Lesbian Prom Gallery: Heartwarming Photos Of Girls Taking Girls To Prom, 1985-2015

In 2010, Constance McMillan’s battle to attend her school prom with a female date became a huge national news story and, in addition to covering the actual story obsessively, we also created a “Lesbian Prom Gallery.” (Not everybody in the gallery was a lesbian, obviously, many are bisexual, queer, or otherwise-identified, but using “lesbian” in headlines helps girls-who-like-girls find our content on search engines.) We wanted to show the world how ridiculously cute we’d look if they just let us take our girlfriends to prom. The post was a hit and we still get submissions to it, five years later!

Now that it’s that time of year again, and finally we can realize our dreams of resurrecting and bringing this gallery back into the light — with some new photos added (if you have a photo to submit, directions for doing so are at the end of this post! We’re especially looking for photos from women of color and trans women!) All of these photos were submitted to us directly. (If your photo is on this list and you no longer want it included, just email bren [at] autostraddle [dot] com and she’ll take it down, no problem!)

So, without any further ado…

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110 Same-Sex Female & Otherwise-Identified Queer Couples Going To Prom Together Like Champs

1985, Kansas City, MO

These girlfriends are posing with a gay male friend who went stag to prom. The submitter told me: “My inspiration for going to the prom with my girlfriend in tow in tuxes was my sister who is gay as well and had to go thru all of the bullshit of wearing a dress that she hated and looked like a freaking dork in the year before I was to go… My girlfriend and I were the only gay couple to attend but we had absolutely no issues, no wisecracks, no nothing from anyone at prom. They all either supported us, tolerated us or knew better than to say a word to me. Like I said, I got big shoulders.”

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1993, Pennsylvania: Gwyn & Michele

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1994, Bakersfield, CA

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1994, Milton, MA

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1995, Maui, HI: Noël & Sierra

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1997, Berkeley, CA: Ariel Schrag & Date

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1997, Guilderland, NY: Kristin Russo & Date

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2000, Ephrata, PA

“I grew up in Ephrata and it was a very conservative, small, Amish town. We got plenty of glares and several snide comments, but the people in charge let us in and we weren’t hassled by staff.”

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2000, Newtown, PA: Johanna & Marion

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2001, Asheville, NC

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2002, The Bronx, NY: Jenn (tux) & Frances

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2002, Edmonds, WA: Rochelle & Morgan

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2003, New Hampshire

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2003, Long Island, NY: Design Director Alex Vega & Date

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2004, Raleigh, NC

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2004, San Francisco, CA

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2005, Florida

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2006, Seattle, WA

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2006, Plainsville, OH

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2006, Connecticut

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2006, Palm Desert, CA

“The girl on the left (Katie) is the principal of the high schools daughter. The girl on the right (Haylee) was the president of the gay-straight alliance :)”

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2006, Topsfield, MA: Managing Editor Rachel & Date

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2006, Rochester, MI

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2006, Colorado

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2006, Chicago, IL

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2006, Terre Haute, IN: Brittany & Britni

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2006, Maryville, MO: Ashley & Trisha

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2007, Corinth, NY: Kate & Barb

“We got in trouble for kissing so we went overboard.”

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2007, Jacksonville, FL: Emily & Taylor

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2007, Murray County, GA

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2007, Orlando, FL: Editorial Assistant Chelsey & Date

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2007, Springfield, MO

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2007, Idaho

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2007, Birmingham, AL

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2007, St.Louis, MO

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2007, Kansas: Kylenn & Debbie

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2007, Ridgefield, CT: Sara & Caroline

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2008, Maryland

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2008, Yonkers, NY

“The picture was taken on the party bus on our way to prom.”

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2008, South Carolina

“The girl on the left was my date and neither of our schools had a problem with us coming together. We went to two proms in two consecutive nights!”

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2008, Little Rock, AR

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2008, Herndon, VA: Margaret & Hope

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2008, Woodbridge, VA

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2008, Victoria, BC, CANADA: Julia & Maddie

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2008, Portland, OR: Grace & K.

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2008, Houston, TX

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2008, Hampton Bay, NY: Brie & Megan

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2009 & 2008, Belleville, NJ: Alex & Gabbi

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2009, South Carolina

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2009, Florida

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2009, Chicago, IL

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2009: New York, NY

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2009, Reno, NV: Charlene & Gina

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2009, New Jersey

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2009, Pennsylvania

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2009, Muncie, IN: Chrissy & Kara

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2009, San Antonio, TX

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2009, Eugene, OR: Martha & Ashley

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2009, Shawnee, KS

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2009, Columbia, MO: Ally & Sarina

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2009, San Francisco, CA

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2009, Missouri: Tracy & Cat

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2009, Largo, FL: Kimberly & Brittany

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2010, Natchitoches, LA: Baylea & Britney

“I was Prom KING!!!” – Bayela (she’s in the tux)”

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2010, Santa Cruz, CA: Rebecca & Joya

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2010, New York: Erica & Juliana

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2010, Oregon: Taylor & Katie

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2010, Rhode Island

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2010, Eure, NC: Caitlin & Katie

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2010, Ohio: Sam & Kate

“Waiting for marriage legalization in Ohio. Still in love.”

