feature image from Valentina de Zanche/Slam Jam
Welcome back, Straddlers! I hope that you’re finding a way to give yourselves a little joy in these uncertain times. Hopefully, there’s a little brightness for you among this collection of links.
Queer as in F*ck You
Did you see One Day at a Time‘s series debut on Pop? They talked about the importance of the decennial Census! You really should fill it out! Here’s more about the 2020 census: What LGBTQ Americans should know
The fascinating history of London’s first LGBT pub visited by royalty
One of my biggest concerns about this self-isolation has been folks trapped with abusive partners or parents: Coronavirus: ‘I’m stuck in isolation with my homophobic parents’
THERE is the queer collective united by a love of skating
As if LGBTQ media’s struggle with survival wasn’t hard enough: Ohio LGBTQ publication Prizm News shuts down after coronavirus-related revenue crunch
This LGBTQ clothing brand has the most unapologetic T-shirts (Maybe? But also…have you visited the Autostraddle store?)
Saw This, Thought of You
BuzzFeed Slashing Employee Pay Amid the Coronavirus Crisis
‘More volatile than ever’: Freelancers brace for a rough job market
Learning to Swim Taught Me More Than I Bargained for
Saw This, Thought of You: Sportsball Edition
Women’s Basketball Was Building Momentum. Then All The Games Stopped.
How the coronavirus has affected WNBA players overseas
U.S. Soccer leadership: Equal pay a ‘priority’
Will we see Carli Lloyd or Becky Sauerbrunn back in a Team USA jersey? Or should we? The implications of a delayed Olympics for the USWNT
An upside to the Olympic delay: Katie Ledecky has time to get better – Katie Ledecky resets Olympic focus on 2021 after frustrating, uncertain wait
Political Snacks
Please do not take medical advice from a man who looked directly at a solar eclipse.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 24, 2020
I suspect we’ll have more to say about this in tomorrow’s Extra!Extra!: The Senate just passed a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. Here’s what’s in it.
Waffle House closes 420 locations amid coronavirus pandemic
Why should you be concerned about Waffle House closings? FEMA uses it as an indicator of how bad as disaster is. Suffice to say, according to the Waffle House Index, we are fucked.
‘He is still in’: Bernie could remain in race through June (Relatedly: Biden says Democrats have ‘had enough debates’)
Not surprised by either of these decisions but I’m not sure either are the right decision. Short of winning 65% in all the remaining primaries, Sanders isn’t going to capture the nomination and, given that the president is getting daily coverage of his pressers (no matter how often he lies), giving up a national audience doesn’t seem smart for Biden either.
I’m bummed about the Olympics
And if Waffle House is closing that many stores what chances do little mom and pop restaurants have?
I love it when I see that Natalie is doing an A.A.A. because there is an excellent chance there will be sports content!
True. Thank you for always bringing the sports stuff, Natalie
I third this sentiment! Sportsball! Especially, that white with black pentagons one!
*pounds fists on the table* spORTS SPORTS SPORTS!
Roller skating is also queer culture! Check out Queer Skate Alliance (https://www.instagram.com/queerskatealliance/?hl=en) and BIPOC Who Skate (https://www.instagram.com/bipocwhoskate/?hl=en) too!
@sasaan I’d always assumed roller skating was queer culture (are there straight people who roller skate?). I mean, it feels like right up there with rainbows with symbols of the culture.
True, roller skating has always been queerer than skateboarding, but a lot of the big names in skating (atm) are heterosexual/cisgender, so it’s been nice to see a resurgence of queer and BIPOC skaters, especially creating intentional movements and grassroots communities :)
katie ledecky! the love my life! train hard and train well ily