Also.Also.Also: Latina Superhero La Boriqueña Stands With Orlando and Other Stories for Your Weekend

Cheers to the freakin’ weekend and I’ll drink (nonalcoholic beverages) to that.

We made it through the week, ya’ll, and that’s deserving of a damn celebration. Or a nap. Whatever feels right to you. I hope at some point this week you found time for a little self care, even if that was allowing yourself to lay in bed all day. Or allowing yourself to go to bed early. Or staying out late with friends. Or sitting in the sunshine for a bit. Or going to a vigil. Or not going to a vigil. Or eating a whole pizza. Or snuggling your cat/dog/turtle. Or whatever you did to just be.

My self care plan for the weekend is binging OITNB as soon as I get home today, seeing friends and family, and making a big batch of tacos. What’s yours?

Here’s some fresh links to hold you through the weekend.

You Should Go or Do or Give

+ Politics! Friendship! MMA! Social uprising! Help complete issues 4 and 5 of The Campaigners! Check out those sweet perks, including a shoutout on twitter, a consultation on a trans character or storyline, or a bad-art sketch from Editor and Trans Consultant and total badass babe, Mey Valdivia Rude!

This Mey Rude original could be yours for just a $20 donation!

This Mey Rude original could be yours for just a $20 donation!

+ Equality Florida has surpassed their stretch goal of $5 million in donations for the victims’ families, survivors, and those in need of support directly affected by the shooting. They are working to get funds to folks who need them as quickly as possible. You can still donate to help them reach their new goal of $7 million.

+ Devan Diaz wants to take your picture if you’re a woman or fem presenting person in or passing through NYC for a project exploring resiliency, fashion, and strength against street harassment and assault. Contact Devan if you’re interested!


Queer as in F*ck You

+ #QueerSelfLove Is the Empowerment and Community We Need. Some familiar (adorable) faces in this gallery.

+ Badass Latina Superhero La Boriqueña Stands With Orlando Victims in Powerful New Image. Also, she’s going to fight the Puerto Rico crisis, colonialism, and injustice. OMG.

+ Queer Art to See in New York City Right Now.

+ Her Grandson Was Killed in Orlando. What These Passengers Did On Her Flight to His Funeral? TEARS! It’s true. I cried. Get your tissues ready.

+ How a Transgender Woman Could Get Pregnant.

+ This Is What “Queer” Means!
“To be queer is to know tragedy in your bones. It is woven into the fabric of our history.”

+ Dying MP’s Gender-Neutral O Canada Bill Passes Final Commons Vote.

+ Carole King, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel and 60 More Record Single to Benefit Broadway For Orlando.

+ Ellen DeGeneres Says “Finding Dory” Will Have a Transgender Stingray. This seems like not at all the kind of representation we need, but OK.

+ 17 UN Envoys Vow to Fight for LGBT Rights Around the World.

+ American Lesbian Feminist Defends Muslim World in New Book.

+ LGBT Groups to Trump: No Thanks. Pretty much.


Doll Parts

+ Secret Feminist Society Fights Brock Turner & Rape Culture. Meet GRLCLT.

+ In China, Feminism is Growing—and So is the Backlash.

+ Michelle Obama’s Advice to Men at United State of Women Summit: “Be Better”.

+ Queer Maker Caitlin Rose Sweet Creates Feminist Art and Weed Pipes with Boobs.

+ Vagina Calligrapher Sun Ping Banned from China Artists Association.

+ “Fearless, Stoic and Attractive”: A History of the State-Sanctioned Russian Woman.

+ The Top 5 Feminist Conspiracies (According to Our Trolls). Put on your tin foil hat.

+ Against “Survival Feminism”.


Saw This, Thought of You

+ Members of Dream Defenders’ Delegation to Israel/Palestine Talk Segregation, Occupation and That Massive Wall.

+ Scientists Say They’ve Unearthed A Completely New Kind Of Meteorite

+ Immigration Raids Are Targeting People with Valid Asylum Claims, According to a New Report.