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2010, Baton Rouge, LA: Chloe & Tabby

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2011, Idyllwild, CA

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2011, Atlanta, GA: Aja & Darya

“We’re still together to this day.” 

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2011, Frankfort, KY: Taylor & Keele

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2011, South Bend, IN: Katie & Tiffany

“We’re the first couple – Katie’s in the vest and I’m in the black dress. Our school didn’t allow gay couples to go together.. So we each “took” one of our gay guy friends (the couple standing next to us). Once we walked through the door it no longer mattered, though. We danced the night away together and even got voted to prom court!”

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2011, Arlington, TX: Mal & Ambra

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2011, Chicago, IL

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2012, Riverside, IL.

“I’m the redhead in the photos but we’re both genderqueer straddlers.”

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2012, Worcester, MA: Emma & Catie

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2012, Azusa, CA: Briana & Charli

 “I fancy you, it’s our favorite saying.”

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2012, Andover, MA: Kate & Ciearra

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2013, Dahlonega, GA: Lauren & Emily

“[We live in a] tiny little southern conservative town in northern Georgia. We went proudly to prom together and danced our little gay asses off.”

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2013, London, England

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2013, Vancouver, BC: Ashley & Clea

“She went to an all girl’s private Catholic school and decided to take me, the most outwardly, proud, flamboyant, dapper lesbian in the city, to her prom. We received nothing but love and acceptance from her friends and teachers and it was a beautiful night.”

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2013, Escanaba, MI

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2013, Southlake, TX: Jordan & Betsy

“This was actually our second prom together. We went together the year before “as friends”. But then we started dating and Betsy came back from Bryn Mawr to take me to my senior prom. It was a magical night. We’re still together today, and no one makes me happier.”

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2013, St. Paul, MN: Melissa & Nikki

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2014, Chicago, IL: Laura & Lindsey

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2014, Toronto, ON: Elizabeth & Ashley

“We’re two lifelong best friends who both ended up being queer, so of course we were each other’s prom dates. Love this girl and I couldn’t ask for a better date.”

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2014, Charleston, SC: Jenna & Bianca

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2014, Bloomington, MN: Kate & Alexa

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2014 Michigan

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2014, Decorah, IA: MaKenzie & Kamryn

“I’m Bisexual, she’s a lesbian, and boy did we have an awesome night!”

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2014, Minneapolis, MN

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2014, Cincinnati, OH

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2014, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY: Lyle & Natalie

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2014, Reston, VA: Stephanie & Antonia

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2014, Atlanta, GA

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2015, Phoenix, AZ

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2015, Ann Arbor, MI: Jaz & Sam

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2015, Savannah, MO: Brooke & Tayler

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2015, Clio, MI: Jennifer & Syd

“Not exactly prom but High School Snowcoming. Syd on the right (genderqueer; they/them pronouns) Jennifer on the left.”

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2015, Michigan: Katie & Becky

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2015, Eagle, CO: Dalia & Jojo

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2015, Croton, NY: Maggie & Yas

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2015, Jackson, MI: Madi & Savannah

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2015, Clearwater, FL

“We are fortunate enough to live in a modern society where we are more accepted. I’m a lesbian and she’s bisexual, we’ve been best friends for years and I couldn’t be more blessed to love someone so dearly. We always stand proud together , no matter what looks or judgment we might get.” 

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2015, Yvonne & Amy: Riverside, CA

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2015, Lakeland, FL

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2015, Marietta, GA

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2015, Jackson, MI: Haley & Hayli

“We’ve been together for a year and five months so far.”

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2015, Newton, MS: Melisa & Chelsea

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2015, Ambler, PA: Rebekah & Nicole

“Our favorite part of the night was when the dj played Get Low by Lil Jon and didn’t even bother to censor it because everyone sang along anyways.”

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2015, Dover, DE: Brittney & Destinee

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2015, London, England: Yash and Charliy

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2015: Vienna, Austria

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2015, Canada: Kelsey and Friend

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Do you have a cute picture from your prom you wanna share with the internet? Send it to riese [at] autostraddle [dot] com. Say PROM PHOTO in the subject line and also the year and location, e.g., PROM PHOTO: Denver, CO, 1996. The photo has to be good quality, at least 600 pixels wide or tall. If you want your names included, tell them to me and let me know! Please only submit photos of high school proms and be sure your date is okay with her photo being on Autostraddle forever!

