Calling all of Autostraddle! I wrote this link roundup while wearing matching pajamas at a slumber party for adults and I just really want you to read it. C’MON GET HAPPY. (BTW, good news goes great with brunch.)
Remember When Rachel Maddow Came Out
As much as I loathe to link you to Buzzfeed, this whole digging-up-Rachel-Maddow’s-coming-out-article-in-the-Stanford-student-paper-thing is kind of amazing. Look at Rachel Maddow’s hair! Look at the caption reminding you that college wasn’t always the best place to pick up chicks! JUST READ RACHEL MADDOW’S COMING OUT STORY ALREADY.
In early 1990s, a young Rachel Maddow was a student at Stanford University who had just figured out that she was gay in a Stanford freshman class that had nearly-zero out students.
“I decided I was going to come out in a very confrontational way,” Maddow wrote in a Newsweek article in 2012. “So a friend who was coming out at the same time and I did an interview with the student newspaper about being the only two gay freshman on campus.”
This Basic Skeleton Is Totally Dead Right Now
Read This Sweet F*ckin’ Letter
In response to Leelah Alcorn’s suicide, Lily Burana penned a letter to her child and promised to love them no matter what — and especially no matter what gender they identify with. Did I mention this was published on a religious website. (Read the letter, not the comments.)
Should your path be like Leelah’s I want you to know that, yes, you can look to God for help. Not for help in overcoming your transgenderism, but, rather, in finding a bulwark against the prejudice you encounter in the face of it. A force that makes you want to be brave.
Gay Marriage All Over the World
+ Father Martin Dolan in Ireland came out to his congregation and urged them to support marriage equality. He was met with a standing ovation.
+ UK conservative leader David Cameron is proud to support LGBT equality, so suck it.
The Birds and the Bees, Feat. Your Two Moms
Miles has a lot to learn and two moms to help him do it. This is the birds and the bees, folks. Please try it at home.
Religious People Not Sucking
When the Westboro Baptist Church trolled the Christian Network Conference, they were met by protestors who blocked out their message with a “wall of love.”
On January 10, Westboro Baptist Church protested the 11th annual Gay Christian Network Conference in Portland. The protestors were met with a “Wall of Love” from local clergy members and churchgoers who sang Christian songs to block out the hate speech. The conference Together at the Table, took place from Jan 8 to 11, and brought in more than 1400 attendees from 46 states and 14 countries.
“I’ve been a longtime supporter of gay rights and gay marriage. Our folks are leading the wall of love and I wanted to be here to support everyone in attendance at the Gay Christian Network Conference,” Walter John Borris the conference minister for the central pacific conference of the United Church of Christ told The Advocate. “I also wanted to support our local folks who are standing in witness of God’s love for all people.”
Fluffy, Also Helpful
Meet Oscar, Ted, and Super Teddy, Venus Williams’ sweatband-rocking ball boys. All three of them. Oh, and they’re all dogs, JSYK.
A friend just posted Skellie on Facebook. I literally LOLed. (Sorry, I’m bad at speaking basic.)
uptil I looked at the draft that said $4579 , I have faith that my brother had been truly bringing in money in their spare time at there computar. . there neighbour haz done this for only 8 months and at present paid for the debts on their appartment and got themselves a Mazda . website here……
This is fascinating, please tell us more. Especially about that Mazda, what model did your brother get?
I really respect you for using gender-neutral pronouns for describing your brother and their great financial success. Know that this is a safe space for exploring your identity, even if you are a spambot.
Love love love Rachel Maddow!
Obviously Riese wrote the authoritative essay on this, but as a butch lesbian I really admire how she’s stared down commenters who have tried to hold up pictures of her as a feminine-presenting, long-haired teenager as some kind of “gotcha!”
http://www.autostraddle.com/policing-rachel-maddows-gender-52441/
That post is SO GOOD
I think there must be ways to teach sex ed and reproduction to a child, even a young child, without saying “girls have vaginas” and “boys have penises” (as in this video). I do not think it is so complex that kids can’t grasp that idea. When will we sex ed like that?
Yeah, I didn’t get what was supposed to be so great about that video, other than the fact that it includes two moms. The “girls have vaginas” and “boys have penises” part rubbed me the wrong way as well, as did the comment about how the child shouldn’t have sex outside of marriage (admittedly said in a joking tone, but still). I suppose it was a decent introduction to the basics of reproduction, but I wasn’t particularly impressed. The earlier we introduce children to more contemporary ideas regarding sex, gender, and sexuality, the easier it will be for them to understand.
Yeah, the cissexist language was really a turn-off. Disappointed.
Personally I would prefer if everything was talked about in medical terms. Like ‘you have a kneee and mommy has a knee.’ People won’t laugh or be all funky when talking about knees. Sex isn’t something to be embarrassed about or laughed at. keeping everything medically accurate would, in my opinion, be so much more helpful to the kids!
Rachel Maddow talked about her coming out story on Howard Stern a year or two ago (along with how she met her wife, which is also a fun story), so cool to see the actual newspaper article!
Rachel FOREVER.
My friend runs the Skellie account and I <3 Autostraddle so much. Seeing it on here is the best. I literally can't even right now.
Ok, but did you all know that the woman behind Skellie is a super hot, not so basic lesbian?!?!?
Extremely brave move from the Irish priest considering there is a huge anti marriage equality lobby going on in Ireland. Right wing, fundamental Catholics are covering the place with posters saying ‘is it right to rear a child to the sounds of sodomy?’ All kinds of crazy!
Thanks for a great round up :)
David Cameron supports rights in name only, although I guess it is progress from a Conservative PM
My heart just melted soo much :)! Great way to start off my last week of vocation
That skellie instagram is great, and the captions make the photos even funnier.
On a related note, this video is hilarious – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ruJBKFrRCk (On a scale of 1 to even, I can’t.)