Howdy-ho anthropomorphic park ranger bears! What’s in your pic-a-nic basket? It’s a beautiful day for a pic-a-nic!
Today a photographer was taking my picture for something professionalish and I was like, “Should I do something different with my face?” because I was giving my standard resting bitch face. And the photographer was like, “No. This is perfect. You look very confident and powerful,” and that was a cool surprise.
Mostly I want my resting bitch face to say, “No, strange man. I do not want to talk to you,” or “Please do not make eye contact with me. I am very unpleasant as a human so just do not. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.” I’m glad that can also read as “confident and powerful.” The photographer was a woman, though, and also a self-proclaimed feminist, so I dunno. If the photographer was a cis straight guy he probably would have told me to smile more?
Anyway, I hope you had/are having a splendid weekend and that you are feeling very confident and powerful in all your facial expressions. Blessed be!
Pass the Happy Tears Tissues and the Vicks VapoRub, Mom
Mumbai transgender activist, Gauri Sawant, stars in this heartwrenching, gorgeous, loving ad for Vicks India. Yes, Vicks. That sticky shit your mama or papa or parent or legal guardian put on your chest when you had a cold. Just…ok…watch it. Full disclosure: there was a debate in my house about whether this actually evokes happy or sad feelings, but I’m on team happy. Happy-sad? Mostly happy. Definitely happy! A spokesperson from Proctor & Gamble said:
We want consumers to recognize that everyone has a right to family and that wherever there is care, that bond is a family. This bond can be between people who are close to each other and go beyond just biological ties. Vicks has therefore adopted this bold and progressive stance—that above all else, it is care that is the ultimate definition of what a family is.
Millennials :heart eyes emoji: the Gays
We love selfies, cold brew, and queer and trans folx! (via Shutterstock)
A new study by GLAAD shows that millennials fucking lurve LGBTQ people compared to any generation before them. No duh!
20% of Millennials identify as LGBTQ compared to 12% of Gen Xers, 7% of Baby Boomers, and 5% of Elders. GODDAMN!
Among non-LGBTQ people, millennials were the most likely generation to be allies. 63% of non-LGBTQ respondents said they were very or somewhat comfortable with LGBTQ people in all situations. Someone get those folks some day old cookies, stat!
Bills, Bills, Bills
+ A new LGBT anti-discrimination bill in Alaska would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and employment. Similar municipal laws are already on the books in Anchorage and Juneau. Senator Berta Gardner, who has literally the best name ever and also the sponsor of SB 72, said, “[It] is unconscionable that we do not protect the right of people to safe housing, to job security, to the services that everybody else takes for granted.” Right on, Berta!
+ Ohio’s first openly gay state legislator, Rep. Nickie Antonio, is re-introducing an LGBT anti-discrimination bill. While it’ll be an uphill battle with no Republican co-sponsors, Republican Governor John Kasich has made a vague statement that he’s open to learning more about the bill and that he “[doesn’t] want anybody to be discriminated against because they happen to be gay.” It’s a start!
+ The Oklahoma Senate defeated not one, but two anti-LGBT bills last week, a so-called “religious freedom bill” and another that would have banned local ordinances that protect LGBT people across the state. Oklahoma, where the justice (apparently) comes sweeping down the plains!
+ Georgia lawmakers refused to pass an adoption reform bill with a hostile anti-LGBT amendment. The bill was supposed to be a bipartisan measure with wide support until Senate Republicans hijacked the bill by adding an anti-LGBT amendment. The sponsor of the Senate bill, Senator Bert Reeves, urged the House to pass a version without the amendment, effectively sending the bill back to the Senate. Both the Governor and major business organizations oppose the hostile amendment.
Dance, Ivanka, Dance
via Werk for Peace / Facebook
WERK for Peace, 350 DC, the Queer Resistance, and the Trans Women of Color Collective organized a queer dance party climate change action outside Ivanka Trump’s D.C. residence this Saturday. Organizers of the dance demonstration want to send the clear message that LGBTQ activists are watching her and holding her accountable.
“We can’t let Ivanka trick our communities into supporting and legitimizing her. We will show up to her home because the bad decisions of the Trump administration hit us in our daily lives, in our homes, and the nature we surround ourselves with. If Ivanka Trump isn’t gaslighting us, then she should come into the streets and werk it!” – Carla Aronsohn, Co-organizer
You’ve Got a Crush On Acrush
HELLO HI UMMMMMMMMMM
EXCUSE ME. China’s super-hot new “boy band,” Acrush, is actually comprised of five super sexy girls (who are contractually unable to disclose their sexual orientation and who also all dressed this way before becoming a band, so you do the math).
Acrush is based out of the Zhejiang province, has 900,000 Twitter followers, and is mostly adored by female fans who call them “husbands,” the term for male pop stars who are “so charming they fantasize about marrying them.” Lu Keran, An Junxi, Peng Xichen, Min Junqian and Lin Fan were put together by agent, Zhou Xiaobai, who was looking to create a band with a “unisex” look. Zhou says Acrush is, “a group advocating freedom, not bounded by frames.”
GAH
The letter A in Acrush stands for “adonis,” the Greek god of hunkiness. Also, they all have to play soccer? Acrush is a member of the Fantasy Football Confederation of China and they have to incorporate soccer into their performances. Whatever works! Acrush plans to release their first album in April.
Here is a Bee Butt and Legs Hanging Outside of a Flower
You’re welcome. (via Reddit)
ok i guess crying at vicks commercials is the new reality. what a world!
Who knew!
Happy crying though, right? I think? I don’t know. That scene where they make funny faces at each other! My heartstrings!
