Happy pub day to Gabrielle Korn! An Autostraddle review of Yours for the Taking is in the works!
Two-Thirds of LGBTQ+ Brits Avoid Holding Hands With Their Partners Over Safety Fears. In a survey of over 1,000 LGBTQ+ people in the UK, it was found that 67% of respondents intentionally avoided holding hands in the past year out of fears amid rising hate crimes. As someone who lives in a place where I too often have to avoid holding hands or public affection toward my partner, I understand how complex this can be. Additionally, 33% of respondents reported holding hands made them feel self-conscious, 30% reported feeling anxious, and 23% reported feeling unsafe. While this survey had a relatively small sample size, a similar study conducted on the LGBTQ communities of the UK in 2018 polled 100,000 people and found the same two-thirds result.
Trace Lysette on Independent Spirit Award Nomination: ‘You’ve Got to Dream’. For her work in Monica, Trace Lysette has received an Independent Spirit Award Nomination. As Lysette puts it: “Hopefully, the other award shows will become aware because we deserve to do more than just survive, we deserve to thrive.”
The Exquisite Mess of Being a 20-Something, in Photos. If you’ve been following along with this little link roundup column since I took over it earlier this year, then you know I love an LGBTQ photoessay. I love an intimate and artful glance into queer and trans life — especially when these photo series emphasize imperfection and mess in their aesthetics and subjects.
Queers Without Money. This is a republication of the late Amber Hollibaugh’s essay that was originally published in the Village Voice in 2001 about class, queerness, and economic justice. It includes a new introduction from Lisa Duggan.
Some global LGBTQ news from around the world:
‘I Live in a Queer Fantasy’: Alex Jenny. Here’s a great interview with trans drag performer and therapist Alex Jenny, who you might know from Instagram and who I went to college with!
“Let’s Wait Till Israel Says Something”: Why the Media Has Failed the Test of the War in Gaza. An excerpt from this “dispatch from the front lines of the information war”:
“We tell ourselves stories to understand the world better. In that moment, I recognized something about this story, and how it has dominated and shaped the lives of Palestinians: The very fact of their being the largest community in the world without a state makes an impact on how the media treats its perspective.”
Speaking Up for Palestine Can Be Hard, but It’s Never Been More Necessary. “It is unquestionably risky to show support for Palestinians. But the bigger risk is saying nothing at all.”
How American Librarians Helped Defeat the Nazis. Y’all KNOW I love stories about librarians doing the WORK.
This was a really interesting story about how restaurant closures can have a huge impact on communities:
May December May Cause Internet Brain.
feature image by Miami Herald / Contributor via Getty Images
Whewwww, last night was a wild night on Twitter given the death of a certain notorious war criminal. My group chats were ALIVE.
Hundreds of Florida Students Staged a Walkout to Support the Rights of Trans Athletes. Making good on my own rule that if you’re going to cover the bad shit happening in places like Florida that you should also cover the resistance to that bad shit, I want to highlight the bravery of the hundreds of high school kids who walked out during the school day at Monarch High School in Broward County, FL to protest the recent reassignment and removal of school staff members who had allowed a trans girl to compete on the girls volleyball team, including the principal James Cecil. Assistant principal Kenneth May, athletic director Dione Hester, information management technician Jessica Norton, and temporary athletic coach Alex Burgess were among the reassigned staff being “investigated” for going against the state’s trans sports ban, signed into law by Governor DeSantis in 2021.
I know a high school walk out sounds like a small thing, but this is huge. It shows a two-fold approach to resistance happening in the state: First, the administrators and staff members who flouted the ban in the first place showed it’s totally an option to just…not enforce transphobic regulations. If more Florida school staff were willing to do this, it would make the ban difficult and maybe even impossible to reinforce. Second, the students showed their solidarity and support not just for this one trans athlete but all trans athletes, holding signs and chanting affirmations of support for trans lives everywhere and questioning the ban. It’s further evidence that the Florida legislation does not adequately represent the Florida people. These students are boldly taking a stance against decisions that directly impact them and yet that most of them don’t get a say in since they’re too young to vote. Anyway, I dove a little deeper on Florida’s anti-LGBTQ policies and historical resistance to them earlier this week.
Related: The Christian Right Wants to Force Teachers to Out Trans Kids. Dissent from educators is increasingly urgent, and for us non-educators, we have to find ways to support that dissent from the sidelines.
Our Queer and Jewish Grief Must Fuel Our Fight to Let Gaza Live. Rabbi Elliot Kukla calls for a permanent ceasefire.
Ted Cruz Introduces Bill Limiting Pronouns and Names Despite Going by His Own Chosen Name. Okay, while it’s always a pretty easy target to point out hypocrisy from politicians, this headline GOT ME GOOD.
Mexican LGBTQ+ Advocates Question Officials’ Account of Nonbinary Magistrate’s Death.
I love a specific queer history moment: Inside the Historic Lesbian Cafes That Fed the Feminist Movement.
Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies. DING DONG, America’s favorite war criminal is dead. And Spencer Ackerman at Rolling Stone went all the way off with this headline but also this dek: “The infamy of Nixon’s foreign-policy architect sits, eternally, beside that of history’s worst mass murderers. A deeper shame attaches to the country that celebrates him.”
Speaking of war crimes, mass murders, and the military industrial complex: Israel Arms the World’s Autocrats—With Weapons Tested on Palestinians.
In media news, Jezebel Is Coming Back.
Election 2024 and What the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights Looks Like Now.
feature image photo by NurPhoto / Contributor via Getty Images
It is 50 degrees today or as we call it in central Florida…SWEATER WEATHER.
