Out the Movies: Why Do I Define Transness By Rejection?

Out the Movies is a bi-weekly newsletter about queer film for AF+ subscribers written by Drew Burnett Gregory.


Ever since I transitioned, I’ve wanted to see a revival of Sweet Charity starring a trans actress. It’s almost too obvious. A sex worker with a community of supportive femmes yearns for love, wealth, and acceptance, in a cruel world that crushes her optimism again and again.

As much as I loved the musical’s inspiration Nights of Cabiria, it was Bob Fosse’s film of Sweet Charity that really resonated with me as a lonely teenager who hadn’t identified the biggest reason for that loneliness. Bursting with romance, nothing ever seemed to work out for me. Maybe it was because I was a teenager or maybe it was because the people I fell for saw me better than I saw myself. Even when they liked me and I appeared lovable on paper, something wasn’t quite right. It was like a rabbit in a tuxedo. Sure, it’s cute, but it’s not fancy.

After transitioning and breaking up with the person grandfathered into loving me, I returned to the dating world with the feral optimism of my adolescence. Again, there was resistance. Finally, I knew myself, but so many of the people I latched onto didn’t know themselves well enough yet. They were drawn to me with curiosity rather than internal or external recognition. It was a lot of transphobia for the seasoned lesbians and self-doubt from the newbies surprised to find that my genitalia didn’t actually mean less confronting of their burgeoning bisexuality.

Nevertheless, I threw myself into dating with Charity’s fervor. In fact, for years I described my job at Autostraddle as writing about film, sex, and dating. Again and again I sang ā€œIf My Friends Could See Me Nowā€ sometimes swapping out friends for strangers on the internet. Of course, Charity’s magical night of romance described in this song ends with her hiding in a closet because her date is ashamed of her.

Years later, years into a relationship with someone far more likely to put me in a spotlight than a closet, I saw another film that gave me that Sweet Charity pang of recognition. Now living part time in Toronto to be with my partner, I was lucky enough to be loved and lucky enough to enjoy the TIFF Cinematheque’s year-round programming. A couple years ago this meant getting to see half a dozen films from Hungarian auteur MĆ”rta MĆ©szĆ”ros in the span of two weeks. Unfamiliar with her work, I quickly became enraptured with her ability to capture both the interior and exterior lives of women.

My favorite film of hers is called Riddance, a portrait of a young woman named Judka, a factory worker who pretends to be a student so her bourgeois boyfriend will show her around. It’s a story of a girl torn between her desire to be loved and her desire to love herself, the urge to push back against societal convention while unsure of the sacrifice that entails. MĆ©szĆ”ros loves women and specifically her characters too much to let this be mere tragedy — even the Nights of Cabiria/Sweet Charity kind of tragedy with a final touch of hope. Instead, through its gaze, the film feels like a celebration of its protagonist. ErzsĆ©bet KĆŗtvƶlgyi who plays Judka is shot with so much affection and beauty. I’m not sure human skin has ever been captured on screen with such awe. It’s not a queer gaze per se, but rather a gaze of recognition, the love for a younger woman only possible from an older woman who has finally managed to love herself. It’s the cinematic equivalent of ā€œLadiesā€ by Fiona Apple.

This celebration of the feminine within a story about romantic rejection and projected shame immediately solidified the film in my canon of movies about cis women that every trans woman should see. Even though I watched this film while loved so fully in real life, I looked at Judka and saw a quintessential trans experience. The contrary evidence in my shared bed every night and every morning hadn’t changed the belief that to be trans is to be loved poorly.

To create a canon of cis movies for trans girls is to rely on generalizations. When contemporary trans women repeat a dated transsexual vs. transvestite paradigm, it frustrates me because it’s often self-hating and because it feels insufficient. If we’re going to repeat stereotypes, there are at least four or five subgroups of trans women we could classify to dehumanize ourselves.

Maybe this is why the easiest point of connection I can find in all our differences is a quality that doesn’t have much to do with us at all. Instead, it relies on how we are perceived by others. Cis people — and, let’s be honest, even sometimes other trans people — project an unworthy otherness onto us that can become our most universally defining feature.

It’s this perception I recognized once again last week when I started a movie called Me, Natalie in order to see a young Al Pacino’s one minute of screen time. Rather than being annoyed by his brief appearance like most of Letterboxd, I found myself taken with Natalie’s story. I cried watching this film about a girl stepping into adulthood eager to abandon a life of self-hatred.

After an obliquely-shot flashback montage of Natalie’s childhood, we get our first look at this teenage girl who has been described as ugly by everyone around her. This first glimpse feels like a reverse emperor’s new clothes. We’ve been told she’s ugly, so the assumption is she’s ugly. But it’s just famously beautiful Patty Duke with fake bucked teeth and a subtly enlarged nose. Her face is more memorable than the ā€œpretty girlsā€ around her, but, in my opinion if not society’s, even more beautiful.

Natalie also has charm and this becomes even clearer once she leaves home to join the art scene of the late 60s West Village. There she meets a painter who, like destiny, goes from enemy to friend to lover. All the while Natalie — and those around Natalie — insist on her ugliness. Even this painter describes his attraction to Natalie as transcending physical beauty.

Patty Duke won a Golden Globe for her performance and, despite satisfying most conventional beauty standards even after prosthetics, it’s her performance that makes the film so special. Her casting also creates another layer to the film. Rather than feeling like a story about someone whose appearance truly falls outside of celebrated norms, it becomes a story about someone beautiful who nevertheless is labeled the opposite. In Natalie’s case, her point of identity that makes her so other is her Judaism. This is heavily implied in the film and made explicit in its novelization. She’s not ugly — she’s just Jewish.

As a Jewish trans girl who just got FFS while opting to keep my big, crooked nose, the film’s sentimentality hit me hard. For years, I claimed to never want FFS, only to change my mind once I had good health insurance. While the incision point on my scalp still heals, I’m starting to reckon with the choices I made and didn’t make. I sought out a surgeon who agreed to prioritize subtlety and safety. Now I look in the mirror and can’t believe my Adam’s Apple is still so big.

I’m writing this essay while my partner’s arms are wrapped around me. I’m typinh on my phone instead of my laptop because I don’t want to wake them up and I don’t want to remove my spoon from theirs. This person loved me when my Adam’s Apple was even bigger, when my hairline was receding instead of yanked forward, stapled, and bloody. My trans story is no longer one of romantic rejection and yet these films are still where I project connection through my transness.

Before starting this piece, I challenged myself to think of joyous movies about cis women that felt part of a trans woman canon. I rejected every example I considered. I got stuck on the fact that, while yes they resonated, they also felt more broadly about women — cis and trans. But is that not also true of these stories of romantic rejection? Were those films not explicitly about the rejection experienced by cis women for being sex workers, working class, and Jewish? Therefore, the only reason I’m making this distinction is because I’m holding onto rejection as a defining trans trait.

As a woman consumed with artistic passion, why can’t The Red Shoes be part of my trans canon? As a dyke who has found connection with my fair share of divorcĆ©es, what about Desert Hearts? As someone who in this exact moment is cuddled in bliss, what about any number of cheesy romcoms that capture a mere fraction of the love I’m lucky enough to receive and give every day? Am I not as trans while loved as I am when rejected?

Last week also marked eight years since I began transitioning. (I guess eight is enough to let the day go by unnoticed.) Throughout those years, I’ve had to fight off the myopia that gave my misery too much importance. It’s a struggle reflected in Me, Natalie when she connects with a character much like Charity. (The films came out the same year.) Where Natalie saw a beauty she envied, the world saw a stripper as unworthy of love as Natalie’s big nose. Society provides so many reasons to dismiss people, most of us have at least a few. My transness isn’t unique — it’s not even my only quality that society deems unlovable.

What transness has done is given me myself. It’s allowed me eight full years of self-discovery as I’ve grown closer to the things that make me me. Whether I like it or not, it gave me my womanhood.

In the final moments of the film, Natalie writes a letter to her artist lover. She pities her lover’s wife and is surprised to find herself pitying a woman so beautiful. In this moment, she’s able to let go of her envy, able to not only be loved by others, but to love herself. She writes, ā€œIf I’m miserable today, tomorrow maybe I’ll be happy. And maybe I won’t. But if I’m miserable, it’ll be my miserable. And if I’m happy, it’ll be my happy, and I can’t do it any other way.ā€

If Me, Natalie is in my canon of cis woman trans cinema, it’s because of this speech, not romantic rejection. Isn’t this what transness has been about for me? Not being othered, not even being loved, but experiencing both as myself.

When I’m miserable, it’s my miserable. When I’m happy, it’s my happy. Me, Drew.

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?

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Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 715 articles for us.

Meet the The Ultimatum: Queer Love Season 2’s Marriage-Obsessed and Marriage-Avoidant Cast

Deep in the marrow of the scorching summer of 2023, the first season of The Ultimatum Queer Love was bestowed upon us by Netflix — a bevvy of couples who’d reached a crossroads in their relationship wherein one wanted to get married and the other didn’t and both were willing to allow Netflix to destroy their lives in an effort to resolve this situation.

One of the many humans who participated in Season One, Mal Wright, worked in casting for Season Two and now works here, at Autostraddle/For Them. She shared with me, Riese, in an exclusive impromptu interview just now conducted over Slack, “I really commend the people who decided to participate in the second season, because you watched the first season and still were like, we’re gonna do it. I think that’s a really brave thing to do. You watched the queer people season and the straight people seasons and were still like ‘yeah, I’m gonna do it.‘”

These braver-than-the-marines lesbians will be debuting at the bottom of pride month: The Ultimatum: Queer Love Season 2 will premiere on June 25th, 2025. The first chunk of episodes will drop that day and the next chunk will be bestowed upon us on July 2nd. And yes, somehow famously heterosexual host JoAnna Garcia Swisher is returning to host. This is unfortunate considering there are at least 250 queer comics desperate for gigs who would do a really fantastic job hosting this program!

Six queer couples will have the chance to go on dates with all the other people participating in the experiment, pick a new partner, move in with that partner for a “trial marriage” and then reunite for a “trial marriage” with each other, after which they have to decide to either get married or move on. Also everybody will be having their trial marriages in the same apartment building.


Meet The Cast of The Ultimatum Queer Love Season 2

AJ & Britney

together five years // follow aj on insta // follow britney on insta

AJ & Britney

28-year-old administrative assistant/MC AJ isn’t sure about committing to 27-year-old registered nurse / entrepreneur Britney ’cause she fears Britney is more focused on her business than she is on AJ. The business in question appears to be the VitaLuxx Lounge & MedSpa, which offers vitamin therapy, skin care, weight loss and self-care rituals in a soothing Orlando environment. Britney says her ā€œelectric chemistryā€ with AJ began when they first danced together. Furthermore, Britney has a bunny who has been known to wear a bowtie.


Haley & Pilar

together 10 years

follow pilar on insta // follow haley on insta

pilar & haley

These two have been together for ten entire years, which means they’ve been dating since they were 19 years old, apparently meeting as orientation leaders after their first year of college. Haley’s a senior food scientist who ā€œchocolatiersā€ in her spare time and says her ā€œqueer identity was shaped by the viral NoH8 campaign.ā€ Physical therapist Pilar is wary of marriage because she thinks it’s a ā€œsocietal constructā€ and also her parents aren’t supportive of her relationship or her sexual orientation. Pilar wants to ā€œembrace her own queerness and pursue her dream of building a career as a gay woman in the male-dominated music industry.ā€ Haley wants to drink filthy martinis and get married already!!!!


Dayna & Magan

together 1.5 years

follow magan on insta // follow dayna on instaĀ 

you can watch a little preview trailer of dayna and megan on tiktok

magan & dayna

Dayna, 25, is a relationship manager, and Magan, 27, is a business manager, and now Dayna is managing her own relationship and asking Magan to get down to business. Even though Dayna has a self-described avoidant attachment style, she knows she wants to marry Magan! Now! After a year and a half of dating! Unfortunately, Magan is still grappling with her family’s reluctance to accept her queerness which may be playing into some of her hesitations. Also if you want to feel old Dayna’s first queer crush was King Princess which means people whose first queer crush was King Princess are now old enough to give their partner’s marriage ultimatums.Ā 


Ashley & Marita

together three years

follow ashley on insta // follow martia on insta

Ashley & Marita

The biggest age gap in a season where all the couples are about the same age, maybe it’s their five year difference that makes Ashley, 30, ready to settle down, and Marita, 25, holding out for something more. Marita loves Ashley, but she feels like Ashley could be a bit grander in her romantic gestures. It’s also interesting that Ashley’s relationship model is Shannon Beveridge and Cammie Scott while Marita’s relationship model is Alex and Marissa onĀ The O.C.Ā Wishing these two the best of luck, but they might want to seek out some new romance examples!


Kyle & Bridget

together 2.5 years

follow kyle on insta // follow bridget on insta

bridget & kyle

Kyle, a 30 year old graphic designer, is very particular. They describe their ideal date as a beach picnic — with no bugs and no wind. Kyle’s desire to control nature fits with their desire to get going on their marriage plan. Unfortunately, her partner, 27 year old writer/bartender/Aquarius Bridget, doesn’t see the point. They want to be with Kyle for the rest of their lives, but don’t understand why marriage is necessary. (Maybe Kyle should try arguing tax law.) Bridget says she was turned gay as a two year old when she begged her parents to watch Ellen’s ā€œThe Puppy Episodeā€ thinking it would be about puppies. A charming anecdote!Ā 


Mel & Marie

together four years

follow mel on insta // follow marie on insta

mel & marie

Marie and Mel own a food truck together but Marie is also a butler (I have questions about this) and a bartender as well as “the most extroverted introvert there is.” Marie and Mel have known each other since they were teenagers. Marie is ready to get hitched and pop out some babies and spend more time on the sofa with Mel doing her favorite thing — drinking a glass of wine in a robe and watching The L Word. Meanwhile, Mel says they have some “things” they need to “get in order” before they can drive off into the sunset together or take flights to bougie spots.


Well I wonder what will happen next

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+!

Riese

Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3319 articles for us.

Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 715 articles for us.

15 Comments

  1. omg i have been waittingggg so long for this, please tell me you all will be recapping, (kayla??)

    • LOL I’ve seen the oc that shit was short lived bitches!! Olivia Wilde was hot af tho

  2. Once again I can’t believe how young all of these people are. I don’t know very many queers in their twenties who are this horny to get married!

    And yes, of course I will be watching.

  3. Wow, happy 30th birthday to me I guess!

    Will it still have that straight host is my first question.

    Second, where are my fellow Cancers? I’m not an astrology queer but does it say something about my sign that we don’t seem to be giving or receiving ultimatums, at least not in a TV-worthy way?

    • happy birthday!

      maybe the Cancers are too afraid of crying on television or accidentally saying something hurtful and then feeling guilty about it forever and wishing they could ask the producers to edit it out

  4. recaps please!!
    also ashley and marita should enter themselves in “dating or related”

  5. “The Ultimatum: Queer Love Season 2 promises drama! It’s fascinating to see the clash between those ready to commit and those who…well, maybe need a little push. This reminds me of playing Drift Boss sometimes – feeling like you’re skillfully navigating a tricky path, hoping you don’t crash and burn. Let’s hope these couples have better luck than I do staying on the platform in that game. Who do you think will make it?” https://driftboss.lol

  6. I HAVE SO MANY THIUGHTS WHICH I WILL ALL SHARE NOW!!!!

    First of all, HOLD UP AUTOSTRADDLE/FOR THEM MAL IS THE ULTIMATUM: QUEER LOVE MAL???? This just exponentially increased my respect for her. Truly one of the only people on that show who didn’t come out of the whole experience looking like a gigantic jackass, but rather as mature and kind. God I feel her on the whole “these people saw season one and still decided to participate” thing. They truly are braver than the marines! And maybe also more (self-)destructive! Did we all watch the same show? These people must know their relationships are going to very publicly and possibly very embarrassingly explode, right???

    Second of all, I never watch reality TV but like every other queer person I know I of COURSE watched TU:QL S1, and as someone who was feeling very insecure in my relationship at the time, watching it felt TERRIBLE!!! I hated it and I saw myself in every single dysfunctional insecure asshole move that the participants pulled. I vowed to never watch it again, but lo and behold, I am now happily, nay, ecstatically single, and it’s gemini season, and good lord I can’t fucking wait to gleefully watch people DESTROY THEIR RELATIONSHIPS!!! Freedom for everyone trapped in a relationship with someone who is pressuring them to get married in their twenties! Personal growth for everyone who is stupid and insecure enough to give their partners an ultimatum like this! Messyness and singledom for everybody!!!

    • I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS WHICH I WILL ALL SHARE NOW!!!! – Best comment. Comment award!
      Please share more of your thoughts. I want to hear them all.
      Also, I feel you watching the show now being gloriously single after my ex put a lot of pressure on me to become parents together. I also never watch reality TV but saw the first season of the show and will watch the second as well.
      This format is so absurd. Why would anyone want their hesitant partner to marry them and pressure them into it with an ultimatum? Don’t you think that will fall on your feet eventually, even/especially if you get married? Relationship problems don’t stop with a wedding, why would someone want that??? Also, why would anyone agree to get married to someone if there is an ultimatum? If someone said to me: ā€œLet’s get married or we’re done,ā€ I believe I would be like ā€œI don’t find an ultimatum a very healthy thing in a relationship, and if you feel this way, I guess that is the end of the road for us.ā€
      I understand people with these struggles don’t want to lose the other person, but maybe splitting up would be the more sensible option if you want so different things in life?

  7. Oh and by the way: INSANE THAT THEY KEPT THE HOST????? Truly this is the reality show of all time.

  8. Oh and lastly: Hiii Magan, 27, Taurus, how’s it going, do you want to date someone who will never force you to get married, what’s your workout routine, are you free tonight

Comments are closed.

King Princess Makes Her Acting Debut on ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’, a Show That Technically Exists

I moved soon after Nine Perfect Strangers arrived on Hulu in 2021. A die hard Nicole Kidman fan, I knew I’d watch the show eventually — I mean, I sat through Grace of Monaco — and this was perfect timing. I binged all eight episodes while building IKEA furniture, giving the mediocre show the exact amount of attention it deserved.

Almost four years later, this limited series has received a second season. It’s an inexplicable decision until you remember that now all TV has become IKEA TV. Even if most people aren’t putting furniture together, they are on their phones. It’s why more and more studio executives are asking screenwriters to over-explain plot points. Every story should be understandable to someone texting friends or scrolling entirely separate videos while the series plays in the background.

Long before there was so-called prestige TV, there was trash TV. There’s nothing wrong with watching soap operas. In fact, one reason I love Nicole Kidman is because she’ll do Expats (a great a show that demands full attention), The Perfect Couple (a show that does not), Babygirl (a great movie that demands full attention), and A Family Affair (a movie that does not) all in a single year.

The first season of Nine Perfect Strangers was totally sufficient trash where Kidman chewed scenery with a bad wig and a worse accent and every one of its famous cast members — likely receiving hefty paychecks — tonally seemed to be on completely different shows. Alas, the second season has held onto this tonal confusion but little of the trashy fun. It’s not a mashup of storylines in a way that feels goofy and entertaining. It’s a show that seems to have disdain for its own existence. It has the energy of an eighth season of a long-running series where everyone involved yearns to be free of their contract. But most of the cast is new and this is only a second season. If the people involved didn’t even want to work on this, why does it exist?

I don’t actually know if show creator John-Henry Butterworth and director Jonathan Levine only made this because the industry is at a point where any job feels like a miracle. But I do know that the show comments on itself in a way that implies that’s the case.

ā€œWhen you keep an open mind it leaves doors open for terrible shit to come in,ā€ one character says, only for her girlfriend to make fun of her, telling her that’s really profound and she should write it down. Later she’ll describe a dream sequence as ā€œa very on the nose nightmareā€ as if to get out in front of any criticisms that the sequence was clichĆ©. Just like the show has someone make fun of Nicole Kidman’s character for having an inconsistent accent, something said by many viewers after season one. Another character calls someone the Fresh Prince of Ryan Air, followed by someone else saying, oh that’s good how long have you been sitting on that one?

What makes the best soap operas fun is their sincerity. Even if the intention is camp, that’s better achieved by a true commitment to the characters and story you’re telling. Instead, this season of Nine Perfect Strangers is so desperate to avoid critique, it feels like every fifteen minutes the show asks us why we’re still watching.

That’s not to say it’s without its pleasures. King Princess is surprisingly good as a former child prodigy with a controlling girlfriend played by Maisie Richardson-Sellers. Her storyline and Annie Murphy’s storyline with Christine Baranski — the only actor who truly understands the show she’s on — are both committed to mommy issues in a way that will entertain queer viewers. Murray Bartlett is also enjoyable as a former kids TV host with anger issues — even if it feels like a very dark omen for the industry that Bartlett won an Emmy for The White Lotus only to end up on White Lotus-lite a few years later.

Maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe there’s a place for bad TV that hates itself, hates its audience, and has its characters on clichĆ© drug trips every single episode. But I think because TV is getting worse, because attention spans are dwindling, because we feel mere years away from AI-written media that will make this show appear prestige, I feel a stubborn resistance to turning off my brain. In fact, my mind is starving. I want work that’s challenging or, at least, sharp in its entertaining stupidity. I can’t subject myself to anything else that approaches a variety of serious topics with a perspective this hollow.

The good news for Nicole Kidman fans is she already has another limited series in post, yet another in production, and a third season of Big Little Lies in development. And if the industry is too dead right now to make even one of those worth watching, hey, more people could take that time to watch Expats!


Nine Perfect Strangers season two is now streaming on Hulu.

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+!
Related:

Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 715 articles for us.

2 Comments

  1. ā€œ It’s an inexplicable decision until you remember that now all TV has become IKEA TV. ā€ – this is SO true of the vast majority! At least it’s let me finally watch Friday Night Lights (with a surprise lesbian mayor)….

Comments are closed.

‘LEAVE ME ALONE’ I’m Listening to the New ReneĆ© Rapp Single

For the first time since 2023 (excludingĀ Mean GirlsĀ releases), ReneĆ© Rapp has finally dropped new music today. The new single “LEAVE ME ALONE” comes on the heels of a lot of cheeky promotional teases from the ever-charismatic Rapp, including a mysterious fake NDA alluding to some of the eventual album’s themes.

While fans previously suspected Rapp was gearing up to release a single called BITE ME, it turns out that’s the name of the upcoming album (and maybe an eponymous single to come), as this first track we get a taste of is indeed titled “LEAVE ME ALONE”, which is exactly what I’d like everyone to do so I can bask in the sexy thrums of this instant earworm.

A curious cast of characters have been tapped for promotion of the BITE ME project, including Gabby Windey, Charlize Theron, Paris Hilton, and…Monica Lewinsky? What is the throughline here? Can someone tell me? When it was just Charlize and Paris, my group chat speculated “ReneĆ©’s roots,” and Monica could possibly fit that theme, too, but Gabby? Is she old enough to be a root?

The song’s hook is its best part and a great mantra for the summer (ā€œLeave me alone, bitch, I wanna have funā€). There’s also possibly a reference to her departure fromĀ Sex Lives of College Girls:Ā ā€œI took my sex life with me, now the show ain’t fuckin’.ā€

It’s a great time to be a dyke who loves pop music, and if “LEAVE ME ALONE” is any indication, the upcoming sophomore album from Rapp — out August 1 — will keep the tradition of queer women dominating the song of the summer rankings going.

