Were mermaids the original lesbian separatists? What thrilling editorial conversations were had this month? Those questions and more are tackled in this peek behind the curtains.

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

12. Getting a macchiato from Starbucks and the barista gets her name right because she’s fucking Raven-Symoné

Peanut butter love, uteruses as fictional characters and open thread chatter, #Blessed

“Bad girls” in YA, lack of diversity, an awesome interview with Janet Mock, reconsidering adverbs and more.

“Then you think, ‘It’s so funny. We’re toeing.’ It’s funny and then you laugh and feel happy. “

No one wants to actually wake up or be productive in the summertime. But with some great DIY iced lattes and teas, soon you’ll be approaching your summer morning routine with, if not excitement, at least not abject horror.

Cats with jobs, dinosaur facts and escapes from bad dates. It was a big week.

Keep calm and fall in love with your sidekick, over and over and over.

My cat loves Autostraddle, an OITNB writer realizes she’s gay while working on the show, global governments are changing, the kidnapped Nigerian school girls may be found, and activists are as fierce as ever in fighting injustice.

One of the first things my mother’s boyfriend noticed upon waking up Thanksgiving Day was that all of the rooms were named after prominent confederate soldiers.

The Chicago Sun-Times recently republished a hateful and ignorant article claiming that Laverne Cox is a man due the “biological reality” of sex. Unfortunately, this essentialist, simplistic and just plain incorrect understanding of sex is often used against trans people.

Everything you need to maximize comfort and optimize performance for your next TV marathon.

“Start-up culture is odd. There’s a lot that I struggle with — it’s not something particularly designed for anyone who isn’t already privileged. It’s hard to go into it without a safety net. There’s a certain element of romanticizing struggle that is hard to internalize as a woman, a queer woman, and/or a woman of color. “

A new webseries, behind-the-scenes footage from an OITNB photo shoot, the trailer for a moving documentary, and a quick comedy sketch are single and ready to mingle at the pre-V-Day video party.

No one but no one can ever truly be Mr. Rogers except Mr. Rogers. That doesn’t mean we can’t all try to dress like Mr. Rogers. That doesn’t mean we can’t all strive to be like Mr. Rogers.

Tali and Emily take their relationship to the next level of honesty, while Mike takes all the Liars’ blood and sells it on the black market.

THINK OF HOW GOOD IT’LL FEEL TO RETURN ALL THE LIBRARY BOOKS.

They are both really good at speeches.

The criminal justice system in the United States is a fucked up institution that is every kind of -ist you can think of. Lots of people are working to fight it.