As Pride Month unfolds across Corpus Christi, we are spotlighting the diverse voices that make up our vibrant LGBTQIA+ community. With over 40 events on the calendar and a phenomenal turnout at the Hidden Door Kickoff, it’s clear that this celebration isn’t just about parties and parades, it’s about people. Through this ongoing series, we’re taking time to introduce you to the artists, advocates, and storytellers who shape the social fabric of our region in both seen and unseen ways.

Our next featured “performer” challenges the conventional idea of what it means to perform. Karlyle Tomms isn’t a drag artist or a singer—he’s a novelist, screenwriter, and speaker whose work gives voice to the emotional and psychological realities of growing up gay in rural, religious America. For Karlyle, storytelling isn’t just creative expression; it’s survival, healing, and a call to connection.

Tomms began writing in childhood, inspired by his role as Bob Cratchit in a sixth-grade play. From then on, the page became a trusted space. “I never stopped writing,” he shares. After years of penning poems, short stories, and journalistic work, he finally completed his first novel at 58—through a burst of character-driven inspiration. What began as a joke impersonation of a burned-out hippie woman evolved into the fully voiced, fully lived character of “Lovella,” whose story launched his debut novel and won the New Apple Award for first-time authors.

That late-blooming success set Tomms on a new path in retirement: telling stories that reflect resilience, complexity, and redemption. Many of his works, including The Gulls Are Always Laughing and Sunrise Over the Pumpkin Patch, are steeped in lived experience. “I grew up gay, in rural Arkansas, attending an authoritarian church in the 1960s while being abused at home. I know a thing or two about overcoming,” he says.

With 42 years of clinical social work experience, Tomms brings a “deft appreciation of personalities” to every narrative. He credits his time in behavioral science with deepening his understanding of human emotion, nuance, and conflict, though he is careful never to write directly about clients. Instead, his characters are composites drawn from observation, memory, and empathy. “We’re all complex,” he notes. “And storytelling helps us understand that.”

For Tomms, writing is more than catharsis, it’s an act of advocacy. “It breaks my heart when I see the statistics about LGBTQIA+ youth and suicide,” he says. “I want everyone to know that self-love is possible, and with a little help, it really does get better.” His work, both fiction and nonfiction, centers on the power of self-acceptance and the quiet strength it takes to reclaim one’s story.

Though known for his novels, Tomms has also ventured into screenwriting. His screenplay Edge of Smoke was a semifinalist at Santa Barbara/Palm Springs and Cannes competitions. His newest project, Like Dew on Roses, a lesbian-centered drama set in South Texas, will soon be submitted to the Austin Film Festival. If all goes well, it will later be adapted into a novel. “I can churn out a screenplay in about a tenth of the time it takes to write a novel,” he laughs, suggesting that screenwriting may become his focus if the opportunity arises. Only yesterday, his screenplay Gay Down Yonder was selected by the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship, marking his third recognition in just one year of screenwriting. The award adds another layer of validation to a career fueled by authenticity and vision.

Tomms writes intuitively. “It often feels like I’m channeling the story for the protagonist,” he explains. Characters arrive fully formed in his mind, sometimes lingering for years before their stories are written. His process is guided more by trust than by outline: “The character will pester me until I write what they want written.”

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Despite writing about trauma, poverty, and rejection, Tomms practices daily mindfulness and emotional maintenance. “Every time I teach a lesson, I also teach myself,” he reflects. Whether sitting on the deck watching hummingbirds or posting short affirmations on Instagram, he remains grounded in the healing tools he once offered to others.

His advice for other LGBTQIA+ writers, especially those later in life, is clear: write because you have something to say. “Don’t write because you want to be famous. Write because you need to tell your story. If you get lucky, wonderful. If not, you’re still doing what you love.”

As Corpus Christi celebrates Pride Month, Karlyle Tomms reminds us that performance can come in many forms. Whether on a stage, on a screen, or on a page, storytelling has the power to heal, to affirm, and to connect.

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Want to Be Featured?

Pride Corpus Christi is proud to spotlight performers from our growing and diverse LGBTQIA+ community. If you’re a drag artist, musician, spoken word performer, or creative force looking to be recognized, make sure you’re listed in the Performer Directory—it’s where we’re pulling all features from this Pride season.

Join the movement. Share your art. Help us celebrate and create space for every voice in our community.