In an appearance on Instagram’s podcast Close Friends Only, Rapp opened up about the process of making this album and some of the emotions going on behind the scenes. “I think one of the last songs I wrote, I had such a terrible day,” she says. “I just had such a bad day and just like bad experiences, and I was like I have nowhere else to go with my thoughts because obviously I can’t put them outward in this moment, therefore I will be like mentally just writing.” Much of the album tracks her growth from age 23 to 24, with Rapp saying about her 23rd year: “It was so bad, and I thought 22 was insane for me.ā€

So it sounds like we can expect a lot of different layers of Rapp’s artistry and storytelling on the album, including sexy and fun stuff as well as more intense emotions. We’ll get to hear more of BITE ME on August 1.

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?

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Related:

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is the managing editor of Autostraddle and a lesbian writer of essays, fiction, and pop culture criticism living in Orlando. She is the former managing editor of TriQuarterly, and her short stories appear in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Joyland, Catapult, The Offing, The Rumpus, Cake Zine, and more. Some of her pop culture writing can be found at The A.V. Club, Vulture, The Cut, and others. When she is not writing, editing, or reading, she is probably playing tennis. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram and learn more about her work on her website.

Kayla has written 1027 articles for us.

Summer Is for the Midwest Princess

This isĀ The Parlour, a place for intimate conversation, a real-time archive, a shared diary passed between a rotating cast of queer characters every week in an attempt to capture a kaleidoscopic view of what it’s like to be a queer person right here, right now.


Summer has always been my favorite season (with the exception of fall, but only in the Midwest). I think this is something ingrained in all of us thanks to school. We stare at the clock, desperately waiting to see the second ticker relieve us from homework, teachers, the horrors of middle school. Some people had fun vacations, trips to a distant relative’s house, summer school. The luckiest of them all had summer camp.

I was fortunate enough to have experienced an amalgamation of all of these. My parents had us all in this Asian math and reading program, using our progress (or lack thereof) to determine if we got to go swimming, to a friend’s house, or really even anywhere other than the kitchen counter. We spent a few summers at various family reunions. I remember my ā€œuncleā€ (it’s a long story) making this roasted corn on the grill that, to this day, remains unparalleled. I took an outdoor summer gym class and wore tan tights under my soffe shorts because I didn’t want anyone to see my thighs jiggle. I dreaded most of these summer activities, so when I finally became of working age, I was so relieved I could use work as an excuse to get out of them.

Em Win in a lake

The only job a 16-year-old lifeguard really has is to kiss their coworkers and fuck around. Sadly, I took this job far more seriously than I should’ve. I don’t regret spending hours in CPR classes, in-services, or generally freezing to death in a swimsuit (Ohio in May can still bring snow). It was all worth it, because it eventually got me the job as a Pathfinder counselor at Camp Storer, the most coveted job in all of Southwest Michigan.

Camp Storer was one of those places all schools on the Ohio/Michigan state line took their kids to for an educational field trip. I was lucky enough to have been a summer camper there for a few years. So when I was chosen as one of three counselors to lead an all-girls group of teens through an off-the-grid, unstructured camping extravaganza, it felt like everything was coming full circle.

Em Win holding a chicken

Every May, I go back to this space in my mind; I can confidently say that summer was the best summer of my life. I taught stand-up paddle board classes, poetry workshops by the lake, shared campfire stories, helped my friends sneak out to hook up in the woods. I helped younger girls navigate things like their own queerness (before I was even out lol). I flirted with all the international camp counselors, which is eventually how I ended up in grad school in England five years later.

It was a summer of firsts: swimming naked in public, becoming friends with the ā€œcoolā€ camp counselors, walking around topless in the woods, making out with this guy on top of the diving platform, only to tell him a week later I was becoming a nun (that was my queer cover-up story). I was introduced to SARK’s art and poetry. I saved a friend from drowning in the lake. I took my British friends to see Cabela’s, a cultural hotspot of the Midwest.

It was perfect in every way. It’s a respite in my mind I escape to frequently. I unabashedly admit that if I could jump back in time, I would live that summer over, and over, and over again, like the true Midwest Princess I am.

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Em Win

Em (she/they) is a writer, therapist, and connoisseur of odd jobs. Born a Midwest Princess and once an LA Gay, she has somehow put down roots in Orlando, FL. Most of her time and energy is spent on FL-based queer advocacy in therapy world.

Em has written 86 articles for us.

No Filter: Kristen Kish Is Eating Beaver Tails

Hello and welcome back to No Filter! This is the place where I tell you all about what our favorite gay celebrities are getting up to, via Instagram, an application you might have heard of! Let’s get down to business, shall we?


Always nice when Sarah graces us with a post! And this image is certainly stirring!


I am fine with you not being on tour as long as you are making music!


Oh that’s today! Well hellfire, let’s go!


As am I not from Canada I did have to look up what a beaver tail is (fried dough in cinnamon sugar). I approve!


You know when you see an image and you just know it’s about to a meme? Or is that just my brain damage from working in social media?


This actually me made both hoot and holler, tbh!


Okay so we got some GREAT content out of these two couples hanging out, first up: the studs. Look at em! They’re so happy!


Smash cut to the femmes….I mean it’s just so perfect? I want a show about these four!


And the song is out next week! Let’s fucking go!


I was simply too lazy to like, actually read the comments here, but I hope that girl got in touch! This is also 100% how I would use social media if I was famous.


I am so ready for MI8 (yes I have seen the early reviews, I trust in Tom) and I am sooo thrilled that Katy will be there for me!


That’s EMMY WINNING FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST LAURIE HERNANDEZ right there!!!


Well….yes?


Similarly, yes please!


I am unable to NOT comment on this as I lived in Boston for damn near a decade, but the truth is? All cannoli is good! I was a Modern Pastry girl for a bit, but then Mike’s opened a storefront in Cambridge. The North End is too far away! Sorry!


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+!
Related:

Christina Tucker

Christina Tucker is writer and podcaster living in Philadelphia. Find her on Twitter or Instagram!

Christina has written 351 articles for us.

Mini Crossword is Making Book Recommendations

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Join AF+!
Related:

Darby Ratliff

Darby is a queer crossword constructor and graduate student living in St. Louis.

Darby has written 57 articles for us.

Rachel

Rachel is a queer crossword constructor, writer, and bioethicist.

Rachel has written 8 articles for us.

Meet All 36 Gay WNBA Players of the 2025 Season

Which WNBA players are gay and how many of them are gay? Well, when Autostraddle published our very first list of out gay WNBA players several years back, it held merely 15 names. Last season, that number had climbed to 38, although two of the players on last year’s list ended up getting waived from their teams shortly into the season, leaving us with 36. In the weeks leading up to rosters getting finalized this year, it looked like we might improve on that number — but cuts were made, and we find ourselves here, today, with 36 definitively out gay players. There are also four players I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere as gay but can’t find additional sources to confirm, and some rookies who could come out as the season progresses, perhaps! I will update this post as events warrant.

If you want to prepare yourself fully for the 2025 Season, you will find everything you need to do so in Natalie’s previews for the Eastern Conference and the Western.


Atlanta Dream Gay Players

Brittney Griner

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COLLEGE PARK, GEORGIA - MAY 10: Brittney Griner #42 of the Atlanta Dream reacts after hitting a three-point basket against the Indiana Fever during the first quarter of a preseason game at Gateway Center Arena on May 10, 2025 in College Park, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The legendary Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle, welcomed a baby boy just before the Olympics last year. Griner became the first out gay college player drafted to the WNBA when she went first to the Phoenix Mercury in 2013, and was traded to the Dream ahead of the 2025 season.


Jordin Canada

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 24: Jordin Canada #3 of the Atlanta Dream dribbles during the second half against the New York Liberty in Game Two of Round One of the WNBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on September 24, 2024 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Liberty won 91-82. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

In addition to an already prolific seven-year career in the WNBA, Canada is a musician.


Chicago Sky Gay Players

Courtney Vandersloot

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CHICAGO, IL - MAY 06: Courtney Vandersloot #22 of the Chicago Sky brings the ball up court during the first half against the Minnesota Lynx on May 6, 2025 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In December 2018, Vandersloot married her then-teammate Allie Quigley, who left the Sky in 2022. They welcomed a baby girl to their family this April.


Dallas Wings Gay Players

Arike Ogunbowale

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(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Ogunbowale got engaged to her fiance, influencer Lala Ronay, last May.


Dijonai Carrington

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 10: DiJonai Carrington #21 of the Dallas Wings controls the ball during the second half of a preseason game against the Toyota Antelopes at College Park Center on May 10, 2025 in Arlington, Texas.
(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Dijonai Carrington, traded to the Wings from the Sun prior to this season, is dating her now-teammate, Nalyssa Smith. Their relationship has been a non-stop delight for the women’s basketball community.


Nalyssa Smith

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 10: NaLyssa Smith #1 of the Dallas Wings looks on during the first half of a preseason game against the Toyota Antelopes at College Park Center on May 10, 2025 in Arlington, Texas.
(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Smith previously played for the Fever and now is playing alongside her girlfriend, Dijonai Carrington. They’ve had an on-and-off relationship since attending college together at Baylor.


Tyasha Harris

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(Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Harris’s girlfriend, Autumn Jones, is already sporting memorable courtside looks and facial expressions. Harris was drafted by the Wings in 2020, but played a season at the Sun and one in China before returning to the Wings this year.


Golden State Valkyries Gay Players

Kate Martin

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 6: Kate Martin #20 of the Golden State Valkyries dribbles against Azura Stevens #23 of the Los Angeles Sparks during a game at Chase Center on May 6, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Supriya Limaye/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
(Photo by Supriya Limaye/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Kate, who was drafted to the Aces out of college and traded to the Valkyries this year, came out by going public with her relationship to Claire Gransee, with whom Martin attended college.


Cecelia Zandalasini

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ANKARA, TURKEY - DECEMBER 07, 2024: Cecilia Zandalasini, #24 of Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring Istanbul in action during the ING Bank Women's Basketball Super League (KBSL)
(Altan Gocher / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The Italian player spent a season with the Minnesota Lynx in 2018 and again in 2024, but was picked up by the Lynx in the expansion draft. She has a hot Italian girlfriend, Sara Barbieri.


Indiana Fever Gay Players

DeWanna Bonner

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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 3: DeWanna Bonner #25 of the Indiana Fever gets hyped during the second half against the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 3, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)

Bonner is in one of the W’s most high-profile couples — she is engaged to Alyssa Thomas, with whom she played on The Connecticut Sun until they were both traded this year. (Thomas landed at the Phoenix Mercury.)


Natasha Howard

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IOWA CITY, IOWA- MAY 4: Forward Natasha Howard #6 of the Indiana Fever brings the ball down the court during the first half against the Brazil National Team, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 4, 2025 in Iowa City, Iowa.
(Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Howard was drafted to the Fever in 2014, but didn’t stay there — after playing with the Wings for her last two seasons, she came to the Fever as a free agent ahead of the 2025 season. Her wedding to hair salon entrepreneur Jac’Eil Duckworth Howard was featured on the eleventh season of Basketball Wives.


Sydney Colson

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This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is sydney-colson-GettyImages-2214030537.jpg
IOWA CITY, IOWA- MAY 4: Guard Sydney Colson #51 of the Indiana Fever brings the ball down the court during the first half against the Brazil National Team, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 4, 2025 in Iowa City, Iowa.
(Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Sydney Colson is the face of the WNBA, the star of the Syd & TP Show, a fashion icon and truly the most entertaining human being in the league. She comes to the Fever this year from the Aces.


Las Vegas Aces Gay Players

Crystal Bradford

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SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - MAY 02: Crystal Bradford #8 of the Las Vegas Aces reacts with Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces against the Dallas Wings during the preseason game at Purcell Pavilion on May 02, 2025 in South Bend, Indiana.
(Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

Crystal wrote an essay for The Player’s Tribune in 2023 that included a story of coming out to her mother in high school. After one season with the Sparks in 2015, she didn’t play in the W again until a 2021 run with the Atlanta Dream. After sitting out one game for a suspension over a 2021 fight in Atlanta, she’ll be on the court with the Aces this season.


Chelsea Gray

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(Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

Gray is a legend, sporting two Olympic gold medals, three WNBA Championships and one Unrivaled championship. Chelsea and her wife, Tipsea Gray, had a baby in February of 2024.


Jewell Loyd

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HENDERSON, NEVADA - APRIL 27: Jewell Loyd #24 of the Las Vegas Aces practices during the team's first day of training camp at Las Vegas Aces Headquarters on April 27, 2025 in Henderson, Nevada.
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Las Vegas Aces picked up one of the league’s top talents after she asked to be traded from the Seattle Storm, where she’d been playing since 2015. Her girlfriend, TĆ©a Adams, is a point guard for the Estonia Women’s National Basketball Team. (They haven’t posted together recently but I think they’re still together??)


Kierstan Bell

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 19: Kierstan Bell #1 of the Las Vegas Aces drives against the Dallas Wings in the second quarter at Michelob ULTRA Arena on September 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada
(Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images)

Bell has been with the Aces since the 2022, when she was drafted by them 11th overall.


Los Angeles Sparks Gay Players

Emma Cannon

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 06:  Emma Cannon #32 of the Los Angeles Sparks shoots over Laeticia Amihere #3 of the Golden State Valkyries in the second half of a WNBA basket ball game at Chase Center on May 06, 2025 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Cannon debuted in the WNBA in 2017, and has played internationally and for four different WNBA teams before signing with the Sparks for 2025. She and her wife, Tia Cannon, had their first child in 2022, and welcomed twins, a boy and a girl, to their family in April.


Julie Allemand

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(Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images)

Belgian baller Julie Allemand was picked up by the Indiana Fever in the 2016 draft, but she spent the next three years playing in Europe before returning to the Fever in 2020, but sat out the subsequent year for her mental health. She joined the Sky for 2022, but opted out in 2023 to focus on the Belgian national team — she was the only out lesbian on their 2024 Olympics squad. In 2024, she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks, but was injured shortly thereafter. This will be her first season actually playing for the Sparks, and her second in the WNBA.


Minnesota Lynx Gay Players

Alanna Smith

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(Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

Smith has played for the Australian Olympic basketball team as well as for the Mercury, Fever and Sky. This is her second season with the Minnesota Lynx.


Courtney Williams

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 06: Courtney Williams #10 of the Minnesota Lynx dribbles the ball against the Chicago Sky during the second half of a preseason game at Wintrust Arena on May 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images)

Top WNBA Hottie Courtney Williams, who began her WNBA career in 2016 and was a key player for the Lynx as they battled for a championship last year, got engaged to her girlfriend, real estate agent Shya, last November, and we were all pretty excited about it!


Kayla McBride

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - OCTOBER 08: Kayla McBride #21 of the Minnesota Lynx celebrates her basket against the Connecticut Sun in the first quarter of Game Five of the Semi-Finals during the WNBA Playoffs at Target Center on October 08, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

McBride, who’s been playing in the W since 2014 and with the Lynx since 2021, recently wrote a piece for The Player’s Tribune about her mental health journey.


Natisha Hiedeman

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 06: Natisha Hiedeman #2 of the Minnesota Lynx shoots the ball against the Chicago Sky during the second half of a preseason game at Wintrust Arena on May 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois
(Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images)

Tisha and her former Connecticut Sun teammate, Jasmine Thomas, got engaged in 2021 and had a wedding website set up for 2023, but they haven’t posted pictures together in quite some time. This is Tisha’s second year with the Lynx after five in Connecticut.


New York Liberty Gay Players

Breanna Stewart

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EUGENE, OREGON - MAY 12:  Breanna Stewart #30 of the New York Liberty reacts after the preseason win over the Toyota Antelopes at Matthew Knight Arena on May 12, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon.
(Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

Stewart’s wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, is a former player for the Phoenix Mercury and the Spanish National Team. They have two children together.


Isabelle Harrison

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(Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

Two WNBA couples traded their way into playing on the same team (literally and figuratively) this season, one of them is Harrison and girlfriend Tasha Cloud. Cloud has described herself as dating an “beautiful straight woman that fell in love with me,” which is interesting!


Jonquel Jones

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EUGENE, OREGON - MAY 12:  Jonquel Jones #35 of the New York Liberty reacts during the first half of the WNBA preseason game against the Toyota Antelopes at Matthew Knight Arena on May 12, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon.
(Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

Our King, 2024 WNBA Championship MVP Jonquel Jones, has been engaged to her fiancee, nail tech Nesha Keeshone, since 2023.


Natasha Cloud

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EUGENE, OREGON - MAY 12:  Natasha Cloud #9 of the New York Liberty looks to pass the ball during the first half of the WNBA preseason game against the Toyota Antelopes at Matthew Knight Arena on May 12, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon.
(Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

Natasha Cloud is, as aforementioned, dating Izzy Harrison, who she says radically transformed her life at a time when she was in need of refocusing. Cloud began her WNBA career in 2015 and is a new addition to the Liberty’s roster.


Phoenix Mercury Gay Players

Alyssa Thomas

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 11: Alyssa Thomas #25 of the Phoenix Mercury dribbles the ball while Veronica Burton #22 of the Golden State Valkyries attempts to block her during the second quarter at PHX Arena on May 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona
(Photo by Aryanna Frank/Getty Images)

Alyssa Thomas is one of the WNBA’s top players and is engaged to DeWanna Bonner, her former teammate at the Connecticut Sun.


Kahleah Copper

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 06: Kahleak Copper #2 of the Phoenix Mercury looks on in the third quarter of a preseason game against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena on May 06, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada
(Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images)

Copper, the Mercury’s top scorer, got engaged to her girlfriend, Swedish National Team baller Binta Drammeh, in 2023, but haven’t posted much about the relationship since then! Unfortunately she underwent a left knee arthroscopy last week that has sidelined her for the first 4-6 weeks of the season.


Natasha Mack

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 11: Natasha Mack#10 of the Phoenix Mercury looks to pass the ball during the first quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at PHX Arena on May 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona.

(Photo by Aryanna Frank/Getty Images)

Mack was drafted to the Sky in 2021, played in Poland for two years, and then joined the Mercury in 2024. Her girlfriend, Leecy, is a middle school teacher!


Sami Whitcomb

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 11: Sami Whitcomb #33 of the Phoenix Mercury looks up to the scoreboard during the second quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at PHX Arena on May 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Photo by Aryanna Frank/Getty Images)

Whitcomb’s career has been long and international, including 8 years in the WNBA. This is her first season with the Mercury. She and her wife, Kate Malpass, have two small kiddos.


Sevgi Uzun

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 11: Sevgi Uzun #10 of the Phoenix Mercury dribbles the ball during the second quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at PHX Arena on May 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Photo by Aryanna Frank/Getty Images)

The Turkish basketball player played her first season with the WNBA last year in Dallas and, I believe, is married to athlete digital creator Selin Uzun.


Seattle Storm Gay Players

Erica Wheeler

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 04: Erica Wheeler #17 of Seattle Storm advances the ball d3q of a preseason WNBA game at Climate Pledge Arena on May 04, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

Erica Wheeler is engaged to her girlfriend, Danielle Edwards. She went undrafted out of Rutgers in 2015 and is now a two-time WNBA All-Star. She signed with the Storm after playing for the Fever last year.


Washington Mystics Gay Players

Brittney Sykes

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NDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 3: Brittney Sykes #20 of the Washington Mystics dribbles past Kelsey Mitchell #0 of the Indiana Fever during the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 3, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. N
(Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)

Sykes’ girlfriend, Morghan Medlock, is a chef with courtside style so good it was featured in Vogue magazine last year — she often coordinates her outfits to match Sykes’ chosen color palette of the day.


Emily Engstler

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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 16: Emily Engstler #21 of the Washington Mystics runs onto the court during player introductions before the game against the Atlanta Dream at Carefirst Arena on May 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Mystics defeated the Drea 94-90. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

This is Emily’s second year at Washington.


Stefanie Dolson

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WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 19: Stefanie Dolson #31 of the Washington Mystics celebrates during the game against the Indiana Fever at Capital One Arena on September 19, 2024 in Washington, DC
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Stef Dolson, who won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with her 3×3 team, recently celebrated her two year anniversary with her girlfriend Kristen Podlovits, who works as an Account Manager for Membership Services for the New York Liberty.


Sug Sutton

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(Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Sug has been with the Mystics since 2024, after originally being drafted there in 2020, getting waived in 2021, playing overseas, and then playing with the Mercury in 2023.


Which WNBA Team Has the Most Gay Players?

The Phoenix Mercury was the WNBA team with the most gay players in 2024 (six) and despite losing several of them —Brittney Griner to the Dream, Natasha Cloud to the Liberty and Diana Taurasi to retirement —Phoenix managed to recruit new homosexuals to fill their spots, and is once again the gayest team in the WNBA.

The Connecticut Sun managed to break the mold this year, after losing three lesbians including power couple Alyssa Thomas and Dewanna Bonner, they are attempting to compete in the league with zero (0) lesbians on their team.

What Percentage of the WNBA Is Gay?

23% of the WNBA is gay. As of right now, there are 36 out gay players in the WNBA for the 2025 season. Last year we had 36 gay players (because two were waived shortly into the season) — but we also had a smaller league last year, which gave us a solid 25% of WNBA players clocking in as gay or lesbians, with similar levels the year prior.

But now, with the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, we’ve got 153 players on rosters for the 2025 season, and with just 35 of them being out as gay, the percentage has dropped to 23.5%. So now we’re somewhere in between 2022, when the league was 20% gay, and last year, when we’d scaled the mighty quarter.

Seven of last year’s gay players aren’t on any rosters this year. The league’s all-time highest scorer, Diana Taurasi, retired, as did Layshia Clarendon, the league’s first out non-binary athlete. The Atlanta Dream’s Aerial Powers and the Seattle Storm’s Victoria Vivians are now free agents. #1 Shorty Crystal Dangerfield was waived by the Atlanta Dream 15 games into the 2024 season, and played a 7-day hardship contract with the Los Angeles Sparks but didn’t land on any 2025 rosters. Dyaisha Fair, drafted to the Aces for her rookie season, was waived the day after her league debut last May and then left the country. Jordan Horston suffered an ACL injury during the 2025 Athletes Unlimited Pro basketball season and it was confirmed in April that she’d miss the 2025 season.

Which New Gay Players Are in the WNBA This Year?

Sadly not Shyanne Sellers, who was drafted to the Valkyries, then waived, then picked up by the Dream, and then waived again. Czech lesbian Elissa Cunane also was signed to a training camp contract with the Valkyries but didn’t make the final roster. But we also added three new lesbians — Belgian player Julie Allemand came back from her injury to play for the Sparks and Italian baller Cecelia Zandalasini joined the Valkyries and Crystal Bradford signed with the Aces. Stay tuned for anybody else coming out because we deserve a little joy in this world and that joy exists on the court of a women’s basketball game. I promise.

Where Can I Get a Gay 4 WNBA Hat?

At the For Them Store!

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+!
Related:

Riese

Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3319 articles for us.

