Also.Also.Also: Here’s JoJo Siwa Making History, so You Don’t Actually Have to Watch Dancing With the Stars

My focus has been all over the place today, but we’re doing our best! (Sorry this link round up is late.)


Queer as in F*ck You

Never thought I would say this, but JoJo Siwa is a whole entire legend: ” “I came out in early 2021 and what I love to do is make truly being who you are easier for kids.”

JoJo Siwa Makes ‘Dancing With the Stars’ History With First-Ever Same-Sex Dance Partner

OUT HERE IN THESE PRIDE STREETS!!! Gabrielle Union Opens Up About Taking Zaya Wade To Her First Pride

Lil Nas X singing “Jolene” is exactly what you need today, I’m sure of it.


Saw This, Thought of You

Where Are the 710 Missing Indigenous Women and Girls in Wyoming?

If you’re looking to honor Latinx History Month, this piece nearly brought me to tears because it’s so simple, human, and beautiful: When a Minivan Becomes a Music Machine by Isabelia Herrera for The New York Times

From Natalie: “The gayest thing the WH has ever produced? Possibly.”

And related, Ranking the 25 Greatest Players in WNBA History (I actually new 12 out of 25 of these names, Let’s go SPORTS!)

And still related, Hundreds Of Athletes Have Signed Onto A Brief Calling For The Supreme Court To Protect Abortion Rights

Himani recommends: The Slow Death of Artistic Freedom in India

Teaching Made Me Realize Adulthood Is a Myth. I Want to Show My Students It’s Okay to Be Human.


Political Snacks

Trudeau Wins, but Is Diminished by a Futile Election

Taliban Ban Girls From Secondary Education in Afghanistan

SB 8 Is a Reminder That Abortion Is a Disability Issue

I haven’t been able to think about anything else for two days, I’m positively sick:

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Carmen Phillips

Carmen Phillips is Autostraddle's former editor in chief. She began at Autostraddle in 2017 as a freelance team writer and worked her way up through the company, eventually becoming the EIC from 2021-2024. A Black Puerto Rican feminist writer with a PhD in American Studies from New York University, Carmen specializes in writing about Blackness, race, queerness, politics, culture, and the many ways we find community and connection with each other.  During her time at Autostraddle, Carmen focused on pop culture, TV and film reviews, criticism, interviews, and news analysis. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. And there were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. To reach out, you can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.

Carmen has written 716 articles for us.

15 Comments

  1. Jojo Siwa dancing with a woman on primetime tv is *chefs kiss*, and doing it well nonetheless! I hope she wins the whole thing!

  2. Just for the record, Jojo and her dance partner may be the US dwts first ever same sex couple, but not the first ever on dwts – Finland’s current season had a female pair (unfortunately they got voted off in the most recent episode), and Israel had a pair of women dancing several years ago. Those are just the ones I know about,there may be more.
    Regardless – awesome about Jojo and the impact she’s likely to have on young people. Plus she can actually dance, so it will be interesting to watch.

  3. When JoJo was first announced as a contestant, I said to myself “They are probably going to pair her with Jenna”. And I was right. Jenna is one of the best Pro Dancers on the show and a So You Think You Can Dance veteran and exactly the type of person that I knew would be up to being apart of the first US same-sex pairing. Also, I love her husband Val who has danced with Zendaya and Normani to name a few. The show is definitely setting them up to go far in the competition.

  4. Cody’s my high school classmate, so I can only allow him to win over JoJo if someone has to win over JoJo. Meanwhile, I need something to help with processing the agony of what’s happening at the border and how it echoes so much of the treatment of Black folks globally.

  5. Okay, this is great. But why did it take DWTS so long?? She is not the first LGBTQ person to be asked to appear on the show but is the first that DWTS actually ALLOWED to appear with a same sex partner.

Comments are closed.