Why Queer Solidarity With Palestine Is Not “Chickens for KFC.” There are truly so many great pull-quotes from this Them interview with queer Palestinian professor Dr. Sa’ed Atshan — who is a professor of Anthropology and Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College — that it’s impossible to pick just one. But I actually wanted to highlight this lovely opening from Dr. Atshan:
I spent [my] childhood years in the West Bank, in Ramallah, and growing up under Israeli military occupation. On one hand, there’s a tremendous amount of beauty and joy in living in Palestine: the people, the landscape, the generosity of spirit, the food, the love, the community, the sense of solidarity, the traditions being really held in a collectivist society and space. There was just a lot of beauty. Picking olives during the olive harvest season. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the experience of picking a fresh fig off the tree; it’s just amazing.
“I want to be clear, I’m not arguing that we want to focus less on anti-imperialism,” Atshan goes on to say in the interview, which I recommend reading in full. “I agree completely that it is paramount as a priority. But what I’m arguing is that the queer liberation struggle cannot be disentangled from the anti-imperialist struggle. They are fundamentally connected, and the existence of the queer Palestinian body is a testament to that. Because I’m simultaneously queer and Palestinian, I can’t sever parts of my body and self. I am both of these things at once… So I argue that the attempt to actually try to privilege one over the other is a fallacy because they are inextricably linked to begin with. They cannot be separated.”
Gretchen Felker-Martin and Carmen Maria Machado on the Healing Power of Queer Horror. As part of Them‘s Trans Futures package, authors Carmen Maria Machado and Gretchen Felker-Martin had a video conversation about finding healing in horror.
Nearly Two Years After “Don’t Say Gay,” Classroom Censorship Is Still on the Rise. I also wrote today about how the Florida legislature is trying to expand Don’t Say Gay to the workplace.
TDOR was over a week ago, but this was an important read: On Trans Day of Remembrance, Some Advocates Are Honoring Lives Lost to More Than Homicide. “TDOR was formed to honor lives lost to murder. But everyday discrimination leads to transgender deaths that should be honored too, some advocates say.”
The Shootings in Vermont Cannot Be Separated From Dehumanization of Palestinians Globally. “The attack on Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ahmed comes as Palestinians are silenced and oppressed across the Global North.” The three Palestinian college students — Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ahmed — were shot while speaking Arabic and wearing keffiyehs. The shooting took place in Burlington, Vermont, “near the Friends Meeting house, where Vermonters for Justice in Palestine regularly gather to plan how to stop the carnage in Gaza.” These attacks are horrifying and, as the piece reflects, impossible to disentangle from the ways Palestinians are dehumanized in the media and at a massive global scale.
The Right to Speak for Ourselves: “For far too long, Palestinians have been denied the freedom to tell our own story.”
Why So Many Powerful Men Were Just Sued for Sexual Assault.
What the Fight To Expand Access to the Ballot for Native Americans Looks Like Now.
I tried to link to an Instagram post of this great Chen Chen poem, but it wasn’t embedding properly, so I’ll link to it in poets.org: i love you to the moon & by Chen Chen.
feature image photo by NurPhoto / Contributor via Getty Images
Did you know you can fax your representatives to demand an immediate ceasefire? It is free and easy to do.
Witnessing Gaza Through Instagram. Zaina Arafat, the queer Palestinian American author who wrote my favorite novel of 2020, has penned an essay about following various Palestinian journalists and writers on Instagram who are on the ground in Gaza, bearing witness to Israel’s genocidal violence and making sure the world sees and hears. Arafat writes on the complexities of being a Palestinian American living in the States:
Since the assault began, I’ve spent my days yelling, crying, sharing, fundraising, and continuing on as normal. Bouts of activism interspersed with the daily life of a working mother in Brooklyn. I’ve taught my writing classes as usual without once mentioning Palestine. I’ve walked by the doxing vans and tried to shake off my disgust before entering the classroom. I’ve read at fundraisers and found my voice shaking, eyes burning, even though I’d chosen to read something with levity. Pain in writing can be hilarious, the author Geoff Dyer once told me. As a Palestinian, I’ve held on to that. I’ve gone to action-oriented meetings to organize. I’ve also gone to a dog Halloween-costume contest with my wife and our 1-year-old daughter. I’ve taken her to Tunes for Tykes. That I can grieve and protest, attend vigils and fundraisers, and still plan a birthday party for my daughter is a duality that is impossible to sit with. “Everything normal right now is obscene,” I heard Israeli journalist Amira Hass say early on in the war, and it’s true. Even sitting down to articulate this moment feels obscene.
And here is a piece written by a journalist on the ground for Al Jazeera in Gaza: “The Only Thing Keeping Me Standing Is the Suffering I’m Seeing”: Being a Journalist in Gaza.
When You Face a Backlash For Speaking Out About Palestine.
Why Queer and Trans People Need To Resist Pinkwashing. Queer and trans author Kai Cheng Thom wrote this piece for Xtra:
The deceptive logic of pinkwashing argues that queer and trans people, and all of our allies, ought to support Israel’s actions as a matter of our own self-preservation, an argument entrenched in Islamophobic and anti-Arab propaganda that claims Arabs and Muslims are inherently homophobic and violent. This style of propaganda that has been intensely present in the cultural sphere of the Global North since the so-called “War On Terrorism” began in 2001. Notably, this argument seems increasingly popular even among individuals who themselves are no great supporters of LGBTQ+ rights.
LGBTQ authors K-Ming Chang, Torrey Peters, and Fatimah Asghar are among the signatories of this statement of solidarity from One World authors calling on President Biden to demand the release of arrested activist Ahed Tamimi:
Also about Mosab’s abduction: Celebrated Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha Reportedly Seized in Gaza. “One may wonder why Israel would kidnap a poet. The answer, though painful, is simple. In its genocidal war against Palestinians, Israel seeks to erase not only Palestinian lives but also their culture and heritage.”
TikTok Says It’s Not the Algorithm, Teens Are Just Pro-Palestine.
This Palestinian Group Has an Urgent Request for Theater Companies Around the World. The group is asking people to perform The Gaza Monologues on November 29, 2023.