2 Comments

  1. i have so been looking forward to the return of wnba writing on autostraddle! all the coverage has been great and i will be copping a gay 4 wnba hat asap

    also i have spent a considerable amount of time googling “is kayla mcbride gay” and “kayla mcbride girlfriend” and “kayla mcbride boyfriend?????” but i wasn’t able to find an answer so i really appreciate finally getting some clarity on this important topic!

  2. Excuse meeeee you forgot Chennedy Carter in the in memorium section! Hopefully she gets picked back up next season, just a delightful chaos monster

Comments are closed.

Praise the Wilderness! Yellowjackets Has Finally Been Renewed for a Fourth Season

Nat on the phone in Yellowjackets season three, ahead of Yellowjackets season four

Yellowjackets Season Four Finally Announced

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! Good news, gays, gals, and cannibal pals, our favorite twisted teen drama Yellowjackets has officially been renewed for a fourth season! Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO of Paramount Global and President of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios recognizes the brilliance of this show, calling it, “a perfect alchemy of psychological horror, survival thriller and coming-of-age drama that continues to captivate audiences worldwide, brought to life by our extraordinarily talented and beloved cast.”

I don’t know why they decided to stress us out by waiting so long to officially renew it, because apparently, according to the network, the season three finale was the most-streamed episode in the series so far. Everyone needed to know who pit girl and the Antler Queen were!!

The ever-brilliant social media team made this announcement on Instagram with a very on-brand post, which was just a creepy-moody wilderness background and a grainy animation that shudders between The Symbol and the number 4. The caption reads, “The Wilderness rewards you 4 your devotion. #Yellowjackets will return.” And we say, in unison, thank you, Wilderness.

Season three was a wild ride, with the intensity, stakes, and absurdity (pos) rising with every episode, so I for one can’t wait to see what’s in store for the teens and adults alike. (If you’re missing our favorite psychotic soccer team in the meantime, you can always relive the series by way of Kayla’s episodic recaps!)

So sharpen your knives, practice your howls, and dry clean your pink baseball hats, because there may be no book club, but there will be more Yellowjackets.


Buzz on Over for More News

+ NewFest Pride starts May 29, and you can see some great upcoming queer films, either in person in NYC or virtually

+ Queer actresses Kaylee Kaneshiro and Anna Akana to star in upcoming horror film The Rift about cult survivors

+ Cyndi Lauper thinks Chappell Roan is great (and I agree)

+ Since Bridgerton was renewed for a fifth and sixth season before season four even airs, fans are speculating that Season 6 could be sapphic because of the order of the books and some genderswapping done in season three

+ Lorde’s upcoming single ā€œMan of the Yearā€ is the song she says she’s proudest of from her upcoming new album, and is about her realization that her gender is more fluid than she previously thought (as of this writing, she still uses she/her pronouns)

+ The Last of Us creators think they’ll need a fourth season to finish the story (and I sure as hell hope they get the chance to do exactly that)

+ ReneĆ© Rapp is among the list of people performing at this year’s American Music Awards, which is perfect since she’s releasing new music tomorrow

+ Speaking of new queer music, Miley Cyrus released a teaser for her album Something Beautiful that drops May 30

+ ICYMI, author Taylor Jenkins Reid came out as bisexual; in other news, fork found in kitchen

+ The Bear dropped their Season 4 trailer, and my favorite part was Ayo Edebiri’s character playing basketball alone for some reason

+ KATSEYE’s Lara accepted an award at Golden Hour: A Queer AANHPI Night Market and talks about living her truth

+ Reality star Chantel Everett hooked up with her friend Ashley and sort of spins out about it asking “Does this mean that I’m a lesbian? Just like that?” because she apparently doesn’t know bisexuality exists

+ Cynthia Nixon likes how messy Miranda’s storylines are on And Just Like That, saying, “Just because we’re queer doesn’t mean we have to be perfect too.”

+ Trans influencer Vivian Jenna Wilson landed her first modeling gig with Wildfang

+ And this is stretching the concept of “pop culture” a little but I thought it was neat: Some DC queers are setting out to paint the “longest LGBTQ+ mural in history” for World Pride (and I have friends who got to add a little to it and be part of that history!!)

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+!

Valerie Anne

Valerie Anne (she/they) a TV-loving, video-game-playing nerd who loves reading, watching, and writing about stories in all forms. While having a penchant for sci-fi, Valerie will watch anything that promises a good story, and especially if that good story is queer.

Valerie has written 644 articles for us.

Queer Horoscopes for Gemini Season 2025

Gemini Season often feels busy, pulsing with frenetic energy. As we approach the Solstice and seasonal shift, combined with the start of Pride Month, our calendars can fill with events and opportunities for connection. The air fills with flirty, feral energy — and yes, the drama that often comes with it. For some, this electric atmosphere is the highlight of the year; for others, it’s a whirlwind to brace and get through. Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, understanding the astrology of this Gemini Season can help you navigate the chaos while staying true to yourself.


Gemini Season Highlights

Gemini Season begins on May 20th and ends on June 19th.

Key Dates

May 24: šŸŒ€ Mercury conjunct Uranus
prompting unexpected exchanges—your thoughts might surprise you!

May 24: āž”ļø Saturn enters Aries
setting a spicy tone for summer (more on this in the breakdown below)

May 25: āž”ļø Mercury enters Gemini
speeding up the buzz of socializing and information exchange

May 26: šŸŒ‘ New Moon in Gemini
opening a portal for reflection on communication patterns and an opportunity for setting new intentions and goals

May 29: šŸŒ€ Mercury Cazimi
cazimi = swallowed by the sun, resetting our communication patterns

June 1: šŸŒ€ Venus conjunct Chiron
pressing on tender attachment wounds while highlighting how far we’ve come

June 5: āž”ļø Venus enters Taurus
shifting relationship dynamics toward a more comfort and safety-seeking mode

June 8: āž”ļø Mercury enters Cancer and is conjunct Jupiter
creating big cry baby energy! Let the feelings flow…

June 9: āž”ļø Jupiter enters Cancer
setting a moody tone for the next year (more on this in the breakdown below)

June 9: šŸ’„ Mercury squares Saturn & Neptune while Venus squares Pluto
bringing major reality checks around communication & relationships — these transits ask us to choose our words carefully!

June 11: šŸŒ• Full Moon in Sagittarius
illuminating next steps for our learning

June 15: šŸ’„ Mars square Uranus and Jupiter Square Saturn
bringing explosive energy that asks us to reconsider how we handle sudden changes and long-term plans

June 17: āž”ļø Mars enters Virgo
bringing a sharper focus to details and organization

June 18: šŸ’„ Jupiter square Neptune
inviting us to reimagine what’s possible

June 20: āž”ļø Sun enters Cancer
initiating a new zodiac season


Gemini Season Breakdown

The month ahead is a time of heightened fantasy, rapid communication, and conflicting views. Gemini’s mutable air energy invites us to be curious, adaptable, and open to multiple perspectives. As Mercury-ruled Gemini season unfolds, we’re called to examine how we process and share information, while staying mindful of information overload.

In addition to the Sun, Mercury, Venus, AND Mars, two major outer planets change signs during Gemini season: Saturn (which shifts approximately every 3 years) and Jupiter (which shifts yearly). On May 24, Saturn enters the cardinal fire sign of Aries, setting a spicy tone for summer. And then on June 9, Jupiter enters the cardinal water sign of Cancer, setting a moody tone for the next year. Both of these big planets entering cardinal signs is significant. Cardinal signs are initiatory and make shit happen.

These two major planetary shifts indicate a “changing of the guards” energetically. Saturn in Aries brings a trailblazing, bold energy to structures and responsibilities, while Jupiter in Cancer increases our movement toward emotional security and nurturing. Saturn contracts while Jupiter expands. Together, these transits suggest we’re entering a period of both courageous action and deep emotional processing. We’re in a crucial period of transformation. Despite any fears that may be coming up at this time, these simultaneous influences create a unique opportunity to both boldly step forward and tenderly nurture ourselves through change.

We are holding a lot. We are aware of a lot. It is both a catalyst and a hindrance that we have access to so much information. Gemini Season and the many transits within the month ahead are asking us to make space to actually digest and integrate the information we are consuming. What activities help you do this?

Gemini, ruled by Mercury, is associated with mental processes: thinking, connecting dots, collecting data, free associating, linking symbols, evaluating…

The archetype of Gemini is the twins, and when stressed, resorts to dualistic thinking—all or nothing, black or white, good or evil. This is a normal function of the human brain, but when it is unchecked, this absolutism repeats violence through othering.

On the other hand, when Gemini energy is safe and empowered, it can transcend binaries into manifold possibilities and new neural pathways. Radical change is possible here. Breaking cycles of harm starts here.

This Gemini Season, challenge yourself to notice when you are stuck in either/or thinking. What can you do to move your system beyond polarity into curiosity?

Try using your horoscope as a journal prompt to reflect on these themes. Talking to yourself is useful and strategic. Talking to yourself about how you are talking to yourself is a foundation for meaningful change.

Below are horoscopes for Gemini Season for each sign. These are written accounting for transits and planetary rulership, so please read for both your Sun sign AND your rising sign for a more complete picture!


Gemini Season Horoscopes

Gemini

Happy Birthday and Cosmic New Year, Gemini! As the Sun enters your domain, how will you celebrate? What would make this time feel like a fresh start? Your ruling planet, Mercury, is having quite a busy season! Mercury meets Jupiter (wisdom), Uranus (breakthroughs), and the Sun (vitality) in your sign this month. These meetups amplify your natural gifts of communication and curiosity. Pay special attention to the brilliant ideas and insights that emerge between May 24th-29th — they could lead to exciting new directions. Think big and don’t limit yourself right now. Later in June, you can edit, refine, and implement.

Saturn entering Aries brings structure and discipline to your social networks and long-term aspirations. Saturn asks you to be more discerning about which groups you align with and which dreams are worth pursuing. While this may feel restrictive at first, it’s actually helping you build more meaningful connections that spark action and collaboration toward your goals. Jupiter in Cancer brings abundance and growth to your material resources and a heightened awareness surrounding worth. Jupiter here expands your relationship with money, possessions, and personal values. While this transit can bring financial opportunities and increased income potential, it’s also about developing a deeper understanding of what truly matters to you. Use this time to explore new ways of building security while staying true to your values.


Cancer

While the Sun is in Gemini, make space to fantasize. Journal, daydream, create a vision board — whatever helps you tap into possibility. This reflective and creative energy will peak during the Gemini New Moon (5/26) and reach clarity with the Full Moon in Sagittarius (6/11). When you need solitude, embrace it. When you crave social connection, seek out people and activities that match your freak and respect your limits. Though Gemini season brings busier, more chaotic energy for everyone, you especially need to prioritize rest and recharging. Use this time to dream and scheme before the Sun enters YOUR season next month.

This invitation to fantasy isn’t about escapism — it’s about rewriting the story of your perceived limitations. As Saturn moves into Aries, you’ll discover opportunities for career and community transformation. Saturn brings structure and intention to your public persona. By clarifying your vision and standing firm on what’s non-negotiable, new responsibilities become exciting opportunities rather than burdens. As this Saturnian shift enhances your visibility, Jupiter in Cancer ushers in a powerful wave of expansion and personal growth. With Jupiter moving through your sign for the first time in 12 years, you’re entering a period of incredible opportunity and self-discovery. This transit helps you claim your yes’s and no’s with greater confidence by showing you where and how they’re evolving. In the process, you may discover more ways in which your sensitivity is your greatest strength.


Leo

In the social buzz of this season, it would benefit you to reflect on the friend groups and communities you are a part of and how it feels to exchange care with them. Pay extra attention to the stories you are telling yourself about rejection, attention, and deservingness. Are you asking for what you really want or need? Who actually matches the energy you bring to the table? When the Sun swallows Mercury on 5/29, what shift in your communication patterns with the groups you are a part of do you want to commit to shifting?

Jupiter in Cancer brings a period of spiritual retreat and inner work as this expansive planet begins to bring to light that which has previously been out of your conscious awareness. The vibe is revelation, and this transit invites deep reflection and connection with your intuition. During this time, you may find yourself processing hidden feelings or exploring spiritual practices that help you integrate past experiences. Simultaneously, Saturn in Aries is asking you to commit to deeper studies, whether through formal education or more experimental, self-directed exploration. This may require a leap of faith and most certainly will push your comfort zone. What is it you want to learn more about? To practice more seriously? Go for it!


Virgo

You can be so good at making and executing a plan, but sometimes tending to all those details and calculating all the possibilities can keep you feeling like you’re on a perpetual hamster wheel rather than reaching a destination. Gemini season will ask you, at some point, to step into a decisive leadership role. It might be small, like picking the spot your friends are going to meet up and setting the tone for the evening, or it might be a bigger life decision at home or at work. Pay special attention to the brilliant ideas and insights that emerge between May 24th-29th — they could lead to exciting new directions. Trust that you have the information you need to take the next step, and don’t be afraid to be seen and celebrated for that.

Jupiter in Cancer brings a year of social expansion and collaboration. This transit supports joining groups aligned with your values, growing your network, and finding your people — those you can reciprocally exchange care with and who value your talents and ideas. Keep an open mind about who you meet, an unexpected alliance could lead to meaningful opportunities. Alongside this expansion, Saturn in Aries brings tension to your intimate partnerships and shared resources. Tension isn’t automatically bad, but it can be uncomfortable. This transit asks you to examine your boundaries as you face deep-seated patterns around control and surrender, particularly in close relationships. If you can balance inner and outer work, your social life stands to radically transform and blossom.


Libra

This is a spicy time of year overall, and specifically beckoning you toward adventure, Libra. What makes something feel like an adventure for you? Is it the distance you travel to get there? Is it an element of surprise? Is it the aesthetic of your gear or your surroundings? However big or small your journey, however profound or mundane the destination, Gemini Season wants you to indulge in some novelty and shake up your routine. If you’ve been feeling stuck in any area of your life, this is the permission slip to shake things up and approach in a new way. Bonus points if you can make space for this between 6/1 and 6/9, when Venus joins Chiron (the wounded healer), enters Taurus (the sign of steadfastness and comfort), and then squares Pluto (the great transformer). Give yourself the freedom of wide open spaces.

As the sign associated with the scales, you understand more than most that delicate balance of reconciling opposites. This season initiates a dance of juggling the expansion of Jupiter and the contraction of Saturn. It will require trial and error. Jupiter in Cancer opens up new opportunities for visibility and impact in your career or community. You may find yourself being more vulnerable than usual and finding out that authenticity can open doors you did not even know were there. As you wear your heart a little more on your sleeve, Saturn’s simultaneous transit in Aries invokes some restructuring in your commitments and relationships. While this may initially feel restrictive, it’s actually helping you build more stable, mature relationships that can stand the test of time. While you’ll want to be sensitive to others’ needs at this time, staying true to your own values and boundaries is crucial.


Scorpio

Scorpio, you are arguable the best of all twelve zodiac signs at getting rid of shit. From decluttering your home to burning bridges with people who just don’t get it, you are cosmically oriented toward releasing what needs to be released. Yes, sometimes it might be preemptive or spiteful, but a lot of the time it’s boldly necessary. You’re doing what others want to do but don’t have the courage to execute. Gemini season is an especially heightened time for you to wield this superpower of yours, especially after 6/17 when Mars enters Virgo and sharpens your eyes to any previously overlooked details. While everyone is running around wildly, trust what you need to shed, get off your chest, or break away from. And then don’t forget to celebrate the good riddance with some good fun.

Saturn in Aries is a supportive force for this clearing-out process, specifically highlighting changes you could make around your daily routines and health. While it may feel demanding at first, prioritizing these structures will support your long-term well-being and vitality. At the same time as this practical transit, Jupiter in Cancer brings a renewed faith to your relationship with the unknown. Your natural depth-seeking tendencies combine beautifully with Jupiter’s expansive energy in a fellow sensitive water sign, making this an especially potent time for personal growth through education, travel, or spiritual practices. It’s a balance of discipline and play. Keep your mind open to unexpected teachers and unconventional wisdom — they could lead to profound breakthroughs in your understanding.


Sagittarius

Taurus Season asked you to reconsider your daily habits and routines, and now that Gemini Season is here, you’re invited to collaborate with others on making some significant changes. This is an important month to spend time getting clear on your expectations for yourself, as well as your connections with others. Celebrate those who have been showing up for you, note which connections feel more distant, and consider what you need to ask for from your commitments. Maybe it’s more play and sweetness, or maybe it’s reassurance and validation. What kinds of connection and support would nourish you right now? Pay extra attention to advocating for your needs between 6/15 and 6/18 when Jupiter makes some revealing squares to Saturn and Neptune, perhaps changing some plans.

As your ruling planet, Jupiter, moves into sensitive Cancer, your relationships may shift in unexpected ways, bringing opportunities for deeper emotional bonds and mutual understanding. This transit supports sharing your truth and being vulnerable, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. As a truth-seeking and often blunt fire sign, you may think you already tell it like it is, but this Jupiter transit is tenderizing. Learning to read the room and communicate with greater nuance doesn’t mean compromising your truth — it means delivering it in ways that create genuine connection rather than defensiveness. At the same time, Saturn in Aries can help forge new creative outlets for catharsis. Building on your access to spontaneous inspiration, Saturn here wants to help develop your talents with focused intention — whether that’s through art, work, romance, or any form of self-expression that lights you up.


Capricorn

Gemini season is a major self-care checkpoint for you, Capricorn. Taurus season invited you to be a bit indulgent in whatever pleasures were calling to you. Now, as people around you start to let loose a little more, notice how you respond to the frenetic energy of this season. Are you doubling down on work and cutting corners on sleep? Are you hydrating and eating well? What does your body need? What about your heart and your spirit? The period between 6/9 and 6/15, peaking at the Sag Full Moon on the 11th, brings extra emphasis to your work-life balance, making this an ideal time to reassess your routines. Notice where you might be overextending yourself or where you could use more support. This transit invites you to find creative solutions that honor both your ambitious nature and your need for restoration.

Saturn entering Aries may unearth some long-buried fiery emotions — anger, jealousy, passion. What have you had to shelve in order to hustle that finally has some breathing room now? How can you honor that process and celebrate the friction that shows you’re growing and expanding? Jupiter entering Cancer may amplify both profound support and stagnant conflict with your closest people. You’re likely to experience meaningful encounters that challenge and inspire your growth, as Jupiter amplifies and transforms the foundations of what you are attracted to and what you are attracting. This mix of energies can raise questions about how you balance intimacy with independence. Pay attention to the Full Moon in Sagittarius on 6/11, as it may illuminate some unconscious material to be integrated.


Aquarius

Let’s be real, you totally have a tendency to overthink things. That juicy insight of yours is such a gift, as you can access and explore uniquely zoomed-out perspectives, but sometimes it can be hard to zoom back into the present. To drop into embodiment. To savor simplicity. This time of the year is ripe for you with creative energy if you can slow down enough to harness it. It’s the kind of creativity that does not ask you to sacrifice your peace. It’s a romantic creativity, an emergent process. Don’t forget to make time and protect space for play, which will be especially rewarding to prioritize between 6/9 and 6/15, peaking at the Sag Full Moon on the 11th.

Play requires a balance of structure and flow. We need containers that help us feel safe and secure to be able to fully surrender into the moment. Saturn wants to help build that container for you, and Jupiter is ready to fill it with wonder. Saturn in Aries brings support for clearer boundaries and communication — advocating for your needs, honoring your limits, and taking your desires seriously enough to pursue them! Jupiter in Cancer begins to peel the veil back on the beauty of the in-between moments that could otherwise be overlooked: the light hitting the wall at golden hour, the crispness of the morning air, the joy of the first sip of your coffee in the morning. What is getting in the way of that? Jupiter expands your awareness of how your daily choices impact your vitality, and it looks like savoring the magic in the mundane.


Pisces

If anyone can adapt to the big-change energy of Gemini season with grace, it’s your mutable-water self, Pisces. You know how to go with the flow, meet the energy of the moment, and vibe. Enjoy! Have fun! Ride the waves! And, this is your friendly reminder to periodically ground yourself in the process. Eat, sleep, and reality check some of your fantasies. Notice where you are pouring your energy and if that’s watering something beautiful or just draining your reservoir for nothing. Pay extra attention to adequately resourcing yourself between 6/15 and 6/18 when Jupiter makes some revealing squares to Saturn and Neptune, perhaps changing some plans.

Jupiter and Saturn are here to help balance your ebb and flow. Saturn in Aries sharpens your focus on self-worth and material resources. What is worth your time? Your energy? Your money? This transit encourages disciplined choices, including some calculated risks. The stronger this Saturnian foundation becomes, the more gifts Jupiter in Cancer can bestow. Jupiter in this fellow water sign opens a transformative period for you in the realms of romance and recreation. You may feel drawn to art, music, or other modes of self-expression with renewed passion and depth. Try a new medium! Ground yourself firmly so you can explore your creative edges without fear of losing balance.


Aries

If you’re excited enough, you can really move mountains, Aries! You are a go-getter, pot-stirrer, and powerful trailblazer. Gemini season is an especially heightened time for you to wield your initiative, especially after 6/17 when Mars enters Virgo and sharpens your eyes to any previously overlooked details. Follow your curiosity and get experimental with it. This is a great time to spread your social wings and communicate your ideas and desires far and wide. Taurus season was a wild roller coaster — If you’re not feeling super inspired right now, who or what can you surround yourself with that you know sparks your fire?

Saturn entering your sign might push you past limits you didn’t think you could transcend. If you can lock in to a goal or even just commit to seriously following the breadcrumbs of a personal dream, you may feel both the weight of responsibility and the thrill of building something meaningful that truly reflects who you are. Don’t let the gravity of taking something seriously stop you. Jupiter in Cancer provides a nourishing counterweight to your roots and foundation. This transit brings opportunities for emotional healing and deepening your connection to home, whether that means feeling more at peace in your body, strengthening family bonds, or nesting in new ways. This time asks you to hold both the intensity of Saturn’s scrutiny and Jupiter’s expansive vision. It’s a time to be both practical and imaginative about your future.


Taurus

The transition from the syrupy slowness of your season, Taurus, into the chaotic buzz of Gemini season can certainly feel abrupt. You’re encouraged to enjoy the continued pleasures and playfulness of this time while staying steadfast in honoring your limits. As a generally stubborn sign, that might not be too much of an issue for you. But nevertheless, even the most grounded of us need reminders to make space to integrate the lessons we are learning. Take notes, literally! What is being revealed to you right now about how you use your precious resources? Where are you spending most of your time? Your energy? Your money? And how does that feel? Bonus points if you can make space for this reflection between 6/1 and 6/9, when Venus joins Chiron (the wounded healer), enters your sign, and then squares Pluto (the great transformer). Give yourself space to digest the dynamic energy!

As Jupiter shifts into Cancer, get ready for an influx of communication and continued learning opportunities. New connections are forming, mentally and interpersonally. At the same time, Saturn entering Aries could bring up old fears or insecurities, but it’s also a powerful time for inner work and releasing what no longer serves you. Endings are hard, and Taurus, you can have a tendency to hold on. Allow the newness and excitement of all that Jupiter is offering in your social sphere to help fortify some deep psychological shifts that are arising, while asking for some endings. These endings could be small or significant, either way, the core theme is about making space for authenticity to emerge. Even if it’s uncomfortable, your truth will set you free.

