Alaina Leary

Alaina Leary

Bio

Alaina Leary is an editor and activist based in Boston, MA. She is currently a social media editor for We Need Diverse Books. She has an MA in publishing from Emerson College. When she isn’t busy reading, you can find her at the beach or curled up with her girlfriend and their two adopted literary cats.

Alaina Leary Articles

I blamed myself for what happened and internalized the guilt and shame that many survivors feel after sexual violence.

I Was Sexually Assaulted On Valentine's Day

My sexual assault is the main reason my girlfriend and I didn’t celebrate the love-infested holiday for the first six years of our relationship. Last Valentine’s Day, a month after we celebrated seven years together, was our first time embracing the holiday as our own.

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Alaina Leary

How I Discovered I’m Asexual And What That Means To Me

I didn't use the word "asexual" until I was a senior in college. I didn't so much use the word as slur it, in between a long drunken ramble, to my girlfriend and our best friend in our apartment's small kitchen.

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The author pictured with their glitter cane. Follow them on IG @alainaskeys

Learning To Love My Sparkly Purple Cane

I’ve walked the line between visibly and invisibly disabled my entire life.

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Doniga Markegard Is Teaching People How To Be More Wild

Doniga Markegard teaches at a wilderness school instructor, and it’s important to her that her own kids learn about nature and wildlife.

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If you’re not currently poor, low-income, or broke, here’s what you can do this summer to support your friends and family members who might be.

How To Include Your Poor & Broke Friends This Summer

If you’re not currently poor, low-income, or broke, here’s what you can do this summer to support your friends and family members who might be.

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Watching People Go Back To School Is Bittersweet Now That I’ve Graduated

September, for the first time in many years, wasn’t the start of any new beginnings. I’ve been in some form of school — general education in public schools, then an undergraduate degree, and then a graduate degree — since I was in preschool.

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Image credit: Christopher Flynn via Unsplash

Navigating The Trauma Of Moving

Moving can be a traumatic experience. We often forget how many remnants of the past we hold onto—whether intentionally or accidentally, just because we put a letter away in a drawer and forgot about it.

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