Another journalist has been killed by Israeli forces. Belal Jadallah, the “Godfather of Palestinian Journalism,” Has Been Killed in Gaza. At least 53 journalists and media workers have been killed.
a poem:
And as a bonus, another poem:
feature image photo by Matt Hunt via Getty Images
It’s later in the day than I usually publish this roundup, but I’ve been focused for the past 72ish hours on a piece I wrote about the history of “objectivity” in newsrooms and the recent resignations of queer writers and editors from the New York Times. It made me want to write more historical deep dives, so stay tuned for where that goes.
Florida Drag Shows Win Temporary Victory in Supreme Court. In May, the clown known as Ron DeSantis signed the “Protection of Children Act” — Florida’s version of a drag ban — into law. The Hamburger Mary’s in downtown Orlando (just a few miles away from where I reside) challenged the ban in court, and a federal judge blocked it. The state of Florida under DeSantis’ “leadership” sought to reinstate it over the summer, but the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled to maintain the pause in a 6-to-3 vote (Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented). For now, the ban remains unenforceable. I am tempted to go to that Hamburger Mary’s location this weekend to celebrate.
Speaking of Florida drag: This New Queer Horror Film Is a Fun Middle Finger to Florida’s Anti-Drag Laws.
In unfortunate news in this state though: A Florida Teacher Was Fired for Using “Mx.” Instead of Gendered Honorific.
Gaza’s Queer Palestinians Fight to Be Remembered. “Through the online platform Queering the Map, stories of queer Palestinians can live on forever, asserting to the world that they do, in fact, exist.” I also wrote about Queering the Map and Palestine. The Queering the Map project is so much more than just a map.
Justin Torres Wins National Book Award for Queer Novel ‘Blackouts.’ YESSSS!!!!!!! Lfg gays! Also, I recently had the pleasure of meeting Justin, and he is a delight.
The finalists of the National Book Awards also took time during the ceremony to call for a ceasefire: Justin Torres Wins at National Book Awards as Authors Call for Cease-Fire in Gaza.
Why These Teachers Unions Are Demanding a Cease-Fire.
This is a tough but urgent long read by Saree Makdisi: Physical Destruction in Whole or in Part.
Libraries, Summer School, Police and Composting Face Cuts Amid NYC Budget Crisis. Eric Adams’ budget cuts have come for libraries. PROTECT LIBRARIES!!!!!
Congress Punished Rep. Rashida Tlaib. It Sent a Chilling Message to Palestinian Americans.
The City That Just Might Decide the 2024 Election.
feature image photo of Angelica Ross and Sarah McBride via Them.us
You are always welcome to recommend poetry in the comments sections of these 🍁
Angelica Ross and Sarah McBride on the Future of Trans Political Power. This is the first entry in Them‘s 2023 Trans Futures series, and it’s a conversation between pals Angelica Ross and Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride. The conversation happens over video, and they cover a wide range of topics pertaining to pain, power, trans identity, representation, politics, and so much more. Ross recently announced she’s leaving Hollywood, and she has suggested she’s going to move into politics, following in the footsteps of McBride, who was the first openly transgender state senator in the country (Danica Roem of Virginia became the second earlier this month). The video definitely got me hype for the next evolution of Ross’ career.
Only 1 in 10 Asexual People in the UK Are Out at Work, New Report Finds. “A number of people who participated in a focus group for the report noted that being open about their asexuality at work led to inappropriate and invasive questions about their sexuality and sex life.”
Texas School Officials Put Trans Student at Center of Real-Life Drama Over ‘Oklahoma!’ Production.
Fossil Fuel Companies Are Plowing Ahead to Profit From Israeli Gas. There really are so many individuals and institutions in this world who look at war (or, in this case, a wildly disproportionate military offensive that amounts to genocide) and think “ooo profits.”
Related: Architects Must Refuse to Profit From the Ruins of Palestine.
US Labor Has Long Been a Stalwart Backer of Israel. That’s Starting to Change.
Atlanta’s “Stop Cop City” Movement Is Youth-Led Democracy in Action.
How Abortion Bans Are Undercutting Efforts To Prevent Domestic Violence.
Sacred Space: Why Libraries Are Essential to Incarcerated Writers. Libraries forever.
I Live in Gaza. Israel’s Horrific Bombing Campaign Is Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen Before.
One of the Oldest Broken Promises to Indigenous Peoples Is for a Voice in Congress. “A treaty commitment to seat a delegate representing the Cherokee Nation in the House has gone unmet for two centuries.” TWO CENTURIES.
A Surprisingly Good Night for Democrats Was a Much Better One for Socialists.
A poem:
feature image photo by Newsday LLC / Contributor via Getty Images
I’m in Virginia all week, and as someone who lives in Florida now it is simply thrilling to see leaves changing colors!!!!
Climate Change Is Threatening Fire Island’s Beaches—and its Queer History. I know I seemingly have an obsession with depressing climate crisis news in this link roundup column, but I simply cannot stop reading depressing climate crisis news! Climate impacts EVERYTHING. Including, as this story demonstrates, queer history. Tropical storms have been devastating to the beaches on Fire Island, and erosion has become critical. I like the thorough reporting in this Vice feature on the issue, which looks at how ecology intersects with queerness but also pushes back against the narrative some have adopted about Fire Island’s erosion merely being a “rich people problem.” Here’s just a small snippet from the piece:
“On Fire Island, queer culture and ecology are inextricably linked. The island itself forms the large center of the southern barrier islands that run parallel to Long Island, and starting in the early 1900s, it was reinforced to act as a protective layer—a barrier—for the shorelines and inhabitants of Long Island. Without that protection, many fear, one of the most densely populated coastal regions would be dangerously exposed to a rapidly-warming Atlantic Ocean.”
The SAG-AFTRA Actors’ Strike Is Over. Another win for Fair Wage Fight Fall (yes I’m still trying to make this happen; stay tuned for my winter version next month). We’ll have a longer piece delving into the details of the deal tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!
Tommy Dorfman Launches New Zine to Uplift LGBTQ+ Voices. Tommy stays busy and multi-hyphenate.