If your photo is included here ’cause you submitted it a long time ago and you don’t want it up anymore,  just e-mail bren [at] autostraddle [dot] com and she’ll take it down.

NSFW Lesbosexy Sunday Is At Camp, Needs A Bath

Hello, and welcome to NSFW Sunday! I’m at A Camp right now and in grave need of a bath, so in honor of that, here are 30 photos of pretty/handsome/badass girls getting clean.

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Feature image of Cinnamon Maxxine via Courtney Trouble.

All of the photographs on NSFW Sundays are taken from various tumblrs and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the tumblrs and photographers who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the model’s gender identity or sexual orientation. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email bren [at] autostraddle dot com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.

It’s Bra Week On Autostraddle!

Once upon a time, a glorious thing happened on Autostraddle called Underwear Week. We spent basically a month discussing our favorite underthings — Underwear For Your Masculine Center, Boyshorts & Girltrunks 102, Plus-Size Underwear For All Gender Presentations, Femme-ish Underwear Realness, Thongs 101 and so much more. We sewed and ate and drank our underpants to our heart’s content. We had such a good time without our pants off that many of you suggested we considered taking our shirts off, too, and give some attention to the other half of your bra-and-panties set. Although we did a fairly epic Bra Issue back in 2011, so many things have changed since then!

So: WELCOME TO BRA WEEK. This week and next, the Autostraddle writers and some special guests will be giving you the scoop on over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders and otherwise-inclined chest-covering situations — fashion, history, feelings and so much more.

Let’s kick off with a gallery, eh?

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Header by Rory Midhani

Community Scrapbook: Our Second Annual International Autostraddle Meetup Week

It’s that time again, kittens. Time to make yourself a cup of tea, snuggle up with your laptop, and prepare to witness the beauty that is our Autostraddle community existing out in the wild. This year we celebrated our Second Annual International Autostraddle Meet-Up Week from October 25 – November 3 and I’m pleased to report that just like last year it was a rousing success.

Last year we hosted Meet-Up Week as a way to say thank you for helping us reach our IndieGoGo fundraising goal (and then some!) but we got so many emails requesting a repeat performance this year that we decided to make it an annual thing. Like so many cool things we are able to do offline and in person, we relied almost entirely on readers to host events in their locations, and you all came through so impressively! Allow me to take this moment to say thank you, thank you, thank you. We do these things because we love you, but also because you make it so easy. You all are the reason we keep striving to create tangible communities worldwide, and you are the reason we continue to grow and flourish both online and in the real world. When I say I love you, I mean it. When I say thank you, I mean that, too.

This year you guys hosted meet-ups in SO MANY PLACES: Beijing, New York, Amsterdam, Idaho, Australia, France, Alaska, Cambodia, California, Singapore, Vancouver, Toronto, Phoenix, Albany, and Florida, just to name a few. (And yes, I realize some of those are countries and some are states and some are cities but I am just trying to emphasize how many different places we exist in, and also I’m not that great with geography so please cut me some slack.) Some of you had so much fun you forgot to take pictures, which is totally okay, but some of you took really cute pictures and that’s what we’re gonna look at now!

Let’s pretend that we’re all sitting by a warm fire paging through a giant queer family scrapbook, because that’s what this feels like to me. Cheers, queers. Y’all are so damn beautiful.

Note: We did not include individual photo credits on images unless the photographer specifically requested it. If your photos are up here and you would like credit, please send an email to vanessa [at] autostraddle [dot] com and we’ll make it happen. Thanks!

NSFW Sunday Likes Girls Outside

Hello, and welcome to NSFW Sunday! In honor of A-Camp and getting back to nature, here are 50 pictures of girls outside.

Gallery: 50 (More) Adorable Lesbian Couples Having Adorable Lesbian Weddings

There are just a lot of photos of lesbian and queer weddings and commitment ceremonies on the Internet, OK? They are really adorable.

This Is A Bubbline Appreciation Post and Gallery

Welcome to the forty-second installment of  Queer Your Tech with Fun, Autostraddle’s nerdy new tech column. Not everything we cover will be queer per se, but it will be about customizing this awesome technology you’ve got. Having it our way, expressing our appy selves just like we do with our identities. Here we can talk about anything from app recommendations to choosing a wireless printer to web sites you have to favorite to any other fun shit we can do with technology.

Header by Rory Midhani

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feature image by There Be More Foolery | Tumblr

As we’re eagerly awaiting the last episode of season five, it might be a good time to pause and reflect on our favorite budding relationship in Adventure Time. And you know I/we do a lot of pausing and reflecting on Adventure Time. We’ve even got the Fiona and Cake comics in our Fall 2013 Book Preview post.

