Also.Also.Also: There’s No Crying in Baseball but There Are Gays in Amazon’s A League of Their Own

Did you hear me when I screamed: A GAY LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN!!!

Ok let’s get to it.


Queer as in F*ck You

Featured in The New York Times: Sam Jay: A Comic Who Belongs to No Camp. Our very own Shelli Nicole is working on a review of Sam Jay’s comedy special for us, and I for one cannot wait!

So wow Sarah Paulson just stays getting her checks this week, huh? First, with Ratched over at Netflix (“Murder Me, Mommi!“) and now in a “pandemic comedy series” at called Coastal Elites at HBO with Bette Midler and Issa Rae.

“Queer folks like to be around queer folks, and sometimes we can’t necessarily choose to be in a liberal or blue state.”. How Queer Folks Are Fleeing US Cities To Create Their Own Refuge by Jo Yurcaba for Buzzfeed.

Molly Wizenberg’s gripping new memoir, The Fixed Stars, is an exploration of queerness, identity, and gender.


Saw This, Thought of You

Amazon Officially Orders A League of Their Own TV Series. And we here at Autostraddle are doing our sacred duty to make sure that you see this paragraph in particular.

A highlighted paragraph from the article describing Amazon's new television show, a reboot of A League of Their Own, which reads: "The show takes a deeper look at race and sexuality."

“a deeper look at race and sexuality” is code word for GAAAAAAY

This new confirmation has sent Team Autostraddle down a very strong nostalgia lane. For example, at only six years old, I forced my poor mother to rent A League of Their Own every single weekend — no exceptions! — for at least four months. And then we started chatting on whether or not Dottie dropped the ball on purpose (my dear reader, of course she did!) which lead to Heather Hogan writing quick lil piece of film commentary so beautiful that I saved it for you:

“I think the truth is that Dottie was actually quite capable of holding onto that ball, always had been and always would be a better natural athlete and baseball player than Kit, but in the end Kit did want it more — in the sense that Kit wanted it more than anything — and Dottie didn’t. Like, I think Kit saw an obstacle between her and her goal, and Dottie saw her sister barreling toward her. And whatever happened in her mind in that moment, she was capable of holding onto the ball and she didn’t.”

So yeah, Heather’s pretty much perfect at this whole writing thing. Speaking of which, have you read her personal essay yet? The Soft Butch That Couldn’t (Or: I Got COVID-19 in March and Never Got Better). If not, grab a box of tissues and get settled in, because it will be the very best thing you read this week. Love you Heather. 💗

3 of Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen Stars of Color Are Departing the Video Channel After Failed Contract Negotiations. Remember, at the start of this whole quarantine thing, when Bon Appétit videos felt like a warm safe hug? HA!

I’m sure this is going to be thoroughly covered tomorrow in our new (!!!) WNBA column by the one and only Britni de la Cretaz, but as a sneak peak: Here’s an example of the various WNBA players who have been wearing “Vote Warnock” t-shirts. Raphael Warnock is the candidate run against Atlanta Dream co-owner (and noted racist) Kelly Loeffler for the Georgia Senate Seat:

Apparently, the shirts were the idea of Sue Bird. Which is why I love us gays The Most.

Eek! Texas Tech Women’s Basketball Players Describe Toxic Culture: ‘Fear, Anxiety and Depression’. In two years since Marlene Stollings took over once-storied program, 12 players have left amid allegations of abuse by the coach and two assistants.

The Groundbreaking Female Artist Who Shaped Manga History. A new collection introduces English-speaking audiences to an overlooked Japanese cartoonist who smashed both gender and genre norms during her short life.

Creating Boundaries With Friends Is Especially Important Right Now

This is who we are now. UFOs Are All We’ve Got. (“The only quarantine film content I want is an X-files x Rear Window psychological thriller.” — Rachel Kincaid)


Political Snacks

All 4 Native Candidates in Kansas Win Their Primaries! That’s what the f*ck I’m talking about!

On her podcast, Michelle Obama Announces She is Managing ‘Low-Grade Depression.’ Quoting the Forever First Lady, “Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”

It’s powerful, and maybe a even a little humbling, to hear a woman in who’s held in such high esteem to speak honestly and vulnerably about something that so many of us grappling hard with. I’m wishing Mrs. Obama  — and all of us — a bit of calm and joy this evening. You can listen to the full episode on Spotify.


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Carmen Phillips

Carmen is Autostraddle's Editor-in-Chief and a Black Puerto Rican femme/inist writer. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. There were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. You can find her on twitter, @carmencitaloves.

Carmen has written 689 articles for us.

14 Comments

  1. I am desperately excited about A League of Their Own. Does anyone know if the new characters will be based on actual women in the real-life league? I feel like it’s implied with “Three years ago, we approached Sony with the idea of telling a new, still overlooked set of those stories,” in the article, but I can’t find anything that’s explicit about it.

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