Escaping Eden: Finding Lilith in Queerness
Lilith after all has become a sign of every socially unacceptable aspect of women, including and especially our sexuality.
Politics + Activism
Here’s How to Make Sure You’re Registered to Vote in the 2018 Midterms
Every two years we get to overthrow the government and I’m hard-pressed to think of a time in my life where that’s felt more necessary than right now.
The Gay Love Stories of Moomin and the Queer Radicality of Tove Jansson
For too long, Tove Jansson’s lesbianism has been ignored or written out of history. But scratch the surface, and the true impact of her queerness on her work becomes apparent.
15 Activists to Follow Right Now for Some Much-Needed Hope and Empowerment
I don’t scroll mindlessly through Twitter and Facebook anymore. What I do instead is engage with the women activists who are leading our way in the battle through the darkness.
Monday Roundtable: Our Favorite LGBTQ Historical Figures
It’s LGBTQ History Month, and not a moment too soon! It’s absolutely necessary at this moment in time to remember some of the icons of our collective queer past who have overcome all kinds of adversity to change the world and our individual lives.
16 Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Instagram Accounts to Introduce You to Our Herstory
I want to devour everything that came before us so we can continue to grow better, brighter, louder, closer. These Instagram accounts are a great place to start.
15 Years Later, Has PREA Protected LGBTQ Prisoners Against Sexual Assault?
A disproportionate number of prisoners identify as LGBTQI. On the 15th anniversary of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, we look at what the bill has done to protect them — and what challenges remain.
We Would Like to Endorse Cynthia Nixon, a Very Qualified Queer
We like Cynthia Nixon for the job of New York governor and we think you will too.
The Real-Life LGBT Outlaws of the American West and Writing Queerness Back to Historical Fiction
Each of these small bits of history made me hungry for more information, and brought home how many stories — especially those about queer folks — have been lost, compared to those few that have survived. I wanted to imagine queer people where they must have been, in shipyards and customs offices and coastal boom towns. I wanted them to be in love, to be gender outlaws and survivors, to triumph.
Cynthia Nixon vs. Andrew Cuomo: She Thinks She Can Win, He’s Worried She’s Right
“The debate found Cuomo clumsily trying to paint Nixon as nothing more than a deranged actor only to be met, repeatedly, with the passionate rejoinders of a lifelong activist and New Yorker who graduated from the public school system, sent her own kids through the public school system, and rides the crumbling New York City subway every day.”
A Hard Land of Hope: Gay Russian Asylum Seekers in the U.S.
“I think, ‘I will never be like them. Never.’ Though I can live here, I can work here, have a house here, but my mind is not like theirs. Because we all come here with a little war inside and it never stops.” Elvira Brodskaya and her wife fled persecution in Russia and settled in New York. But even in the U.S., they can’t escape all the fears of their past.
Alewives: The Women Who Crafted Beer and Split Hell Wide Open
For centuries, the art of brewing beer belonged to women alone. This is the story of how the church pushed them out the industry they founded and sent them riding piggy-back on demons into the flames of an eternal abyss.
Lesbian and Bisexual Women of History Who Were Obsessed With Their Dogs, Part 2
What further revelations lurk in our woefully unexplored queer pupper past? Find out literally right now, as we continue our historical adventures with gal’s best pal!
The Disability Justice Initiative Moves Beyond the ADA to Raise the Bar for Progressive Movements
“The disability community needs to spend some time asking itself: How are we working together across movements in the progressive space? How are we centering the voices of people with disabilities who are fighting multiple oppressions? How are we embodying sustainability of ourselves in such a time where it seems like the ground underneath us is always shifting and we are drinking not from a fire hose, but from a flamethrower?”
Offline Shadows: How Sex Workers Become Marginalized Victims of Morality-Based Legislation
Sex workers are resilient and face near constant opposition via social stigma or legal obstacles. Regardless of the conditions, for some people, it is the only way to feed their family. The FOSTA-SESTA package-bill is not going to save sex trafficking victims; it’s just going to turn consensual sex workers into victims themselves. Decriminalization is the only solution to preventing sex trafficking and separating sex workers from that label.
Photoessay: The 2018 NYC Dyke March + Autostraddle/Everyone Is Gay All-Ages Pride Party
Dykes and music and spoken word poetry and Riese Bernard and Kristin Russo!
Raging Against Cultural Amnesia: tatiana de la tierra and Latina Lesbian Herstory
In the 90s, a collective of Latina lesbians founded two radical, bilingual zines. They made culture, connected activists, and scared the sh*t out of the patriarchy.
PERSONALS App Brings an Old School Dyke Dating Format Into a Hot New Future, Thanks Instagram
Your favorite queer Instagram dating account has changed its name to be more inclusive, is creating an app just for you, and is hosting a party in NYC to kickoff its crowdfunding efforts Wednesday night, June 13! Read our interview with creator Kelly Rakowski for all the hot details!
Sex Work After FOSTA-SESTA: Why the New Wave of Prohibition Has So Many Panicking
One of the most annoying things I have heard during this process of figuring out what to do and how to react to the FOSTA-SESTA prohibition deal is “Don’t panic.”
SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Anti-Gay Baker ‘Cause Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission Was Too Mean to Him
The actual scope of SCOTUS’ ruling is small, but the symbolic loss for LGBTQ people is pretty big.