+ National Aquarium Announces Plans For North America’s First Dolphin Sanctuary.

+ Microsoft is Getting into the Marijuana Business.


And Finally

+ Here’s a video of Buddy the Rescue Dog playing fetch with himself and being really excited about it because we all need 30 uninterrupted seconds of cuteness in our life right now.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

KaeLyn

KaeLyn is a 40-year-old hard femme bisexual dino mom. You can typically find her binge-watching TV, standing somewhere with a mic or a sign in her hand, over-caffeinating herself, or just generally doing too many things at once. She lives in Upstate NY with her spouse, a baby T. rex, a scaredy cat, an elderly betta fish, and two rascally rabbits. You can buy her debut book, Girls Resist! A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution if you want to, if you feel like it, if that's a thing that interests you or whatever.

KaeLyn has written 230 articles for us.

18 Comments

  1. Oh that article on what queer means, how I love it !!! Also this :

    We must not forget that queer folks, especially QPOC, are not safe in this world still in 2016. So please take time to uplift others and be an active ally to the queer community. This means standing up for black trans women. This means fighting for the lives of young queers who are homeless. This means working to revoke your privilege every day and creating space in the world for those with less privilege. Take this moment to activate yourself.

    • Also this maybe cynical, but even though the story about the Granma on the plane moved me to tears too, I can’t help but wonder how many among those who wrote something and stopped by to tell her how sorry they were, would have defended her grandson if they’d witnessed slurs being thrown at him, or how many of them voted for people who pass laws that allow for discrimination of LGBT people every day.

    • Right? Teen Vogue just hitting it out of the park w/ that “What does ‘queer’ mean?” piece.

  2. Also this article about queer muslims is beautiful and I’m feeling so full of love for every single one of them right now <3.
    let's quote Orphan Black shall we ?

    Cosima Niehaus: It’s not just that. It’s all of us. You have to love all of us.

    Delphine Cormier: Then I love all of you. </blockquote

  3. I recently had a conversation with 2 older lesbians about the word queer, how they don’t like it and wish people J
    Would just call themselves lesbian/bi/whatever other label applies to them. Going to go read the teen vogue article now

    • There’s definitely some folks who are uncomfortable with it. I get that. I also identify as queer, so…

  4. Maybe it’s because I work in health care and HIPAA is god, but when I first read the article about the grandmother and everyone giving their condolences on the flight, I was honestly really worried about her privacy? Like was the flight attendant telling all of these people about this without her consent?

    I mean, it’s lovely what they did. Maybe I have too many boundaries.

    • True. It’s a good thing she was moved and grateful and not angry about all the attention from strangers.

    • Now if only more people who worked in healthcare had your concern! It boggles my mind how often HIPAA is violated and not taken seriously. I remember when it was put into effect and what a big deal it was, all the hours of sitting through the training.

      You’d think people would take it even more seriously today, but sadly not.

  5. Thank you for sharing the TeenVogue post about the word Queer. I feel like there have been a resurgence of people calling out Queer as a slur without knowing its context, and it’s been pretty much the last drop for me regarding Tumblr. I indentify as queer because LGBTQ doesn’t really work for me as an ace/homoromantic/genderqueer person. I’m all for respecting people’s wishes regarding the label, as long as they recognize it can be the only label to describe some people.

    Also KaeLyn, I love the intros in all of your posts. It helps me calm down when I’m having days filled with stress and anxiety.

    • Same on queer! I strongly identify as queer, but I get that some people are uncomfortable with the word itself. As long as they aren’t policing my identity, I’m ok with having different opinions, but I don’t think different opinions should ever be used to silence those who ID a queer, you know?

      Sending <3 as always.

      • “I don’t think different opinions should ever be used to silence those who ID a queer.”

        Thanks, Kaelyn. Although ten years of thought and worry and intense thought about the comfort of other people went into the naming of my identity for myself, I don’t always feel like I have a right to say that.

  6. Super-duper informal experiment: Like this if you’re uncomfortable with the word “Queer” and its use as an umbrella term.

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