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+!

G Weaver

G Weaver is a queer astrologer, creative coach, and certified digital wellness educator. She has a special interest in humans. Whether exploring the collective psyche through the cosmos or studying and teaching about how the Internet is impacting us all, she is passionate about understanding and supporting transformation. She offers readings, classes, and publishes audio, written, and visual content on numerous platforms—connect with her here.

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Dykes Discuss ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’

The following article contains spoilers for season two of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Welcome to our series calledĀ Dykes Discuss, where we discuss media and topics that aren’t necessarily lesbian-forward but that we still want to weigh in on! We have fun! Today, we are discussing season two of Hulu’s reality television series The Secret Wives of Mormon Wives. Here because you too can’t get enough of this wild show? Great, we want to hear alllll your theories and speculations for next season, which has already been filmed but doesn’t yet have a release date. Know nothing about the show and just want to bask in the humor and charm of our witty and gritty commentary? Great, there’s actually nothing you really need to know. The premise of the series is all right there in the title; it’s a reality television series about Mormon women. If you want to know who everyone is, read a cast primer, but also it doesn’t really matter!


Kayla:Ā There is MUCH to discuss! I spent the whole weekend watching season two, and I have NOTES.

Christina:Ā SAME. We are about to deep dive into some of the most fascinating reality personalities of all time in my humble yet deeply journalistic opinion.

Kayla:Ā In a time where much of Bravo programming is on the decline (sorry to say!), The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu is keeping reality television ALIVE AND (UN)WELL. Can’t say the same for the rest of Hulu programming…we can get into the Vanderpump Villa of it all later though.

Christina:Ā I am refusing to fall for their VV propaganda. The only Lisa Vanderpump Face I recognize is from 2010-2015.

Kayla:Ā I thought we were going to get a sophomore slump here, and we sure did not!

Christina:Ā I have to admit, I waited a bit to hop back on the slopes of Provo! I was worried that the second season effect would get to them all in a bad way, and instead? The second season effect (this is when a new reality personality has their first year of TV under their belt and often misunderstand everything that makes people like them) instead has given us a group of women who seem to be mostly unable to…stop being themselves!!!

Kayla:Ā Usually the fame and the scrutiny and the awareness of the cameras absolutely ruins the potential for organic drama and storytelling, but in this case, it HEIGHTENS IT? Because okay, for starters, has there ever been a figure on reality television so blissfully unaware she’s getting a villain edit than Miss Demi? And she spends the entire first half of the season attempting to paint Jen Affleck as the villain/New Whitney.

Christina:Ā It’s almost impressive, watching her and that ombre hair try to start shit wherever she thinks she can, and it was DELICIOUS watching her fall! The absolute transparency of her midseason switch up! Jen Affleck skips that Arizona trip (dark) and you can almost see Demi looking around like, ā€œwell who is next?ā€

Kayla:Ā She needs a target! I’m also so confused by her narrative that she was a fan favorite in season 1. Was that true? I recall my main thought about her in season 1 being “she’s hot.” Does that a fan favorite make?

Christina:Ā I recall my main thought about her being ā€œWait, is that Jessi?ā€

Kayla:Ā I’m glad that the two of them also acknowledge that they look alike. Because THEY DO.

Christina:Ā I swear they are TRYING to look more alike now.

Demi and Jessi in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives

Kayla:Ā The arc for Demi and Jessi’s friendship has been rather thrilling (and bleak!). Taylor’s reveal that Demi was shit talking Jessi’s hair business was actually one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the season for me. Coming for her BUSINESS is so mean!

Christina:Ā I was gagged by her being willing to do season 2 without her! Like that is WILD.

Kayla:Ā Again, coming for her BAG!!!! I feel like in these women’s worlds that’s actually worse than idk flirting with their husbands or something.

Christina:Ā I mean, given that they are all supporting their husbands….I would imagine so!!!

Kayla:Ā I have been fascinated by all the “feminism” language the girls have adopted for this season. They’re constantly talking about how Momtok is all about “women supporting women” and it’s literally just them…doing choreographed dances (poorly)? But then on the other side of that, I do see how making all this money independently of their husbands is legitimately empowering, especially given the worlds they exist in.

Christina:Ā The feminism and therapy speak is very this era of reality TV, like how many housewives conversations have we sat through about being ā€œa girls girlā€? One million? But where the housewives drop the facade after about two rounds of fighting and start calling each other cunts, and these girls simply won’t do that! It’s all ā€œOh goshā€ and ā€œgaslighting.ā€

Kayla:Ā The therapy speak this season was especially hard to swallow given how mean some of the girls continued to be about Jen when it is SO clear she was going through something very real. Thank GOD the producers pulled that girl off camera finally. It needed to happen sooner though!

Christina:Ā I HAVE NEVER BEEN SADDER IN MY LIFE THEN WHEN JEN AFFLECK DISCOVERED SHE WAS PREGNANT AGAIN.

Kayla:Ā I almost actually started sobbing during all the Jen stuff, especially the pregnancy reveal.

Christina:Ā It was easily one of the darkest scenes on reality TV I have ever seen, and I watched season two of RHOBH!

Kayla:Ā She is TWENTY FIVE. Her brain JUST finished developing! And she’s about to have her THIRD CHILD! And she’s DEPRESSED! She should absolutely never been on reality television.

Much like an episode of Bitch Sesh, I’m not necessarily fact-checking anything I’m saying in this conversation, but I’ve been told that Jessi and Jen were both more or less “cast” in the series, whereas the other girls were already friends/collaborators via Momtok. But Jessi’s integration into the group was smoother because they all sort of knew her through her business. Whereas Jen was coming in fresher and didn’t blend as easily.

Christina:Ā HMMMM that tracks, I could see that. I actually really like Jen??? Is that crazy??

Kayla:Ā I really like Jen! I want to protect her! She seems very impressionable all around. The girls like to focus on how she’s manipulated by Zac, but in the same breath, they’re manipulating her, too.

Christina:Ā And like, I need to see proof Zac ever got into medical school in New York.

Kayla: Oh much like Craig lied about passing the bar on Southern Charm, I’m almost positive Zac did not get into medical school and I absolutely believe he gambled his med school money away.

Jen doing ketamine therapy on Secret Lives of Mormon Wives

Kayla: I did not know Mormons are allowed to do ketamine. They can’t get a skinny vanilla latte but they can do ketamine????

Christina:Ā Shoutout to that doctor who was like ā€œWell ketamine isn’t mentioned by name in the commandments sooā€¦ā€

Kayla:Ā Thou shalt absolutely enter a k hole.

Christina:Ā And look they did make ketamine therapy look banging.Ā  I too would like some nice headphones, some IV K, and a blanket.

Kayla:Ā The season was one long ad for Poppi, ketamine therapy, mid hair extensions, and self tanner.

Christina:Ā This season had me feeling like Tyra Banks on ANTM cause I was ready to cut everyone’s hair off. Miranda actually DOES need a pixie cut and WOULD look like Twiggy.

Kayla:Ā This is why Whitney is my GIRL. Everything is so relative to the Mormon context they live in. Like I kept saying Whitney is BRAVE to not have hair extensions and appear on camera without makeup…but I’m kind of not kidding! She’s “brave” for those things given the world she exists in lol. She also has a level of confidence the other women couldn’t dream of. I actually love Whitney and wish we’d gotten more of her this season, but I think she was too “well behaved” this season to get more screen time.

Christina: YES I was really there for the early part of the Whitney redemption tour (having bunnies at your shower so people don’t touch your newborn??? brillant??) But I was disappointed in her for sticking with Demi throughout the season, but you know what they are really bonding about is Taylor being the ā€œOG creator of MomTokā€ and how salty they are they matter less.

Kayla:Ā I can see Whitney calculating in real time who she should align herself with, but she picked wrong with Demi! She really was there for Jen in a real way though. I was touched by her going over there before the trip and cleaning up for her. That was real. Almost uncomfortably so. Again, production should have pulled the plug on Jen before it could even get to that point. While we’re back to her though: I can’t believe one of her storylines before she was (rightfully) pulled off the show was walking back the “fact” that her husband is related to Ben Affleck.

Christina:Ā Was it walking it back or was it…uh…bullishly insisting it was true? Which to be clear I 100% believe that Zac would have said that at some point.

Kayla:Ā Yeah, I think he said it early on when they were dating and then never thought it would get to the point of reality television viewers — famously self-proclaimed investigative reporters — fact-checking.

Imagine if my wife [Kristen Arnett] told me she was distantly related to Will Arnett when we started dating.

Actually I’m going to start this rumor.

Christina:Ā I will cosign it.

Kayla:Ā How old were these two when they started dating? TEENAGERS?

Christina:Ā I mean all of them!!! Are!!!! CHILDREN!

Kayla:Ā The ages frighten me every time. I know the cast of Vanderpump Rules were all babies when that show started but they didn’t…have babies.

Christina:Ā And they have multiple children. Which is part of the secret sauce of this show for me: watching them all grapple with their religion.

Kayla:Ā Yes! I liked the allusions to people from church hating all of them lol. I kind of wanted to get into that more but understand why THEY don’t want to.

The Mormon church loves silence and secrecy, and reality television flies in the face of all that. What makes this show ultimately more compelling than Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is that we get wayyyyy more of that religious tension here.

Christina:Ā There was a point in episode 8 where I scribbled ā€œhow long can they do this show and not wake up to their religion being wackā€ and then they had that conversation about ā€œsealingā€ and how men stay sealed no matter what and how that was bs and then I wrote a follow up note that said ā€œoh right now!!ā€

Kayla:Ā This was another instance where I felt Demi trying to assert something/spin a particular narrative. She REALLY wanted Jessi to say outright that she doesn’t believe any of it. It felt like she was attempting to weaponize something there?

Christina:Ā She really brings that vibe to like 99% of conversations.

Kayla:Ā But again little does she know…that’ll actually endear a lot of viewers to Jessi more? Because she’s being real/vulnerable/honest. So many of Demi’s machinations backfire on her. Tis the Leo way…all that hair, all that confidence, but sadly none of the execution.

Demi in Secret Lives of Mormon Wivse

Christina:Ā It’s hard to watch her plans backfire, truly! And it’s also hard because Taylor is like, impossible not to root for, somehow? ā€œsomehowā€ here means ā€œlargely due to her various traumas and inability to be anything to but herselfā€

Kayla:Ā GIRL STOP SLEEPING WITH DAKOTA THERE’S NO WAY THE DICK IS /THAT/ GOOD.

Christina:Ā AND THAT IS A GREAT EXAMPLE.

Kayla:Ā Watching Taylor with her family early on in the season…yeah I’m gonna ride for that girl because her family has fucked her UP.

Christina:Ā The only one I ride with is her sister!!!!

Kayla:Ā Yes. When her sister was like “you two just don’t belong together” I was like HELLO??? LISTEN TO HER!!!

Christina:Ā Because that was one of the most uncomfortable family conversations I have ever witnessed. Like how are you going to look at this girl crying about her boyfriend treating her like garage and be like ā€œWell you need to ask what you did to make him act like thatā€???? I woulda killed everyone at that table.

Taylor in Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2

Kayla:Ā If my parents invited my ex who I just kicked out to a bbq…idc if we have a kid together I am NOT showing up!!!!!!! And cussing someone out!!!

Christina:Ā I mean we have to say Taylor’s mom is….wack.

Kayla:Ā The extent to which she acquired a whole new face…harrowing.

Christina: The extent to which she is still on the side of her daughter’s ex-boyfriend…..extra harrowing.

Kayla: And like WHY? Dakota is not a catch! What is his JOB? DADTOK?

Christina:Ā how dare you speak of dadtok to meĀ 

but also what are ANY of the mens jobs?????

Kayla:Ā Great point. I’m glad we don’t spend too much time with the men on this show. They are very go girl give them nothing.

Christina:Ā Literally so horrid.

okay ENOUGH table setting: who do you think is gay?

Kayla:Ā WAS JUST ABOUT TO TRANSITION TO THIS TOO. here is my rundown:

Taylor + Miranda: FUCKED. I believe they hooked up. It’s the reason why Miranda is so weird about the swinging scandal. She’s not even with the dude anymore so none of it is about protecting him or cheating or anything; it’s just gay panic. Taylor is already pretty open about having made out with other women sooooo.
Mikayla: WANTS TO FUCK WHITNEY. Sorry, her obsession here is just too over-the-top to not be laced with something queer.

Whitney: Is 100% in a lavender marriage with her gay husband. I don’t care how many times the two of them have denied it or made jokes about it. It only makes me believe it more. Also, much like these women and their Mormonism, I don’t need it to be true to believe it. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?

Layla: Could be bisexual. So sexually repressed it’s hard to say.

The rest are straight I think. Demi does make the most homophobic comments during the sex party (what WAS that sex party), which could give queer but I don’t think so with her. Also, she’s either attempting to correct the narrative on with some of her pro-gay TikToks lately OR she’s trying to expose someone else in Momtok for overt homophobia to DEFLECT from herself and how weird she was about girl-on-girl stuff at the sex party.

@whitneyleavitt

FWB

♬ original sound – Anabeeeellaaaaa

Kayla:Ā I would love for Mayci to have an ounce of queerness to her, especially since I have learned she actually had a pretty legit collegiate tennis career before she got pregnant, but she’s as straight as her hair.

Christina (sent simultaneously): Okay I largely agree with all of these and I would like to add Mayci, for a reason I cannot actually understand? I suppose this is what we call a ā€œgut feelingā€ but I can’t put my finger on it.

Kayla:Ā OH INTERESTING

Christina:Ā LOL ICONIC

Kayla:Ā No I love that we are picking up opposite energies here.

Christina:Ā There is NOTHING there textually?

Kayla:Ā Mayci and Mikayla do often have the vibe of best friends who “joke” that they’re each other’s wives. I think it would be so easy to be closeted in Momtok. It’s like culturally sanctioned homosocial activity. With a lot of culturally sanctioned physical contact!

Christina:Ā I did actually get emotional when Mayci told Mikayla she was preg.

Kayla:Ā I love when you can tell who are real friends.

Christina: Me toooo. And Mikayla is just so gay to me???

Kayla:Ā Yes.

Christina:Ā Also one of my faves. I’m into her weird energy and her ability to twerk.

Kayla:Ā OKAY SHE DID ACTUALLY TWERK WHICH WAS CRAZY

Christina:Ā I WAS SO SHOCKED

Kayla:Ā I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA LIKE “”TWERK””

Christina:Ā No those cakes were MOVING

Mikayla twerking in Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2

Christina: I also think I could like Miranda, but girl give us something!

Kayla:Ā Yeah, felt like a starter wife on Housewives who never fully catches. I was most into the fact that she was so supportive of her ex husband’s new girlfriend when her ex husband was starting shit at that cursed house party early in the season. How are these house parties getting so out of control when the only thing anyone is turnt on is diet soda?

Christina:Ā We kept saying that as we were watching, like they are SOBER. and yelling in the yard!

Kayla:Ā The look on Taylor Frankie Paul’s face when she was watching the fight outside…she wants to fight SO BAD. The other girls are like nooooo don’t go to jail again girl!

Christina:Ā I was SO proud of her for not physically fighting this season! Cause I know she wants to!!!

Kayla:Ā Demi being stone cold sober and still jumping to the exaggeration that Chase LAID HANDS on her……

Christina:Ā (sorry it was hot to me that Brett was ready to rumble)

Even though he is absolutely cheating or did

Kayla:Ā Oh yeah no Brett is a hot husband for many reasons, the fact that he doesn’t even need to fact check before he’s ready to fight for his wife chief among them.

Christina:Ā …is the second that he is 47?

Kayla:Ā When I was like 19 I insisted the hottest age for a man to be was 47.

Christina:Ā SAME

I don’t know why it was 47

I think I wanted to say 50 but was scared

Kayla:Ā I also don’t know…how did we both get there…

Christina: It’s part of the Alan Rickman/Tony Stark thing.

whatever they call that path to dykedom

Kayla:Ā John Slattery was also 47 at like peak Mad Men.

Christina:Ā oh then it was that

Kayla:Ā Why didn’t we spend more time with that hot mic moment of Brett and Demi’s! Not that we actually learn anything concrete from it other than that Demi does not believe him that he didn’t cheat, but I really thought that was going to come back.

Christina:Ā WELL IS THAT ALL PART OF SEASON THREE? Like it seemed like the final ruveal was reallllly setting up a Demi fall.

Kayla:Ā PROBABLY. Apparently that next season is already banked. When it finished, I was frantically googling WHEN DOES SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES COME BACK? There are no real answers. But they filmed 20 episodes at once and broke them up. AND cameras are already back up for season four. So it seems like they’ll always have a season banked even as another one starts filming.

Demi is going to fall from grace and I guess we’re going to have to also contend with this Vanderpump Villa dude supposedly having an affair with Jessi.

Christina:Ā I will be gagged that she had an affair, but we MUST stop pretending like the Vanderpump Villa part matters.

And look even though Demi is in her villain era, that pregnancy test ā€œgameā€ was cruel and I hope production apologized??

Kayla:Ā That was soooo cruel and fucked up. I kept waiting for one of the girls to pull the plug, but yes we’ve been informed it was production pushing it.

Christina:Ā It somehow felt extra cruel because we the viewer’s didn’t know about the second pregnancy so even I was like ā€œwait is she???ā€

Kayla:Ā I want to be clear that I’m LOVING Demi as villain. She’s getting a lot of hate, and the criticism is all valid but I mean come on, we need a villain! And she’s doing it well despite that not at all being her intention! And then to see her in this really real human moment actually made her an even BETTER villain in my eyes. I like my villains to have a pinch of vulnerability to them. Otherwise, where are the STAKES

She actually outdoes Whitney’s villain arc in season 1, even if some of the beats are the same (like her threatening to leave Momtok).

Christina: She is a better villain because she is like….ten percent less calculating? And it gets in her way, which we NEED. Wow, you and me defending a villain edit? WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

Kayla:Ā I also was on her side when she opted not to skinny dip. Seems v legit that she was like “my stepkids literally watch this show” lol. And meanwhile, none of those bitches even skinny dipped they were merely topless!

Christina:Ā Right like lets be real here! This is simply showing off boob jobs, which I APPRECIATE and RESPECT, but skinny dipping it is not.

Kayla:Ā Season was also an ad for boob jobs.

Demi in secret lives of mormon wives season 2

Kayla: I also like that in general this show is pretty lax about breaking the fourth wall. I think the fourth wall used to be more important in reality tv of yesteryear, but it has become a hindrance for a lot of longtime reality series. Breaking it is always more satisfying because then people are actually talking about the things they’re talking about instead of talking around it.

Christina:Ā Yes! I had a note about that! It might be the best I have seen the 4th wall stuff handled on a show. It helps a ton that they can use ā€œMomTokā€ as stand in for “the show.”

Kayla:Ā Any final thoughts on the season / general appeal of the series?

Christina:Ā I love this show! I think it is actually really interesting to discuss, I think these girls feel like the Vanderpump cast of old, like real people who are messy and addicted to being on TV and I think that is good (except for Jen Affleck, may she get all the peace she needs).

Kayla:Ā Yes, may Jen Affleck stay as far away from cameras — including phones — as possible.

As for the rest of these women, I hope they keep up the delusion!

the cast of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives

Kayla:Ā This photo is so funny because it looks like THEY are the dykes convening to discuss. YouĀ know Demi has to be so mad about her placement here.

Christina:Ā That’s been making me laugh whenever I see it. I know she is BeyoncĆ© dot heated.


What should the dykes discuss next? Let us know!

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?

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Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is the managing editor of Autostraddle and a lesbian writer of essays, fiction, and pop culture criticism living in Orlando. She is the former managing editor of TriQuarterly, and her short stories appear in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Joyland, Catapult, The Offing, The Rumpus, Cake Zine, and more. Some of her pop culture writing can be found at The A.V. Club, Vulture, The Cut, and others. When she is not writing, editing, or reading, she is probably playing tennis. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram and learn more about her work on her website.

Kayla has written 1027 articles for us.

Christina Tucker

Christina Tucker is writer and podcaster living in Philadelphia. Find her on Twitter or Instagram!

Christina has written 351 articles for us.

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College Is for Finding Yourself. ‘Overcompensating’ Knows That Process Can Be Hell

There is no perfect path to queerness. Oftentimes, it is shitty and gross. Not in the grotesqueway the Christian right peddles, but in the ways of adolescence, where the body feels like its own entity, with its own set of controls and values. The performance that once served as your saving grace, an outward expression of heteronormativity feels foreign because of the emergence of something new. A second coming of age has taken place, and instead of relying on your friends and family as sources of support and guides for this new developmental process, queerness inherently makes you feel alone. The distance between your true self and the performance widens into a gaping hole where shame, guilt, and narcissism take hold. Overcompensating, the Amazon Prime comedy drama series, based on the life of Benito Skinner, articulates the early stages of queer life and the incessant highs and lows that dominate young queerhood, all set on a sex-driven college campus.

College is the perfect setting for a queer journey. For many, it is the first place where young people feel empowered to take control of their agency and life. It is fitting that the first few lines uttered by the new student orientation leaders in the pilot episode are: ā€œWelcome to college. Where you can have a fresh start. Where you can be whoever you want to be.ā€

Benny (Benito Skinner) refuses to be himself. This tug and pull is displayed throughout the eight-episode season as the main character engages in stereotypically straight activities like pledging a fraternity, lying about hookups, and playing beer pong…while also rapping along to ā€œSuper Bassā€ with his best friend Carmen (Wally Baram) and experiencing unrequited love with his classmate and fraternity brother Miles (Rish Shah).

His inability to live an authentic life results in the development of a toxic co-dependent relationship with Carmen, who he uses as a shield to prevent him from being perceived as queer. In the same vein, Carmen’s proximity to Benny allows her to bypass the stigma of not hooking up with someone on their first night on campus. The two, who are read by the student body as being in a relationship, are dealing with the loss of their previous selves. For them, the promise of freedom in college is frightening. Instead of acknowledging their newfound reality, the two engage in a series of self-destructive behaviors, just like any typical college student.

They are not alone in their defiance of reality. Grace (Mary Beth Barone), Benny’s older sister, experiences grave discomfort in her relationship with Peter (Adam DiMarco), the president of the most prestigious fraternity on campus. In contrast to her brother, Grace transformed her emo twihard, college radio dj persona into a blonde hair, Brandy Melville sorority girl type who exists to fulfill her boyfriend’s deep-seated insecurities at the cost of her own agency and autonomy. Peter, the son of teachers who worked at his all-boys school, sacrifices his morals in the pursuit of college fame and glory, in addition to a coveted finance job upon graduation. The show’s cast articulates what pieces of ourselves we are willing to sacrifice for comfort and security.

This is evident in the pledging rituals for Flesh & Gold, the on-campus secret society that subjects Benny and Carmen to gut-wrenching rituals, such as the ingestion of beer and beta fish or dairy-based pasta, in order to be accepted into the illustrious society. Or Carmen’s hand injuries, after a game of Edward Fortyhands at a university tailgate. In our youth, we will subject ourselves to intense violence and pain, inflict harm upon ourselves, rather than face being alone. Conformity is bliss, or at least the characters of Overcompensating thinks it is until they are forced to confront themselves.

