This is Your Friday Open Thread for June 26, 2020

It’s the last Friday in June! Next Friday will be July! Oh! My! Goddess! Can you believe it?!

We’ve had a pretty huge week here in our little queer corner of the internet. If you missed it, make sure you read Riese’s last letter from the editor – then hop into the comment section to say thank you to Riese, and give our new editor in chief, Kamala, and our new deputy editor, Carmen, a huge congratulations! I am so excited for the future of this publication! And, as always, very excited to continue building community with all of you.

Speaking of community, I wanted to take a minute to let you know that if you’re looking for some fun and meaningful virtual Pride plans this weekend, to celebrate the final weekend of Pride month, we are hosting Rise Up Get Down: A Benefit for Queer Futures on Sunday June 28 at 5pm PST / 8pm EST, and we would love to see you there! Here’s where you can read all about the show, which will include performances from El Sanchez, Jes Tom, Junauda Petras-Nasah, and Be Steadwell and will be MC-ed by Autostraddle’s very own Shelli Nicole! Here’s where you can buy tickets – the show is Pay-What-You-Want, with tickets starting at $1 (though the recommended contribution is $25). Ticket proceeds will go to benefit Women for Political Change in Minneapolis, who are offering mutual aid and on-the-ground support for protesters and communities during the current uprising and global pandemic!

Okay, that’s enough from me – y’all go ahead and get talking, because this is your open thread! I hope I’ll see you at the benefit on Sunday!

How To Post A Photo In The Comments:

Find a photo on the web, right click (on a Mac, control+click), hit “Copy Image URL” and then…
code it in to your comment like so:

If you need to upload the photo you love from your computer, try using imgur. To learn more about posting photos, check out A.E.’s step-by-step guide.

How To Post A Video In The Comments, Too:

Find a video on YouTube, copy the URL, and paste the link on its own separate line in your comment. You no longer need to use the “embed” code!

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!
Related:

Vanessa

Vanessa is a writer, a teacher, and the community editor at Autostraddle. Very hot, very fun, very weird. Find her on twitter and instagram.

Vanessa has written 404 articles for us.

39 Comments

  1. I am pretty jazzed about this new direction Autostraddle is taking. I hope that Things I Read That I Love will stick around because I want to know–what did Kamala read that she loved? I bet it will be different!

    I still have yet to go to a Pride festival so this year’s June hasn’t been different in that regard. But it also feels like Pride Month isn’t really over. It doesn’t at all feel like we as a society are done with June.

    I don’t know. This month has been exhausting in so many ways, but I also feel some hope the way people in our communities are coming together and fighting for each other.

  2. Hey AS, how’re you? I’m having a really bad day today :( on top of the world being so hard right now for big reasons, my cat is really sick and on Monday I’m going to Berlin to look for a new place to live, but it’s notoriously difficult to rent anything because it’s so competitive, and now I’ll also be worried about my fluffy friend while I’m gone :( the flat search is so intense, I talked to someone who told me they received 400 applications on the first day and they picked the first 20 to invite to a viewing the very next day. How can anyone keep up with this?

    This is the poorly fellow, by the way:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BymtaWAj7l4/?igshid=1hdt3qpqs0wn8

    • oh no poor kitty!! sending good vibes, i hope he feels better soon.
      flat-hunting and moving is such a nightmare, good luck!!!

    • Good luck with the apartment hunting. It sounds as terrible as here in Hamburg. And sending good vibes to your lovely little fella, hope he gets well very soon!!!

    • Sorry about your kitty :( I hope he’ll be ok. I’m dealing with two sick cats in the midst of other stress at the moment too. They always pick the worst times, don’t they? Fingers crossed that you find a good apartment!

    • Hey @biensurmacherie, hit me up
      on Twitter so I can dm you my cell number. Maybe I can help.
      I’m at work most of the week, but I might have a few tactics and links for you and a quick brainstorming session.
      Also, make sure to bring a mask or three and wear it whenever you enter a closed space. We have mandatory mask laws here that are being started to get enforced this Monday.
      Good luck!

      • Aw thanks @amidola that would be great. I just followed you on twitter, think you need to follow me back before I can DM you.

  3. I am butt-deep in bar exam prep but also not sure if I’ll even be allowed to take the bar exam in September cause my state is limiting seats and prioritizing students from in-state schools and I went to a school in a different state. But on the plus side the weather has been lovely so I’ve had my windows open so the entire neighborhood can listen to my civil procedure lectures.

    I also got very emotional over a really nice letter of recommendation that my supervising attorney from my last internship wrote for me so, yknow, I’m having a completely normal one.

    • Good luck!! I hope you’ll be able to take the exam on time, but if not, more time to study never hurt anyone (especially when it comes to the bar exam). I’m a lawyer, so I know your pain (and understand the elation of getting a positive letter of recommendation!!)

      • Thank you! Yeah if I’m delayed till February I’m going to take advantage of the extra study time and work part-time – the office where I interned in the spring said they could take me as a part-time intern in the fall if I don’t get to take the bar, so at least I’m not completely screwed!

        • It’s evidence that you’re a valuable worker that your old employer would offer you another role, so if you don’t get to take your exam this time around then remember to get that on your CV (resume) and emphasise it when you’re in job interviews further down the line.
          Although it’s disappointing now you could really make metaphorical lemonade out of this situation. Good luck whatever happens!

