Also.Also.Also: Pussy Riot’s A Bunch of Man-Hating Lesbian Zombies and They Like It That Way and Other Stories We Missed This Week

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, y’all! Here’s the stories we missed while I was dreaming of heart-shaped pizza.

From The Law to The Culture: This Sh*t’s Fucked Up

+ #FreeAvery! Come on, Canada. I wanna like you.

+ T-Pain recently spoke out about behind-the-scenes homophobia that’s holding Frank Ocean back. On behalf of Frank Ocean’s spirit, which we share from opposite coasts, I thank him.

+ A high school student was suspended for 10 days after he stepped into a lunchroom fight to defend a gay kid who was getting beat up. Because Florida.

+ GM’s new CEO Mary Barra’s not making as much or more than her male predecessor, despite a lengthier resume and proven skill. And they don’t really have much to say about it.

+ The hip-hop industry needs to stop holding back women rappers.

Boys Don’t Cry Director: 20 Years Later

Kimberly Peirce, Director of Boys Don’t Cry, spoke to Elle about queer culture 20 years later:

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In writing the script for Boys Don’t Cry, we asked ourselves, ‘Why did Brandon who lived in the relatively large and cosmopolitan city of Lincoln, Nebraska [population: 265,000] not go to New York City or San Francisco, which he likely would have thought had greater queer culture and out populations? Why did he choose to move to the much smaller, less cosmopolitan town of Falls City [population: 9,000]?’ We concluded that he stayed in a place that was familiar and where there were fewer queer people because that environment made it easier to pass as a man. So while Brandon Teena twenty years later would likely have been more knowledgeable of queer culture, if he did not want to move into a queer life and instead wanted to disappear into a straight life, he may still have made the same choice to go to Falls City. And while the people that he hung out with in Falls City twenty years later may also have had some more knowledge of queerness, they may have been no more accepting of it.

TV’s First Lesbian Zombie Kiss

It’s all happening.

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Marriage Equality Status Updates

+ NEVADA WILL NO LONGER DEFEND ITS BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE! LET’S ALL WAKE UP IN VEGAS. MARRIED.

+ Four gay couples are suing for marriage equality in Ohio – for the sake of the children.

Volcom Hearts Cheryl Maas

Volcom is standing with Cheryl Maas, a woman Olympian who also happens to be gay as f*ck.

http://vimeo.com/81461457

Members of Pussy Riot Don’t Hate Men Enough, Get Kicked Out of Group, Deny The Last Part

Masha Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova are the two faces of Pussy Riot, but their mainstream ways reportedly got them kicked out of their bandOr did they?

The Russian punk rock mystery rock lives on. In the meantime, lesson learned: we could all do with hating men a little more.

Meanwhile, In Sochi…

+ Are Russia’s Olympics really that gayI mean, not gay-gay, but, like, gay. You know?

+ Seven lonely LGBT activists protested the Olympics in Russia and were reportedly just fine. Is this what qualifies as a victory now?

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+ Ireen Wust is here, queer, and totally dominating the games. TAKE THAT PUTIN!

+ McDonald’s was trying to connect folks to their Olympic gods with #CheersToSochi, but then gay people took it seriously and hijacked it instead. All for like, ten dollars.

+ VICE is breaking everyone’s Olympic-sized hearts with their #realtalk about being LGBT in Russia, and their new documentary is no exception.

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Carmen

Carmen spent six years at Autostraddle, ultimately serving as Straddleverse Director, Feminism Editor and Social Media Co-Director. She is now the Consulting Digital Editor at Ms. and writes regularly for DAME, the Women’s Media Center, the National Women’s History Museum and other prominent feminist platforms; her work has also been published in print and online by outlets like BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic and SIGNS, and she is a co-founder of Argot Magazine. You can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr or in the drive-thru line at the nearest In-N-Out.

Carmen has written 919 articles for us.

2 Comments

  1. A Lesbian Zombie Kiss. Now I know what was missing in this world of ours.

    In other news: Its good to know, that even death can’t turn us straight. Thanks O’Brien!

  2. Arrrff. Considering how much focus the world has on Russia at the moment, it sometimes confuses me when I speak to people and the do not know of the groups on VK or the anti gay propaganda law.

    I agree with what the journalist said at the end of the vice documentary. Russia was split in two for so long, now that the state is back together it’s creating a common identity and protecting itself.

    A necessary by-product of having an identity is otherness. What am I equates to what am I not and where do I stand. In the case of Russia, a state clinging to it’s new found identity so tightly, that has meant an enemy (or two).

    And its a huge majority as well who believe it’s ok to crush on LBGT for the greater good. On the case of making a common identity, it’s going preeettyy goooddd….

    It makes me feel pretty powerless as to what difference I can make. How can I support individuals who I know to be doing nothing wrong in that kind of environment? Where a one bloody person picket gets you arrested.

    FRRHJGKDGlllv…Grrr.. So frustrated.

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