Some of the choices the characters make under pressure are blissful, like Grace’s decision to reconnect with Mimi, one of her queer friends from the college radio station, after she dumps Peter. Some are heartfelt, like Carmen’s choice to step out of her late brother’s shadow. Some are shitty, like Benny’s rejection of his queer identity, which creates tension with the people he loves the most: Carmen, but also Sammy (Lukas Gage), his high school friend who attempted to kiss him when they were younger, and George, a confident sophomore who embraced his queer identity.

In high school, Benny called Sammy the f-slur. In college, Benny did not protect George when his fraternity members used anti-LGBTQ language and rhetoric. In day-to-day activities on campus, Benny creates a sustainable amount of distance between himself and Miles, who is disheartened because he views Benny as his only friend on campus, which only amplifies his otherness as a foreign student of color at an American university. Benny’s self-serving behavior is mostly felt by Carmen, whose needs, such as navigating the grief of losing a loved one, is often overlooked by her best friend.

Despite this, Carmen loves Benny, and Benny loves Carmen. Finding that one person who understands you is extremely important in college, even more if you’re queer. Young queer people need that lifeline of love and support, as they are experiencing intense feelings of self-induced hatred and oppression. Also, they need a friend who is unafraid to call them out on their shit, because the early days of queerness, like adolescence, are filled with immaturity and recklessness.Ā  But unlike heterosexuality, which preaches a gospel of isolation, queerness is meant to be experienced in community. Overcompensating shows the struggles along the journey towards becoming a full-fledged queer adult and the need to remove shame.

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Taylor Crumpton

Taylor Crumpton is a music, pop culture, and politics writer from Dallas. In her work—which can be found in outlets like The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar, The Guardian, NPR, and many other platforms—Crumpton writes about a range of topics from Black Queer advocacy to the underrepresented hip-hop scenes in the southern United States to pop analysis on releases like ā€œWAPā€ and ā€œBlack Is King.ā€

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  1. Can we talk about the rampant misogyny though? “Slutslayer”? Carmen as the prototypical “cool girl” — can outdrink the boys, will take the marker from the mean sorority girl to mark up her “problem areas” herself, will come over just to give you a blowjob and expect nothing in return? I wanted this to be a critique or commentary on misogyny in college campuses, not just among boys but internalized by women, too, but there was just nothing there that actually transformed it from depiction to critique.

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Alison Bechdel Never Thought She’d Be This Successful

Alison Bechdel’s new book Spent is like nothing she’s ever done before — and it’s like everything she’s done before all at the same time. A work of auto-fiction, Spent is about a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel who is writing a book about her relationship to money during the pandemic and whose closest friends are characters last seen in Bechdel’s iconic comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. This version of Alison lives on a goat farm with her partner Holly, has a Republican sister driving her crazy, and is frustrated with the TV show adaptation of her memoir about her taxidermist father. It’s one step away from truth and after sharing so much in three memoirs over the past two decades, that’s exactly how Bechdel likes it.

I spoke with Bechdel about her experience of oblique fame, the joy of returning to old characters, and how cis gay people of a certain age and privilege need to meet this moment.


Drew: I want to start by talking about fame. The book is interested in a lot of different types of fame and something I often think about is gay fame vs. mainstream fame. How has your relationship to fame changed over the years and what aspects of that did you want to capture in the book?

Alison: The book originated as an inquiry into the effect of money on our lives, as well as privilege or the lack thereof. Mixed in there for me is also this weird journey I’ve had from being very much an outsider in the culture to somehow crossing over and making a living doing this crazy thing that was never— something that was never, you know, a good idea if a person wanted to make a living. [laughs]

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: So that’s just been something I always muse about and wanted to play with in this book. But I somehow never really got into it, because the story and the characters kind of ran away with things.

Drew: Well, one aspect I find interesting is Alison’s partner getting internet famous. That’s such a different kind of fame than the gradual fame that an artist might build. And I don’t want to speak for you, but I imagine there’s a weirdness around the fact that to some people you’re famous as a character in a musical. And to some people you’re just famous as a name that inspired a silly test of whether a movie is feminist.

Alison: The Bechdel Test thing has definitely been a whole weird journey. That’s definitely the thing I’m most well known for among people in general, and that’s funny to me, because it wasn’t even my thing. I didn’t say, ā€œHey let’s use this old comic strip I did as an actual measure.ā€

Drew: [laughs] Right.

Alison: Somebody else did that. It was so removed from me. It was kind of odd. But I like that. It’s a good way to be famous. A kind of oblique fame. And likewise, yeah, Fun Home the book was quite successful, but what really tipped it over more into the mainstream was the musical. And I had nothing to do with making the musical! I always feel very awkward when people say, ā€œI loved your play!ā€ I’m always like, well it’s not my play, it’s based on my book, and blah blah blah. Nobody cares. [laughs]

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: But again it’s a kind of oblique fame. Because I’m just a character in that. Or three characters.

I don’t really get recognized out in public anymore, I think because I’m getting old and starting to not look the way I used to look. It’s an alarming stage of life. I just want to give you the heads up that it’s going to come for you too.

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: But I did go through a phase when the musical was playing on broadway where I got recognized a lot on the street. At first, you know, it was sort of gratifying. But it quickly became not so gratifying and more just annoying. I don’t know how actually famous people deal with that. I guess that’s why they have to hide.

Drew: Well, I’ll say this. As much as I love the musical and as meaningful as it was to me, Are You My Mother? was what really made me a fan of yours.

Alison: Oh!

Drew: I started flipping through it in a Barnes & Noble when I was in college and I was like oh my God there are all these things I’ve never thought about. I ended up sitting down in the store to read while scribbling notes in my little notebook and then I eventually just bought it.

Alison: That’s very touching. I love it when people like that book, because not that many people do. [laughs]

Drew: [laughs] I both love it as a book and it was important to me as like a person understanding myself and my experiences.

Alison: I’m so glad.

Drew: Okay, so you’ve obviously worked in memoir several times. What inspired the decision to make this book fiction with a character named Alison surrounded by past characters of yours?

Alison: Honestly, I intended for this book to be a memoir just like my other recent books. But when I sat down to really do the work and I realized that meant I’d have to learn something about economics and probably read Marx, I was like, ugh I can’t. And not only that but to really be honest about my own financial life… Well, that was sort of my mission. I wanted to do that, because there are so many taboos around talking about money and I wanted to dive in there. But when I started to really think about it… [laughs]

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: I didn’t totally want to go there! That’s when this whole alternate plan just popped into my head intact. Instead of writing a memoir about my relationship with money, what if I wrote about a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel who was trying to write a memoir about money? That just seemed so much more interesting. I became a lot more excited about that project. I don’t often have those moments of inspiration, of just being flooded by the muse, but this was one of them. All of a sudden I saw those old Dykes to Watch Out For characters were going to be my friends in this new auto-fictional world and it just kind of all came together really quickly.

Drew: Was it fun to revisit those characters?

Alison: It was an unmitigated joy. You know, when I stopped drawing my comic strip in 2008 — wow that was so long ago — people would often ask me if I missed my characters, if I thought about them, and I didn’t. I never did and I felt kind of guilty about that. I was relieved to not think about them after doing it for 25 years. But all of a sudden in this dire new reality that we’re living in, they seemed like the perfect people to hang out with. I caught up with them and tapped into what they might be doing. They’re doing very much what they were doing all along: fighting the good fight and doing it together. Living in their communal house, still going strong in their 60s. I just really loved spending time with them.

Drew: Is your process different book to book? Or are there consistent elements to your process?

Alison: This process was more like when I was writing my comic strip. There are two modalities. One is the comic strip and one is memoir work. For the memoirs I never knew what I was going to find. The whole point of writing the books was to go on some sort of voyage of discovery and answer certain questions about myself. And to do it by not just looking minutely at my own life, but drawing in all this other material. In Fun Home, it was all these literary sources. In Are You My Mother?, it was Winnicott and Virginia Woolf. In The Secret to Superhuman Strength, it was the transcendentalists. That was always a really fun research-oriented process that would take forever, because I never knew where anything was going. I kind of just had to wait and see.

But when I was doing my comic strip in the old days, I had a deadline. Every two weeks I had to churn out another episode of this story. And it was also very connected to the real world and what was happening in current events. So for me the comic strip was a way for me to process the world and what was going on. I have a hard time understanding the news. More so now, but it’s always been a challenge. I just don’t really track with it unless, like in the case of the comic strip, I had these characters discuss it with everyone taking slightly different views and through those conversations they kind of work out what’s happening and what we can do about it.

So for this book I was keeping a whole log of the unfolding news. Every day I’d find out the latest horror and keep track of that. And then the story itself would be tied into that moment in time. The characters would be responding to what was happening and that automatically creates some elements of story structure. But the rest of it is just me making shit up and that was really fun, because I don’t get to make anything up when I’m writing a memoir. This was a great feeling of freedom.

Drew: Obviously, there’s some Covid stuff in there. What dates were you working on this?

Alison: I started it in 2022 so in the middle of Covid. It’s hard to say when I finished, because there’s the finishing of the writing, there’s the finishing of the drawing, and it’s all different, but I basically finished it before the election last fall. I had to keep it open-ended, because I didn’t know what was going to happen. So it covers about a two-year period.

Drew: Do you write all the text and then work on the art? Or are you doing both simultaneously?

Alison: I kind of write first although I’m planning and plotting and imagining what the drawings are going to be as I write. But I try to get everything tightly written before I start the drawing, because the drawing is so much work I wouldn’t want to have to redo it if I decided to change something.

Drew: Do you write it like a conventional graphic novel script or do you have your own approach?

Alison: I kind of made up my own system a long time ago which is I write in a drawing program. I write in Adobe Illustrator. I have panel grids all set up and I can go in and start typing my story in word balloons or dialogue boxes.

Drew: I love that.

Alison: It’s like a blank page that then just gets filled in with the drawings.

Drew: That’s really cool.

Alison: Yeah! I made it up. [laughs]

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: I’m sure many other people do it too, but I stumbled upon it, because I love the freedom and flexibility of working digitally and being able to type. If I was drawing all of this by hand, it’d be so time-consuming and it’s already very time-consuming. But yeah this was the solution I discovered.

Drew: Something very present in this book and that I think is such an important part of being in community and being an artist is the ability to make fun of ourselves. When queer people are so regularly mocked by the right, how do you manage to still lovingly mock? Are you thinking about that? Or are you able to cut out those voices and just focus on your work?

Alison: It’s interesting, because when I was first starting out, it never occurred to me that anyone on the right was ever going to see what I was doing. It was purely for us and the gentle ribbing was just among us. I feel like that’s still how I write. If anything, I would like right-leaning people to read my work, because I’m always trying to convey the same thing which is that most of the queer people I know are really nice! They want to save the world! In a serious way! So I would love for a wider ranger of people to see that, but that’s not my mission. It’s entertainment for us.

Drew: When you were working on Dykes to Watch Out For, did you ever face in-community backlash? I mean, queer people can be… sensitive. I’m maybe less interested in rightwing voices than people who are so inundated with those voices that sometimes — not to generalize, but sometimes — there can be a sensitivity toward our own. Is that something you’ve experienced?

Alison: I would constantly be ruffling feathers. Not constantly. But I had some flaps over stuff which was both annoying and also really valuable. I was grateful for it, because I would learn and grow from these exchanges and then it would feed right back into the storyline as I took those discussions under advisement and sometimes changed course.

It always felt like a somewhat communal project. That was the real beauty of doing this episodic format that people could weigh in on as it went along. Inevitably that changed how it went. As I started working on these full length books all about myself, I missed that. I didn’t have that companionship.

Drew: One group that there’s a lot of humor about in this book are the Gen Z queers, and the contrast between them and their parents, specifically around polyamory. What drew you to polyamory as such a main topic for this book about money?

Alison: Yeah, I kept asking myself all through the book, what is the connection between polyamory and money? And there very much is one!

Drew: Definitely.

Alison: And young people are very aware of that. But it wasn’t immediately obvious to me. I had to sort it out.

I’ve never been polyamorous myself, but it’s a model that I have so much admiration for. I’ve been on the edges of it. Like I got involved with someone who was poly and I thought that was going to be the answer. She could have her other girlfriend and then I could have my other girlfriend: my work.

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: That didn’t work out too well. [laughs] But I love that challenge of struggling with one’s feelings of jealousy and for a brief, shining moment seeing how groundless they were. That was a really profound thing to come to understand. I just think it’s a really worthy thing to do. Also everybody is doing it or trying to do it so it made sense to include.

It was really fun to show the difference between the older people and the younger people. For the young people, I think they’re much more motivated by principle. It’s exciting for them to see a way of being in relationship that isn’t possessive and is somehow communal. But for the older people it’s more about the sex. [laughs]

Drew: (laughs) Speaking of that storyline, I want to talk about Stuart. When I first started writing for Autostraddle about six years ago, one of the first pieces I was involved in was defending Lisa the lesbian man from the original L Word. Yes, it was product of its time, maybe not perfect, but there was something about that character that felt trans woman-coded—

Alison: Wait, who is this character?

Drew: [laughs] Sorry, I’m just like, surely you remember this minor character from the first season of The L Word. Alice starts dating this man who wants to be identified with lesbianism and is like, yes, I’m a man, but I’m not straight, I’m a lesbian, and I just want to listen to Indigo Girls and I want to wear a strap-on.

Alison: Oh I never saw that.

Drew: Did you not watch The L Word?

Alison: I didn’t really. I didn’t have whatever fancy cable thing it was on.

Drew: That’s so— I mean— I guess some people would say you’re missing out, but I think at this point you’re probably okay. But yeah that was a subplot—

Alison: Was it offensive? It sounds like it was…

Drew: Oh yeah! And the Autostraddle piece was a bunch of different trans writers looking back on it and plenty of people hated it. I guess to me it showed a gender and sexuality variance that the show and mainstream media in general at the time wasn’t really engaging with. So even though it was played as a joke, there was something that felt better to me about it than some of the more official trans storylines that happen later. Maybe a joke can have more honesty to it than a certain kind of overly direct approach.

But I did think about this character when reading Stuart’s storyline in Spent. In the six years since I wrote my part of that piece, I’m more settled in my own identity and have had more time to be exhausted by the gay internet, so I’m less attached to the idea of trying to project a gender or sexuality onto a character. So with Stuart, I just felt an enjoyment in seeing the wide variety of different ways that people can be regardless of what labels they choose and what genders they have and what bodies they have. Even if Stuart is forever a cis straight man who is just drawn to this community and these ways of having sex, what do you think is gained by welcoming a wide variety of genders and experiences into dyke community? And when you were working on this book with these old characters, what was the pull to have Stuart come back and be so prominent?

Alison: As you were saying all this, I started worrying, oh my God is Stuart’s character offensive?

Drew: No! I don’t think so at all!

Alison: I love Stuart. And I’ve always had to fight the urge to make him even more prominent. Back when I was writing the comic strip, I found myself giving this straight white man the limelight, because it was just so easy to write for Stuart. He began usurping the territory of the women. He became the new Mo in a way, and once I realized that I felt bad! It wasn’t like I felt like I needed to have a man. It was just like, oh Stuart! Oh Ginger! All these people! I want to hang with you.

You know, people go on and on about this crisis of masculinity in the culture, but I’ve always had plenty of models of people being men in very positive ways. And one of those ways is Stuart.

Drew: Also, I mean, most queer women communities and friend groups have a lot of bisexual people, so cis men show up and, yeah, the good ones can hang.

Alison: Well, actually, when you asked earlier about pushback from the community, all of the ways the world of Dykes expanded in terms of gender was because of that engagement. People were like oh you need a bisexual character. I would hear those things and it was part of what made it happen.

Drew: Even now I see old work of yours shared in a pro-trans context. Like the one where the masc cis woman is called out in the bathroom instead of the trans woman.

Alison: I don’t think that’s mine?

Drew: It’s not?? It’s your characters and always credited to you…

Alison: That’s a good premise though.

Drew: Wow, okay, interesting.

Alison: I don’t think?

Drew: Wait, I need to look this up and send it to you.

Alison: I did do something for a Leslie Fienberg book… I don’t know. I’m a thousand years old. I can’t keep track anymore.

Drew: [looking up the comic strip] It’s so funny that this person on Reddit is saying this is a comic strip from the creator of the Bechdel Test.

[sends the link]

Alison: Oh yeah that is me!

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: Yes, okay, this was created for the book Transgender Warriors by Leslie Fienberg. Jillian was a character in the strip too. But wow, yeah, I totally forgot about this!

Drew: I do love that you’ve been working for so long that yeah, of course, you can’t keep track of everything you’ve done.

Alison: Yeah I hadn’t seen that in a long time.

Drew: Okay, so your fictional self in this book works on a goat farm. What’s your real-life relationship to nature?

Alison: I do live in the country — I live in the woods — but not on a farm. And it is absolutely life-sustaining for me. I have to be able to walk out of my house and into the woods or I will shrivel up and die. Nature is very much a force in the story as we go through the seasons and see the landscape change and see the animals get pregnant and have little goats. The goat thing, I don’t know, I don’t even want goats.

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: Goats are cute, but I would never in a million years get a goat. It just seems like too much work. But the idea of it is fun. And I live in this culture in Vermont where, you know, the really cool people are the farmers. It’s like this cool scene. All the cool kids have goats or sheep or cows. Something that they’re milking. So it was just a way to play around in that culture.

Drew: I’m sure it’s easier for you with your skillset to draw goats than to raise them. [laughs]

Alison: [laughs] But even so, I could’ve drawn better goats if I’d spent more time on them.

Drew: [laughs]

Alison: I wish I’d done a better job. Goats are really hard! They have those crazy eyes and can look like the devil. I couldn’t draw them accurately, because when I drew them with those eyes they just looked too evil.

Drew: That’s really funny.

Alison: I had to fudge them.

Drew: I want to talk about Alison’s sister and the guy with the truck that says Fuck Biden. There’s this tension that pops up throughout the book with people whose politics appear misaligned with their values or at least what they think are their values. How do you work through that gap either in life or your work? So many people who support politicians and legislation that hurts us don’t even seem to grasp the gravity of it.

Alison: They don’t. That’s what I wanted to show. Most of us on the left interact with at least some people somewhere who are on the right. I know I have Trump people in my family and we just don’t talk about that. I mean, I’ve tried and it just goes really badly. So what do you do with that? For me, I’m just putting out perhaps an overly optimistic view of things which is that we can somehow be civil to one another even if they are fascist lunatics. You can’t really talk to that guy with the Fuck Biden sticker, but if you do a good chainsaw sharpening video maybe you’ll connect with him that way? And then he sees your humanity.

Drew: I’m interested, in part, because I don’t have an answer myself. I’m jealous sometimes of people who seem to very easily say if people believe any of these things we should cut them out and I’m also jealous of people of people who are like no we need to talk and engage. I feel constantly in between where I’m like both of those sound like the wrong approach. So I just sort of waffle from situation to situation. It’s so pervasive. It’s daunting.

Alison: I don’t know either. In the book, I play with different ways it might happen. Like Alison with her rightwing sister. That was really fun to write, because they’re basically the same person except Alison has short hair and Sheila has long hair and, of course, Sheila lives in Pennsylvania and is very conservative. But I wanted to explore their connections as much as their differences.

Drew: That character is fictional, yeah?

Alison: Yes. [laughs]

Drew: When you’re bringing in characters you’ve invented previously, there’s this very clear delineation that they are fictional and this is fictional Alison interacting with them. Was there any hesitation with the sister character of that feeling like a different kind of self-fictionalization?

Alison: I kind of liked throwing a little confusion into the mix. I wouldn’t mind if people thought oh does Alison really have a rightwing sister? In part, because I’ve revealed so much about my life and my family over the years without really thinking about what it would be like down the road for people to know so much about me. So now I like that it sort of casts into doubt how honest I have ever been.

Drew:Ā I loved the subtle changes like the Fun Home of this universe being about taxidermy instead of a funeral parlor. Actually, have you read Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett?

Alison: No, I haven’t heard of it.

Drew: Okay, well, I highly recommend it. It’s a book about a lesbian whose dad has recently died by suicide and was a taxidermist. I think you would like it.

Alison: Oh wow!

Drew: But yeah I really liked those little tweaks to book Alison’s life.

Alison: It was really fun to play with.

Drew: The book is heavy with this desire to do something. And now that we’re in Trump’s second term, I think that desire is felt somehow even more for a lot of people. Did working on this book provide any answers for you? Did it change how you want to spend your time or your money?

Alison: I think what happens to Alison in the book happened to me as I was working on the book. Part of what I was hoping to address when it was going to be a memoir about money were the ways money inevitably corrupts you. In my case, I felt like I’d gotten very far from my youthful idealism. The more famous I got, the more money I made, it’s so easy to get insulated from real life. And isolated. I feel like I’ve gotten quite isolated in my old age and success. It’s a terrible feeling. So finding these other characters and reuniting with them reminded me that all these people are still here. The community is still here. It’s much more fragmented and different than it was when I was younger. But it’s still here and there are still people doing this work and I just have to go do it with them. That’s what we all have to do. I mean, young people have already been out there more than people my age. But the rest of us just have to hit the streets.

It feels like — I don’t want to say good timing, because it’s terrible timing, what a terrible thing to befall on this country – but if we can get our shit together and stop all this… I know this sounds very, very naive, but I really think there’s an opportunity to get back on track and save this fallen world. And that’s going to require coming together and not living in our isolated, hermetically-sealed romantic dyads, but rather to go out and connect.

Drew: Something I like in the book is that, yes, there’s Alison’s sister, and there’s the thread of communicating with people on the right, but there’s also a wide variety within the queer liberal and leftist characters. Something I think about a lot is that within queer community, there are a lot of different people with a lot of different beliefs with a lot of different approaches to those beliefs. As you were saying, it’s fractured. I love the moment when the younger characters are breaking the law to get abortion pills across state lines and their mom says she’s proud of them but also it risks her more within-the-system work to be doing that in her house. There are all these different approaches. So I like what you’re saying and I like it from the perspective of not palling around with Republicans but instead actually listening to the different perspectives on the left.

Alison: Totally. And I feel like we have not done a great job at that. As a movement, many of us have become very complacent. Gay people got their rights and then a lot of people just checked out and were like we’ll just let the trans people save themselves. No! There was so much more to do. With climate, for people of color. Whatever happened to solidarity and coalition? I feel like this is a chance to go back and do that right.


Spent is now available.

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Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 715 articles for us.

7 Comments

  1. Oh my god HOWWWW did I not know Alison Bechdel had a new book?! THANK YOU for making me aware! And thank you for this great interview!

  2. Thank you sooo much for asking about Stu!!!!!!
    That character meant lot to me back in ca 2005.
    Also while reading, i was shouting: yes the comic with Jillian was by you, Alison!!
    I have all DTWOF originals and revisit them ca every year or two. They aged so well, and i love all the different ways they look at different types of non-cis-ness. And they constantly grow.
    Bringing back these characters is the best thing ever, for this year.
    Thank you Autostraddlers, and thank you Allison, for all the work you gave us over 4 decades.

