender ideology.” While it’s usually a dangerous sign when the government is making lists, some of these folks sound like the kind of people I’d like to invite to my next Christmas party.

🏳️‍🌈The Advocate reports that Derek Kitchen, former Utah state senator and Salt Lake City Council member, has a solid chance of being the next openly LGBTQ+ member of congress. 

Bright & Buzzy📱

Memes and more.

🐭 These mice from the Nutcracker Suite are … well, “serving c*nt.” Just see for yourself. Mother RuPaul would be proud.

⚧️ It’s high time you started pronounsmaxxing. 

🧑‍🤝‍👩 Don’t worry, we also support straight marriage.

Shameless Merch Plug 🧢

❄️ On a cold Texas morning, there’s only one thing better than a hot mug of coffee or tea … and that’s drinking your toasty beverage from a Texas Pride mug. There’s no annoying logos or slogans here — just you, a warm drink, and your love of Lone Star queer life.

Stay cozy until I visit with you again, my queer stars! In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out with tips, ideas or just for a kiki! (kit@thebarbedwire.com). 

🌈 Until next time, stay big, bright, and bold! 

Kit (They/Them) 💖

‘Love is the Only Motherf****** Way’: Big Queer Wedding Party Celebrates LGBTQ+ Joy and Resilience in Texas

With eight weddings and two vow renewals, the flower-filled Austin event honored the queer community’s commitment to “hold each other up” in dark times.

By Kit O'Connell

At a bustling venue on Sunday, the speakers boomed with a remix of “Stayin’ Alive.”

Heather Schenk and Ty Linhardt had traveled from Chickasha, Oklahoma, for the Big Queer Wedding Party in Austin, where ten couples came to get married and renew their vows in the sanctuary of a former Baptist church.

Guests stepped carefully around the flowing train of Schenk’s white gown on their way to the bar. The dress’s low-cut back framed her tattoos and long blonde braids. 

She was overjoyed to finally be wearing it. 

Schenk and Linhardt’s original wedding plans went awry when Linhardt fell down a flight of stairs the night before their 2024 destination wedding in St. Croix. She spent the next 10 days in the hospital and, since they hadn’t yet exchanged vows, Schenk wasn’t guaranteed the right to visit. 

By the time they were able to get married, their whole wedding party and even Schenk’s dress had been sent home. They got married anyway, even if it wasn’t how they had imagined it. “We had people that we met on the island just meet us on the beach, and our officiant got COVID the night before,” Schenk said. 

In Austin on Sunday afternoon, the chilly winter weather seemed far from the warm sandy beaches where they’d first wed. Yet the pair seemed relieved to be surrounded by the happy chaos, lace, sequins, and rainbow glitter. After they renewed their vows, Schenk shared a message of perseverance for others in the LGBTQ+ community.

“Keep showing up,” she said, “use your voice and love who you love.” 

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