Anyways. I’m speaking, of course, on the apparent relationship between Marceline the Vampire Queen and Princess Bubblegum.

I had to think long and hard about whether or not to write about this at all, because it could just be an example of queerbaiting, and I would rather slowly pull out all my teeth and drop them into a deep, snake-infested well than write about unconfirmed lesbian subtext in any teevee show ever. But I actually think we’re moving from the realm of wishful thinking into the realm of actual plot/canon. Here’s why.

Adventure Time‘s characters are not in a state of perpetual youth. Take the show’s main character, Finn the Human. Finn started out as a 12-year-old boy, quite possibly the last human on the planet. It was made clear in the episode “Mystery Train” that he was turning 13 – that whole episode is about a birthday surprise that his dog, Jake, planned for him. He is currently 14, meaning he’s entering his awkward teenage years with a vengeance –  if you listen to his voice in the first season versus the fifth, his voice is much different. And the show’s content reflects that change in age. He’s making a lot of the same mistakes in interpersonal relationships that teenage humans make in real life – taking women on dates they’re not into, falling for two girls at once when a relationship with both of them is clearly not on the table, crushing on people outside his age bracket when they are clearly not into it. The show even dealt with the concept of fantasies about women in its classically kid friendly approach (it is a kid’s TV show after all, even though we love it). Finn dreams about Flame Princess being an adventurer and beating up his nemesis (and setting him on fire… in his pants), the Ice King, and then spends the rest of the episode “Frost and Fire” trying to surreptitiously get Flame Princess to reenact the dream without telling her what’s going on for him. This doesn’t get him what he wants.

Or take the show’s other main character, Jake the Dog. Jake becomes a father in season 5 (episode: “Jake the Dad“), having a litter of rainicorn-puppy children. Adventure Time then deals with a parenting plot, with Jake being over protective of his new brood and moving away from his and Finn’s tree house.

The show’s main characters aren’t the only ones whose age and plot lines are doing a little growing up. Ice King’s backstory has been deepening since season 3 (episode: “Holly Jolly Secrets“) where his video diary reveals that about 1000 years prior he was Simon Petrikov, and the crown corrupted his personality and memory while giving him magic and immortality. We get to see his history more in depth in season 4 (episode: “I Remember You“) when we discover that he rescued Marceline after the “mushroom war” (nuclear holocaust?) before she’d become a vampire. She was seven. We delve even further into this story in season 5 (episode: “Simon and Marcy“) where we see him battle with the crown’s effects, and we see first hand the relationship he had with Marceline back when he was Simon. Marceline’s coping mechanisms and emotions reflect many aging/sick parent story lines and tropes, suggesting that we are dealing with the VERY mature plot line of age and death, or at the very least mental illness. Ice King also goes from being an un-nuanced villain to a tragic hero, giving his own life and sanity to save Marceline. Those are very complex feelings indeed, demonstrating a willingness among the show’s writers and creators to explore whole characters and grey areas, even though the show is made for children.

They are also extremely apparently willing to explore grey areas in gender and sexuality as well – one of the more major supporting characters, BMO, is gender neutral. They go by he or she, depending on the situation.

(Yeah, we’ve played that before).

In the episode “All the Little People,” Finn wonders if BMO and Ice King would make a good couple – a gender neutral video game system and a thousand year old King. And Jake says in that very same episode, if you feel something, you feel something. You can’t stop what you feel. Couple that with Princess Cookie and we’ve got some very well explored gender and sexuality in-betweens.

All in all, the show deals with and jokes about kink (Ice King in “I Remember You“), erections (Finn and Jake in “All The Little People“), intercourse (Prince Bubblegum in “Adventure Time with Fiona and Cake“). The references and plot lines are growing up a bit with the characters, and Marceline and Bubblegum seem to be no exception.

Which brings me to their specific plot line. Marceline is the only character that calls Princess Bubblegum by her first name. They appear to have a history together:

Marceline: “Looks like you aren’t as perfect as you thought! Guess you can’t judge me anymore.”

Bubblegum: “I never said you had to be perfect!”

–Season 3, “What Was Missing“

And in that very same episode, a thief comes around and steals everyone’s most prized possessions. He takes Finn’s wad of Bubblegum’s hair, Jake’s baby blanket, BMO’s controller and… something from Bubblegum and Marceline. The only way to get through the door to the thief is to play music as a band. Marceline sings to Bubblegum that she’s going to “drink the red from your pretty pink face,” which Bubblegum thinks is “too distasteful.”