  3. Wonderful interview Drew!! I cant wait to read this book, Alison Bechdel is one of my all-time favourite authors and one of the first queer ones I sought out after coming out.

Comments are closed.

Author Taylor Jenkins Reid Comes Out As Bisexual, Just Like Evelyn Hugo

It was easy enough to not clock historical fiction megahit The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as a gay book — for starters, we had the title of said book, which suggested its protagonist was not merely a woman who liked men exclusively, but in fact had liked seven of them well enough to marry them. It was a massive bestseller and a BookTok phenomenon, and I’ve been alive and literate for long enough to know that queer books are generally not massive bestsellers. But, although the jacket illustration, the title and even the description did not scream “gay,” Evelyn Hugo turned out to be, in fact, extremely gay. The titular Hugo didn’t just have seven husbands. She dated women, too, living her glamorous Hollywood life partially in the closet. It was also extremely good. I devoured it, I adored it, I wanted to read ten more books just like it.

I read it a few years after its 2017 debut, and came immediately to the office with questions — why wasn’t everybody talking about this book? Why hadn’t we written about it here, on Autostraddle, when everything about it seemed so targeted to our demographic? (Historical Hollywood lesbians!!) Well, I was told, we didn’t give it an standalone review because the author of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was straight, and we review books by queer authors.

Well, big news for me, today, as per a Time cover story: 41-year-old Taylor Jenkins Reid doesn’t just have one husband. She dated women, too. “I am very private,ā€ she told Time, regarding questions that arose upon the book’s publication about why a straight author chose such a queer subject matter. “So at first,Ā I just sort of let people assume what they were going to assume.”Ā 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: Taylor Jenkins Reid attends TheRetaility.com x September Letter dinner in collaboration with TOMS at Adrianna Costa's Los Angeles Home on September 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TheRetaility.com)

(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TheRetaility.com)

Her ninth book, Atmosphere, a space thriller romance, debuts this June, and has already been picked up for a film adaptation. Its protagonist, Joan Goodwin, is an astrophysicist who joins NASA in the early ’80s, where she meets Vanessa Ford, “a woman who challenges her understanding of who she is.” Reid “wanted to explore how intimate a connection could be between one character in space and one on the ground, and that those characters would both be women.” (Interestingly enough, this dynamic actually has appeared before, in Netflix’s short-lived space series Away and in Apple TV’s Invasion. Both series feature one woman in space, while her secret lover works the mission’s ground game.)

Time writes that Reid knew “this choice would lead her into another debate about identity.” There’s a lot of controversy in book publishing around who gets to tell which stories, and that conversation tends to be especially heated in queer spaces. But it’s a conversation that can leave little room for the artist to keep their private life private, or to be on their own journey. For example; after being accused of being “a straight woman writing shitty queer books for the straights, profiting off of communities [she wasn’t a part of],”, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda author Becky Abertalli came out in 2020, admitting that when she wrote the book, she hadn’t yet reckoned with her own sexuality. Abertalli’s coming out provoked a reckoning in the #ownvoices movement when it comes to sexual orientation or gender identity, and Reid’s may inspire a similar reaction.

This time, Reid is getting out ahead of the story, telling Time,Ā “It has been hard at times to see people dismiss me as a straight woman, but I also didn’t tell them the whole story.” She recalls growing up as a tomboy, falling for a boy as a teenager, and then for a woman in her early 20s. “This was the late ’90s, so nobody was talking about bisexuality,” Reid told Time. “And if they were, it was to make fun of people… The messages about bisexuality were you just want attention or it was a stop on the way to gayville. I found that very painful, because I was being told that I didn’t know myself, but I did.” She says her husband views her bisexuality as “a room in the house that is my identity.”

Reid is one of the most successful contemporary novelists working today, and we can now add “queer” to that descriptor. Her first three novels did well, but Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was her breakout book, followed by Daisy Jones & The Six (2019),Malibu Rising (2021) and Carrie Soto is Back(2022). Collectively, she has sold more than 21 million print, e-book and audiobook copies of her books. Daisy Jones & The Six, a novel loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac, was adapted for Prime Video by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine — an adaptation that actually added a queer storyline not present in the book.Ā  Her 2016 novel One True Loves was adapted into a critically panned 2023 film.

In 2019, Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was picked up by Freeform to be adapted into a TV series, produced by Ilene Chaiken and Jennifer Beals. In 2021, Reid said the rights to the book were no longer owned by Freeform, and in 2022 it was announced that Netflix would be adapting the series into a movie, adapted by Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere) and directed by queer director Leslye Headland (Russian Doll, The Acolyte.) So it’s been languishing in development for years as fans continue to share our unsolicited casting ideas. As per the Time piece, casting won’t begin until they have “a script that’s ready,” according to her producing partner, Bruce Mendelsohn. Meanwhile, he and Reid do envision a global theatrical release for Atmosphere, a situation which is unfortunately rare for lesbian love stories.

In conclusion, if you haven’t read it yet, I really would like to recommend Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!Ā 

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?

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Riese

Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3319 articles for us.

9 Comments

  1. My timing is impeccable: I finished reading Evelyn Hugo for the first time last Thursday, immediately googled “taylor jenkins reid bisexual”, and saw she had literally just come out.

  2. hello gaydar accuracy strikes again-when i finished the book last month i also googled ā€œtaylor jenkins reid bisexualā€ -im a bisexual and although some of the writing is very tell don’t show and the pacing is a little rushed at times i had a hoot and a half and i felt very seen

    • right same! it wasn’t always the most literary or award-worthy writing, but i had a fantastic time reading it

  3. Same Riese Same.

    So ā€œ It was also extremely good. I devoured it, I adored it, I wanted to read ten more books just like it.ā€

    I too want! Have you got any recommendations…???

  4. The depiction of bisexuality in Evelyn Hugo is so good and nuanced, I am not surprised Reid is bisexual. Great news!

  5. “Evelyn Hugo turned out to be, in fact, extremely gay. …It was also extremely good. I devoured it, I adored it, I wanted to read ten more books just like it.”

    LOL, I had a different reaction (after hearing about via hullaballoo, probably here). I thought, “Why am I just mired in writing fanfiction, when I could write something just as good or better, and make some $$$$ too?”

    Eh, I’m maybe looking forward to the adaptation…

    …but I still think I could write something better! šŸ˜‰

Comments are closed.

Queer Tarot Reading: What Summer Has in Store for Your Love Life

Cowboy Clairvoyant is a members-only newsletter and series by Autumn Fourkiller featuring dream interpretation, tarot answers, and more ventures into the Beyond. Today, Cowboy Clairvoyant answers someone’s question about work, interprets a dream about being kidnapped into a cult, and offers up a collective tarot love reading for everyone reading this.


Dear Dreamers,

How are you? I’m currently reading The Emperor of Gladness, I keep listening to The Disintegration Loops on repeat — I’ve said it before, to various friends, but it sounds like walking through someone else’s dream feels. My cats have stepped on my keyboard at least one hundred times since I sat down to write this. C’est la vie, they say each time. This weekend, I went to find a Saint Christopher Pendant and also attended a fiber arts show and reception and ate approximately three small plates of grapes, cheese, and weird crackers. Then I watched Sister Wives with my friend Sean. Across a matter of days, I made cilantro lime rice and baked bread and nearly burned Marry Me Chickpeas. I thought, wow, what a life I’m leading despite the horrors.

And I hope you’re feeling that way, too.

Cowboy Note: This week, I decided to proverbially Read the Collective on the topic of love life. It really feels like the time! So below, find one individual’s question for the tarot, one dream interpretation, and one collective love reading for you.

Yours in Brief and Beautiful Bliss,
Cowboy


TAROT READING

a dream door into an office secretary

Which path should my wife follow: Start consulting or get an office job?
– AnonymousĀ 

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for the gift of your question. It’s a good question, to be sure. In the past few years, I have gone through my own kind of job journey, constantly bumping up against that question that we all face at one time or another: Would I rather be poor or happy?

In your wife’s case though, I get the strong sense she won’t have a problem either way. I know that’s not what you’re asking me exactly, but I think it is good to know anyway.

As for which path she should follow, first she must consider whether or not she can live well if someone else is in control of her. I say this because, after meditating on her two options, I drew forward The Chariot and The Emperor. The Chariot representing consulting, of course, and The Emperor’s staunch upright demeanor representing an office job. For your wife, the question truly is if she prefers action (if consulting is what she feels called towards) or the ability to rely on someone else’s rules and regulations in order to live the life she wants outside of those structured hours.

I wish I could answer this for her, but only she really knows. If it helps, though, I also see for her an eventual crystal kind of clarity, one that happens so rarely in these lives we lead.

Good luck to you both, and see you on the other side,
CC


DREAM INTERPRETATION

a dream door into a cult

My partner and I are leaving our friend’s house after our weekly board game night, but in this dream world the house is in a dark forest. As we walk to our car, I see him in the light of the doorway jerk to the side, like in a horror film. I realize he is being taken, and that my partner and I are too. We struggle against the kidnappers but can’t free ourselves. Now I am in a huge brightly lit room, like a convention center. This is where we’ve been taken. There are hundreds of people milling about with blank expressions. I don’t know where my partner or friend are, but it doesn’t concern me for some reason. My only thought is that I must contact my mom to let her know where I am, because she must be worried. I pull out my phone, but someone nearby tells me, “That won’t work here, all signal is blocked.” Suddenly I know with 100% certainty that this is a cult. Everyone here is in a cult that has no contact with the outside world. The word cult just keeps echoing in my head. Somewhat hilariously, this cult has a reception desk, with some clerical workers behind a long table. I rush to a worker, an older, kind-looking woman, and I tell her that this is a cult, and we have to get out. She looks at me with concern and confusion and some sympathy and hands me a clipboard to sign in. I continue to urge her that we are all in a cult, but she doesn’t respond. I go to the center of the vast room, and I try to scream as loud as I can, ā€œTHIS IS A CULTā€, but my voice is throttled, and only very quiet sounds will come out. Now I turn my attention to escape. I go outside where there is an equally large courtyard and make my way to the farthest perimeter, holding my phone up high to try and find a break in the signal blocking field. Most of the perimeter is a high stone wall, but in one section, there is only a short, flimsy white plastic fence. I’m sure there is an alarm system, but I rush forward anyway, trying to jump over the fence, but crushing it under me instead. I continue running through a sparse grove of trees until I see a residential area. At one house, an older, surly-looking man is working on his truck in his yard, but I decide that this is now my safe house. I tell the man that I have just escaped a cult and that I am going to use his home as a haven. He is visibly unhappy, but he doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t stop me. I go into his house. I then begin the process of contacting my mother to help free everyone, but then I wake up.
– HannahĀ 

Dear Hannah,

Thank you for the gift of your dream. I’m going to approach this one a little differently than I normally do, because you have truly given us all a gift. Some themes are just too good to put down.

First, though, I would like to answer your question. You asked me: ā€œWhy was I so focused on my mother, and shouldn’t I have wanted to find my partner first before doing anything else?ā€ To begin, you focusing on your mother immediately expresses to me something your conscious mind already knows well, that you and your mother have, at this juncture of your life, switched roles. You are the worrier now, like she was for you when you were a child. In reality, you might be first focused on your partner, but in Dreamland, things are different, and often not as they appear. But you know that, too. What I am really trying to say, Hannah, is that you should give yourself some leeway. You do not have to be the perfect daughter or the perfect now-mother. You can live your own life and still be helpful; it is a hard balance, but you are strong enough to face it.

That said, I want you to know that the cult dream is, actually, more universal than we might think. I’ve had several private clients express dreams in which they are at a spiritual retreat that turns terrifying, or become converted in some way, though I don’t believe I’ve ever come across one that involves a kidnapping element as your dream does. Generally speaking, cult dreams also deal heavily with interpretations such as one feeling as if their voice has been suppressed (literally in your case), that they are feeling subject to conformity, and that they feel surrounded in their personal or professional lives.

I feel your dream specifically speaks to the social conformity element. I say this, specifically, because of the kidnapping. This was not your choice. Perhaps, in your life, you’ve been subject to a type of forced conformity and, in your adult life, are finally getting to express what you never could. That could also be why your voice is literally suppressed in the dream, coming out not as a scream but a whisper; it is an echo of those times. There is light coming forward though. I know it’s not super great that the man whose house you take as haven is visibly unhappy to have you there, but that doesn’t matter, because you just escaped a cult! Not literally, but in the Waking World you can apply this logic to your own life. It doesn’t really matter if people who think you should never bloom or grow disapprove of your life choices.

To anyone stuck having cult dreams I would give similar advice of breaking free of people’s limits on you, plus a reminder that, in the least self-help way possible, there can be extreme power in difference.Ā 

See you on the Other Side,
CC


READING THE COLLECTIVE ON: LOVE LIFE

the tarot love card

The first card I pulled for the Collective was The High Priestess, who had a lot to say. First off, we know we need to sit down and have a real talk with our romantic interest, or interests. This is not the time for dilly-dallying! Our intuitions are at the forefront here. Also, pretending that we don’t see the problems doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Ouch, High Priestess.

The second card I pulled for the Collective was Justice, who tells us there are some issues within ourselves we need to work on, and we know that, even though the mirror is sometimes painful. If we’re going to tell the truth about other people, so do we have to tell the truth about ourselves. Ouch, Justice!

To finish reading the collective, I pulled the card of Judgement, who wasn’t actually as harsh as I expected… Judgement tells us that all of this work we’re doing regarding relationships and self-reflection is worth it. That yes, it is often uncomfortable, but we’ll be better for it afterward. That renewal will come, and with it love, or at least pleasure. Sure, things might end, but new beginnings happen when we least expect them.


Submit your dreams and tarot questions to Cowboy Clairvoyant. You can also leave a comment on this article describing a dream to be interpreted.

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Autumn Fourkiller

Autumn FourkillerĀ is a writer and mystic from theĀ ā€œEarly Death Capital of the World.ā€Ā She is currently at work on a novel about Indigeneity, the Olympics, and climate change. A 2022 Ann Friedman Weekly Fellow, her work can be found in Atlas Obscura, Majuscule, Longreads, and elsewhere. You can follow her newsletter,Ā Dream Interpretation for Dummies, on Substack.

Autumn has written 17 articles for us.

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‘The Last of Us’ Episode 206 Recap: It’s Her Party (And We’ll Cry if We Want To)

This recap will have spoilers for Season 2, Episode 6 of The Last of Us, “The Price”


Hello and welcome to the penultimate episode recap of The Last of UsĀ season two, where Nic and I (Valerie Anne) hope you’ll join us in shouting about our many feelings. As always, we’ll talk about the video game, but not spoil anything that happened in the game that hasn’t happened in the show yet, and we ask you do the same.


In this episode, we do a little time traveling. Which is actually convenient for the format of these conversations. Instead of questions this week, I’m just going to break this episode into the time jump segments and we can have a freeform discussion about it!

Our first stop is Austin, Texas 1983 for a little Joel and Tommy backstory!

The Last of Us 206: Teen Joel comforts Teen Tommy

“If you put your paws on my brother, you’ll meet the jaws of his brother.”

Nic: I loved this addition to the story a lot; it gives us context for who Joel is and some potential insight into why he makes the decisions he does. For better or worse, Joel’s a Protectorā„¢ and he always has been. It started with him protecting Tommy from their father’s fury, and I’m almost certain this wasn’t the first time he’s done this. Something that stood out to me in this scene was Joel saying the quiet part out loud after his dad told him the story of his own father breaking his jaw. He asked his dad why he hurts them when he knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of abuse. And his father’s response is that sure, maybe he goes too far, but at least it’s better than what his father did. Which, congrats for not breaking your kid’s jaw I guess? I think that’s the moment that Joel decided he was going to break that cycle of abuse; he decided that doing a little better than his father wouldn’t be enough, he would do everything in his power to protect his kids.

Valerie: I agree, I really liked learning this about Joel, and seeing how protective he was of Tommy from the jump. We’ve seen this from him a little as an adult, but we haven’t seen a ton of the brothers together, so it’s nice to be reminded they’ve always been close.

I’m sure Joel remembers this moment as a relatively good day with his dad. The day his dad didn’t hit him or Tommy for once, but sat him down, slid him a beer, and talked to him man to man. But as an outsider, it was hard to watch. “It could be worse” and “you don’t have it as bad as I did” are classic abusive parent lines. But at least his dad had a moment of clarity this night, even if it was short-lived, that he’s maybe not the best dad. And Joel DID do a little bit better. A lot better, even. He’s not perfect, not by a long shot — which we’ll get to — but I have no doubt in my mind that Joel Miller never raised a hand to Sarah in anger. And he never stopped looking out for Tommy.

Nic: I didn’t catch this during my first viewing, but on rewatch I noticed the camera lingering on Joel’s dad’s watch, only the watch is still ticking away. Very different from Joel wearing that same watch while it’s broken; a constant reminder to be better.

Valerie: YES! Also!! JOEL IS BACK IN THE INTRO! My heart!


Then we skip ahead to Ellie’s 15th birthday, her first in Jackson.

Valerie: First of all, of course Seth is a fucking cop. I don’t care if he has grandkids who love Lego or makes delicious cakes. I have not forgiven him for hurling a slur at our precious girls and he can choke on a bone for all I care.

Eh hem. ANYWAY, on to the cute stuff. I knew Joel gave Ellie her guitar, that much was clear. I didn’t know Joel REFURBISHED Ellie’s guitar and put so much love and care and time into it. HE USED ONE OF HER DRAWINGS FOR THE DESIGN. That’s some cute dad shit.

Nic: I’m so glad you said that about Seth too, because my first all caps note about this scene was “OF COURSE Seth was a cop in the Before Times.” Admittedly, I did think it was sweet that Lego trade would benefit his grandkids, HOW’MEVER not even that can change my opinion about that bigot. We texted about this a little bit, but I can’t remember if Joel physically making Ellie’s guitar was in the game but either way, this had me in my FEELINGS! The care he took with making sure every single aspect was perfect, the gorgeous closeups of the moth, and finding out that he decided to include that because of her drawings?!?!

Valerie: Also cute? Ellie hopped up on pain meds. Like obviously it’s DEVASTATING that she was so stressed about keeping her secret that she SCALDED HER OWN ARM but her little face and look of distress when she says her arm “smelled like pork” was freaking adorable.

Then Joel calls Ellie “baby girl” and kisses the top of her head when she leans into him and it’s one of if not the most affectionate things we’ve seen either of them do with each other and on one hand, it filled my heart right up, but on the other it shattered it to pieces. Because a) Joel is gone, and they will never have this again, and b) it reminded me of how Joel must have been with and also would have continued to be with Sarah.

Nic: I loved how Joel went from fear to anger to understanding when Tommy brought Ellie home high off painkillers because she was just so tired of hiding her secret from the world. I agree with you on getting to see them both be so gentle and loving with each other. It makes the knowledge that they’ll never have that again hurt so much more. Brilliant and devastating work by this team.

The Last of Us 206-2 joel comforts ellie Photograph by Liane Hentscher HBO

“Baby mine, don’t you cry, baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine.” šŸŽ¶ (Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Valerie: On the non-feelings side of things, when she wakes up from her drugged up stupor, the camera pans around the room, and I love that they showed the A-ha cassette tape, and her knife stuck into the bedside table.

Nic: OMG yes! I loved these details!

The Last of Us 206 ellie with a mouthful of cake

This kid has impulse control issues and I love that about her.

Valerie: When Ellie has a mouthful of cake and is absolutely BEAMING, it’s such a fun, sweet moment. We don’t get to see a lot of Pure Joy Ellie in this show — sure, she’s funny and quippy and punny and sarcastic, but usually as a distraction or protection from the Hard Things going on. This is just a childlike happiness that, frankly, she deserves.

Nic: We’ve always been Team Bella Ramsey over here, but for anyone who’s been doubting their casting as Ellie, this episode is a perfect example of why they are perfect for this role. Both in the game and the show, we rarely get to see Ellie just be a kid; and it makes sense, it’s the end of the world, and she’s been through more than even other apocalypse kids. I loved that they expanded on the flashbacks we got in the game to show the progression of Joel and Ellie’s relationship, as well as to remind us that while Ellie can murder with the best of them, she’s also a teenager who is so excited to have her own birthday cake that she can’t help but dig in hands first.

The Last of Us 206 joel hands ellie her new guitar

Once my (Valerie) dad hand-carved me a stake and cross for my Buffy the Vampire Slayer Halloween costume and that’s the vibe I got from this.

Valerie: I’m going to admit something embarrassing here: When I first played the game, I thought this song was written for Joel and Ellie specifically. It wasn’t until I was looking up lyrics after Ellie played it last week that I realized “Future Days” is a real song that was released two decades ago. Oops! I am not very familiar with Pearl Jam’s oeuvre. It doesn’t mean it hurt any less to hear Joel sing it for Ellie. Because Joel did, didn’t he? He lost himself when Ellie was taken, and he only almost lost her there. And Ellie is losing herself now, too, after losing him for real.

Nic: If it helps, I also looked up Future Days back when I played the game because I had no prior knowledge of it! And the fact that it fits so perfectly underscores the importance of music to this story in general.


Now it’s time for Ellie’s 16th birthday, one a little more familiar to players of the game.

The Last of Us 206 ellie laughing at joel in the woods

The fact that he didn’t even catch on that she was blatantly laughing at him was very cute.

Valerie: This entire sequence was just perfect. A lot of it was lifted right from the game, but with Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal’s personal touches. Ellie cackling at Joel’s insinuation she has a thing for Jesse and him insisting he has an eye for these things. The way Ellie says “Dicks and vaginas” with a gleeful smile, trying to make Joel as uncomfortable as possible, as is her right as a teenager.

Also the transition of her trying to make the case for being old enough to go on patrols into IT IS A DINOSAUR and immediately scaling it brought me so much joy. The duality of being 16. These flashback scenes, especially her 15th and 16th birthdays, are the most childlike we ever get to see Ellie, save maybe for brief moments in the flashbacks with her and Riley. Some 16-year-olds might be too embarrassed to put on a helmet and play pretend in front of their dad but Ellie hasn’t really had the chance to do anything like this before, so she gets swept up in her excitement, and it’s so sweet to see.

And this is SUCH a great dad gift for Ellie. We know he spent time here before he brought Ellie, because he greased the planet mobile, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t all he did. If he spent the weeks between when he found this place and her birthday cleaning it up, clearing bigger debris, maybe even clearing out some stray infected or bodies or dead animals so it was a pure experience for her. He scoured their small world for a cassette tape of a mission to space and let her sit in a spaceship and escape for just a few moments. As often as he literally saved her life, he can’t save her from the trauma and pain of this world, but he can give her this.

It’s such brilliant but heartbreaking storytelling to put this scene at this point in the story. Instead of showing us these in the beginning, they waited until after we lost Joel. They waited until we saw Ellie cross a line we’ve never seen her cross before to remind us why. To remind us how much Joel meant to her, how much she meant to Joel, and why they killed for each other.

It’s such a perfect and joyful and wonderful moment but the bubble shatters on the way back to Jackson, because Ellie sees some literal fireflies and is reminded of the questions that have been plaguing her for years.

