Khalid El Khatib

When the United States went into lockdown in the spring of 2020, Sydnee Washington joined millions of others in panicking. “I thought: I don’t cook, I don’t clean, and I’m not married,” said the New York-based comedian and podcaster. “I don’t know…

Like some people, I sent the early days of the pandemic the best version of myself. I perfected a number of low-fat Instapot recipes and froze the leftovers like a version of Sandra Lee who was really into CrossFit; I bounced from free trial of…

They’ve posted viral tweets, thirst traps, and meme’d every moment of the year, and now they’re helping you shop for the holidays! These days internet gift guides are as common as holiday films (of which, they are 82 out this season, including…

Happy Pride Month! All June long, we'll be sharing long reads, personal essays, and recipes from LGBTQ+ writers. This week: Khalid El Khatib on Julius', the oldest gay bar in New York City. Before moving to Brooklyn in November, I lived in Manhattan…

PAPER has always been a place of opportunity, a place that spotlights new talent and people who are doing tremendous things. We've spent over 20 years bringing you the Beautiful People issue, which identified amazing people who were doing things…

Two months ago, actor and comedian John Early headlined a sold-out fundraiser in Brooklyn. It was a star-studded affair featuring Broad City’s Ilana Glazer and a slate of vanguard queer performers who, like Glazer, often sell out venues in their own…

Last Thursday, in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City hosted an LGBTQ+ Community Iftar, free and open to the public. An Iftar is the evening meal with which Muslims end…

Last Thursday, Nancy Brooks Brody, Joy Episalla, and Carrie Yamaoka sat around a table in the lobby of New York City’s Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, reminiscing about their long history of activism over lunch. As three of the four…

This article originally appeared on VICE US The other night, a stranger with an ambiguous-looking avatar and a private account DMed me on Instagram to tell me he was gay. He them asked how I reconcile my homosexuality with being Muslim (he'd likely…

I'm not big on sharing personal stories here. This isn't a diary or an outlet for a wannabe Carrie Bradshaw. But with Valentine's Day tomorrow, I imagine love (past or present) is on people's minds. Relationships are tough because all the…

Yesterday, phones lit up with breaking news alerts when Maxim Lapunov, a gay Russian man, became the first to speak publicly about his detention in Chechnya's anti-LGBTQ crackdown earlier this year. Maybe you read the details of Lapunov's story—about…

Late last month, President Trump gave his first address to the United Nations. Trump used the U.N. podium to push his "America First" agenda (in front of representatives from over 190 countries). Someone on Twitter likened the spectacle to the…

Will and Grace in the pilot of NBC's reboot. Photo courtesy NBC One of my first exposures to an LGBTQ person, growing up in Iowa, came when Ellen made the cover of Time. A neighborhood kid picked up the magazine in the waiting room of a salon and…

It's been more than a decade, and I still regret not joining the Gay-Straight Alliance in high school. I grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, a city I remember making headlines only a couple times: Once when Field of Dreams, filmed nearby, was released, then…

In Tokyo, the best sushi restaurants are unassuming. They're either unmarked—tucked into subway stations and back alleys—or they don't accept reservations in English, let alone from tourists. To eat well, really well, you have to know locals. So my…

This Monday, Dustin Lance Black's highly anticipated miniseries, When We Rise, premieres on ABC. It follows the intersected lives of three LGBTQ activists—Cleve Jones (founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and mentee of Harvey Milk), Roma Guy (a women's…

Get the VICE App on iOS and Android Gays Against Guns (GAG) was formed in New York City this June, just before the NYC Pride March and five days after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Moved and outraged, a group of LGBTQ people and allies…

Last night I watched the election returns come in with increasing dread. I went to sleep at 4am when it was clear Donald Trump would be our 45th president, and I woke up at 8am to over 100 text messages and 20 missed calls. So many of the texts read…

Over a year ago, I told my coming out story on a popular LGBTQ YouTube channel called I'm from Driftwood. In the video, I talked about how difficult it was for me, at age 26, to come out to my Muslim, Palestinian father, despite the fact that I'm not…

"I have a weird question." My straight female friend had FaceTimed me to settle a debate: "Do gay guys get turned on when they look at themselves naked?" I laughed. "I don't think I do," I said. "Maybe, though. Some of the hot guys I follow on…