I promise I’ll get back to publishing these at a normal time very soon! Today I’ve been distracted by our Birthday Celebration, have you heard? Autostraddle is turning 13 today!!!
Queer as in F*ck You
How ‘Jeopardy!’ Star Amy Schneider Fell in Love With Her New Fiancee Genevieve Davis. Our team is still deeply in love with Amy Schneider and I will literally post every link they send me.
Utah Governor Says He’ll Veto Transgender Youth Sports Ban
“What choice do we have? I’d rather lose our home and our state than lose my child.” Transgender Teens and Their Families Prepare to Flee Texas
Watch JoJo Siwa’s Perfect Response to Being Told Not to Say She’s Gay. Love to check in on what’s up with “JoJo content” with pride and bewilderment!
New music from Mal Blum! Directed by Gaby Dunn!
Saw This, Thought of You
No spoilers, especially because I haven’t actually seen the new Batman movie yet (still haven’t worked my way up to feeling safe in movie theaters, really) but I have some serious questions/fascinations about the Catwoman rankings in here!! 👉 Batman Movie Villains, Ranked
And whew, this is definitely related: Zoe Kravitz Was Told She Was Too “Urban” To Audition For Catwoman In ‘Dark Knight Rises’
The Age of Houseplants… Vanessa recommended this one so you know it’s a top tier personal essay.
ESPN Launching WNBA Fantasy League. “It’s the first season-long, full-scale fantasy game for a major women’s sport.” LISTEN I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SPORTS BUT I AM SO READYYYYYY!! How do I pick Candace Parker for all five starting line up spots?
Political Snacks
If we’re talking WNBA, that means we are talking about Brittney Griner, who hasn’t left my heart, my thoughts, honestly my prayers since news of her arrest and detention in Russia broke over the weekend. I’ve been obsessed and also feeling so helpless and hopeless? This was my favorite piece I’ve read yet, in terms of gathering up my emotions: Free Brittney Griner by Dave Zirin for The Nation.
I’ve waffled a lot about if it helps or hurts to make more noise about Brittney’s case, to be honest. And I’m not sure Zirin’s got it right either (if only because, I’m not sure any of us do.) But reading this helped me at least release some of my rage.
And while we’re talking about what’s happening in Russia and the War in Ukraine, I also wanted to share this piece of reporting that meant a lot to me, Africans In Ukraine: Stories Of War, Anti-Blackness & White Supremacy by Shamira Ibrahim for Refinery29.
The way I forgot about Anne Hathaways cat woman….
LMAO!!!
Bless Jojo Siwa for being so unapologetically herself. What an awesome video to have out there for little queer kids to find
Who’d believe Jojo Siwa would be among the most important LGBT people today.
Good Twitter thread on why people close to Griner are trying to keep the situation low-key. It really is best for her if this doesn’t turn into a giant activist campaign. That will just give Putin more leverage in the situation.
https://twitter.com/TJQuinnESPN/status/1500917009839702027
Yeah, I’ve read this one too! I actually sent it to the team on slack a few days ago and to a few of my friends. I wasn’t necessarily endorsing Zirin’s approach, as much as I was saying reading it provided me with a relief valve I definitely needed.
I do think something interesting around the “keep it low profile, Griner’s best bet is the Russian legal system” approach is that it usually rests on two things:
1) The billionaire who owns the Russian ball team will pay for an excellent attorney, which is frustrating to me because no one’s talking about this billionaire is ALSO one of the billionaires who just lost his fortune in the sanctions, and rightfully so, but it also makes me wonder if he has the money and/or focus to spend on Griner right now, given his own troubles. And if she goest to trial and loses, that’s a 5-10 year drug chare, which is a real gamble.
2) The strategy seems to be based on how its worked out for other people, but those people aren’t 6’9 black lesbians who are masc presenting. Brittney is.. well, a walking symbol of a lot of things that a lot of people in authority in Russia hate. Siting in prison for months-to-a-year while she awaits trial is not exactly safe for her. It’s just not. I think I’d appreciate the “keep it low level” approach more if someone just outright acknowledged that for once.
I AM NOT A LAWYER, I want to all caps that. I AM NOT AN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OR DIPLOMACY expert. Just a single queer Black woman typing into the ether online, about how all he options feel very hopeless and how much this is awful and I just want for Brittney’s safety. That’s it.
These are really important points that I wish were being included in more discussions around her case. Also, I’m not a lawyer or diplomacy expert either, but between the timing and the dubious charges it seems very possible that the arrest itself was already a political manoeuvre. I have no idea whether that would call for more or less visibility for her case though. I just hope she will be ok 😔
Zoe Kravitz best Catwoman ever!!!
Zoe Kravitz best Catwoman ever!!! 必利勁用法