The Last of Us 206 Ellie in her helmet

THEEEEE CUTEST

Nic: I WOULD DIE FOR ASTRONAUT ELLIE!! Ahem. I’m sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. This sequence is one I’ve been most looking forward to AND dreading because of the Feelings they bring up. It turns out, I didn’t need to be worried about whether they’d be able to evoke the same emotions this scene did in the game; Bella and Pedro somehow affected me even more.

Every single thing about these scenes hit. Joel and Ellie are just so cute together! She thought it was called a “lotter” of kittens, Valerie! A LOTTER! Ellie’s absolute incredulity at Joel thinking something was going on between her and Jesse absolutely SENT me. And when she saw that her dinosaur guess was actually true, I was rocketed back to when you streamed the game and made the same exclamation seconds before Ellie did.

Valerie: It was not the first nor the last time Ellie and I were on the same page.

Nic: The first time I watched this, I was so focused on Ellie’s reactions to everything; her awe and wonder at seeing things she could only dream about brought to life, her mischievous excitement over getting to break the glass to choose a helmet, her disbelief that she was listening to an actual rocket launch. Bella portrayed every single emotion perfectly. The second time I watched though, I focused on Joel. The way he revealed each new surprise to Ellie showed a restraint that I would never have, especially knowing how excited she would be. Before they reached their destination, Ellie sarcastically commented that her childhood has been SUCH a joy so far, not knowing that Joel had gone through the pains of setting up this surprise so she could have just that. And as they moved from room to room, he let her explore and discover surprises at her own pace, just watching and hoping that she would love it. And him asking if he did okay absolutely broke me. How nervous must he have been about her reaction?!

The Last of Us 206 Ellie and JOel in the museum

TOO EMOTIONAL FOR A CAPTION

Nic: There’s so much loss in this show; loss of loved ones, loss of normalcy. The one I keep going back to is the loss of innocence. We’ve talked a lot about how quickly Ellie’s had to grow up and how much she’s lost. Dreams and aspirations often feel like a luxury in the apocalypse, but for a few precious moments, Joel gave Ellie back some of what she’s lost. He may have lost his opportunity to do this for Sarah, but he’s doing better for Ellie.


Veering out of childhood and into adulthood, we get to Ellie’s 17th birthday.

The Last of Us 206 Joel has his hands on his hips as he scolds Ellie

Peak dad pose!

Valerie: The first thing I noticed in THIS segment is that Joel sprung for chocolate cake this time, which means he planned it much further in advance than he did her 15th. (And, of course, made sure Seth spelled her name right. I also love that Joel did the classic dad knock-and-open move, giving Ellie and Kat just enough time to pull apart but not enough to get their flannels back on. And I won’t lie to you, the first time I watched I was focused on something else in the shot when Kat’s bag fell open and Joel said “what is that??” and thought it was a sex toy before I went back and saw the tattoo gun. I’m not sure Joel would have been ready for dildos. Instead it’s just hooking up, tattoos, and weed.

Nic: HAHA! Oh wow, imagine??

The Last of Us 206 Ellie and Kat rush to get their clothes back on

GAAAAAAY

Nic: Talk about getting all of the stereotypical teenage shit out of the way at once! I was very “oh, poor Joel” riiiiight up until he added “experimenting with…girls” in a way that made it clear he did not approve. I know we see him flip later on, but I sure did not have Joel as a low key homophobe on my Bingo card, I’ll tell you what. I love that Ellie corrected him right away though; she doesn’t need to get back to herself, she knows who she is and she’s very clear with him about that it’s not an experiment; it’s up to him what he decides to do with that information.

Valerie: I agree, I think especially since Pedro Pascal is SUCH a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, it took me by surprise when a dash of homophobia came out, but then I remembered we did JUST learn he was raised in the 80s by a cop in Texas. Since he did come around, I’ll give him grace on this one slip-up.

Nic: I like that we get to see flashbacks that aren’t in the game to add even more context for the depth and complexity of Joel and Ellie’s relationship. They might not be father and daughter by blood, but they’ve experienced a lot of the same growing pains that come with being a teenager and the parent of one. Even Joel’s attempts at connecting with Ellie over her tattoo felt familiar; those first moments after a fight when you’re tiptoeing around the other person, trying to get back on their good side.

The Last of Us 206 joel looks at Ellie's tattoo

“Hurts a little, but kinda good” is also how I (Valerie) felt about getting a tattoo.

Valerie: Their fights do feel very father/daughter, even when Ellie is resisting that title. Like when she looked Joel square in the eye and said, “You don’t own anything. She was NOT just talking about the house.

The Last of Us 206 ellie looks pissed

Cue Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”

Nic: For a show that almost definitely isn’t a comedy, I sure do cackle a lot while watching. In an attempt to understand her even more, Joel goes to talk to Gail while she’s minding her own damn business trying to enjoy a book and a meal. The way he just plops down like “you guys study dreams, right?” Who guys, Joel? All therapists?? I caaaan’t with him! LOL. Catherine O’Hara sets him straight about the meaning of moths though; they’re not necessarily symbolic of change and growth like butterflies are. They symbolize death, if you’re into that sort of thing. That pause before Gail asks Joel why he’s even asking … Catherine O’Hara, the actor you are!

The Last of Us 206

I don’t know Gail’s last name, but I know her middle name is “Sick of Everyone’s Shit.”

Valerie: This scene cracked me up. When Gail tries to go back to her book and realizes he isn’t leaving, she begrudgingly adds, “Why do you ask?” and he just leaves?? So funny. Also, she’s wearing pot leaf earrings. Obsessed with this woman.

Nic: When we cut to Ellie packing up her room preparing to move to the garage, we get a glimpse of more moth drawings but this time with the phrase “you have a greater purpose” front and center. Oh, my heart.


We skip two years this time and make it to Ellie’s 19th birthday.

The Last of Us 206 ellie practicing her questions for joel

This is neither here nor there but Joel really did transform this garage.

Nic: What if we just don’t talk about this part? What then? I didn’t necessarily enjoy watching these scenes, but from a storytelling perspective they were so powerful and important. I don’t think there’s been a moment since it happened where Ellie thought Joel was telling her the entire truth. The extent of the lie may not have been clear, but she’s smart and some things just never added up. It’s what led her to even ask him to swear about it in the season one finale. So I loved watching her do the relatable thing and practice asking the questions that’ve been rolling around in her mind. And they’re good questions!

Valerie: The closest thing I have to what Ellie is feeling is that feeling of needing to come out. Of having suspected I was queer for years, then realizing I was almost definitely queer, and then feeling so sure I had to say it out loud to make it real. Years of it hanging over me and chewing me up on the inside, growing and growing until it was practically bursting out of me. This theory of what really happened in Salt Lake City has been haunting Ellie, these questions consuming her. And she needs to get it out.

Nic: Before she can do the scary thing though, here comes Joel with the news that she finally gets to go on her first patrol.

Valerie: I loved the little moment when Joel says, “and your gun” and Ellie has to try to play it cool because we watched him deny her a gun for AGES and now he’s the one suggesting she bring one. You know she was squealing on the inside as she headed out with him.

Nic: And for a few moments, they’re Joel and Ellie again, she’s joking with him and he’s being overprotective. But then everything changes when someone radios about Eugene and Adam getting overtaken by infected. I kind of love that I’d forgotten about the infected until this point. It’s just another reminder that the interpersonal aspects of this show are just as important as the threat of infected. This scene is particularly harrowing because both of those things are intertwined. When they realize Eugene is bit, Joel goes right into protocol mode: eliminate the threat, keep the community safe, protect.

Valerie: One small detail I liked in this scene is that Joel keeps his gun trained on Eugene the entire time. Ellie had her gun pointed down until Eugene pulled his gun up to aim it at Joel, and once they realized Eugene’s gun was shot, she lowered it again.

Nic: Of course Ellie remembers when she was in Eugene’s place, so she tests him the way she was tested. When he passes, I wonder if there was part of her that was holding out hope that maybe there were other immune people out there; that maybe Eugene should be given the same chance she was.

Valerie: Hey what the fuck??? That hurt my feelings, Nicole.

Nic: Either way, she figures he’s got time to at least say goodbye to his wife, so when Joel agreed, I believed him, I did. Right up until Ellie made him promise.

In a world like this and in a community like Jackson, there needs to be rules and protocols. I can understand that on a base level. But why lie? Why give both Eugene and Ellie hope? Why not just lean on the rules and protocols if that’s the reason?

Valerie: I don’t know who he thinks he’s protecting. I don’t know what the difference would have been if he tied Eugene up and brought him back. He knew Ellie would be safe from him, so it wasn’t that. Was he afraid he’d lose his nerve if he saw Gail mourning? But no, because someone else from Jackson would have taken care of it if he couldn’t. And he’s one old guy slowly turning into a fresh infected, so surely he wasn’t worried about his own safety (and thereby his ability to protect Ellie.) So I don’t understand Joel’s motive’s here. I don’t understand why he looked her in the eyes and said, “I promise” when he damn well knew he was going to break it. The only thing I can think is that maybe Joel has never seen anyone turn, so he doesn’t know how slow it is, or how much time they actually have. Ellie sat with Riley while she turned. She knows they have time in a way Joel might not have understood.

Nic: When Ellie realizes what Joel’s done, you can see the moment her biggest fears have been confirmed: Joel can lie right to her face. And he does it again when they get back to Jackson! He doesn’t just tell Gail the bare minimum, he outright lies about what happened, so I completely understand why Ellie tells Gail what actually happened. And the pain in Ellie’s voice when she says, “you swore”?? BRUTAL.

The Last of Us 206 Ellie looks devastated and furious

Shot to the heart, and you’re to blame.


We’re done with the birthday train now and we only skip nine months here, which is also kind of going back in time, because we are at the New Year’s dance we saw earlier this season. Timey wimey!

The Last of Us 206 Joel and Ellie on the porch

“Forgiveness, can you imagine?” šŸŽ¶

Nic: Timey wimey indeed! I really liked seeing Joel’s literal perspective of that night, especially him seeing the joy on Ellie’s face as she danced with Dina. He looked both happy that Ellie has Dina and Jesse, but also sad at how much he’s missed out on in the 9 months since everything changed.

Valerie: It is interesting to see where Joel is coming from now. Why he shoved Seth for calling Ellie and Dina dykes. Because HE did a wee homophobia and saw how much it hurt Ellie and regrets it and now he’s overcompensating. For that, and for everything else. He wants back in Ellie’s good graces so badly, and just keeps fucking up.

Nic: That’s such a great point. And as we thought, Ellie initially walking past Joel was just the beginning of their interaction. Now we get to see the porch scene that the game saved for the very end. The majority of the dialogue is a 1:1 lift, and Bella and Pedro KILLED this entire scene. The soft look on Joel’s face when he brings up Dina, afraid to push too much because Ellie is finally talking to him after who knows how long. The pain in Ellie’s voice when she reveals that she recognized that Joel had the same look when he swore about the Fireflies as when he swore about Eugene. When her worst fears about him were confirmed. Brilliant and devastating.

The Last of Us 206 Ellie looks devastated

“He’s all he had left, and he lied.” – Roberta, Now & Then

Valerie: I agree it was absolutely devastating to watch Joel choke back sobs as he confirmed Ellie’s worst fears. Bella’s delivery of “Then I was supposed to die, that was my purpose, my life would have fucking mattered” shattered my heart into a bajillion pieces. It’s not exactly the same but it reminded me of that line from Hamilton. “And if there’s a reason I’m still alive when everyone who loves me has died, I’m willing to wait for it.” And he took away that reason, so what does she have left to wait for?

Nic: OUCH! The portion of their conversation where he owns up to what actually happened that day happens two years earlier in the game, and at first I thought that having Ellie vow to try to forgive him was a little fast considering she learns the truth mere moments before. But it’s like we’ve said. She’s always known. She’s been preparing for this moment for years. I think it was important for Joel to hear Ellie say what he took from her, and I’m glad she said it. I’m also glad that he told her that he did what he did because he loves her. I’m not a parent. I can only imagine the depth of that love. But conceptually, I can understand how a love that deep can drive someone to make impossible choices in the name of protecting their child.

Valerie: I also think that actually confronting him about it made it clear to her how much he has tortured himself over this. He knows telling Ellie the truth about what happened would cost him, but he’d rather have her alive and mad at him than dead and he stands by it as a way to show her how important she is to him. If he had come at her flippantly or defiantly like “yeah and I’d do it again, so what!” instead of the heartfelt way he explained — telling her he loves her, saying the words this time — I think it would have taken her much longer to come around to wanting to someday try to forgive. But this conversation, as hard as it was, is a weight off her shoulders in a way. So she does want to forgive him.

Nic: I love a lot about this story, and at the top of that list is its ability to get me to think deeply about the human condition, what makes us who we are, and why we do what we do. To this day, I don’t think I can say one way or another whether or not I agree with Joel’s decision. I actually don’t think it matters, because what I can do is understand why he thought what he was doing was right.

Valerie: Joel isn’t a perfect dad, or a perfect man; he’s made selfish choices that took away Ellie’s (and other people’s) autonomy to save himself from more hurt than he could handle, but like you said, HE does think he’s doing the right thing. And he IS doing a little better than his dad. Sometimes generational curses don’t break, they erode.

Nic: I guess we’re just taking turns lobbing emotional grenades at each other this week, because, whew. Yes. All of that.

Valerie: Random question! Why do you think Joel took Dina out the next morning? To give Ellie space, and let her sleep in, knowing he dropped an emotional doozy on her the night before? To have the “what are your intentions with my daughter” talk with Dina? After all the times over the years he said “we should do this more often,” it’s kind of surprising now, in retrospect, he didn’t go out with Ellie. Though I suppose the result would probably have been the same.

Nic: Ya know, I forgot about that until this moment! If I had to guess, it was to give Ellie space and let her take the lead when it comes to their communication instead of assuming they could hop right back into patrolling together. But you’re right, an interesting choice!


And last but not least we ever so slightly jump forward just a few days to catch up to where we left off: Seattle, Day Two. (Well, Night Two.)

The Last of Us 206 Ellie in the rain

IT’S LIKE RAY-EE-AIN šŸŽ¶

Nic: The smash cut from the realization that the literal night before he was murdered, Ellie decided to try and forgive Joel, to seeing her in the aftermath of doing her best Joel impression made me chuckle in a “we’re in danger” kind of way. I’m terrified at what she’s going to find inside that theater, what with Dina taking an ARROW TO THE LEG and all. This level of stress and emotion can’t be good for us.

Valerie: At first I was like, “Uh oh, why are the lights off?” but then I remembered when Ellie last saw Dina and Jesse they were being ACTIVELY HUNTED by WLF soldiers so I’M SURE THAT’S FINE. Going into the SEASON TWO FINALE. Stress!!

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+!

Valerie Anne

Valerie Anne (she/they) a TV-loving, video-game-playing nerd who loves reading, watching, and writing about stories in all forms. While having a penchant for sci-fi, Valerie will watch anything that promises a good story, and especially if that good story is queer.

Valerie has written 644 articles for us.

Nic

Nic is a Senior Product Manager at a major Publisher and lives in Astoria, NY. She is way too attached to queer fictional characters and maintains that buying books and reading books are two very different hobbies. When she's not consuming every form of fiction, you can find her dropping it low on the dance floor. You can find Nic on twitter and instagram.

Nic has written 91 articles for us.

6 Comments

  1. I hadn’t played the games, but it means so much to me that this prestige HBO critically acclaimed and popular show has a queer lead where her queerness and love stories — Riley and Dina— are integrated so well throughout the seasons and are not just one off things. And in a lot of sci-fi or alternate history or dystopia shows, it’s almost like homophobia is not a thing, but the fact that it still is in this universe makes it more meaningful to me. Her being gay isn’t the biggest or most important thing about her, obviously, but it’s not nothing. Amazing acting and dialogue throughout.

  2. The ā€œyou’ll do better than your own parentsā€ through line was devastating, especially Joel saying it to flashback Ellie, and then flashing forward to Seattle. Because she’s not!!!! She’s dragging pregnant Dina on a revenge mission!

  3. I went back and watched Joel’s therapy session from ep 1 in a new light, especially given the Joel-Ellie porch scene takes place soon after, and now I hurt even more.
    Gail says, “You can’t heal something unless you’re brave enough to say it out loud” before confronting him about Eugene. And afterwards, “Now maybe there’s a chance I can make things right with you. Your turn, say the thing you’re afraid to say.” Joel can’t get anything out other than “I saved her,” but we know now he was taking in her guidance </3

  4. I have not recovered from this episode nor season up until now… My goodness, there was so much love between Joel and Ellie, and it absolutely shattered to pieces with the realisation of Joel’s betrayal.

    For Ellie, who had been on this infected world for 19 years, to have the strength to see past the unforgivable… Future days! Ripped my heart out.

    Top tier performances by both Bella and Pedro! Gonna miss their father and dad dynamics all over again.

    PS: The astronaut scene was one of faves, here and in the game. Ignition!

    • Lol, *father and daughter*… But since Ellie called herself dad, that still fits šŸ˜…

      • Typo galores, sorry!

        But taking the opportunity to thank both of you again for these recaps.

        How is the season already over by next week?! šŸ˜

Comments are closed.

‘Murderbot’ Is About a Relatable Robot and Its Gaggle of Queer Hippies

Well, I have good news and bad news about Apple TV+’s new show, Murderbot. The good news is, everyone is gay!! The titular Murderbot (Alexander SkarsgĆ„rd) is assigned to a group of humans it calls “hippie scientists” from a planetary commune and every last one of them is queer. We have nonbinary Pin-Lee (played by nonbinary actor Sabrina Wu), their wife Arada (Tattiawna Jones), another point in their triangle Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), and the rest of their crew who are also revealed to be queer (or at least non-traditional by our Earthly human standards) along the way: Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski), Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), and their fearless leader Mensah (Noma Dumezweni). This diverse group of misfits is the perfect example of a found family, for all its friendship, support, in-fighting, messy relationship drama, and unconditional love for one another.

The bad news is that I didn’t like this show as much as I wanted to. The trailer looked fun and the cast is great — Noma Dumezweni specifically was phenomenal — but it didn’t quite hit for me. I felt like it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama; it wasn’t consistently funny enough to be comedic or deep enough to be dramatic. It wobbled on a line that kept taking me out of the show. When you have actors like Tamara Podemski and Noma Dumezweni (yeah I’m mentioning her again, she’s that great) acting their asses off, but then Anna Konkle popping in like she’s doing an SNL sketch, it feels disjointed. The early episodes felt like they were going to lean more into the comedy; they kept cutting to Murderbot’s favorite show, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, which has Clark Gregg, John Cho, DeWanda Wise, and Jack McBrayer looking and acting ridiculous in a Star Trek-esque parody soap opera, and if they had kept that tone throughout, it might have worked. OR if they had skipped the slapstick and kept only the light humor sprinkled in over deeper and darker material like the last few episodes, that might have worked, too. The combination didn’t quite do it for me. There was something about the writing that was juuuuust out of my reach, and I think it can be explained, at least partially, by the fact that the show is written, directed, and produced exclusively by men, despite its source material The Murderbot DiariesĀ being written by a woman. (I’d be really curious to know how it compares in tone to Martha Wells’ book series.)

That said, there’s still plenty to like about this series besides the acting and the guest stars. For one thing, Murderbot — despite being a security unit who hacked its own self to be sentient — is very relatable. It hates making eye contact, thinks humans are weird and/or assholes, and prefers to spend its time watching its favorite television shows than interacting with others. It seems to have some aspects of depression and anxiety (though I think this could have been explored further), despite supposedly not being programmed to have feelings at all. One could argue it’s asexual and aromantic, because it says it skips over the romantic parts of its shows and shows contempt for the humans when they get frisky, but considering it is technically programmed to have no emotions and has Ken doll parts, I’m not sure I would classify it as aro/ace representation.

Not only do I not think that was the show’s intention, I think it could venture too close to harmful and dehumanizing stereotypes to compare aro/ace humans to a literal robot. I’ll leave that to each individual aro/ace person to decide if they feel represented by Murderbot. That said, as a neurodivergent person who does see similarities in it to me (e.g. being unable to figure out small talk to save our lives), there’s something to be said for the metaphor of being literally built different. And again, if I thought the show was genuinely trying to go there, I would be more willing to engage with this potential interpretation further. Alas.

As for the LGBTQ+ aspects that WERE explored, the humans’ queerness is approached very matter-of-factly. It is space in the distant future, of course humans have evolved past stressing about the binaries of gender and sexuality most of our country currently believes exist. Every character’s queerness is revealed in subtle ways throughout the first few episodes with no fanfare, just as part of their lore drops as Murderbot learns about them. There’s even a (brief and largely unexplored) depiction of a healthy polyamorous relationship! (Well, attempts were made. The choices they made before entering into it were healthy, whether or not the relationship is, that’s up for debate.)

While it wasn’t exactly to my taste, had a bit of a predictable throughline, and didn’t quite match the quality of other shows Apple TV+ has been giving us recently, it’s only ten episodes at about 30 minutes each, so it’s not a very big time commitment. I think part of the issue I personally have is that my bar for realistic-looking humanoid AIs gaining sentience is the TV show Humans, and nothing will ever reach that standard. (Not even Westworld. There I said it. Though it admittedly came close.)

So, give Murderbot a shot and come back and let me know what you think! I’d love for you to tell me I must have been in a weird mood this week and actually it’s the best show ever. Or better yet, go watch it and come back and tell me all the ways you agree with me.


Murderbot is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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?

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Related:

Valerie Anne

Valerie Anne (she/they) a TV-loving, video-game-playing nerd who loves reading, watching, and writing about stories in all forms. While having a penchant for sci-fi, Valerie will watch anything that promises a good story, and especially if that good story is queer.

Valerie has written 644 articles for us.

14 Comments

  1. Echoing Lulu’s comment above that Murderbot’s pronouns (self-chosen) are it/its and that is what’s used in the show as well as the book. Very jarring to see he/him!

    I agree Valerie Anne that the tone is off. It feels like they are trying to make it more comedic than the book is (not that the book isn’t funny, it is, but in a darker way than some of the silly comedy that’s in the first two episodes of the show). It didn’t land the balance of comedy and drama that the books do so well.

    I love the books and this adaptation didn’t live up to them for me. The characterization of the group from Preservation as silly hippies did not feel right, both tonally with the story or with the characters as they are in the books. I’m still going to keep watching though!

    • Thanks Casey, I was waiting to see a viewpoint from someone that loves the books, while I continue to deliberate about watching the show!

      One of my concerns was how Murderbot’s gender (or rejection of) would be handled, and it’s clear that it can’t really have been handled at all if it came off as a he!!!

      Also Valerie Anne I totally agree that Humans is the high bar. Niska forever!!

      • Maybe the show will get better if it sorts out the tone??

        I do highly recommend the audiobooks of Murderbot if you read those Sally, instead of the show. The voice actor Kevin R. Free does an incredible job!

      • In the show, the other characters refer to Murderbot using it, not he, but I definitely think the character reads masculine because it’s played by a male actor.

        That’s honestly my biggest problem with the adaptation. I loved the books and I’m planning to keep watching the show, at least for the moment. But yeah, not happy with how they handled Murderbot’s (lack of) gender.