But in less fun media news: Jezebel Is Shutting Down.
Hungary Fired Its National Museum Director Over Photos of Queer Filipino Elders.
The Morning Show Was Supposed to Feel Unhinged. Well, mission accomplished!
Remembering Andrea Miller, a Reproductive Justice Movement Visionary With a Plan.
And on the topic of reproductive justice: How Do You Put a Price on the Loss of Autonomy From Forced Sterilization?
Black Feminists Are Standing Up For Palestinians — No Matter The Cost.
Election Night’s Biggest Loser: Glenn Youngkin. I wrote about the wins in Virginia, too!
Rashida Tlaib: “The Cries of the Palestinian and Israeli Children Sound No Different to Me”.
I am going to see my almost-four-year-old niece play soccer today, and I just think that’s lovely. 🥰
What Virginia’s Elections Could Mean for LGBTQ+ People. Well this is a fitting story for me to lead with, as I just arrived in the state of Virginia on the morning of Election Day (after a red eye flight from Portland, where I moderated a panel and did a reading at the annual Portland Book Festival). I am very tired but not too tired to take a closer look at why Virginia is being talked about as a key state for LGBTQ+ rights this election cycle. As of now, it’s the only state in the South with more protections for LGBTQ+ people than discriminatory policies, but that could shift after the results of this election.
As of right now, Virginia bars health insurers from discriminating against trans people. Conversion therapy is also banned in the state. However, as this story warns: “If Republicans take control of the state Senate and keep control of the House of Delegates, LGBTQ+ rights advocates fear that the state’s historic — and only recently achieved — progress for LGBTQ+ people will backslide.” Virginia and South Carolina are currently two of the only refuges in the South to not have passed bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth, but all of that could be at stake. While I grew up in this state, I’m sadly no longer a Virginia voter, but I’ll be keeping an eye on results as they come in. Danica Roem’s run for state Senate is among one of the key races.
A View From the Queer Bloc to Free Palestine. “The historic November 4 march in Washington DC demonstrated how the shared struggle for queer liberation and a free Palestine are more interdependent than ever.” I also wrote about this context.
Historian Lillian Faderman Is the Bard of Sexual Outlaws and Lipstick Lesbians. Loved reading this interview! Especially for the bit of Florida history:
“Florida is fascinating to me, because in the 1950s and ’60s, there was the Johns Committee formed from the Florida legislature. They actually funded a legislative committee who hired spies to investigate teachers to find and get rid of them if they were homosexual.
But we overcame it. We were victorious against the Johns Committee ultimately. I think it’s important to identify the heroes of the past, to take them as role models, to know that people can fight against what seems to be insurmountable odds and be victorious.
If you forget that history, you do yourself a disservice.”
And here are a few lighter pieces to close out this section:
Mayan Toledano’s Vibrant Photographs of Queer Life in Mexico City. Y’all know I love a photo essay.
Issey Miyake Was Armor For My Changing Body. Trans fashion!
These Tattoos Celebrate The Sexuality of Queer North African Women.
More dispatches from the November 4 march in Washington: As We Marched on Washington, I Felt Certain That Palestine Would Be Free. “We are like the olive trees our ancestors planted, unshaken, unmoved, and forever a part of the land.”
Orcas Sank Another Yacht In Nearly Hour-Long Halloween Attack. What a way to celebrate Halloween! Good for them.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Failed at Censuring Rep. Tlaib for Her Comments On Gaza.
Disabled People Are Underrepresented in Politics. A New Organization Aims To Change That.
A poem by George Abraham:
There’s no other way to say this really: This iteration of Also.Also.Also is full of death. There are mentions of anti-trans violence, domestic violence, violence toward Black femmes and gender-nonconforming individuals, as well as global violence like the genocide in Gaza. If skipping it sounds like the best thing for you right now, I encourage you to do so.
Them recently reported on the deaths of two Black trans femmes and a Black gender-nonconforming person in different parts of the country that occurred throughout October:
Lisa Love, a Black Trans Woman “Who Was Always Smiling,” Killed in Chicago. On October 17, 35-year-old Black trans woman Lisa Love was walking home from a friend’s house in Chicago when she was shot and killed. According to the report: “Family members told the station that they believed that Love was targeted because she is trans.” Love was described by her cousin as “always smiling and laughing.” As Them reports, Love’s death came only four days after Dominic Dupree, a 25-year-old Black gender-nonconforming person also known as Dominic Palace, was shot and killed in an alley in Chicago. Thirty-year-old Black trans woman A’nee Roberson was also killed in DC this month.
London Price, a Black Trans Woman Who Would “Give You the Shirt Off Her Back,” Was Killed in Miami. This report is extremely brutal, and I won’t go into all the details of the full story here. Twenty-six-year-old Black trans woman London Price was killed by her ex-boyfriend in her own home in Miami-Dade County.
With Price’s death, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, which tracks deadly violence against trans and gender-nonconforming people in America and Puerto Rico, reports 35 trans people have been killed this year. That last link includes a list of all of their names. It’s also important to remember that 35 is only an estimate as some deaths go un-reported or otherwise obscure people’s transness.
Dispatches on the War on Gaza. This polyphonic piece includes missives from a civil rights attorney, a Jewish doctoral candidate from a family of Israeli immigrants, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, and many more. My friend Bobuq Sayed contributes, writing on the violent and racist suppression of pro-Palestinian movements and displays of solidarity in Berlin.
The World Has Never Cared About Gaza’s Suffering. Note that the death toll in Gaza is already significantly higher than this piece reflects, and it was only published six days ago.
Neo-Nazis and the Far-Right Are Trying to Hijack Pro-Palestine Protests.
A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation. “Israel and the United States erase even Palestinian ghosts from existence.”
