We Could Be Heroes
Malinda Lo’s all-new short story about an inauguration protest that’s interrupted by an alien invasion is available exclusively on Autostraddle dot com!
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15 Years Later, Has PREA Protected LGBTQ Prisoners Against Sexual Assault?
A disproportionate number of prisoners identify as LGBTQI. On the 15th anniversary of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, we look at what the bill has done to protect them — and what challenges remain.
The Sociopath Who Loved Me Enough
“As soon as we met Tara and Tony, our lives morphed to make room for them. Instead of drinking Carol’s parents’ liquor on Friday nights, we went to their apartment in Hillcrest to smoke pot from a bong filled with Midori and play with Tara’s snake.”
I Made All My Friends Reenact The Planet from “The L Word” Again and Can Whoever Killed Jenny Please Come Kill Me
Mamma Mia, here we go again! It’s season two of The L Word and I want to die!
Me, My Doppelgänger, and I
“Your truth is always your truth, whether said or silent. It just might not be the idea of your truth that somebody else has in their mind.”
Like Rabbits
“These drawings were done during the two year period that my wife, Sarah, and I were trying to get pregnant. So much has changed in my life since then. These doodles sat, almost forgotten, for almost a decade.”
Uncharted Waters: A Trans Woman’s Journey Transitioning in the Navy
“Presenting as male every day hurts. When the ship is in port, it’s not as bad; I grow to hate coming in to work, but once the day ends I can go home and be myself. When we’re underway, it’s worse. I’m stuck being ‘him’ all day, every day. Sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks… once, for months.”
We Aren’t Failures: Naming What Was Lost as an Agender Person
“Other people built a gender for me and trusted that I would defend what they built. But what I was handed never made sense.”
Bicycling Across India, Learning About Queerness and Intimacy Along the Way
Lying in bed, she asked why I thought she’d be into women, and I tried to explain that Indian norms are full of moments Americans consider to be flirting. “Holding hands doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “It must be so sad to not touch your friends.”
Autostraddle Exclusive: Bex Taylor-Klaus Bends Gender, Blends Styles in This Hot Photoshoot
“There are so many baby queers who depend on us to give them representation,” they said. “There’s so much in this world telling you to be something different and that’s so detrimental. I’d rather have kids see something and go, ‘It’s okay to be me.'”
Meet Me at Cuties: The Queer-Owned LA Coffee Bar that Puts Community First
I sat down with Cuties founders Iris and Virginia to talk about finding community, running a commercial space, and how to hold community members accountable.
Migration Season
“At the start of migration season the ruby-throated hummingbird has only one goal in mind – she has to almost double her body weight, in order to survive a treacherous trip across the gulf of Mexico. At the start of migration season, the black-haired filmmaker has but one goal in mind: build a strong enough case to survive the gauntlet of work-visa processing.”
Every Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer And/Or Trans Woman Running for US Office in 2018
There’s rainbow wave of LGBQ candidates running for office. All of them are dissatisfied with Trump’s status quo, have strong convictions, and to make the world a better place. Here are their stories.
How to Make a Meme: A Tutorial With Instagram Lesbian Superstar @xenaworrierprincess
Maddy Court, the creator behind Instagram lesbian meme sensation @xenaworrierprincess, teaches us how to make a meme and shares her own meme origin story.
Lesbian Visibility Day Roundtable: Carrying History, Worshipping Women, F*cking Up the Patriarchy
“For me, lesbian completely casts aside the idea of men. It puts me and the people I love ahead of the patriarchy. It relieves me of even pretending that I give a shit what any of them have ever thought. It thankfully gives me space to center women (and other people who aren’t men), which is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
Not Just Murder Victims: A Plea on Trans Day of Visibility
“If we are going to mourn our lost trans siblings, family and community members publicly, we need to do right by our community and contextualize their deaths with accuracy and intention.”
My Old Elementary School Is a Toxic Waste Site and Other Environmental Nightmares
“Environmental problems are hitting Black neighborhoods particularly hard, but going unresolved because Black lives are deemed less valuable than others. A lot of us are being left in the dark about harm being done to our environment.”
Desiree Akhavan on Sex Scenes, Spectatorship, and Shooting ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’: The Autostraddle Interview
Behind every great indie film is a great woman. Or, as “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” shows, an entourage of them. Autostraddle spoke with director Desiree Akhavan about making the film that won the Sundance 2018 Grand Jury Prize for Drama and got gay teens in Montana on screen.
The Good China
“We rarely left the bedroom and when we did, we quickly returned. We called in to work and on one occasion we both no showed. It was heavenly, but as the old adage says all good things must come to an end.”
Raising Baby T-Rex: My Mom Says We’re Exactly The Same
I wasn’t at all ready for the feelings I’d have about being adopted and queer and raising a toddler who still isn’t as old as I was when I came to the United States on an airplane.