“Steven Universe: End of an Era” Reveals How Hard Rebecca Sugar Fought for Our Queer Gem Wedding
“But if Steven Universe gets a gay wedding, then every show is going to want a gay wedding!” “‘YES!’ I said. ‘GOOD! WHY NOT???'”
Carnal Knowledge Is the Sex Guide You Wish You Had In High School
Carnal Knowledge is full of the truths you wish you’d learned from your hip older sister if your hip older sister happened to read a lot of feminist literature.
Leigh Finke’s “Queerfully and Wonderfully Made” Answers Crucial Questions for LGBTQ+ Christian Youth
“I wish I had these books when I was 15. I needed permission. I needed somebody to tell me, ‘You’re ok.’ If I had had one place to go, one book in my hand, known one person, I could have avoided a lot of trouble.”
Talking with Shani Mootoo on the True Story That Became Dark Lesbian Novel “Polar Vortex”
Shani Mootoo is one of the towering lesbian novelists of our time. In her newest novel, Polar Vortex, Mootoo winds the interior lives of its three central characters like a jack- (or jill-) in-the-box: to the point of explosion.
In “SFSX,” Tina Horn Builds a Purity-Obsessed Sci-Fi Vision of our Dystopian Present
Autostraddle recently spoke with Tina Horn via video call to chat about the first volume of SFSX, her myriad influences, building community around art, the sex worker rights’ movement, and incels.
Return of the Space Lesbians: Tamsyn Muir’s “Harrow the Ninth” Is a Maze of Grief, Gore, and Possibly Global Warming
Sometimes, what you really need is a story that understands how grief can ricochet through the entire universe.
It Should Always Include Lube: Talking with A. Andrews About “A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex & Disability”
A. Andrews’ comic A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex and Disability is a well-written, thoughtful, and enjoyable guide that I strongly recommend to all disabled and able-bodied people alike
Tana Wojczuk’s “Lady Romeo” Profiles Shakespearean Actress Charlotte Cushman, Leading Man of the 19th Century
What kind of choose-your-own-adventure occurs when a queer lady with an unbending will and a penchant for leaping about onstage with a dagger strapped to her thigh is born in 1816 and refuses to espalier herself to convention? Tana Wojczuk’s “Lady Romeo” would like to tell you.
Glennon Doyle’s “Untamed”: A Gay Love Story About a Grown-Ass Woman Who Does What the F*ck She Wants
“There. She. Is.” Glennon wrote in her new memoir, Untamed, when she recalled the moment Abby Wambach entered her life. I assumed that would be the central conflict of Untamed. And in some ways it is — but not the ways I expected.
Rosalie Knecht’s Vera Kelly Is Not A Mystery, But Is a Gay Noir Must-Read
There’s another kind of revolution happening within this sequel, and that’s where Knecht really blows the doors off the noir genre.
“Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the 21st Century” Centers the Wisdom of Disabled People
How many times have you heard that we’re “in a new world” recently? “Disability Visibility” challenges us to consider what a world with disability at its core can look like.
Natalie Diaz Writes the Love Poem for Our Lives in “Postcolonial Love Poem”
Postcolonial Love Poem is everything the title purports it to be. It positions itself between the worlds of love and violence, and answers the question of where love can exist in a nation with a long list of atrocities, especially against Native people.
“The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext” Celebrates Latinx Community and Future-Building
“Writing, for me, is a way of reimagining that which I’ve experienced and creating something new. It’s a way of future-building. It’s a way of taking back agency. Each time I do this in my writing, I think it makes me a little more free.”
Celia Laskey’s “Under the Rainbow” Is Dark, Redeeming, and Very Very Queer
Both light and heavy, dark and redeeming, this book is sure to be a comfort and resource for many, as we try to bridge the growing gap between “coastal elites” and “flyover states.”
Vivek Shraya Remains an Original with New Novel “The Subtweet”
It’s one of many reasons Shraya is such a singular artist. She’s making work for herself and her communities – everyone else is welcome to appreciate her, but she doesn’t seem much to care.
Sabrina Imbler’s “Dyke (geology)” Makes Science Horny
Science and sexuality collide with swift force in this short but striking chapbook.
Samantha Irby’s “Wow, No Thank You.” Masters the Art of Self-Deprecation
Irby evokes Nora Ephron in her latest essay collection.
Nino Cipri’s “FINNA” Confronts Capitalism and Killer Furniture
FINNA’s protagonists are two exes of less than a week, Jules (they/them) and Ava (she/her), who continue to work at the same godforsaken mega furniture store named LitenVärld, an IKEA approximation in an unknown city and country. A portal to another realm opens up and into it escapes an elderly customer who Jules and Ava must now retrieve, or risk being fired.
Why? Because capitalism.
Yao Xiao’s “Everything Is Beautiful, And I’m Not Afraid” Is as Queer and Hopeful as The Comic You Already Love
Everything Is Beautiful is one part beloved comics, one part brand new material, and all parts trademark Yao Xiao — warm colors, probing questions, deeply personal reflections, and an endless exploration of the binaries Yao has spent her life trying to navigate.
Shira Erlichman’s “Odes to Lithium” Explores Bipolar Disorder and Taking Care
“Many creatives still have reservations and fears around medication as they believe that it will dampen the creative flow, turn off the magic, or make them less able to connect with the emotion they are trying to convey. This misconception is dismantled in Erlichman’s poetry, she’s sharp and precise while illustrating the often untethered emotion that comes with mania or psychosis.”