Honestly, I’m so frustrated by and angry at most politicians right now, so it was hard to find any stories to put here that didn’t remind me of that frustration. Instead, here are some dispatches from Congresspeople who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza:
Moral Courage: Doing the right thing even when it's uncomfortable or unpopular. #CeasefireNOW
— Delia Ramirez (@DeliaRamirezIL) October 29, 2023
Make no mistake: these human rights abuses are being carried out with U.S. weapons, U.S. funding, and with “no red lines.” And now we are set to vote on an additional $14 billion with no restrictions or conditions. The United States Congress should not fund violations of U.S. and… https://t.co/fBy2NcxFvQ
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 1, 2023
A poem:
feature image photo by Steve Russell / Contributor via Getty Images
Happy Halloween from your friendly neighborhood Fright Dyke.
More Than 100,000 Trans Kids Live in States That Ban Gender-Affirming Care. According to a report by UCLA’s Williams Institute, it’s estimated that about a third of trans youth in the U.S. do not have access to gender-affirming care due to living in states where bans have gone into effect. The report looked at trans kids ages 13-17 and in addition to estimating how many have been impacted by restrictions on healthcare also estimates the number of trans teens impacted by bathroom bills, sports bans, and other anti-trans legislation that has been expanding in recent years across the country. According to the report, “over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across the country this year, with over half impacting trans youth.”
Here’s something light, and yes I’m counting this as queer history: An Oral History of Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeleton.
The Next Big Front in the Legal War Against the LGBTQ Community.
Meet the Next Generation of Queer Horror Authors. Forgive me for linking this when I am one of the featured authors, but I thought this was pretty neat.
The Queer Punks Ready to Piss in Ron DeSantis’ Backyard. Some incredible quotes in this feature about The Fest, the massive punk festival held annually in Gainesville.
Hackers Took Over Transit Ads with Messages from Queer Palestinians in Gaza.
Reports: The Maine Shooter Was Able To Buy Guns Legally.
Six Books That Will Scare You—And Make You Think. “Black writers have long used science fiction, fantasy, and horror to dramatize the terrors of racism or to tell frightening tales.” Read my favorite culture critic Hannah Giorgis.
More Black horror recommendations: The Best Black Horror Titles To Get Your Scream On.
Solidarity Between BLM and Palestine Has Deep Roots.
Fair Wage Fight Fall continues: The UAW Now Has Tentative Deals With All Three Automakers — and They Look to Be Historic.
feature image by TheLux via Getty Images
I recently read the short story collection Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, and it’s so, so good, and there are multiple queer stories in it, too. Highly recommend!
The Long History of How Halloween Became a Sacred Queer Holiday. If you, like me, are a Halloween gay, then you will love this deep-dive on the queer history of Halloween in Them, which goes all the way back to the Halloween balls thrown on Chicago’s South Side by Alfred Finnie in 1935. According to the piece:
“A lack of widespread queer press prior to the mid-20th century makes it hard to pinpoint the exact origins of queer Halloween celebrations, but as early as 1935, Alfred Finnie, a gay Black man in Chicago, was throwing glamorous Halloween balls on the city’s South Side. These events attracted hundreds of attendees, according to the late journalist Monica Roberts, whose archival research into Finnie’s Halloween drag balls uncovered extensive coverage of the events in magazines like Ebony and Jet.”
The full feature has lots of history, cultural context, and interesting connections between queer community and the upcoming holiday. It’s also a great read for LGBTQ+ History Month, which ends on Halloween.
Speaking of which: Before LGBTQ+ History Month Ends, Here’s Where You Can Learn About LA’s Queer Past and Present.
Trans People In Japan Will No Longer Have to Be Sterilized to Legally Change Gender.
Speaking of international stories, thank you to the reader who urged me to catch up on what’s happening in Saskatchewan for trans youth and their families. A bill passed that will require youth under 16 to get parental consent to change their pronouns at school. It’s a devastating blow, but here’s a story of resistance: ‘So Many People Care’: Hundreds Rally in Support of Trans Youth in Saskatoon.
Building a Queer Altar for Myself on the Day of the Dead.
Scholastic Will Not Silo “Diverse Titles” at Book Fairs After All.
A Year After the Tragic Mass Shooting, Club Q Announces Plans to Reopen. (Also, I know there’s another mass shooting in the news right now, and if you have been affected by the Maine shooting, my heart is with you.)
The Palestine Double Standard. This piece by Hala Alyan is a very powerful read.
The latest Stop Cop City developments: Will Atlanta’s “Stop Cop City” Referendum Make It Onto the Ballot?
Florida’s Proposed Six-Week Abortion Ban Could Cut Access in Half.
Court to Georgia Republicans: Try to Be a Little Less Blatantly Racist.
How “Stop the Steal” Republicans Could Take Over Virginia. As someone who grew up in Virginia, this is very concerning!
Something cute and nice: In a couple weeks, I will be returning to the arts high school I graduated from in Virginia to participate in the annual writers festival there! I used to attend this festival every year as a student. Full circle moment! Plus, my fiancee is going to be one of the featured authors as well, so even more special!
There have been a couple deaths recently of longtime lesbian activists and writers, so I wanted to share some words about both of them here for archival/queer history purposes. But I encourage you to seek out their writings, as I’m only skimming the surface here.
Former refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria Eva Kollisch has died: Eva Kollisch, Lesbian Rights Advocate and Memoirist, Dies at 98. Kollisch escaped Nazi-occupied Austria as a teenager in 1939 when her parents put her and her brothers on a train as part of an operation that got 10,000 Jewish children out of occupied Europe and was later reunited with her parents in 1940. The family relocated to Staten Island. She was a lesbian rights activist throughout her life, and she authored the memoirs The Ground Under My Feet and Girl in Movement. For 30 years, she taught at Sarah Lawrence, where she helped establish the women’s studies program. In 2009, Kollisch married her partner Naomi Replansky, a poet and activist. Naomi died earlier this year.
Amber Hollibaugh, author of My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming Her Way Home, has also died. She wrote on her experiences as a sex worker, queer feminist politics, the politics of desire, and more. She also was a filmmaker. She served as the former Executive Director of Queers for Economic Justice and fought for reproductive justice, the rights of HIV-positive folks, and so much more. It feels like a lot of lesbian and queer elders have been lost this year. May their legacies live on.