“This is my mom. Isn’t she lovely?” is what got me. Yes, she IS lovely! What a great mom! *sobs*
Vicks ❤️ Team happy tears and bittersweet emotions here.
Same!
BEE BUTT! :D
I personally think your resting face strikes a good balance between friendliness and taking-no-bullshit, but I agree that a cis straight guy photographer probably would have told you to smile more.
That means a lot, @chandra. I’ve worked really hard on my resting bitch face and refuse-to-make-eye-contact-stare.
Solid round up!
I didn’t know who that transgender activist was so up til the end I thought you meant the little girl was (another proof that you can’t assume people’s gender!)
Fuck yeah millennial! But personally I think the statistics are such not because there are less LGBTQ+ people in older generations but because the older generations are less liberated in that aspect?! I might be wrong but Im assuming that the stats are prob similar for different generations but we are just more accepted and more comfortable and aware of our identity and sexuality?
Aaah I really like the looks of the first 2 Chinese girls (left on 1st pic) and that band sounds awesome :)
Haha bee butt.
If you read the report, the same percentage (3%) of Millennials and Gen Xers identify as “strictly gay/lesbian.” But 12% of Millennials identify as bi, pan, or ace, twice as many as in Gen X. Fewer people over 35 knew about those identities or saw them validated at the age when they were figuring out who they were. I think it does show that with more acceptance and visibility of the full spectrum of queerness, more people can name who they are and be open about it.
What @tengalaxies said!
I haven’t read the article but as one of Autostraddle’s resident GenXers and bi woman, I agree with that.
When I started realizing consciously that I’m attracted to men and women, in 1990, the only two bisexual people I’d ever heard of were David Bowie and Virginia Woolfe – and neither of them were really useful role models for me. I was lucky to have several bi female friends in college – we all sort of came out together and inspired and supported each other. And I was also blessed with a stubborn streak – once I knew that bi was a thing, I just knew that I was bi, and that was that.
I didn’t know about Gauri Sawant before the commercial went viral, either. She’s is a prominent transgender activist in India fighting for the rights of third gender people. She’s rad!
I think you’re probably right about older generations being less likely to be out and/or self-identify as LGBTQ. I don’t think we’ve actually succeeded in converting the heteros to our team so much as millenials are more accepting and more open-minded and more willing to understand sexual fluidity and more educated about sexuality than older generations. 20% is still a LOT! That’s almost 1 in 4! I think you’re totally right!
I cannot get over the bee butt. I shan’t get over it.
So Oklahoma and Georgia, two “buckles of the Bible belt,” refused to pass discrimination laws, and Republican Kasich feels compelled to say that “no one should be discriminated against because they are gay”? Guys, this is BIG NEWS! Even in deep red states it’s becoming socially unacceptable to dislike LGBTQs. There is is hope.
Riiiiight? I mean, it’s not nothing. It’s not quite something, but it’s not nothing! A small step in the right direction.
I wouldn’t exactly say that “in deep red states it’s becoming socially unacceptable” to pass discriminatory laws targeting LGBT people. I think that at long last, the business establishment is stepping up and saying, “Not in MY name”, for business reasons. They don’t want to lose the millenial and younger customers. Businesses don’t want to be seen as having a work environment as regressive as the social milieu in the state, because at least some businesses want to attract the best technical and management talent to “less attractive” states in the middle of the country.
It was Autostraddle that first introduced me to the concept of tomboy bands in Asia several years ago, specifically Taiwan, in a great piece about living there as a queer person. I don’t know if tomboy bands are still a thing in Taiwan or not and I’m pretty sure this one is no longer together but they were soooo cute!
I sure wish we could have boi bands. Damn this homophobic country. :(
Wow this is really cool too
Yeah, the whole Chinese boy band thing is apparently influenced by J-Pop and K-Pop.
Well K-Pop is still mostly governed by strict gender norms according to my friend who is really into it. There’s only one K-pop star who is a tomboy and she’s part of a group of women the rst of whom are very femme. Korea is still a pretty homophobic country. Taiwan on the other hand is the most LGBT friendly country in Asia and according to the piece I referenced, tomboy culture is a big thing there.
Not really a fan of how they are using the SS symbol but the rest sounds very cool.
THIS BAND IS EVERYTHING
I don’t really even know what their music will be like because they haven’t publicly released anything yet. LOL. But yeah, I’m into it!
This ad makes me happy to buy anything from Vick’s . . . I have a sari from my grandmother that is saffron yellow with a green border like that.
I love that your grandma has a similar sari!
It’s such a good ad! I hate the smell of Vicks, but my partner is into those Vicks inhaler sticks that look like chapstick for when you have a stuffy nose.
Ah those vicks sticks are so good, I’m really happy their ads are so progressive and i can use them guilt free. They’re awesome for clearing the sinuses when exercising in cold weather btw, it took me forever to figure out but it really clears out all the condensation & keeps your scarf dry
India’s been way on top of trans stuff lately with their commercials. There was a breast cancer awareness campaign that featured trans women, and there was another commercial for a recent product that involved a mother celebrating her daughter’s first Women’s Day.
Wow that vicks commercial made my cry hard.
I am so here for bee butts sticking out of flowers! Also sobbing about Gayatri and her lovely, wonderful mom, both of whom I really want to hug.
I like bee butts and I cannot lie
Also also also: golf clap for the brilliant use of bills bills bills
That bee butt is so precious
I found out about Acrush a few days ago and I was waiting for something on them to appear! *heart eyes emoji* *has already liked their fan page*
thank you for dat (bee) ass.