    • It’s funny. I agree with most of this comment Casey, but the portrayal of the Preservation group humans doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe because I don’t care that much about them in the books – I know Dr Mensa but the rest kind of blend together for me. I care much more about SecUnit (and ART in later books).

      • I care so much about ART too (and SecUnit of course), really hope they get it and Murderbot’s relationship right, if the show gets that far!

    • That’s so interesting because I watched the whole season of Murderbot and its pronouns being it/its were NOT made clear. Some of the humans do use it/its but some refer to it as he/him and no one was correcting anyone either way.

      I’m glad it wasn’t just me re: the tone!

      • Well that is disappointing to hear it’s not cleared up even throughout the whole first season! Bummer because Murderbot’s identity as a person but not a human feels integral to its story and I think the pronouns are an indication of that.

        Thanks for the review Valerie Anne!

  2. Sadly the off tone arises from the books. They’re always describing the disconnects from which humor could potentially arise from Murderbot’s unique perspective, rather than crafting scenarios where humor actually arises.

  3. I also wanted to like this more than I did, but I’m going to keep watching it.

    I love the books and have read all 7 of them (with more to come, I hope). My biggest disappointment is the casting of Alexander SkarsgĆ„rd – he’s too masculine and too human looking. In the books Murderbot is agender and is very clear that it doesn’t identify as human. I do think SkarsgĆ„rdā€˜s acting is pretty impressive, but he reads too masculine.

    And also – I relate So Hard to book Murderbot – it achieves sentience and can do anything it wants and what it wants is to be left alone to do its job and watch its shows. And I’m not getting that connection to tv show Murderbot yet.

    About the tone – I thought the books were less comedic/ slapstick, although there is humor from Murderbot’s sarcastic narration. And I deliberately didn’t reread book 1 (the books this season is based on), so I could be misremembering the tone.

    I think the choice to include parts of Sanctuary Moon and to make it ā€œcampy Star Trekā€ makes it more comedic. Sanctuary Moon is definitely an important part of the books but we just get Murderbot’s descriptions of watching it, not full on scenes.

    There’s a Murderbot thread on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and a lot of the commenters (all fans of the books) love the show so far. I’m still on the fence – I love the books so much that I want to love the series (and I want everyone else to read it and watch it). But so far, I like it but don’t love it.

  4. Please edit this review. Murderbot is not a he – it’s just played by a male actor. Part of the whole thing about Murderbot is that it doesn’t do human gender and it is jarring to see a queer publication get this wrong.

    • I didn’t read the books and this fact was NOT made clear by the show – I’m going to update the review, but I wish the show should have done a better job at communicating this. It didn’t go into gender at all, just its lack of interest in sexuality.

Comments are closed.

Jennifer Beals Is Letting You Into Her Massive ‘The L Word’ Archive

Kate Moennig getting into hair and makeup behind the scenes of The L Word

For many, a stray reference toĀ The L WordĀ conjures nostalgia. The series represents a specific moment in time for lesbian representation on television, and so many queers have stories about how and when they first watched. And it’s not just fans who are nostalgic for the much-discoursed series. The stars who brought these characters to life are, too. And in fact, Jennifer Beals has put together the ultimate walk down sapphic memory lane with the release of The L Word: A Photographic Journal, a gay tome featuring over 400 candid photographs taken by Beals on the set and behind the scenes. Many of them have never been seen outside of the close circle of the cast and crew. Paired with quotes and reflections from the stars of the show, it offers a time capsule and a glimpse behind the curtain into the making of the first and longest running TV series about lesbian life.

various photos from behind the scenes of The L Word

I was lucky enough to see Beals at her book tour stop in LA and to speak with her in an interview afterward. The good gay vibes were set with a killer playlist that included songs by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Chappell Roan, Tracy Chapman, and more. When I told her that I really enjoyed the music that was playing, her demeanor changed. She was almost giddy. ā€œI really wanted to make it like a party,ā€ Beals tells me. She even made sure to share the playlist link with me because she was so proud of it. At her LA event, she was interviewed by longtime queer journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist, and for subsequent events she has been in conversation with the author Lydi Conklin and original series creator Ilene Chaiken.

ā€œI wanted to bring people together and be in the same space and enjoy one another’s company,ā€ Beals says of these events. ā€œNot only to reminisce about the show, but to have it as a jumping off point to joy in a way. I just want people to leave feeling enlivened somehow.ā€

behind the scenes photos from The L Word

There certainly was no shortage of joy in the room that night. Queer folks of all ages were packed into the small theater; there was no seat left unused. People seemed to hang on her every word, shocked to be breathing the same air as the Jennifer Beals, who is as stunning in real life as she is on television. The fans were desperate for any kernel of The L Word they could get. No matter how many years it has been since the show was on the air, Jennifer Beals is a living, breathing piece of something that meant so much to so many people.

Beals has always been an avid photographer. She uses her camera as a sort of shield, she explains, a coping mechanism to help guide her through new experiences. But she also uses it as a way to mark time, to create evidence of different periods in her life. The project that eventually became this book started as a personal archiving practice. Originally, it was never intended to be seen by anyone other than the cast and crew of the show. When the series ended in 2009, Beals compiled all the photographs she had taken over the years and made it into a memory book of sorts. To add another layer to the archival nature of the project, she interviewed her cast mates, text that’s featured in the final version of the book. According to Beals, those interviews were conducted right after the show wrapped, so “the experience is very fresh in their minds.” This yields a book that feels simultaneously of-the-moment and like a piece of history.

behind the scenes photo of The L Word cast

Beals collected everything from the show: call sheets, scripts, emails. She attributes her collector tendencies to the fact that her father died when she was young. She understands the “impermanence of life,” so she keeps everything just in case. It’s the same reason she takes photos, to have a tangible memory. There are so many beautiful photos in the book; it’s clear that Beals is as skilled behind the lens as she is in front of it. There were certain photos she knew she wanted to end up in the final version of the book. For example, a photo of Leisha Hailey leaping through a clothing rack during a photoshoot for Vanity Fair and a photo of Laurel Holloman showing off her extremely pregnant belly were some of the shots she knew she had to have. She made her selections and sent them to folks for their approval so that everyone could have a final say and a hand in the book. No one said no to any of the photos she wanted most.

a script from The L Word

Before it became a traditionally published photography book, the project was more DIY. BealsĀ realized just how much the show meant to fans after attending a fan convention in the U.K. with co-stars Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey. She was amazed at the way fans were attached to the show. “They were so interested in the minutiae of the show; the minutiae of the show brought them joy,” she says of the fans. After seeing that enthusiasm from fans, she knew she had to share the book with them, so she had a limited batch printed. She jokes she got “lazy” about doing more with the book since that limited batch, but then fans kept asking about it. That led her to getting the book published on a larger scale.

“I like to think that it’s kind of imperfect timing,” she jokes.

Any timing for this book is perfect in my mind. I would have waited another 21 years just to get a little more insight into the world of the show. Though technically stills, the photographs have so much movement to them. Beals does an incredible job capturing the “talking, laughing, loving, breathing” of it all. In one photo, Moennig, Hailey, and Holloman are joined by Erin Daniels. Beals caught them mid-conversation and captured them in that moment, forever preserved here. It feels so intimate and alive. One of my personal favorites is of Pam Grier. She’s standing among the trailers looking off to the side, the sun washing over her face. She is powerful and vulnerable, strong and soft, all in one captured second. The book really is a gift for fans of The L Word, old and new.

Pam Grier behind the scenes of The L Word

The character of Bette Porter still means a lot to Beals, who speaks of her almost like an old friend. “She helped me grow to become more confident and to become more outspoken in my beliefs,” she says. “There’s an interesting thing when you play a character that is more in their power than you are. It calls upon you to expand into that power.”

“I would say that she gave me strength and I offered to her my vulnerability,” she adds, joking that she and Bette both draw boundaries in Sharpie. Thanks to playing Bette, Beals has “seen the world more clearly,” especially when it comes to being let into the LGBTQ+ community in a kind of way.

“To be an honorary part of the community has been such an incredible gift,” she says. With the book, she’s now letting fans into her life and world a bit, providing an intimate look into moments beyond the screen.

behind the scenes photos of The L Word

Ultimately, Beals’ goal with releasing the book now is to give everyone a sliver of something positive to hold on to. ā€œWe need to convene around this series of memories and figure out how we take that joy and that community with us to face the things that are going on right now,ā€ she says.

Even just from the selection of photos displayed here, you can see she accomplished her goal at every stop. Both in person at her events and over Zoom, Beals’ warmth radiates off of her. Not only does she talk about her time on the show with reverence, she also has a deep respect for it, and that respect extends to the community who has uplifted her and the character she played. She passionately speaks about spending time with members of the LGBTQ+ over the years, and it’s clear she understood the assignment when she took the role. In talking to her, there are moments where that Bette Porter energy comes through, and it’s clear to see yet again how she’s allowed Bette to become part of her DNA.

behind the scenes photos of The L Word

At a time when the queer community is under attack, it’s important to create the time and space to be together and remember our collective power. And that’s something that Beals was trying to do by sharing this book with a larger community. “We need to convene around this series of memories and figure out how we take that joy and that community with us to face the things that are going on right now,” she tells me.

The pictures in the book are more than photographs; they’re a testament to the series’ important place in television history. It’s unsurprising that in order to really create an archive for this series, someone from the cast had to take it into her own hands. Networks release supplementary materials and retrospectives for fans all the time when it comes to mainstream series, but just as queer history has been buried or passed over, The L WordĀ is too often left out of conversations about premium cable television history. The series’ successorĀ Generation QĀ has been deplatformed altogether. With The L Word: A Photographic Journal, Beals — and the rest of the cast and crew, via their interviews — ensure the story behind the series gets to live on. Even if were to also be taken off streaming platforms, The L Word lives on through Beals’ pictures.

From the outside, The L Word may be just a television show. But for the generations of people who were able to see themselves through the characters, there will never be enough words to state it’s significance. That’s why people stood in line, patiently waiting for their turn to tell Beals how she and the show changed them. The grins on their faces as they clutched the book to their chest, the way their hands excitedly told stories for them. It’s all a part of our history.

the chart in The L Word


If you’ve ever wanted to own a Jennifer Beals The L WordĀ print, some of the photos from the book are available on Jennifer’s website. The book is out 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+!

Sa'iyda Shabazz

Sa'iyda is a writer and mom who lives in LA with her partner, son and 3 adorable, albeit very extra animals. She has yet to meet a chocolate chip cookie she doesn't like, spends her free time (lol) reading as many queer romances as she can, and has spent the better part of her life obsessed with late 90s pop culture.

Sa'iyda has written 145 articles for us.

4 Comments

  1. You areso beautiful when I was younger I watched l word loved i just watched it recently brought back alot memories I think it would be great if you kept going with l word there deffinetly wasn’t enough seasons your show to me was more different then most of the gay movies and episodes I loved the movie Clare of the moon that’s one of my favorites to just how it was and the compassion of a women. What is for love somebody and have commitment to one another and the bond of friendship I lost my girlfriend after 38 years I loved her with all my heart I miss her. But we all have a number but take me back to not caring about serious things just living life. I would love to be in your fan club.carol

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Quiz: Which Straight Person Are You?

Straight people might seem a bit odd, but the truth is they’re not so different from the rest of us! (Sometimes.) They have friends, they have hobbies, they date, they have jobs. Believe it or not, we might just have more in common than we think!

Well, have you ever wondered which straight person best describes you? Now you can find out! Take this quiz to find out which straight person is most like you.


Which Straight Person Are You?

Where are you most likely to meet a straight person?(Required)
What would be your role in the apocalypse?(Required)
What’s your favorite of these films from The Autostraddle Encyclopedia of Lesbian Cinema?(Required)
Pick a dog:(Required)
Choose one word to describe your ideal meal:(Required)
What’s your ideal Saturday night?(Required)
What’s the number one quality you’re looking for in a partner?(Required)
Pick a recent Autostraddle headline:(Required)
How are you coping with the state of the world for queers and other marginalized people?(Required)
What message would you like to share with straight cis people?(Required)

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+!

Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 715 articles for us.

15 Comments

  1. I’m Brian and I actually look really kind and handsome and apparently love cinema, so I am very pleased.

  2. I also got Brian, who seems really nice. But I didn’t pick any of the movie answers, other than the one required one, so I’m a bit confused :)

    • Ooo interesting you must’ve picked all the ones that were about Brian’s other qualities. lol

  3. What other movie is Al Pacino in besides dog day afternoon where he helps a trans woman?! Google is not helping me here, so hoping Autostraddle will ā—”Ģˆ

    • And Justice for All!

      I watched it last week and had no idea. (A warning that it’s a really brutal subplot. Not offensive for the time per se, but just very tragic in that plot device way where cruelty experienced by a queer person helps a straight person learn a lesson.)

  4. i got liam which is exciting cuz that’s been one of the top two names for baby boys in the US for quite some time now, so i am now part of a massive community of liams, all of whom could be other straight men, and i’m sure i have something in common with some of them. hopefully i will be the funniest liam. when i take my show on the road don’t worry i will have a woman or non-binary person open for me.

    two of the dogs kind of looked like penny…. but none of the dogs looked like carol? weird for me. or i guess, weird for liam

  5. LOL. I’m Jim. ā€œYou love your wife and so does Jim. Your wife is your best friend, your soulmate, the sun that everything else revolves around. Jim gets it. You get it. Wife guys until the end.ā€ Yep. That’s me. My wife is my everything.

  6. Somehow I am Leila…who is not at all my personality! But you know what? If I’d persisted in thinking I was straight and cis I might have been Leila because for some *weird* reason I only felt comfortable pretending to be someone else? and probably would have ended up a theatre straight. And I think we can all agree that 50% of theatre straights are just deeply repressed queers of one stripe or another

  7. I got Jim. Meh. I was really hoping for a hippie Mom type. Because I basically am a hippie Mom type but bisexual.

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‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Special Recap: Basketball and Bosco?? Lesbians Are Winning

I’m back with All Stars Face!! I do not regularly recap All Stars because the thing about recapping a TV show that airs on Fridays is it takes a lot out of me. I don’t have RuPaul fracking money for support so I need a break! But obviously I had to do a special recap this week because the makeover challenge was for women’s basketball players. Also I’m in love with Bosco.

For anyone who likes reading recaps but isn’t watching, here’s what you missed on Glee season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. This year there are eighteen queens participating in a tournament structure of three brackets of six. The first bracket has three episodes to gain points and the top three move onto the next round. Then next week bracket two will start.

This first bracket is Aja, DeJa Skye, Phoenix, Olivia Lux, Irene the Alien, and Bosco, who I’m in love with. Going into this final episode of the first bracket, Irene and Bosco were in the lead with Aja in third. That is until the queens who weren’t in the top last week give out their point badges. (Sorry, I’ve got to move on. If you’re confused, just roll with it.) DeJa and Olivia end up with two more points each and Phoenix and Aja get zero. Aja feels like Olivia backstabbed her and… it’s a little fair. But I think Olivia was looking at Bosco and Irene as frontrunners and thinking the last thing she wanted to do was to secure Aja in that third spot. Fair! She’s there to win!

It’s a new day in the workroom and Aja and Phoenix are in their feelings. Meanwhile, Bosco is in a tied up black top that looks really good.

Ru arrives to announce a very exciting maxi challenge! The queens will be giving makeovers to women’s basketball players! Now before you get too excited about seeing your biggest WNBA crush all glammed up, I should note these are college players. But I believe the children are the future and I also believe that today’s college athletes whose personal lives are not our business are tomorrow’s super gay pros whose engagements will be breaking Autostraddle news.

The college players are:
Lauren Betts, UCLA
Abby Prohaska, SDSU
Maya Hernandez, Loyala Marymount
Hunter Hernandez, UC Irvine
Nevaeh Dean, UC Irvine
Talia Von Oelhoffen, USC

They’re adorable!

To decide who is paired up with who, the queens have a free throw contest. Whoever gets the most free throws in 60 seconds gets to pair everybody up. Olivia gets the least with three and Irene gets the most with eight. But Irene says she wants to win because she’s great not because the other queens struggle, so she does her best to pair people fairly. She pairs Nevaeh with Olivia, Maya with Phoenix, Talia with Aja, Abby with DeJa, Lauren with Bosco, and Hunter with herself. Oh and it’s not just a makeover. They’re also doing a song called “Shoot Your Shot” and each pair has to write verses.

All the girls are so game and it makes for really fun vibes in the workroom. Much different than the family trauma of last main season’s makeover challenge. Olivia talks a bit about her Aja drama and Nevaeh talks about competing with the other players on your college team who play your same positions. You’re allied as teammates, but you, personally, also want to win. Meanwhile, Hunter is visibly disappointed when Irene says they’re going to go for an alien clown vibe instead of high glam. It’s the right choice for Irene, but I will admit that if I was ever a guest on the makeover challenge I’d be so bummed if I got paired with a kooky queen instead of one who just made me gorg.

There’s a real effort by a lot of the other queens to make their partners feel good which I always love to see. DeJa says she’s going to play to Abby’s strengths with the dancing instead of coming up with complicated choreo. It helps that all of the players are COMPETITIVE. Duh, they’re college athletes! They’re there to win. Even Hunter quickly pivots from disappointment to like okay got to trust my coach.

Bosco is being her usual funny self and Lauren matches that saying you have to just ignore Bosco’s convoluted words and focus on her meaning. It reminded me of last week when Bosco said she wasn’t good at drag queen speak but she made up for it with cutting bitch talk. I wish more queens (especially the white ones) would pay attention!! Bosco is funnier and weirder and more cutting, because she’s not relying on poor deliveries of boots the house down. Instead she’s asking Lauren if she’s ever had a DUI and then saying, well you’re young there’s still time.

As the queens and their proteges prepare for the runway, the basketball players talk about people thinking they’re masculine because they’re athletes. Aja talks about relating to the need to perform femininity as a trans woman.

It’s time for the runway! And the guest judge this week is Brittney Griner Kate Beckinsale?? Okay, look, the truth is I was obsessed with Kate Beckinsale as a kid, because I was obsessed with this very sad movie called Snow Angels. But this is a basketball episode! Why not pick one of the many gay WNBA players?? The only justification I can imagine is these college players would feel way too nervous performing in front of someone they might idolize. But idk… feels like they could’ve picked an athlete of some kind!

Time for the runways! DeJa absolutely killed it with Abby’s makeup, but unfortunately the outfits are not very good. Irene trusting her gut paid off — she and Hunter look amazing as black and white mime clowns. Bosco and Lauren (whose drag name is The Goddess!) also look incredible. What I love here is Bosco made Lauren look gorgeous as herself while still having Michelle’s all-important family resemblance. She didn’t turn Lauren into a version of Bosco but rather found common ground so they could both look great while playing to both of their strengths. It’s a tough balance to strike so it’s really rare to see in these challenges. Phoenix definitely nailed the twinning — and with a fun reference to her and India Ferrah’s season three entrance looks — but it felt a little at the expense of Maya. Olivia also crushed it with matching music looks for her and Nevaeh with them connected by a headphone cord. Finally, Aja also nailed resemblance with her “hood fairy” aesthetic and did incredible makeup on Talia. The fairy costume was a bit simple but the makeup and obvious joy they both had on-stage made up for that for me.

The song was fun! All the queens were solid but Aja and Olivia definitely had the best lyrics.

The judges praise DeJa for giving Abby the full drag experience while critiquing their outfit cohesion. They praise Irene with no caveats. Kate Beckinsale calls Bosco and Lauren Gigi and Bella Hadid and then Ru talks about Bosco’s tits again. (I think Ru might be the only person even more enamored with them than me. Like, yes, I’m in love with Bosco, but I also just wish we were pals so I could ask for the name of her surgeon.) Ts Madison says Phoenix was still in her head which… fair. Olivia gets full praise with Ru specifically praising their asymmetrical afros. And Michelle critiques Aja’s looks for being costumey. Aja says drag is a costume and I get that, but I think I agree with Michelle on this one. And I say that as someone who is rooting for Aja to win this whole season! I guess my feeling for the makeover challenge though is it’s most important to make the guest feel good and sometimes that means making them into the prettiest girl at the Halloween party. Irene may have done a better job at the challenge, but Aja was among the best at giving her basketball player the time of her life.

Irene and Bosco are declared the winners securing their spots in the next round! They lip sync to “Pocketbook” by Jennifer Hudson featuring Ludacris. It’s a solid lip sync but not nearly as good as their lip sync last week. Irene wins which I will concede was the right call, even though, again, I am in love with Bosco.

Since it’s the last episode of the bracket, the queens give out their points on-stage with Ru acting as a possible tie-breaker. Aja gives hers to DeJa not wanting to make the mistake of trusting Olivia again. DeJa gives hers to Olivia. And then Olivia comes through for Aja and gives her a point after all! This means it’s up to Phoenix. She gives it to Aja! I was thrilled. Olivia was definitely among the best this episode, so it’s a bummer for her to go out on that, but Bosco, Irene, and Aja are the clear top three who should be advancing.

And luckily for Olivia, DeJa, and Phoenix… Ru is full of twists. At the end of the three brackets, the judges will get to pick eliminated queens who can return. I’m not that invested in all of that though, because Bosco and Aja are moving on!

I will not be here next week, but I will be watching. And I will also be watching clips on TikTok of Bosco.

(If group two’s makeover challenge is of idk French filmmakers I guess I’ll do another of these. Imagine CĆ©line Sciamma on Drag Race.)

Teleport Us to Mars!! Here Are Some Random Thoughts:

+ I wrote in my notes “DeJa puts on Bosco’s pasties, I would lick them” but I obviously would not repeat that here, because I need to maintain some level of decorum and respect.

+ Obsessed with Abby letting DeJa shave off her brows. These girls are like 19-21. If you’re not going to shave your brows off on TV at that age when are you going to do it??

+ We learn that Michelle was a swimming champion as a kid but quit because she wanted to dye her hair.

+ Bosco.

+ If you want more drag and Drag Race, I interviewed Amanda Tori Meating about her all trans woman drag show happening tonight and also about FFS and dysphoria.

+ Speaking of FFS, my FFS is finally healing up so I kind of am returning to this recap with All Stars Face. But like a subtle, I’m not a drag queen, I didn’t get filler, level of ASF.

+ Queen I’m rooting for: Bosco and Aja

+ Queen I’m horniest for: Bosco

+ Queen I want to sashay: From the next bracket? Tina Burner. But when my partner asked why I couldn’t remember, so maybe I should keep an open mind.

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Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 715 articles for us.

6 Comments

  1. i have been in love with bosco since her og season and i am sooo happy that everyone else is now also completely in love with her because there is so much ‘bosco is beauty personified’ content for me to read and nod along with. i barely ever have crushes on celebrities/people i don’t know because it seems ridiculous. but something about boscos sheer charisma burns through the tv and grabs my heart and other things!! i am absolutely down bad. i wish she was for the girls! i wish i was in anyway ever going to cross paths with her!

  2. Thank you for this, Drew! You absolutely deserve your break, but I was actively thinking about how I wished I could read your thoughts while I watched this episode. Best recaps on the internet.

  3. Thank you for coming back for this episode- love these recaps and? I am also in love with Bosco. Did you see her high waisted jeans in the first episode?!? Do you think she might like girls?? or is she just from the Pacific Northwest?

Comments are closed.