Lesbian writer, filmmaker and political activist Amber Hollibaugh died this weekend at age 77. Her memoir 'My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming Her Way Home' was a pivotal piece of literature on femme identity, growing up poor, sex work and surviving incest. RIP 🤍 pic.twitter.com/OBsKxgN6P3
— Xtra (@XtraMagazine) October 23, 2023
The Olympian Fighting for Her Right to Run. Caster Semenya’s new memoir The Race to Be Myself comes out next week.
In other lit news: In Blackouts, Justin Torres Examines How We Read Queer History, and Each Other.
City of Orlando Is Purchasing Pulse & Planning to Turn It Into a Memorial.
And speaking of the city where I live, this weekend was Pride in Orlando, and here are some shoutouts:
Read the Last Words of Writer Heba Abu Nada, Who Was Killed Last Week by an Israeli Airstrike. Palestinian author of the novel Oxygen is Not for the Dead was killed by an Israeli airstrike in her home outside Gaza City at age 32. She was a poet and novelist.
A chilling podcast listen: How Canada Became a Nazi Haven.
How Osage Nation Members Struck Back at Decades of Indigenous Misrepresentation in the Media. This is a really necessary read if you’re planning to see Killers of the Flower Moon.
After 30 Years of Silence, Althea Garrison Is Claiming Her Place in LGBTQ+ History.
feature image by The Washington Post / Contributor via Getty Images
Organ Meats by K-Ming Chang comes out next Tuesday, and get ready, because it’s so great. Preorder now and stay tuned for a review as well as an interview with K-Ming.
Protesters on Capitol Hill Call for Israel-Gaza Cease-Fire, Hundreds Arrested. CBS News reports: “Hundreds of protesters demonstrated on Capitol Hill and occupied part of a House office building on Wednesday, urging lawmakers and the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire in Gaza, which has been under Israeli airstrikes since a deadly Hamas terror attack.”
The action was organized by the Jewish anti-Zionist organization Jewish Voice for Peace. And as an accompanying piece, here is The Nation‘s interview with an activist from JVP: Jews Say “No” to War Crimes in Their Name. To learn about future actions organized by JVP, follow the org on Instagram.
Aaaaand related: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jan. 6 Apologist, Calls Peaceful Jewish Anti-War Protest an “Insurrection.” The New Republic says it best: “The Georgia congresswoman’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Hate Crimes Against Trans and Gender Nonconforming People Increased by Nearly 33% in 2022.
Book banning news continues: Scholastic Book Fairs Are Putting Some “Diverse Titles” in a Separate Category.
“Let Gaza Live”: Protestor Interrupts Biden Speech at LGBTQ+ Rights Gala. During Biden’s speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner over the weekend, an activist shouted: “Let Gaza live! Ceasefire now!” Biden claimed not to hear.
Trans North Carolinians and Montanans Are Suing Their States Over Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws.
A Federal Judge in Montana Has Blocked Montana’s Drag Ban (Again).
Anti-LGBTQ+ efforts are not limited to the South and red states. I’ll keep saying this over and over again. How Conservatives Are Waging a Coordinated, Anti-LGBTQ+ Culture War in California Schools.
Some LGBTQ+ news from around the world:
Ron DeSantis Reminds America That Harvard and Yale Graduated an Ignorant Bigot.
These Ilya Kaminsky lines have been all over my feeds, and they keep echoing in my head:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CyhRPnUv7U9/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
feature image photo by Bennett Raglin / Stringer via Getty Images
Tomorrow is Friday the 13th, and in the month of October no less! I’m planning a viewing of the original movie with pals, complete with themed snacks and bevs.
What Water Taught Jamila Woods About Letting Go. For Them, my pal Mary Retta wrote this hybrid review of Jamila Woods’ new album Water Made Us and interview with Woods! The lede is so lovely:
“The cover of Jamila Woods’ latest album shows her floating ethereally underwater, arms outstretched to touch her reflection hovering above the surface. Though it appears effortless, capturing the picture was an arduous process because the Chicago-based artist was not a confident swimmer. As a child, she developed a fear of the water, in part from the embarrassment of being the only one in a group who couldn’t swim. Once, a life guard had to rescue her at a pool party. But a week’s worth of swimming lessons as an adult helped Woods feel comfortable enough to pose for the cover, and taught her a deeper lesson about releasing her fear. The more she tried to fight the water, she found, the harder it was to stay afloat; they were only able to capture the picture once she trusted herself enough to relax. The same principle applied to the record, her most intimate to date.”
Read the piece to hear some of Woods own words about the album, which officially releases tomorrow. Reading this, I was also reminded of the excellent 2020 interview between Fatimah Asghar and Woods in Interview. It’s worth going back and revisiting!
Book Bans Are a Conservative Plot to Destroy Public Schools, Says Randi Weingarten.
Speaking of books, I’m so excited to read the new Justin Torres novel. Justin Torres Explores the Queer History We’re Not Talking About in Novel ‘Blackouts.’
Zadie Smith and Dev Hynes Grapple With the Eternal “Why.” What an interview!!!!
How Latinas in Film Have Fought To Tell Coming-of-Age Stories.
And now, a string of 19th News pieces on abortion and reproductive justice that together paint a pretty expansive picture of where the U.S. currently stands in terms of abortion access in our post-Roe world. Be warned! A lot of these are depressing as fuck! Hell, I get depressed every time I have to say or type “post-Roe.”
Some voters rights fuckery went down in my home state: Virginia Democrats Push for DOJ Investigation After Voters Were Wrongfully Removed.
This Ada Limón poem is an all-time favorite:
https://twitter.com/nktgill/status/1710331647936118861?s=12&t=fBUJwd0mOZx5llOPDoTqfQ
This is a heavy one today, so take care of yourself as needed.