  4. How’s everyone doing? Mines has been kind of long. I had some dental work done this week. Turns out I am not flossing enough so there is that. I haven’t spoken to my closest friend in a while & that’s kind of been on my mind as to why. I send texts, but I don’t get replies. Could be pandemic thing.

    I met someone off Lex for 6ft apart tea & coffee. I think it went okay, but it’s been so long I am not sure anymore. Ugh this pandemic has not been the most positive. In other news the my bike was stolen during the uprisings last month. I was finally able speak to insurance about it this week & was told I will be getting full retail value for it. I am getting more than I paid for it. I have my eye on a bike that should match my purple lipstick well.

    I don’t have good image to share this week. Thank you for reading my post. Hope you have a positive weekend!

    • Hi Al, I’m sorry you’ve been having a hard time getting in contact with your friend. I know that kind of thing can be so hard. I hope things turn out all right. And I’m glad for you that you’ll be able to get a new bike!

      When I read the Friday Open Thread, I always appreciate your positive wishes, with or without an image :) Sending good wishes your way too.

  6. I don’t know how I feel this week. I’m mostly tired, which is often true because I have fibromyalgia, but sometimes I feel it more than others. Difficult things: most things in the news; excruciating ankle pain; next stages of my SSDI application. Good things: figuring out what was causing the ankle pain; coming across some trees on my walk that had cute, tiny flowers that smelled so nice; trail mix.

  7. Congratulations USA based Straddlers!
    Obergefell v. Hodges 6/26/2015
    Hollingsworth v. Perry 6/26/2013
    United States v. Windsor 6/26/2013
    Lawrence v. Texas 6/26/2003

  9. y’all i went six months without asking my parents for help with bills (with the exception of a nine hundred dollar medical bill because like. come on) and it looks like crappy roads are going to break my streak. my beautiful Car Meryl Streep is limping and i’m hoping maybe if i ignore it for a night and look in the morning the tire won’t *actually* be deflating. that works right

    in other news one of the kids i teach said to me nostalgically “ms caitlin, remember when you did space camp? that was so fun.”

    space camp was eight days ago. time is fake for all ages.

    • I remember when one of my daycare kids who was four was looking at a picture from when she was three and reminisced, “When I was a little girl…” Kids’ sense of time is so curious!

      Also good luck with your car!

  10. Happy Friday! I’ve come across a bunch of fun queer content lately: Skyscanner had some awesome & relevant LGBTQ travel related panels on their youtube, Jessica & Claudia did some cute Lesbian crafting on youtube, Radio Menea is on vacation from their regular podcast but I’ve been listening to older episodes and they have some lovely queer & desire music episodes, Hannah Witton discussed compulsive heterosexuality on youtube, Tegan & Sara have such sweet banter on their Instagram weekly live show… Lots to make me happy about being bi during pride month!

  11. I’ve been thinking about divorce, which at times just feels so heavy, but like it is time. Maybe it was time before but I didn’t think so, and now I do.

  12. Happy Pride! I’m celebrating Pride with my parents by having Pride cake, made and decorated by our favourite bakery – celebrating and supporting a local business at the same time. We’re also going to hang a pride flag on our porch this weekend. Also, I don’t no if this counts as Pride related but I’ve been rewatching my favourite episodes of The Fosters before it leaves Netflix.

  13. Between packing and moving and unpacking and tossing three mutually contemptuous cats together into a new house, and now two of those three cats having diarrhea (help 😭), I have barely had a minute to myself in weeks. I’m technically finished work for the summer, but given that I have to teach myself how to use new remote classroom tools and figure out how to transfer a whole class onto them before September, I don’t think I’m going to get much of an actual vacation this year. Sigh. Thank you for allowing me this space for a small moment of self-pity.

    • That sounds like a lot, I’m sorry. I hope your cats get well soon <3 Also, I hope you are taking a little time to pat yourself on the back for having packed and moved and begun unpacking; that is a huge accomplishment!

  14. Sahara dust has fucked me up, my nose and throat are angry. This with me avoiding being outside.

    Finally opened the jar of pickles I made and they’re delicious, perfectly sour and tangy.
    The almond butter swirl I planned for my birthday brownies was a hot mess, probably needed to drag out the double boiler to get the right consistency.
    But to anybody who wants to try baking here’s the important thing about home baking aesthetics don’t really matter, taste is what really matters.

  15. I have been CONSUMED by the news that Solange is possibly dating Syd!!!!!

    Is there any actual evidence of this relationship? NO!
    Do I need said evidence to exist in order to become emotionally invested in this relationship? ABSOLUTELY NOT

    • Listen, @rararara, when gossip sites started posting the rumors back in April, the entire Autostraddle staff lost their minds about it.

  16. I tried to come on here yesterday and it kept telling me, ‘page will not load’, which is homophobic if you ask me!
    Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 35, unfortunately I haven’t been able to do anything fun because I’m waiting to find out if my coworkers have tested positive for coronavirus, if they do test positive I have to go get tested too. I’m hoping they have negative results or if I do have to get tested that my results are negative. So that’s been my Friday/weekend.

  17. I had a brutal week in work but now I am on leave for a week, hidden away in the countryside. I am going to hike, play Zelda and Animal crossing, do some embroidery and journal my way through some life decisions I need to make.

Comments are closed.