It’s complicated (or at least, it’s by design) that underneath structures of capitalism, queer independent media is never intended to survive.

It would have been impossible for me to write the novels and stories that I’ve created without the help of Autostraddle.

Heather Hogan noticed that I had taken up permanent residence in the comments of “Boobs on Your Tube” every Friday, basically writing recaps of my own (I felt lost, Autostraddle was my port in the storm). Heather asked if I had ever considered writing about television as a career. She said, “We can pay you. Not as much as we’d like to, but we’ll find the money. Is that something you’d be into?”

I wrote back, “That is something that I would VERY MUCH be into! In fact, I hope it’s not too unprofessional to say that I would love it with all of my heart.”

Not to be one of those divorced people who makes everything about their divorce!, but getting divorced will really teach you that nothing about making something “real” or deciding you’re all in makes it any more secure.

We do lose something when dedicated queer spaces like Into, Girlfriends and SheWired shutter or AfterEllen goes full TERF, but we also lose something when The Awl, The Hairpin and The Toast do. These were places where writers were free to experiment, to be weird, to make writer-first content that isn’t easily monetizable.