Police Who Fatally Shot “Stop Cop City” Activist Tortuguita Will Not Face Criminal Charges. The Indigenous queer and nonbinary activist Tortuguita was shot and killed by police on January 18 was shot and killed following a raid on a tent in the Atlanta Forest where activists have been fighting against “Cop City,” the truly vile proposed police training facility. The police claim Tortuguita shot at them, but an independent autopsy released this spring discovered Tortuguita was sitting with their hands up when they were shot 57 times. Now, according to Them.us: “The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it will not pursue criminal charges against the state troopers who shot and killed a nonbinary activist in January during a protest against Atlanta’s infamous ‘Cop City’ development project.”
I urge you to read more about Stop Cop City, its contexts, and what you can do to help even from afar.
We closed out Banned Books Week over the weekend, and here’s a relevant report from The 19th: Book Bans in Schools Jumped 33 Percent Last Year.
Nowhere To Party: The Decimation of Queer Spaces for Black Lesbians.
100 Easy Ways to Make the World Better for Trans People.
Elizabeth Warren Just Backed an ‘Online Safety’ Bill That Will Harm LGBTQ Youth.
Gaza Is a Nightmare Today, but We Will Not Stop Dreaming of Freedom.
The Violence in Palestine and Israel Is the Tragic Fruit of Brutal Oppression.
The Fight Against Apartheid Was an International Struggle.
California Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Caste Discrimination.
Decriminalizing Drugs Doesn’t Increase Fatal Overdoses: Study.
Death Threats, Closed Playgrounds: QAnon Queen Wreaks Havoc in Small Town Canada.
Biden Promised Not “Another Foot of Wall.” Now, He’s Restarting Construction.
Instead of the usual embedded Instagram post containing a poem, I search around to see if I could find a person June Jordan favorite online: “Moving towards Home” by June Jordan.
It has been raining quite literally all day — FLORIDA. I hope you’re having a good Thursday! The weekend is almost here!
LGBTQ+ Students on What They’ve Learned — and What They Can Teach Schools — About Supporting Queer Kids. Yes, more features like this! Reporting on the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that directly impacts queer and trans youth should include actually hearing from the folks affected. I love to read these interview features that center queer youth and what they have to say about solutions and resistance to what’s happening around the country. This one features students from a range of regions: Texas, California, Michigan, and Alabama. One of the students from Texas who is still in high school spoke toward some of the nuances of living in a place where your rights are under attack:
“Texas is where I’ve grown up. I was born here,” they said. “There are really good parts of it, and it’s my home. I want to fight to be able to stay here, but at the same time, given [Gov.] Greg Abbott, the political climate, the bad bills, just everything, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go somewhere else.”
The Brian Jordan Alvarez Extended Universe. As a long-time fan of his brilliant and underrated webseries The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, I love to see Brian Jordan Alvarez winning in the wake of “Sitting.”
How Queer Is “Frankenstein”? Between this and the Alexander Chee Dracula piece I linked in the last Also.Also.Also, horror lit gays, we’re eating.
Inside the Queer Punk Revolution. “A massive post-pandemic wave of queer bands is making New York the underground scene to watch again” writes Gabe Friedman for Brooklyn Magazine.
Images Exploring the Ideal of Queer Domesticity.
Lesbian Bar Watch 2k23: Nobody’s Darling Expands, Proves That Lesbian Bars Have Staying Power. (Nobody’s Darling is always a MUST stop on my Chicago trips.)
The Unstoppable Lesbian Lawyer Who Crushed the Status Quo & Was a “Guardian Angel” for Queer Rights.
Displaced and Queer: These Venezuelans Find Community Despite the Obstacles.
The Crisis of Shelter in the United States.
Upsetting: Despite Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills, Queer Republicans Are Standing by Their Party.
How DeSantis Is Using Sports to Hijack a Florida College.
A poem!
feature image photo by Su Arslanoglu via Getty Images
I started October strong with a Stephen King film adaptation day on October 1. I watched The Shining, Doctor Sleep, A Good Marriage, and Gerald’s Game. Have you been watching any horror stuff the past few days? Tell me about it!
Inside the Snack Closets Providing a Haven for Queer and Trans Youth. This Eater feature on the rise in “snack closets” — spaces where teens can drop in and snack, spend time alone, and explore their identities — is really lovely and opens with some personal narrative by the writer. “As laws sweep across the country targeting queer and trans youth, spaces in which young people can eat and explore the map of their identities are essential,” Colleen Hamilton writes, continuing:
Snack closets have emerged across the country to support LGBTQ youth by operating as sites where young people can grab their favorite foods, free of charge or judgment. They are often tied to free “drop-in spaces,” where teens can nap or wash their clothes. From the Harlem neighborhood in New York to Spartanburg, South Carolina, snack closets provide a longed-for moment of safety, exploration, and rest. This is particularly important for unhoused queer and trans youth, who experience food insecurity at almost three times the rate of their housed LGBTQ peers.
There is indeed something quietly radical about not just providing space for queer and trans teens but actual sustenance in the form of snacks. A lot of these spaces have learned that LGBTQ youth are able to open up more and feel more comfortable and safe when snacks are provided. Snacks save lives!
Alexander Chee! On! Dracula! I repeat: ALEXANDER CHEE ON DRACULA!!!!!! When Horror Is the Truth-teller.
Florida and Kentucky Are Losing Educators to Extreme Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws.
What Beyoncé Gave Us. Bryan Washington, whose fantastic new novel Family Meal comes out this month, wrote theeeeee definitive Renaissance tour essay.
Two Days After Outfest Staffers Announced Union Efforts, Four Organizers Were Laid Off. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Hot Strike Summer has become Fair Wage Fight Fall.
Montana’s Ban on Gender-Affirming Care For Youth Has Been Temporarily Blocked.
Amy Schneider Is More Than “That Nice Lady on TV.” Amy Schneider’s new memoir is out now!
The Amazon Is Getting So Hot That Dolphins Are Dying En Masse. Sorry for always putting climate horror stories in this section!