That’s when Marceline gets real, singing that she’s just Bubblegum’s problem, that she shouldn’t have to be the one to make up with Bubblegum even though she wants to. But Bubblegum staring at Marceline throws her off, and we don’t get to hear much more, at least not in song. By the end of the episode, we find out that Bubblegum’s most prized possession is one of Marceline’s old tee-shirts, something that she gave Bubblegum, which the Princess now uses as pajamas. Marceline, by contrast, had no prized possessions stolen, she just wanted to hang out with everyone.

Fast forward to “Sky Witch“, the third to last episode of the current season (season 5). This episode is entirely about Marceline and Bubblegum, where they venture off to retrieve Marceline’s childhood teddybear, Hambo, from the Sky Witch. It opens with Bubblegum legit smelling the shirt that Marceline gave her, and opening her closet door to reveal a photo of the two of them together.

At the end of the episode, while Marceline is fighting the witch’s familiar, Bubblegum finds the witch and the receipt from Marceline’s awful ex-boyfriend selling Hambo away. What results is perhaps my favorite line in all of Adventure Time history:

“By the laws of my kingdom, I must honor the exchange of goods for legal tender. But guess what? I’m not leavin’ without Hambo.”

The witch requires something rife with sentimental value as she’s been using all the sentimental value in Hambo for her spells. So Bubblegum trades the prized shirt that Marceline gave her. Marceline, as of yet, doesn’t know.

So have we seen confirmation of everyone’s hopes and dreams for the Marceline/Bubblegum ship? Actually…probably. This ship is probably evolving into canon, given the tone of the show, the maturation of story lines, the comfort with gender and sexuality in-betweens, and Marceline’s undercut in season 3. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. And and! Those involved in the illustration and creation of Adventure Time are not discouraging our suspicions – quite the opposite. It may be queerbaiting or not, but Jesse Moynihan (co-writer for Adventure Time) posted a photo from Skywitch as a preview, with the caption “SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP.” Natasha Allegri, illustrator on the show and mastermind behind the gender-swapping characters in Fiona and Cake, has even posted a few Marceline/Bubblegum drawings on her tumblr (one of which is included down below!).  But I may go one step further and argue that we’re not seeing the beginning of something, but rather the middle. Or the rekindling of something past. I’m basing that speculation on everything we’ve been given about their history. Considering the hell Marceline has put her dad through w/r/t the fries, I imagine the breakup looked something like this.

But I could just be speculating, because perhaps they were besties. Childhood friends?. As an assurance that I haven’t done a whole article on lesbian subtext, I will also give you a gallery of Bubbline fan art that explores all facets/possibilities of Bubbline. That way if it turns out I’m totally full of shit, this has still been a productive Saturday morning. You’re welcome, nerds.

50 Beautiful Fan Art Pieces Featuring Marceline and Princess Bubblegum

And may I point out that many of these artists are available for commission and/or freelance. Just sayin’.

Artists: as always, if you’d like to be removed from the gallery or if you’d like your credit changed/updated, email me: ali [at] autostraddle.com and I’ll do it soonest!

54 Pictures of Miley Cyrus Looking Really Gay

It’s official, Miley Cyrus has been named number one on this year’s Maxim Hot 100. Normally I wouldn’t care, but is it just me or has Miley Cyrus been looking gayer than ever these days? I suppose we should have all seen this coming when she got a gay marriage tattoo. Or last August when she got a sweet alternative lifestyle haircut. Or, I don’t know, when she began making vague references to girl-on-girl sexual fantasies in January.  It doesn’t really matter how gay she looks or acts, because Miley Cyrus is pretty much definitely definitely straight. But hey, here’s a gallery!

NSFW Lesbosexy Sunday Is Going Commando

Welcome to Underwear Week, a whole week dedicated to your favorite bum-hugging clothesthings. As we said many moons ago, we feel a lady is at her best when she’s not wearing pants. And while our last adventure around this neck of the woods took us only as far as boyshorts, this time around we’re exploring the vast and many-flavored land of underwear. From edible panties to hoopskirts and history, we’ve got you covered. Just like your underwear.

Sometimes you want to look at people in underpants and sometimes you want to look at people going commando. Sometimes the best type of underwear is no underwear at all.

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+ The sex toy industry is booming! Alternet on What the $15 Billion Sex Toy Industry Tells Us About Sexuality Today:

People no longer have to drive to the porn store and make a face-to-face purchase,” Dallakian said. “Online ordering with discreet shipping saves you the embarrassment of exposing your kinks to strangers, and there’s absolutely zero risk of running into somebody you know while shopping.”

