Also.Also.Also: Wizards of Waverly Place Showrunner Says “It’s Obvious” Selena Gomez’s Character Was Bisexual, 11 Years Later

Hi! STOP SCROLLING! If you’re going to read one thing today, it should be this piece about the shooting in Nashville by Nico Hall for us: Conservatives Will Try to Paint Trans People as Violent Extremists, We Cannot Let Them

Now, here’s what else is in the news….


Queer as in F*ck You

‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ Showrunner Says Selena Gomez’s Character Was Bisexual: ‘It Was Quite Obvious’. To get into even more detail, Alex was supposed to have a relationship with Stevie (that’s Lesbian Jesus Hayley Kiyoko to you). Ok the thing is that there’s a long history of characters who were “supposed to be gay” but never get said until many years after the fact, which can be a little eye roll worthy, for sure. In fact it’s such a common trope that we even wrote a whole list about it! But depending on your age when Wizards first aired and/or your affinity for peak Disney Channel, this one does feel little special. And to celebrate the special occasion, may I offer you: All Disney Stars Are Gay Now, We Don’t Make the Rules

^^^ there may or may not be a shout out to Selena Gomez in that article, I’m not saying.😉

Ugh, we’ve gone so far as to ban singing Rainbow Connection from The Muppets in preschools now? really?

Powerful Photos of Butch Lesbian Identity. “Photographer Roman Manfredi travelled around the UK documenting the lives of working-class butches, studs and the femmes who love them.”

This study from The Washington Post is absolutely vital, and I’m really glad they removed the paywall from it: Most Trans Adults Say Transitioning Made Them More Satisfied With Their Lives

Send a Message of Support to Incarcerated Transgender People. “Incarceration can be extremely isolating and dehumanizing for everyone, but especially for trans people. In partnership with Black & Pink, we’re sending messages of hope and strength to incarcerated trans people to let them know we are in solidarity with trans liberation and justice.” (I can not speak enough praises for Black & Pink, please please consider doing this)


Saw This, Thought of You

Cruz Miguel Ortíz Cuadra, 67, Face of Puerto Rican Culinary History, Dies. Am I always gonna fit a little Puerto Rico into these round ups? I gotta do me. (que descansa en paz.)

“‘We don’t have access to abortion in Louisiana right now unless you’ve had a miscarriage … As a student, ‘you’re not going to be seeing this procedure very often. You’re not getting enough practice in that procedure.’” As Restrictions Complicate Abortion Training in Medical Schools, Papayas Are Filling a Gap

Extremely relevant, “The U.S. maternal-mortality rate spiked in 2021, according to a new report from the CDC. The report reveals that 1,205 women died of maternal causes in 2021, a 40 percent increase from 2020 and the highest rate the country has seen since the 1960s.” The U.S. Maternal-Mortality Rate Soared in 2021

Abortion Wins Elections — “The fight to make reproductive rights the centerpiece of the Democratic Party’s 2024 agenda.” (I’ll be honest that I sneaking this in, because I haven’t had a chance to sit and read it in the attention that I want yet. But it’s Rebecca Traister in a cover story for New York Magazine writing about the political efficacy of how we talk about abortions, and that matters A LOT to me. Okay. If you enjoy incredibly smart, detailed feminist  analysis of electoral politics, it should matter a lot to you, too.)


Political Snacks

Intersex Surgery Is Condemned by the United Nations. Anti-trans Bills Are Allowing It. “Exemptions for intersex surgery allow doctors to assign minors who are born with secondary sex characteristics as ‘male’ or ‘female,’ reinforcing rigid gender ideals and heterosexuality, experts say.”

Crowds in Milan Protest Against Curbs on Rights of Same-Sex Parents

Uganda to Jail People Who Identify as LGBTQ in One of World’s Most Anti-Gay Laws


And Relevant to All Our Interests, One More F*cking Thing

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Carmen Phillips

Carmen is Autostraddle's Editor-in-Chief and a Black Puerto Rican femme/inist writer. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. There were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. You can find her on twitter, @carmencitaloves.

Carmen has written 689 articles for us.

3 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing the article about the UK Butches photography project! It’s one of my favourite things I’ve seen for ages – there’s so much talk about how “no one will just be a GNC butch dyke any more” but honestly I feel like we’re seeing a resurgence of spaces celebrating working class butch identity more than ever and it never fails to bring me joy. Butches forever.

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