So yesterday, my girlfriend showed up at my house wearing the same shirt as me, which was (of course) flannel. Has this happened to you?
Ellen DeGeneres will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her coming-out episode of “Ellen” (“The Puppy Episode”) by hosting a reunion with the cast (including guest star Oprah!) on her talk show. The hour-long episode will air April 28 with Laura Dern, Joely Fisher, Clea Lewis and David Anthony Higgins all joining Ellen to reminisce and recount how important the moment was and still is.
St. Vincent shared the soundtrack of her life in support of Record Store Day (coming up April 22nd), and it turns out she’s a huge Madonna fan: “I was a conscious person in the late ’80s. And I loved Madonna from that period and the early ’90s. It was pre-internet, when you had to immerse yourself in a culture in order to appropriate it and bring it to the masses. I remember seeing the videos [from 1992’s Erotica] and finding them supersexy — before you know what sex is. I liked her BDSM phase.” Didn’t we all? That was her lesbian chic era.
Melissa Etheridge loves weed, and she shares that love with her (adult) children. She explains in this interview with Yahoo, “My children have a very clear understanding of cannabis. When I hold it without shame or confusion, then they can understand it as simple as if I was pointing to a bottle of Percocet and said, ‘That’s Mama’s medicine.’ You take the naughtiness out of it, and it’s not something that kids run to.” I’m grateful, as Mel Eth is, that California is so cannabis friendly. Let’s hope the rest of the country will catch up!
For the record, I met my girlfriend at Mothership, an incredible feminist festival and retreat that is now offering pre-sale tickets for its second year. I’ll be there, along with lot’s of other fantastic (mostly queer) women. Find me dancing at the silent disco or singing TLC by the campfire.
My talented writer friend Mary Emily O’Hara said she was going to interview Jane Lynch and asked if I had any questions for her. I half-jokingly suggested she ask the most famous person she’s slept with…and Mary actually asked….and Jane answered: “Oh. Me! I’m the most famous woman I’ve ever slept with. No, okay … Hilary Rosen. I just gave you a scoop. You’re welcome. Oh, and Hilary: you’re welcome too. It’s a very short list, actually. And it’s done. The shop is closed. It’s over. The ship has sailed. It’s not sad, it’s a f—ing relief.” Someone point Jane to that study up above so she won’t lose all hope.
Another lesbian suing her former employer for discrimination has won the opportunity to have her day in court. Kimberly Hively alleged Ivy Tech Community College would not give her a full-time position because she was a lesbian, and after review (and help from Lambda Legal), the Seventh Circuit ruled that her lawsuit against Ivy Tech could move forward. Shout out to all of the women standing up against this bull shit, and for pushing things forward so that the rest of the community will benefit from their hard-fought progress.
Women’s libraries and bookstores are dealing with some similar issues to the lesbian bar and other women-specific spaces. This piece from Quill & Quire posits that second-wave feminism is part of the problem, as some titles and topics that came out of that mindset have been found harmful and upsetting to marginalized sections of the community. Some protesters in Vancouver demanded “the removal of 21 titles in the [The Vancouver Women’s Library] collection that were ‘written by non-trans women and non-sex workers that dehumanize, speak over, and advocate harm,” as well as the expansion of titles available to “include more titles representing a greater diversity of women’s experiences.” Like anything that comes out of lesbian and feminist culture and herstory, there are hella problematic pieces and people, but is censorship the right way to have conversations surrounding why they are so problematic? The struggle is consistent and very, very real.
Yahaira Carrillo talks with KQED about growing up queer and undocumented in a report that talks about how connected the two things are. “At the end of the day, both coming out as queer and coming out as undocumented, it’s about living life on your own terms,” Carrillo said. “[It’s about] you calling the shots about how you move about the world, and facing society head on, in your full truth, in both of those areas. And there’s power in that.” Immigration is an LGBTQ issue!
San Francisco was home to the second annual Queer & Comics Conference, and the SF Chronicle was there to talk with creators and attendees about why LGBTQ visibility in comics is so damn important. Conference creator Jennifer Camper explains, “I just wanted to throw a party. I wanted to have a chance for us to document our history. Some of our first openly queer cartoonists who did openly queer content are now in their late 60s and 70s.” It’s like Comic-Con, but queerer! Speaking of ways to meet your new wife, am I right?
Same time, same place tomorrow!
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