Also.Also.Also: Kehlani Said “You Wanna Know What’s New about Me? I Finally Know I’m a Lesbian.”

Feature image via Kehlani on Instagram.

This evening’s link round up is being brought to you by a mug full of room temperature water and the last Girl Scout Cookie left in the box. (Don’t worry, I’ll eat something nutritious for dinner.)


Queer as in F*ck You

Kehlani on motherhood, queerness, and acknowledging the double edged sword of femme privilege and femme invisibility:

“I don’t walk down the street and people look at me and go, Oh, I bet she’s queer. Or I bet that she’s into women or anything like that because of the way I present. That’s all privilege and I think that there are quite a few artists who were truly at the forefront but weren’t able to make the strides that I was able to make being 100 percent myself because of the way they present and the biases and the phobias of the American public and the world…. I’ve been lucky, super lucky.”

How Kehlani Carved a Path As a Queer Musician and Mom by Raffy Ermac for The Advocate. And, while we’re here, what a perfect opportunity to share this other Breaking Kehlani News: “You wanna know what’s new about me? I finally know I’m a lesbian.”

Let’s keep this party going for Black queer women musicians! Tracy Chapman Is the Queer Mentor I Didn’t Know I Needed

My Trans Mother, Myself Harron Walker on Detransition, Baby and Torrey Peters.

Transgender Cooks Are Changing Kitchen Culture

‘They Have No One’: At 88, a Transgender Icon Combats Loneliness Among Seniors

My Straight Boyfriend Gave Me a Queer Pandemic Haircut. “Samantha Flores, who created a community center in Mexico City for older L.G.B.T.Q. people that closed during the pandemic, is hoping to reopen it.”

How Will We Remember Gay Bars?


Saw This, Thought of You

A Ruthless Ranking Of The 25 Best Muppets. #NoSpoilers, but Miss Piggy isn’t #1, and for that… we riot.

My Violent Assault, the Bystanders Who Did Nothing, and What It Means to Bear Witness. “This week’s attack against an elderly Asian American woman and testimony in the Chauvin trial highlight the intricacies of when we are willing to act on behalf of others.

What Happens If You Lose Your Vaccination Card? (Step One: Don’t worry!)

Related: Are You Already Fully Vaccinated? This is What the CDC Says You Can Safely Do. Still related: You Won’t Remember the Pandemic the Way You Think You Will.

An HIV Vaccine Based On The Moderna COVID Vaccine Is Getting Promising Results

I Used to Feel Ashamed Crying in Public. Now I Embrace It Every Time.

How Kitchen Table Press Changed Publishing. I fervently believe that if Kitchen Table Press hadn’t existed, I wouldn’t be doing what I do today. If you care about indie media (hello, you’re reading this website), feminist press, and women of color’s feminisms — this should be one of your reads today, point blank period.


Political Snacks

This news broke while I was assembling this link roundup, and I am so devastated, I don’t even know what to say that’s helpful or useful. If you’re trans and you’re reading this: I love you. If you are cis and reading this: GET LOUDER.

Arkansas Has Now Passed the Most Extreme Anti-Trans Law Yet

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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.

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