Meet Barrett White

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barrett White.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Barrett. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m a writer and advocate here in Houston. Much of the work I do here is focused on LGBTQ rights. As a queer man myself, I had a troubled and rough coming out that dragged on for several years and put me into an unfortunate mental state at the time. I think that’s what pushed me to work so closely with this community now. To help show others that it does get better and that no matter what you’re going through, there’s someone in your corner.

My partner and I have been together since 2012, about a year after I came out at age 19. I owe so much success to him. I’ve had big dreams since I was a kid, and I’ve always wanted to be a writer. But I never knew where or how to funnel that energy. One day, he came to me with information on an internship at OutSmart Magazine, and so began my career.

After my internship, I worked with OutSmart as a writer for a few years, tried a brief stint with Houston Press before returning to OutSmart, wrote as a freelance marketer on the side, worked PR for a large music festival for several years, and then worked as a full-time freelance writer, and later was on the original team at the launch of Spectrum South, for which I still write. For my “9-5”, I work for the communications team of a health center, where I have a large focus on writing for HIV care. My work also dips my toes in government relations and public policy. I’m very lucky to have editors, across each of my writing gigs, who foster growth and community building.

I’ve also since joined the board for Pride Houston, branched out into the realm of small businesses, and have a sweet, queer-centric, semi-autobiographical personal writing project brewing at the moment.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not. My coming out was not easy. It was several years of struggle, mental and emotional, with the people around me before I moved into the city (though I must say, thankfully, that relationships have healed, and that the old adage “it gets better” is true). To this day, I still struggle with my mental health, but, inspired by some wonderful people in my circle, I’m not ashamed to say that therapy really is amazing. I recommend it wholeheartedly. If your insurance covers it, great. If not, please research sliding scale services.

In addition to that, I was not privileged with financial support. Growing up, my family was a family of artists with day jobs. My dad is an artist and mom a singer. We grew up on a shoestring budget (I had never even been on an airplane until I was… 22 maybe?). No college savings. Everything I’ve worked for, I’ve done so on my own, or with the support of my partner, who constantly helps me sniff out new avenues for growth. Apply to this job, apply to that job–he’s really the perfect man! I do the same for him; we proofread each other’s cover letters, etc.

Living in Montrose as a queer man is easy. Finding work in corporate America can be tough, though. Worrying you’ll come across too effeminate, or unsure if you should mention you’re with a same-gender partner when the interviewer asks you to tell them about yourself. It’s a weird limbo. After a while, I stopped looking there and decided to focus my unabashed queer energy where I know it can be useful–in LGBTQ journalism and in health care, where we need more visibility.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Spectrum South; Pride Houston; and freelance writer story. Tell us more about the business.
Well, I work for several brands, but I think the most unique is Spectrum South. It’s a small magazine based out of Houston, co-founded by my former supervisor, Megan Smith. She’s intelligent and erudite, and just everything I value in a person. Spectrum is “the voice of the queer South”, which is to say that the publication tells the stories of queer, trans*, and gender-nonconforming people in the South. It’s necessary and beautiful work.

Through Spectrum, I’ve probably had the most professional growth of any job. I’ve pitched some crazy ideas to Spectrum, which have always been accepted and respected, which is all a journalist wants! I’ve connected with queer celebrity fitness instructor Bethany C. Meyers, Broadway actress and country singer Rachel Potter, singer Taylor Hicks, director Brian Clowdus, and musician Steve Grand to name a few–some of whom I’ve even been fortunate enough to remain personal friends with.

Telling these stories isn’t something that we see happening yet, other than through Spectrum. But people need to know that a queer South does exist and that it’s a culture all its own.

Through Pride Houston, I’m helping to found Houston’s first official Pride-sanctioned event for the transgender community, an event that I pitched to the board in my first meeting that was welcomed and embraced by the new executive leadership, as it is of course long overdue (Pride Houston celebrated their 40th year last year!).

Working as a freelancer was fun, but rough. Sometimes there was work and sometimes there wasn’t. It really was feast-or-famine, something a lot of freelancers can relate to, I’m sure. What I did love, however, was that I had the freedom to work from anywhere. One day I just packed up my dog and took to the road for over two weeks, camping in my car for most of it. I drove to Boston to visit my brother and worked from coffee shops along the way. I wrote about it for Spectrum.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t know that I believe in luck, or at least in this sense. I think that people’s success can be summed up into two factors: privilege and hustle. Financial, heterosexual, male, and racial privileges play a huge role in some people’s success–and even that of some people I’ve worked for in the past. I may be a queer person who grew up poor, but I cannot deny that being a white male allows me to navigate certain spaces with greater privilege than others. Now, my (and others’) responsibility to use that for the good of the community is a whole other topic of conversation. And then there’s the hustle. You work at it. You network. You attend those “young professional mixers” and feel so completely out of place, but own it anyway because you got this. You find what you’re good at and you market that thing. Whatever that is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barrettwrite.com
• Instagram: @ebearw

Image Credit:
Dani Benoit

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