Friends, there is barely a month until the US election. Oh, certainly there is some despair and some grief, but most of all this playlist aims to soothe. I hope you find some solace in these tunes, like I do.

“It took me a very long time to come to terms with what I felt for girls. Not because of my own religion, but because of the religion and judgment of others, and because growing up in such a small town greatly limits what you see as viable options for yourself.”

Just a little data, discussion and analysis from the backstage area of the Autostraddle Gay Emmys!

The First Time is everything I’ve come to love about Drew’s writing over the last several years: smart hilarious, powerful, and deeply generous. And just heckin’ gay and trans.

Between the untimely demise of my family’s desktop and the fact that it was 2008 and we didn’t have smartphones, I don’t actually have any pictures from when we were dating. This, from the following Spring, is a fairly accurate representation. P.s. yes that IS a rainbow striped dress why do you ask?

“You know, I was never annoyed that you were gay! I was just glad to know you. If it were the 1940s maybe we would have had a lavender marriage.”

“I know we don’t ever get to stop thinking entirely about the annoying issues we have to keep re-litigating over and over, but I do want us to get to move the conversation forward. And I want us to be able to have it on our terms – not as a reaction, not as a defense or a justification, but a conversation amongst ourselves about ourselves that lets us connect with and affirm each other.”

Just Samira Wiley being a babe in tie-dye. Also: Hayley Kiyoko gets real about taking our meds, Chef Melissa King is positively crush worthy, and if we’re lucky — Janet Mock, Indya Moore, and Trace Lysette will be the next Charlie’s Angels.

The cottagecore aesthetic is marked by flowy skirts, ceramic toad figurines and bucolic scenery. It’s a denial of hustle culture and a fetishization of coziness that became a hashtag, a lifestyle and, most notably, an escape.

By pairing a visceral portrayal with thorough descriptions of OCD, “Pure” becomes a teaching tool as well as a delightful dramedy. It’s also just a really good and gay story about a 20-something trying to figure out how to be a good person.

The people who fantasize about library sex, excerpts and fall reading lists galore, Black-owned bookstores and radical bookstores, pandemic creativity and more.

“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.”

There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect or universal dildo. However, if we were, for a moment, to pretend that there is a most-likely-to-fit-your-needs dildo for most folks who are interested in one, the Magnum really might be it.

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

I can confirm that no matter what you’re looking for — YA, non-fiction, memoir, romance, literary fiction, comics, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, poetry — there are queer and feminist books on this list that you will love!

Elison’s latest novel, Find Layla, looks at the realities of poverty and neglect for teens in the age of social media.

We’re very serious gay professionals.

Classic LGBTQ moments on soaps, Tig Notaro will replace Chris D’Elia in Army of the Dead, Janet Mock wins a whole new award, trailers for Trinkets and Bad Hair, Amandla Stenberg has joined Dear Evan Hansen’s feature film, and more!

Y’all aren’t f*cking around — we’re almost to our goal! Also, you wrote some VERY cute tweets that we would like to review with the whole group.

“Marry me so we can live in a tiny house!”