The stories of 1 million+ LGBTQIA+ Texans are captured by the energy and richness of Power in Kindness, by Ebony Stewart. Ebony’s voice celebrates the resilience of our community, and the strength, dignity and joy in Kindness. We dedicate Pride 2026 to the Power of Kindness and the Power we all have in our community and in ourselves.
THEY THINK KINDNESS IS SOFT.
Like it doesn’t have a spine.
Like it doesn’t know how to stand up to a flame and speak in fire.
But this is Texas. So we know something about heat.
Know something about pressure.
About being tested. About SURVIVING ANYTHING trying to break the backs of something tender. So when we say Power in Kindness, understand I am not speaking in a whisper;
or being anything less than loud.
THIS DECLARATION IS HERE, QUEER, AND PROUD.
But for LGBTQIA+ Texans, kindness has not always met us where it could where it should or where it promised it would.
Too many exam rooms felt like interrogations. Too many waiting rooms a new closet. OUR BODIES ON BALLOTS battling laws and government judgements;
trying to remove our access to healthcare. Our dignity questioned at counters. Our care threatened in headlines, as if dignity were conditional.
And still –
OUR KINDNESS IS NOT A WEAKNESS.
We PrEP PREVENT, PROMISE AND PROTECT HERE. WE BUILD COMMUNITY, STAND IN UNITY AND WE FIGHT HERE.
We show up like we all we got, Cause we all we need, here.
For the radical act of long-living, undetecting, gender-affirming, and being more than just a number.
There’s strength in knowing our status. Power in being alive – fearless and free. And kindness says,
WE CARE BECAUSE WE MATTER.
So when the world tells us “No,” we answer back with “Yes.” When it tells us to be smaller, we stand taller. And when it tells us to disappear, Our kindness is still here.
And THAT IS NOT SOFTNESS.
That, is strategy.
That, is community.
That, is POWER.
And it doesn’t matter if we’re in the Panhandle, The valley, a small-town, a city with skylines, or anywhere under this wide Texas sky.
There are one million LGBTQIA+ Texans. ONE MILLION TEXAS STORIES.
One million sparks and beating hearts. And we shine bright, like the stars we are.
Because there’s Power in Kindness.
Power in access and being seen.
So when the state asks us to shrink
Know, it is the power in our kindness that caused them to squint
from the liberation our light brings.
AND WE ARE NOT RETREATING.
SO YOU.BE.YOU. AND WE’LL. BE. KIND.
Ebony Stewart, most affectionately known as Eb or Gully, is an author and international touring interdisciplinary artivist.
As a Black womxn writer and performance artist, Ebony Stewart harnesses the power of creativity to explore and challenge societal norms, personal identity, and the intersectionality of her experiences. Click here to learn more about Ebony.
Ryan finally feels ready to move on and start dating again after his first gay breakup, but his primary care doctor isn’t familiar with what Ryan knows he needs to stay safe: PrEP to prevent HIV. The launch video for ‘Power in Kindness’ tells the story many LGBTQIA+ individuals find themselves in, at the crossroads of wanting to take charge of your sexual health but not having the right resources to do it. Enter Kind Clinic. Watch as Ryan finds his way to the care he deserves.
We PrEP, promise, and protect in the name of pleasure. Download our official ‘Power in Pleasure’ pride zine to get the sex-positive info you can only find in paperback (ok, and the digital version too of course.) Stop by a Kind Clinic location today to grab a physical copy from our lobby.
