Just one month into the new year, lawmakers across the country are introducing bills to erode LGBT rights any way they can.

There were 128 queer lady characters on TV this year, if you can believe that. It’s a brand new world.

“Remember that everyone around you, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, is grappling with a lot of the same things that you are right now: about what they want “family” to look like and mean to them, about sex and sexuality and learning to live in their bodies, about how to hold onto faith when it can feel like there’s not much going for it.”

“We are surviving. We are resilient. We are creative and resourceful. We have each other’s backs. We don’t want your pity.”

Susan Summer, the director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, put it simply: “SSA should not be telling widowed lesbians and gay men already grieving the loss of a spouse—‘you live in the wrong state so you don’t get Social Security spousal benefits.'”

In which a number of plans go awry.

I am in an extended food coma from 10 days of eating nothing but fast food and concession stand snacks. Send help. But first, check out these lesbian romcoms, queer comedies and dramas.

The ABA passes a resolution that says they are really, really, really cool with LGBT rights.

Lego is building female scientists, tension at the Supreme Court is building up, and organizers are working to build a more equal future.

In a region known for being socially conservative and heavily influenced by faith communities, HRC’s Project One America seems like a much-needed advancement for LGBT rights in the region. But is the HRC prepared to help the South, an area with a long history of struggles fueled by racism from colonization to slavery to the Civil Rights Movement?

UMass basketball star comes out, Moroccan women take to the streets, The Monument Quilt takes the nation by force and more!

Search the hashtag #AB1266 on Twitter, and you’ll see what I mean by clusterfuck. It’s a mixture of conservatives, LGBT groups, names of California counties, statistics, and conflicting reports of what’s happened, and what’s next.

Chaz Bono enlightens America about gender reassignment surgery, says he feels better than ever, and gives us an opportunity to discuss the popular and problematic term “sex change”! Also; Caster keeps her title, hate crimes are on the rise in LA and six scary quotes from Sarah Palin’s book tour.

We got chills and teary eyes in the first session when leaders from the southern based LGBTQ advocacy organizations we invited told us simply that we didn’t have to leave the south. I can’t remember ever having heard anyone tell me that so plainly before.

There’s a lot to say about religion and queerness and how the two can (or cannot) interact, which is why we put together this roundtable with 12 different perspectives. We hope you share your own thoughts and beliefs in the comment section.

This week on NSFW Sunday: hook up culture is a sham, erotica writers are people too, when doing porn is feminist and more.

Susan Miller is kind of awesome, and so is her new webseries Anyone But Me. Get the scoop with the Autostraddle interview.

In which there is a party, halibut, and a knock at the door.

“The failure of a female prime minister is seen to reflect the failure of women in positions of power. Gillard had to be better than any politician before, and even when she was just as problematic, divisive and changeable as her opponents and Rudd, she was attacked more viciously than they ever were. “

Lesbians are more likely than hets to recognize that “going green” isn’t just a marketing ploy and to value keeping the earth healthy for future generations. But why, exactly, are we so damn awesome and aware? Also, should you call or text for a first date? Also, Scientologists are CRAZY!