I’m having turkey chili and cornbread for dinner, which is exciting! But man I’ll tell you what, everyone I’ve talked to at Autostraddle the 48 hours is just trying to hold on and grieving publicly, which is not.
Sending you all love to go with this news.
Queer as in F*ck You
How ‘The Ellen Degeneres Show’ Said Goodbye. “Jennifer Aniston, the show’s first-ever guest, was the last celebrity to join the show, alongside performers Pink and Billie Eilish.” I guess that’s done, then.
Barbie Is Releasing an Official Laverne Cox Doll in Time For Pride. “It’s a doll for The Dolls!” (I want one)
And we talked about this on Tuesday, but wow this is getting more and more stupid, Stonewall was a literal riot against the police? San Francisco’s Mayor to Boycott Pride Parade Over Uniformed Police Ban
Amber Heard Says She Gets ‘Thousands’ of Death Threats a Day. “I am harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day, even just walking into this courtroom.”
Saw This, Thought of You
Texas School Shooting Investigation Descends Into a Mess. “Officials give contradictory statements and parents say they were ignored and arrested trying to save their children.” (That goes with What We Know About the Police Response to the Uvalde Shooting and I’ll just say what should be obvious, but if the police can’t defend literal children then DEFUND THEM ALREADY.)
‘As Teachers, We’re Expected to Put Our Lives on the Line’
Ok stop me if you’ve heard this one before — The NRA Will Still Hold Its Conference in Texas This Weekend but “ironically, the attendees will not be allowed to bring guns inside the event.” 🙃
I apologize because really there’s no elegant pivot when all of our hearts and minds are still in Texas, but This Is Us aired its series finale this week and this is the only tribute I need: How The Black Pearsons Became The First Family Of This Is Us
How TikTok’s Four Quarters Method Can Boost Your Productivity & Mental Health. Don’t look at me! I just report things!
Political Snacks
We keep electing officials and doing our civic duty, in our communities and otherwise, and this is one of those weeks where it feels like it’s not mattering. IF you’re also in that boat, I hope you give yourself space to be sad. I hope you give yourself time to grieve.
We’ll be back with the political snacks next week, until then here’s an Autostraddle Roundtable: “I’m Angry and Sad and Scared and I Know Nothing is Going to Change”
Funny how teachers are expected to put their lives on the line and are constantly undercut, underfunded and berated. They can’t advocate for their own safety without being shouted down or worse.
Meanwhile the police officers who *allegedly* put their lives on the line every day get all the money in the world and NEVER hold up their end of the bargain and…never get punished. Never get questioned. Never get fired. Still get more money even though they’re useless when it counts.
The Blue Lives Matter brigade is going to be out in full force trying to spin this and I’m going to try and stay off social media for a while, because I don’t need to see it.
Maybe it’s time to make police pension tied to performance that is overseen by a proper civilian watchdog group. Hit them where it really hurts, their wallet.
Honestly, I’m glad all these people upset about the uniformed police ban aren’t going to pride.
“I hope you give yourself space to be sad. I hope you give yourself time to grieve.”
Thank you for this Carmen. I read this post this morning and then re-read the last paragraph and started to cry. It’s the first time in what feels like weeks that I felt something other than numbness when thinking about what’s happening in our country.