Sterlin Harjo Lays Reservation Dogs to Rest. Best show!!!!!
Dianne Feinstein Leaves Behind a Long and Complicated LGBTQ+ Legacy.
VP Kamala Harris swears in Laphonza Butler (D) as California’s new senator. The seat became open after the death of Dianne Feinstein last week.
Butler’s seating makes her the only Black woman in the Senate and brings the number of Black senators to four, an all-time high. pic.twitter.com/ktlPeEnbXi
— The Recount (@therecount) October 3, 2023
An October poem for October!
feature image photo by Daniel Boczarski / Stringer via Getty Images
This is a books-heavy iteration of this column, so I wanted to share I just started reading Family Meal by Bryan Washington and quite literally cannot put it down!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Comes out October 10, and you can preorder it now 📣
Banned Books Week starts in a few days, so let’s look at some recent news stories and features about LGBTQ book bans, censorship, etc. from the past week.
Here are news stories about the people and movements leading the nation’s increasing book bans:
And here are the news stories and features about resistance and who’s fighting the bans:
Unrelated to books, but here’s a small yet cool thing happening in Florida: Gainesville, Florida Is Giving Trans Punk Legend Laura Jane Grace a Key to the City.
And let’s delve into some queer history as well: One Magazine Secretly Built Community in the ’50s. Now It’s Celebrated in L.A.’s Queer History Festival.
Hot Strike Summer is now officially Fair Wage Fight Fall: What’s at Stake in the UAW Strike.
The GOP Debate Was a Sorry Spectacle.
It’s soup season.
feature image by Mario Tama / Staff via Getty Images
Happy Timmy Tomato Tuesday. Timmy Tomato is the name of my new kitten, and Timmy Tomato Tuesday is a new tradition I have invented where I cook something with tomatoes for dinner (tonight, it’s chicken parm with a homemade red sauce) and Timmy gets to “choose” what movie my fiancee and I watch. WHAT WILL HE CHOOSE. 🍅
Lit Hub published an excerpt from the new book NO CRYING IN BASEBALL: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood by Erin Carlson. The excerpt provides a deep dive on the casting of the original A League of Their Own movie! When A League of Their Own Started Casting, Actresses Took Over LA’s Batting Cages. Turns out every white actress in Hollywood wanted a shot to be in A League of Their Own, as the movie promised placing women at the center of narrative instead of boxing them into supporting roles or cliche stocktypes. And they all had to prove they could play or at least learn to play baseball, so they took to LA’s batting cages to train. Among those who auditioned: Courteney Cox, Cindy Crawford, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tatum O’Neal, Kelly Preston, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Perkins, Demi Moore, Daryl Hannah, Mariel Hemingway, Laura Dern, and Jennifer Grey. The 90s excellence!!!!!!! And according to the piece, iconic lesbian Rosie O’Donnell thought the following when she flew in for the audition: If I don’t get this part, I’ll quit show business. If there’s one thing I can do better than Meryl Streep, it’s play baseball.
The Writers Strike Is Nearly Over—So What Does That Mean For the Actors Strike?
United States Scores a C on Global LGBTQ+ Human Rights Scorecard.
Two pieces of news from my home state of Virginia:
Lesbian Bar Watch! Lesbian Bars Are Disappearing Nationwide, But There Are Signs of Life in Mass.
How Anti–Sex Work Legislation Is About to Get Worse.
imo, Hannah Giorgis is one of the best culture writers in the game. Read her latest: The Horror Stories of Black Hair.
HANDS DOWN THE WILDEST THING I’VE READ ALL WEEK: What I Found in a Database Meta Uses to Train Generative AI.
Let’s dive into some literature!
The Supreme Court Just Rejected Alabama’s Attempt to Deny Representation to Black Voters. Again.
America’s New Climate Corps Will Need to be a Lot Bigger.
God, this poem got me good:
feature image photo by Christian Petersen / Staff via Getty Images
A very important life update is that I now have a new baby kitten, and his name is Timmy Tomato. 🍅
Sha’Carri Richardson keeps outrunning her haters. In The Fastest Woman in the World Is Leaving Her Haters Behind, the 19th News looks at the long history of racism directed at Black woman in sports — especially queer Black women like Sha’Carri Richardson and Brittney Griner. Richardson is the central focus of the piece, though it touches on other sports and athletes as well as it unravels the respectability politics disproportionately leveraged against Black women who excel in sports. From the feature:
Despite the trauma she’s endured, it took her becoming the fastest woman in the world after winning the women’s 100 meter at the track and field world championships in Budapest in August to renew a skeptical public’s faith in her. And, after that feat, there’s no guarantee that she won’t continue to be subjected to the respectability politics that have long targeted Black women athletes, a pattern scholars say needs to change.
The Most Pressing Legal Questions Facing LGBTQ+ Students, Answered by an ACLU Attorney.
Queer dispatches from NYFW: Gypsy Sport Celebrates 10 Years of Queering Streetwear.
A Gay Couple Was Just Awarded $100,000 After Being Denied a Marriage License.
Trans Teens Challenging Utah’s Sports Ban Ordered to Share Their Medical Records.
Millions of LGBTQ+ Americans Overlooked in Census Data May Soon Be Able To Share Their Experiences.
This clip below of G Flip discussing the transphobia they experienced when the news of them dating Chrishell Stause broke is from an older episode of the SHE/HER/THEY podcast with the queer DJ KITTENS, but it hooked me enough to back-listen to some of the podcast, and it’s worth checking out! E.R. Fightmaster was a recent guest.
The 19th News‘s survey results I shouted out in the last AAA continue: Nearly Half of Women With Disabilities Report Experiencing Sexual Harassment or Assault At Work, Poll Finds.
Appointments Fill Up As Abortion Returns to Wisconsin.
Democrats Can Stand Up for Trans Kids—and Win. People should stand up for trans kids because it’s the right thing to do, but I understand why The Nation is taking the electoral politics angle here.
A poem for you!