In this week’s Extra! Extra! we discuss some of the recent abuses committed by the criminal justice system, revisit the topic of COVID-19 vaccine authorization (after a robust discussion on this in the comments last week) and look at a few situations unfolding around the world.

We asked you for the political questions or issues keeping you up at night. From getting started in activism, to questions about phone banking and volunteering, to the Supreme Court and what will happen with the legalization of gay marriage, untangling the United States’ electoral system, talking to your conservative relatives, and more — the Autostraddle team takes on your questions related to the US election. We’re all super stressed, but at least we have each other!

How do you make adult friends? The A+ team approaches this question from so many different angles to offer up advice on making adult friends while sober, making adult friends in a new city, making friends when you’re in a long-term relationship, finding potential new friends using Lex, meeting cool people with Instagram, deepening friendships that started through fandom, and more! “…that’s the beauty of the A+ Advice Box — you get a sampling of all our brains and then you get to make your own choices!”

The team offers advice to A+ members who asked whether a relationship can make it if you don’t feel you’re sexually compatible, what to do when falling hard for a queer coworker, and more!

You ALL came together to get us to $100,000 and we believe you can get us to $50,000 more. 79% of the donations that made $100,000 possible were $50 or less! We mean it when we say that this is an effort of everyone coming together and donating what they can to make a huge difference. Together, you and we are powerful. We can make change happen. Let’s never forget that.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the live facilitation of this educational workshop led by Shelli! If you missed it, you can watch the recording here and refer to the provided transcript!

Performative allyship isn’t helping. If you’re interested in building more than just a “woke” brand and want to be part of lasting, systemic change, here’s where to start.

At my Catholic all-girls middle school, I liked to tell people I was Buddhist. It was my feeble attempt at preteen rebellion. I enjoyed interjecting, “Oh yeah? Well, I don’t believe Jesus was real because I’m Buddhist!”

Broken up with during quarantine, exploring your sexuality in quarantine, feeling concerned about being “okay” in quarantine, sage advice for parents of a non-binary kid and more!

We answer questions from A+ members about disclosing PTSD while dating, coping with siblings who judge others for choosing to have children, healthy boundaries with partners, body acceptance and more!

Nicole tries to protect the Homestead from a People Eater while Waverly helps Wynonna compete in a Chili Cookoff FOR FREEDOM. This episode is bonkers, y’all.

“I’m the first google result for ‘lesbian stripper’ and I’m so fucking proud of that!”

This week’s Extra! Extra! Offers more reflections on police brutality and delves into some damning news coming out of Trumpland. We also look at some LGBTQ+ news from around the world and dive into some of the not-so-great situations unfolding in Europe. And to close out, a look at the state of the Internet, climate change and the pandemic.

The moral of our queer tale in our gardens is the same as it is our lives: just keep fucking planting until something survives.

Wynonna searches for Peacemaker while Waverly helps her girlfriend as the consequences of Nicole’s actions start to hop into the light.

From owning your erotic imagination to navigating your anatomy and someone else’s, here’s your intro to having gay sex for the first time.

Many Black women are raised to give our apparent struggles the stiff upper lip. We’re taught to be loud, and proud, and bigger than the world sees us. And at the end of all of that effort, in my most private and intimate moments, I wish to lay my burdens down. Ain’t I a bottom?

Happy Sunday! We’ve almost made it 525,600 minutes into the year, Billy Dee Williams is gender fluid, Senegalese folklore is on Netflix, a GSC is raising money for their students, the slow rise of lesbianism on TV, and more!

Plus updates on: Harley Quinn, In the Dark, S.W.A.T., The Good Fight, and Vagrant Queen.

Gina Torres arrives to fix everyone’s lives.