Also.Also.Also: Legally Blonde Came THIS CLOSE to Having a Gay Ending, What like It’s Hard?

Y’all it is 7pm where I am and I still have so many undone things on my to-do list? You know days like that? That is where we are.


Queer as in F*ck You

Abolition As a Method for Trans and Queer Freedom In Africa. “The work of trans and queer organizers across Africa fighting for the wellbeing of impoverished African trans and queer people offers a small history and contemporary foray into what an abolitionist future on the continent can look like.”

There is nothing and I mean NOTHING I love more than the rare slice of sunshine that is a Black queer person interviewing another Black queer person, and what Jazmine Hughes did with this Lil Nas X profile is nothing short of magic. Welcome to your Must Read of the day. The Subversive Joy of Lil Nas X’s Gay Pop Stardom

Sue Bird Stares Down Olympic Glory and Equity Off the Court

Ohio Allows Doctors to Deny LGBTQ Health Care on Moral Grounds

We’ve talked about the new queer musical podcast The Flame a few times across our link roundups, but if you haven’t given it a listen yet you are missing OUT!! Jasmine Savoy Brown is a fucking star and the finale episode airs July 21st, so now is the perfect time to catch up. You don’t want to miss it!


Saw This, Thought of You

What, like it’s hard?

Elle Woods saying the iconic line "What like it's hard?" in a gif from Legally Blonde

Today The NY Times published an oral history of the making of Legally Blonde, and this tidbit that the original movie almost had a (subtly) gay ending has sent our networks aflame and maybe yours, too? Here’s the deal:

“The first ending was Elle and Vivian in Hawaii in beach chairs, drinking margaritas and holding hands. The insinuation was either they were best friends or they had gotten together romantically”

This makes it an excellent time to remind y’all that I ranked Legally Blonde as #19 in our list of 20 Movies About Friendship and Misandry For When You Want to Burn it All Down

‘I Was Drowning inside’: How the Sports World Failed When Three Black Women Needed Help. “Sha’Carri Richardson, Brianna McNeal and Naomi Osaka were barred from competition or fined after choosing how to handle their health. The system isn’t built for them.”

TikTok’s Catfish Problem Is Worse Than You Think

Did Women-Led Corporations Fulfill Their Pledges on Racial Justice?

Rock-Climbing Route Names Are Notoriously Racist. So My Friend and I Scaled a Mountain to Create Our Own.

Big! Fun! Anxiety! The Return Of The Girls Trip


Political Snacks

Biden Federal Judicial Nominees Are 77 Percent Women — On Track to Shattering Previous Records

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+!

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.

10 Comments

  1. I love Legally Blonde, I’ve seen it so many times I can quote it! I wish that ending or something similar could’ve happened. Also, this might be kinda silly I’d love to be Vivian one Halloween. All I need is a girlfriend who wants to be Elle!

  2. Lord that TikTok article was HORRIFYING. The before and after of that woman alone were absolutely chilling.

  3. i have been hollering for YEARS that elle and vivian are the true romantic arc of the legally blonde cinematic universe!!

    they’re even gayer in the musical- professor stromwell was cut and the salon scene was given to vivian, meaning that she’s the one that encourages elle to go back to court. she literally sings “you’re my new muse” which is impossible to say heterosexually

        • I mean if you go on her twitter she didn’t clarify further, so I dont know either. From her multiple “this is incorrect” tweets, I just assume she wants to put the record straight (lol) and dispel the idea that an initial gay ending was on the table, lest people feel robbed or something. But I don’t know.

          I realize I accidentally replied to someone else’s comment instead of the article in general, my apologies.

Comments are closed.