+ What can we learn from sex by studying our ancient ancestors, apes:

Ryan also hopes his theories will help us fight the war on women: “And that we’ll finally put to rest the idea that men have some innate and instinctive right to monitor and control women’s sexual behavior.” And Ryan wants everyone, not just the gays to come out of the closet: “we all have closets we have to come out of. Right? And when we do come out of those closets, we’ll recognize that our fight is not with each other. Our fight is with an outdated Victorian sense of human sexuality that conflates desire with property rights, and generates shame and confusion, in place of understanding and empathy. It’s time we moved beyond Mars and Venus, because the truth is that men are from Africa and women are from Africa.”

+ At The Daily Mail, Sophie Morgan, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident in 2003, talks about how she totally has sex and everybody needs to get over this misconception that disabled people can’t have sex:

My life is lived mostly in a wheelchair. But I do have sex. There, I’ve said it. Disabled people have sex – and, what’s more, we enjoy it. I must talk about this frankly  because leaving this difficult issue to be skirted around or ignored altogether is a barrier to equality and inhibits the freedom of myself and others like me to enjoy such a basic human need.

+ Lovehoney, who just so happens to sell french maid outfits on their website, claims “french maid” tops the “bedroom fantasy list” for Brits, followed by “Naughty Nurse” (they sell that outfit too) and “Sexy Schoolgirl” (also for sale).

+ At SF Weekly, Chris Hall talks about Sex-Positive Racism: Holding Alt Communities Accountable:

One thing that makes it impossible to discuss racism in queer and kinky communities is that white liberals have crafted their own mythology of racism. Breach this mythology, and you can be dismissed as being “too P.C.” or “hysterical.” The mythology comes in two parts: First, racism is something that uneducated, poor people living in the South do. It’s segregated water fountains and Bull Conner turning the water hoses on black people, and comes from living in trailer parks and listening to too much country music. The second part is that the solution to racism is to ignore race. 

+ Here on Autostraddle, Ali has advice on harnesses for trans-women and tech-savvy sexytime panties, we’ve got 115 girls in their underpants, and underwear week is just chock-full of nether-region-related advice.

100 Pictures of 2012: Queer Girls & Friends All Over The World

What a special year it was for queermos all over the globe. Let’s all take a moment to stare into their faces and eyeballs and think about love and togetherness and imagine a big bright beautiful future glimmering ahead of us in 2013, when unicorns will dive into rainbows and turn into pretty dragons who will stop global warming and ensure equality for all forever and evermore. Not all of these photos are of queer girls, but most of them have queer girls in them somewhere.

If you’d like your photo removed or if you spot an error in the caption, email bren [at] autostraddle [dot] com or carrie [at] autostraddle [dot] com!

Girl Gallery: 25 Days of Dapper

What happens after hundred of queers spend a week together on a mountaintop? Do they forget each other? Fall in love? Meet up every year? I don’t know about all those, but I do know that some of the kids who have attended Autostraddle’s bi-annual A-Camp event get together and organize a 25 days of dapper project wherein they bless the rest of us with daily pictures of their sexy selves via our Facebook feed all December long.

Now we’re bringing their pictures to Autostraddle so that everyone can enjoy the dapperness. Feel free to live through them vicariously if you got a dress instead of the wingtips you were hoping for this morning or drop by just to let them know how handsome they look.

Girl Gallery: 35 Ladies Who Came Out As LBTQ In 2012

For the past few years, the ladies have been coming out in droves, each new year bringing another list of big stars breaking through to the other side — Wanda Sykes, Cynthia Nixon, Amber Heard, Evan Rachel Wood, Meredith Baxter, Chely Wright — the list goes on and on. This year lacked a definitive female megastar Coming Out Moment (Megan Rapinoe, maybe), but it didn’t lack a plethora of really fantastic Coming Out Situations. Perhaps most exciting is how many women of color came out this year — half of the women pictured below, in fact!

So, who came out this year?

The 2012 Summer Olympics brought a slew of out athletes to our attention: three-time US Olympic volleyball player Stacy Sykora, South African archer Karen Hultzer and WNBA Star and Team USA basketball player Seimone Augustus. Furthermore, two Team USA Soccer players made their sexual orientation public at long last: Lori Lindsey, who actually came out right here on Autostraddle, and her best friend, heartthrob Megan Rapinoe, who came out in an interview with OUT Magazine and made your pants explode.

Other athletes who came out this year are Mexican-American Mixed Martial Arts fighter Jessica Aguilar and Swedish skier Anja Pärson.

Some celebrities already known to be gay came out “officially” this year, like Style Icon JCrew Creative Director Jenna Lyons who essentially came out two years ago but officially came out last month. When comedian Tig Notaro revealed her cancer diagnosis in the most brilliant stand-up set of all time, she was also revealing her gayness publicly for the first time. Many were unaware of Australian chef Kylie Kwong‘s sexual orientation until she announced that her girlfriend of five years was pregnant. Celebrity Chef and Reality TV Personality Anne Burrell was herself shocked when Ted Allen allegedly “outed” her because she already felt pretty out, but now she’s really out.

