Welcome to the first of four fantastic recamps of May 2013 A-Camp. In this fascinating installment, we’ll detail the very first moments of our time together on the mountain and also bears.

“In fact, the strain of hiding my illness would likely have caused me to break down with even more frequency. How would she have coped with those dysphoric, hallucination-ridden breakdowns — and how would I have dealt with her uneducated reactions?”

Topics include the new face of hunger, The Olive Garden, CeCe McDonald, college rankings, sitcom cities, Amway, PTSD, “hiking while black” and moar!

Welcome to the first ever Autostraddle Insider, one of many perks available to Autostraddle Plus members!

1. Communication. 2. Lots of communication. 3. So much communication. 4. No really, communicate. 5. Seriously just talk about things!!!!

There is so much LGBTQ Canadian awesomeness in this post that we can hardly believe it exists (there’s a PLAYLIST, even!), but that doesn’t mean we don’t need some more Canadian feelings from you.

We’re looking for gutsy and ambitious reporters who wanna join the best team ever and get paid to write about stuff that matters.

“Megan and I took our hippie bullshit feelings back to Bonnaroo this summer and it was everything we dreamed it would be and a couple of things we didn’t want or enjoy, like heatstroke.”

Abbie has a collection of uni-ball roller pens and the coolest bangs south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Mary and Frances reveal the secrets of the diary-writing universe.

With lots of amazing cosplay photos. Because, seriously, wow.

Around 4:20 a.m. on May 26, an armed gunman pulled up beside us and opened fire on our vehicle… the bullet shattered my phone, took out a chunk of my left wrist, and knocked out a dozen of my teeth.

LGBT characters may no longer be a big deal in mainstream films but good, nuanced portrayals that actually drive the plot most certainly are.

The goal of the Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Awards is to recognize and celebrate positive representation for queer women and feminist issues in comics, webcomics and graphic novels.

I want to say things like “white people” without someone telling me we’re in a post-racial society and I wanna be surrounded by love that reminds me of my grandma’s house.

It is time, my dear queer diarists, to abandon your dim, carpeted hidey-holes and venture out onto the verdant carpet of Mother Nature!

You’ve got swagger, fashion, comedy, whiskey, geeky pick-up lines and the coolest klub on the mountain!

It’s going to take a lot of creative solutions to get us where we need to be.

Comics, Camp and Cara Delevingne.

Let’s have a frank, honest discussion about queer and feminist themes in movies about vampires, werewolves, ghosts and centaurs. Also, “Chopper Chicks In Zombietown.”