Also.Also.Also: Um, I Think There Are Gay People in Sochi, and Other Stories We Missed This Week

It’s Wednesday! So far I’ve had too much coffee every day this week. Here’s the stories I missed while I was oversleeping the next morning.

Putting the ME Back in Media

+ Meet Disney’s two new lesbian moms:

You probably missed it, but the Disney Channel passed a historic milestone last night with the introduction of the first openly gay characters to ever appear on the channel. The characters, a lesbian couple, were a part of the newest episode of Good Luck Charlie, which is currently on its last season.

+ Is it really so much to ask that the media represent people of color? And is it so much to ask that they do it well?

+ Brittney Griner has been nominated for Cartoon Network’s Hall of Game Awards. This could be the victory of her life.

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Happy Belated Birthday, Virginia Woolf!

You’re still perfect.

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You Should Go / You Should Give

+ Guys! If you’re around on Tuesday and you live remotely close to the DC area, I expect to see you at this awesome panel about intersectionality in the consent movement. Also, there’s booze. And my face. Talking to you.

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Join the founders of FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture for an evening of drinks, food and photo booth merriment, plus a special panel discussion about building an inclusive and intersectional consent movement.

PANELISTS & SPECIAL GUESTS:

SORAYA CHEMALY – Feminist Journalist
SESALI BOWEN – Feministing
KIMBERLY INEZ MCGUIRE – National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
REV. ROB KEITHAN – Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
SANDRA KIM – Founder of Everyday Feminism
CARMEN RIOS – Consent Activist, Online Community Organizer at Feminist Majority Foundation, & Writer at Autostraddle
REBECCA NAGLE & HANNAH BRANCATO – Founders of FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture

+ Support Student Art!

Where can Florida high school and college students learn from a head camera operator for CSI, an MTV music video producer, or a director with CBS News?Student Art Festival [STARTFEST] bridges the gap between young, aspiring filmmakers, and leading industry professionals.

“It’s the only film festival in Florida specifically designed for students,” says Kyle Snavely, President of [STARTFEST] and former video production teacher. “From my years teaching at both the high school and college level, I realized there needed to be a place where students can compete against their peers, AND receive valuable, constructive feedback from people who know what it takes to be successful in this industry.”

Russia Remains Relevant

The Mayor of Sochi claims that no gay people live in his city, but it’s about to be invaded by a bunch of Olympians wearing rainbow so we can rest assured he’ll get what we deserves.

In The Name of Love / The Law

+ Virginia’s Attorney General is standing on the right side of history. And the courtroom. Should it come to that, I mean.

+ An Illinois lawmaker is already trying to repeal marriage equality.

+ When a small town stands behind your gay romance, nothing will stand in your way ever again.

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This Should Come As No Surprise to People Who Have Read The Constitution

Surprise! Turns out trying to disqualify gay people from being on juries is not actually a thing. We all must suffer forced service for the government without thought to our orientation. It’s the American way.

Misandry, Duh

Sometimes, the best thing is no thing. Especially when that “thing” is dudes.

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It all started with a vision I had for my 30th birthday a few years ago. Never one to sit around and wait for someone else to throw me a party, I decided to create the most wonderful thing I could imagine: all of my ladyfriends, from all parts of my life and all parts of the country, together in the desert, just hanging out. I rented a cabin in Joshua Tree and made it happen. The weekend was so wonderful that I’ve done it every year since, with a few tweaks to the invite list and location.

Which is how I came to spend last week in a resort in the desert outside Palm Springs with a group of 45 women, no agenda, and no men. It’s nothing salacious: We wear muumuus. We eat a lot of cheese. We take a lot of naps. We invent cocktails. We dance.

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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.

10 Comments

  1. Hi, Where is that FORCE panel going to be? I couldn’t find anything about the panel on their webpage. Thanks!

  2. Ah, that last article reminded me a tiny bit of the special environment that is A-camp. Not that A-camp is gendered or billed the way this author describes her event, but I like this quote about a space away from the hierarchal aspects of gender: “your actions aren’t even remotely associated with your gender, but rather, with you as a person.”

  3. Hi, Im not sure if this is a bit too local. But there is quite a bit being written and said and protested in Ireland about a censorship issue: where basically a well known leader in the community Panti-bliss (Rory O’Neill) was interviewed on the state broadcaster.
    While there she made a comment about Homophobia being more than just violent actions, at which point she named certain journalists and anti equal marriage institutions as examples… These people protested and the state broadcaster, removed the interview from their website, issued a formal apology and made payments to those named…. So far there have been over a hundred complaints made to the Broadcasting authority and this open letter

    http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/gay-rights-rory-oneill-panti-bliss-iona-institute-homophobia-1288277-Jan2014/

    by a barrister that very succintly explains the viewpoint of a large number of commenters from the LBTQ and allies point of view.

    Just in case anyone is interested :)

  4. I love how due to the “no politics at the ‘lympics rules” German Olympic team officials and designers of the uniforms are saying it’s not a protest, in any way, no no no, it’s not even a thing…its just you know about stuff to do with things…not gay things…Munich things. Yes because rainbows and Munich are synonymous.

    • For the 72 Munich games all the metro stations of the city were painted in different colours, to make it easier for foreigners to navigate through all the German names. Also, Munich is a really gay city, because it’s the big city in a conservative state and all the gays in the region flock to it. Munich was the first city I ever saw rainbow flags flying in the street, and it felt like I’d found a home on the other side of the world.

      • That is very cool to know. Thanks for the education :) in no way am I saying Munich isn’t gay friendly, just saying most folk wouldn’t instantly think rainbow=Munich…also it being gay friendly doesn’t refute the fact that that outfit is super gay in fact surely it makes it gayer. My point was the craziness of the fact that in an effort to not contravene the laws of Olympic justice and wonderment by being in any way political a variation of this statement was made.

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