Lots of musicians this year, too, like Australian country music artist Beccy Cole, former American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis (bisexual), Jamaican reggae singer Diana King, hip-hop artist Azealia Banks, Cantonese pop star Denise Ho and controversial hip-hop artist Kreayshawn. Also, punk rock star Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! came out as transgender!

Screen stars who made the leap this year include Filipina singer/actress Monique Wilson, Bold & The Beautiful star Joanna Johnson, Australian actress Magda Szubanski and child star and iconic 70’s/80’s tomboy Kristy McNichol. Actress/singer Raven-Symone didn’t officially come out, but she didn’t do so in a way that many interpreted to be essentially “coming out” in so many words — it’s debatable! — and The Matrix director Lana Wachowski spoke publicly about her experiences as a transgender woman for the first time.

The 2012 elections brought out queer politicians in droves: Texas State Rep Mary Gonzalez, previously out as queer or LGBTQ, came out as pansexual this year. Wisconsin State Rep JoCasta Zamarripa came out as bisexual and Kyrsten Sinema became Arizona’s first out bisexual congresswoman. Others came out because of relatives in politics, like Australian Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s sister Christine Forrester.

Some of the people in this gallery have been “out” in their private lives for some time but didn’t have public lives until this year — humans vaulted from relative obscurity onto the gay mainstage in 2012 include reality TV stars like The Glee Project‘s Dani Shay, The Voice‘s De’Borah Garner and America’s Next Top Model‘s Laura LaFrate. (Her fellow queer contestant AZMarie has been out in the public eye since before ANTM, otherwise we’d include her here too!).

Reality TV also proved an ample venue for other women to come out — on Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta, dancer Joseline Hernandez came out as bisexual, as did R&B/soul singer/songwriter a K.Michelle, while R&B Divas offered R&B singer-songwriter Monifa Carter a platform from which to come out.

Without any further ado, the class of 2012:

Did I miss anyone? Do you feel upset about the inclusion of this or that person? If so, please refrain from beginning any sentences with “um…” but feel free to employ as much punctuation and all caps as possible. If you feel full of joy about the inclusion of all of these people, I encourage you to also employ a lot of punctuation and capitalization!

International Autostraddle Meetup Week Happened And This Is What It Looked Like

I know October seems like a lifetime ago, but remember when it happened? My October was a whirlwind of pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween and grandpa sweaters. Was that your experience too? Maybe you live in a warm-all-year city and your October looked like my July…who knows! I do know that all of our Octobers had something in common, and that something is only one of the best and most amazing things to have happened all year: We all celebrated International Autostraddle Meet-Up Week(s) together! 

Yes, it’s true. Y’all helped us raise $116,645, and we really can’t ever stop thanking you, and one of the perks for hitting that insane amount of money was to have a huge international meetup week. But you guys are so awesome and enthusiastic that it turned into a meetup month! And not like anyone should be surprised, because Autostraddle readers are obviously the coolest, but the meetups were really cool!

You went on hikes and climbed tress and played with your puppies. You grabbed October by the collar and hosted Halloween parties, pumpkin carving extravaganzas, and fall picnics. There were crafting days, activist events, and a Kaki King concert. A few of you crazy kids attended a clothing optional pool party (!) while others queeraokied your little hearts out. You brunched and you drank, you made new friends and potential partners, and a few of you even emailed us to let us know you kissed a pretty girl (!) and now you’re dating that pretty girl (!!!) so I’m gonna go ahead and call this whole shebang a huge fucking success. As one reader said in an email: “We’re all grateful for meetup week…Autostraddle for the win, as always!” To which I say, AMEN.

I also say you all are very very very cute, and I think we should take this moment to celebrate that cuteness in the form of a gallery with over 300 images. I’m warning you, clicking through all of these photos might make you die of cute, but it’s totally worth it.

Thank you for participating in International Autostraddle Meetup Week(s), thank you for sending in photos, and thank you for being incredible. We love you. You love each other. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. Enjoy this gallery, and keep meeting up! We’re gonna take over the world one day, I just know it. And we’re gonna look really fucking adorable when we do.

Note: It was extremely labor-intensive to make this giant gallery, so we did not include individual photo credits on images unless the photographer specifically requested it. If your photos are up here and you would like credit, please send an email to vanessa [at] autostraddle [dot] com and we’ll make it happen. Thanks! 

