Darcy Cooper

Q: I’m a nonbinary femme and recently, I’ve started to feel quite bad about my gender presentation. I’ve always loved playing with femininity, and I’ve always been very femme, wearing dresses and lipstick and the likes and it makes me feel really…

Hi, I’ve been dating this girl for 9 months. I was head over heels for her since the minute I met her. Then I became a caregiver for my grandmother and became very burnt out — but still used every last ounce of my energy to spend with her. She told…

Q: Hello! For a bit of background, I’m still relatively young and haven’t moved away from my parents yet. A few months back they decided to move to a more rural area, which meant that I had to move with them. Due to a vast number of factors that I…

I (38, they/them) and my partner “S” (41, she/they) have lived together for 5 years, dated for almost 6. We’ve made it through some intense relationship challenges (unsupportive parents, deaths in the family, fertility treatments, a miscarriage and…

I love my partner very much, and things are good a lot of the time, but they have a bunch of Stuff (trauma etc) that means when they identify something they perceive as a relationship problem (sometimes it’s just been a miscommunication!), they…

I’m 54 and had gastric sleeve surgery 11 months ago. I’m now getting some of my self confidence back and entertaining thoughts of dating again. I’m incredibly shy, and embrace my dorkiness. It’s been seven years since I’ve last dated or been intimate…

This is a post about healthy eating, which can be a lot, I know! Between my ‘90s childhood, my disordered eating history, and my ADHD diagnosis, feeding myself in ways that make my body feel good and nourished can be a real struggle. It’s taken years…

feature image by Greg Raines on Unsplash Q: My best friend and I have been super close since we met. She’s my world, and for a long time I was hers. I started catching feelings earlier this year, and we talk about everything. She knows I’m a lesbian,…

I’m 16 and came out as a lesbian four years ago. For the time being since then I sort of hopped around the world of dating a lot but nothing ever lasted more than a few months for me, and the other person was always the one to break it off (usually…

Q: I’m 49 and questioning. I’ve got a whole big hetero life and everything seems like a mess. Any choices/decisions I might make impact on so many people. I’m writing because I am largely on my own with this, with no queer friends. I’ve agreed with…

Okay, so I’m going into my first year of college this fall and I’ve still never been on a real date. Sure the pandemic played a big part in that, but I always feel like I’m behind somehow when my straight friends or heck, even my other lesbian…

Recently, I started seriously dating someone for the first time since my long-term relationship ended two years ago. I had done the casual dating thing for a while with moderate success, getting my needs met, but the person I have been seeing the…

My partner of 5 years ended our relationship while we were discussing our future path and a job offer I’d received. She had been ruminating on not being able to see a future together for years and had fallen into a bad cycle of holding in doubts,…

Q: Hi, I have a stupid problem: I hate my face. It looks like dough with too much double chin, no matter how many make-up tutorials I make myself watch and learn. I know worrying about looks is trivial, but I wish it didn’t take me days to recover…

Q: I’d always hoped that I would have sex for the first time with someone I loved, but I’m beginning to realize that if I hold onto that expectation, I’m going to be a virgin forever. I truly believe that I am emotionally ready to become sexually…

feature image by Zackary Drucker for The Gender Spectrum Collection Hey hey my dudes/dudettes/and dude-theys. So, ever since I came out like, seven years ago, the term ‘lesbian bed death’ has been on my periphery through both interactions with my…

Q: Dear Autostraddle, My partner and I have been together for about 9 years. We’ve built our lives together, and I can’t imagine what my world would look like without them in it. However, I’ve been really struggling with the way they approach…

feature image via AllGo – An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash I recently gained a significant amount of weight due to medication. It has changed my body in (what I think are) drastic ways. In my old body, I was very comfortable dressing in a…