Baopu #79: What is Safe Space?
“Safe spaces were never granted to the marginalized. There’s no freedom without fighting.”
Extra! Extra!: As the Dust Settles, Here’s What We’ve Learned So Far in the 2020 Election
Last week I was full of the nervous anxiety you feel when you know something big is about to happen, and you’re just counting down the clock. This week I’ve been full of the nervous anxiety of indefinite waiting. And yet, in that time, so much has happened in the world. In this week’s Extra! Extra! we share some reflections on the 2020 election and news on events from Vienna to Poland to Ethiopia to the Philippines to New Zealand to Chile.
The Comment Awards Are Reading The Room
Listen, sometimes we all enjoy gay male mermaids.
Into the A+ Advice Box #22: Dating an Older Person, an Untenable Murder Cat Situation, and More!
Is it a “friend” coffee or a “date” coffee, unemployed and feeling unmoored, negotiating initiating intimacy in a relationship with two people on the asexual spectrum, you feel like your best friend is making questionable dating decisions, grooming your armpit hair, taking a break from therapy, you’ve never been in a long-term relationship, trying to exist outside of capitalism, possible pelvic floor concerns — and more!
A Quick and Easy Guide to Making Consent Exciting, Not Scary: An Interview with Isabella Rotman on Her New Book
Rotman’s comic A Quick and Easy Guide to Consent is a fun, well-written, and much needed refresher that I strongly recommend to anyone with a body that wants to connect with others and their bodies.
S L I C K: Dream Palace
When you slide in, the girls unnestle and immediately home in on your navel. They lick their lips and lunge forward. One digs in with both sets of claws.
Also.Also.Also: Memes to Keep You Company While We Wait, Because This Election Is Never Ending!!
Here’s some smart stuff you can read in between obsessively refreshing those result maps, including: Judith Butler on Donald Trump, memes galore because we’re never getting out of this hell, and why your therapist was right — you really can’t plan for uncertainty.
Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer, and Trans Candidates Won Big Again in State Elections This Year
In wasn’t the Rainbow Wave of 2018, but there was lots to celebrate.
Seeing the Wind: How It Feels To Be A COVID Nurse
The first time I took care of COVID patients, I felt helpless. I’d lost access to my purpose, to my spiritual practice that lives within deeply connecting to my patients. I felt undeserving of human connection. I’d become a “dirty” nurse.
Lez Liberty Lit: What’s Up With Reading Lists
What is Afrofuturism, readings on climate and clean energy transition, a new anthology of radical trans poetics and more.
Scarlet Screens: The Fallen Tracee and Sex Industry Labor Rights in “The Sopranos”
In the first essay in Scarlet Screens, we look at the “University” episode of the Sopranos, where Ralphie murders Tracee. We explore the labor conditions at the Bada Bing Club, Tony’s “humanity,” and how violence against sex workers is used as plot point.
Some Good News: 2020 Legislative Wins So Far
These cities, counties and states passed some ballot measures last night that are worthy of at least one small sigh of relief.
Pop Culture Fix: Batwoman’s Stressing the Election Results Too
Fall TV is here, despite it all; the first news and set pics from season two of Gentleman Jack; Gillan Anderson just lounging; how Hollywood has failed Black witches; and more.
Mary Bonauto, Lead Obergefell Attorney, on What Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation Means for Marriage Equality
RBG’s death and ACB’s confirmation left a lot of LGBT folks reeling, wondering what Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation means for marriage equality. Are folks right to be worried? Yes, admits Mary Bonauto, the Civil Rights Project Director at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the lead attorney in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Worried Your Vote Can’t Protect Reproductive Rights? Mutual Aid Can (and Does)
Many of the crises we’re being warned about with this new 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority, including people not being able to have abortions, already exist — and so do the solutions.
Also.Also.Also: Janelle Monáe and Tessa Thompson Are Playing Truth-Or-Dare for Democracy
Janelle Monáe and Tessa Thompson are baiting us for Democracy this Election Day… and I’m not mad at it? Also: Lots of good, thoughtful election reads that (mostly) won’t piss you off and concrete, actionable ways to distract yourself right now if you need it.
Tracy Chapman Said “It’s Time for a Revolution” in First Television Performance in Five Years
“This is the most important election of our lifetime. It is imperative that everyone vote to restore our democracy.” — Tracy Chapman, Queer Legend
US Election 2020 Open Thread: Hoo Boy, Here We Go!
Not sure what to do with your tired brain and nervous energy? We’re here to provide a communal space to feel less alone and to help process a bit among friends, and because it’s so confusing to even know what to do on this day! Come pull up a seat.
Cara Delevingne’s Bisexuality: The Definitive Vapid Fluff Timeline
I can’t believe you people made me learn how to spell Delevingne without even looking it up.
Pop Culture Fix: Ellen Page Is Making a Video Game Comedy, Hoo Hoo! Just What I Needed!
Garnet’s the star of Cartoon Network’s new anti-racism PSAs, Gillian Anderson is FREAKING ME OUT in this The Crown trailer, how to watch Bly Manor without getting jump-scared, Shondaland has arrived on Netflix, and more!