Spirit Day Gallery: 50 Ways Of Feeling Smokin’ Hot In Purple

Today is Spirit Day, a GLAAD-sponsored situation via which millions of human beings wear purple to show their solidarity with LGBT teens and their desire for LGBT teens to be accepted/loved rather than beat up, teased and destroyed. You can learn more and go purple on the glaad website:

Millions wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives. Observed annually, individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Getting involved is easy — participants are asked to simply “go purple” on October 19th as we work to create a world in which LGBT teens are celebrated and accepted for who they are. Learn more & go purple at www.glaad.org/spiritday.

Especially heartwarming is the Spirit Day Ambassadors Page, which features young activists like Katy Butler as well as high-profile and very attractive celebrities including actress Dianna Agron, transgender writer/activist Janet Mock and actress Shay Mitchell.

In honor of this esteemed holiday, we have collected a lovely gallery of hot girls wearing purple in some capacity. Perhaps this will provide you with fashion inspiration for anybody planning on leaving the house today. (A * next to a photo caption means the subject(s) of the photo are queer)

We’ve gone purple on our twitter today and you should too. Let us know how your Spirit Day is going and how you feel about Whitney Houston’s amazing purple puffy jacket in the comments!!

 

Sneaker Feature III: Kicks On A Mountain

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Welcome to the A-Camp edition of Autostraddle’s Sneaker Feature series. (How’s that for a fancy ass intro sentence?) Our first SF post was a showcase of budget-friendly but still style-heavy kicks. Part two indulged those who go a step further by collecting and/or customizing. I’ve done my amateur best to also provide quality kicks-related books, movies and tumblrs. (Obvs with the help of other AS staff sneakerheads.) This time the focus is on those reckless A-Campers. Not only did they step with bravery, but they brought their kicks and for that I thank them.

I’m no Robin when it comes to snapping los fotos, so cut me some slack on the quality. However, at camp, I asked the HBICs if we could do a post on your kicks. In the dining hall, Marni announced that I was looking for people to show off their laced-up bests and they all werked it. Also, I’m always game to run around in between workshops/panels/feelings and take pics of queers from the knees down.

I present to you the glory of A-Camp Queers and Their Kicks!

**Note: Some pics were sent to me post-camp. Also, not all of these pictures contain sneakers but that’s mainly because when Haviland poses for you, you take the fucking picture.

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Honorable Mention for Best Autostraddle-Based Kick Customization goes to Beez

Epic Gallery: 150 Years Of Lesbians And Other Lady-Loving-Ladies

I really threw myself into Herstory Month, in June, eating every accessible herstory archive on the internet and spending hours in the library, accumulating massive stacks of borrowed books which I stored at the foot of my bed. My girlfriend was not a big fan of the stacks of books at the foot of the bed.

I was looking for words but eventually, also, for pictures. Honestly before tumblr it was difficult to find very much lesbian imagery at all online — it was always the same ten or twelve stock photos — let alone pictures of lesbians taken prior to 2000. I wanted to see an evolution of our community, how we’d grown and changed over the years — and not just in a montage of famous out actresses and models, but pictures of actual people, pictures of women who were active in the community — regular human beings, writers and social activists.

So I started collecting them. I scoured tumblr, discovered regional library archives online and visited websites like fuck yeah queer vintage, the new york public library digital archives, out history, and know homo. Unsatisfied with the racial diversity present in the imagery I found online, I began scanning books, screenshotting google books and even screenshotting documentaries. It took months, but every time I look at this post and the faces after faces of queer women throughout history… I get really excited!

Four quick disclaimers: 1) Obviously it’s impossible to verify the sexual orientation of some of the subjects of earlier photos I found on tumblr, the pre-1920s photos especially. But because I found them on vintage queer tumblrs, etc., I went ahead and used them, but some of these photos may just be of cross-dressers or super-close friends. 2) Obviously it’s also difficult to find photos of women of color prior to the 1950’s, because America sucks. 3) I focused on America because doing the entire world is really hard/impossible. It’s possible pics from Canada or The UK [ETA: or France, apparently!] found their way in here, though. 4)I’ve tried to credit where I found these photos and who took them. Unfortunately, because I’m an idiot, I erased the text-edit document where I was keeping track of photo credits. If you see anything here that is improperly credited or if you can identify the origin of any photos that weren’t credited at all, please email me and let me know! (riese [at] autostraddle dot com).

I’d also like to thank the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco for their permission using photos from their collection here.

150 Years of Lady-Loving-Ladies In The U.S.

1850s

1880s

1890s

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

NSFW Sunday Is At Camp: 50 (More) Girls Outside

Hello, and welcome to NSFW Sunday! In honour of A Camp, here are 50 pictures of pretty/handsome/badass girls outside.

 

Disclaimer: All of the photographs on NSFW Sundays are taken from various tumblrs and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the tumblrs and photographers who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the model’s gender identity or sexual orientation. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email our tech director at cee [at] autostraddle dot com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.