The Dish: Lilly Wachowksi Paints Portraits of Murdered Trans Women, China’s Lesbian Dating App Disappears

The final days of May are upon us.

I hope you enjoyed your nice, long weekend! I did, except my girlfriend was sick for one whole day, but on the plus side, I didn’t get it. (KNOCK ON WOOD.) Anyway, it’s one step closer to Friday today, so that’s a bonus.

If you need a few moves to get inspired, try these poses that out yogi Jessamyn Stanley recommends.

Chinese lesbian dating app Rela has been shut down, and no one knows why. The company is not responding to requests for comment, but did provide this statement on WeChat: “Rela has always been with you and please await its return!” Lez keep hope alive, despite everyone freaking the fuck out that it’s gone for good.

Do you remember when Fox News was going hard with that “lesbian gangs are taking over the country” lie? The Daily Beast recalls the details of that total B.S., and how the network (as well as the lying talking head himself, Rod Wheeler) never even apologized for spreading such a falsehood. The sad fact of the matter is so many people actually TRUST Fox News.

Sandra Moran is Guatemala’s first out lesbian Congresswoman, and she shares a little bit of background on how her personal life became public. “I chose to come out publicly and use it as part of my platform because I knew my identity would be used against me by opposing conservative groups,” she said. She’s using her power to try and bring forth “forth taboo topics in support of the LGBT community and women and girls’ rights such as sexual diversity, abortion rights and equal marriage,” and is hoping that her work will help her country to “defend the rights of all citizens.”

LGBTQ patients are willing to talk about their bodies and health, if only their medical professionals would ask. Even just including basic sexual and gender identity topics/questions on intake forms can provide helpful information to providers, and help patients to feel more comfortable discussing any issues which is, you know, their job.

A new Jehovah’s Witness film series features some very specific moments of homophobia, so just a reminder that every religion has a little bit of hate in their hearts.

The WorldOut Games are going down in Miami right now, despite a brief delay. Seems that the fourth annual LGBTQ sports competition was having some money troubles late in the game.

If you’re an athletic type, you might want to invest in a U.S. soccer Pride-themed jersey or hat. You can customize it to say your name, or any women’s national team player you want to marry.

Photo by US Soccer

 

This adorable bride serenaded her new wife with “Can’t Help Falling in Love” after their first dance, and there were so many tears of joy at the end. You may just join in.

Jane Austen may have been a lesbian. Historian Lucy Worsley penned a new biography of the legendary novelist who excelled at heteronormativity in her books, and says that Austen never once slept with a man. Instead, she “frequently documented” spending nights with female friends. Mhm!

Lilly Wachowski has an exhibition of her artwork, “Say Our Names,” on display at Chicago’s Center on Halsted June 2nd through July 11th. The director painted 27 portraits of the trans women murdered in 2016 in the United States.

Roman Polanski‘s newest film, “Based on a True Story,” premiered at Cannes last week and sounds very “Single White Female” with one review referring to its “faintly sapphic doppelgänger premise.” These narratives pop up every now and again, don’t they?

Photo by Based on a True Story

Congrats to new mums Megan Taylor and Joy Stevenson, who delivered triplets after being told it was likely they would never conceive. Now they’re outnumbered!

Hot and Bothered” looks like our new favorite series. Just consider this tagline alone: “Two sarcastic stoner twenty year olds get in over their heads when they create the ‘Grindr’ for lesbians.”

Sorry, “Supergirl” fans—looks like Detective Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima) will only be recurring next season. “We adore Floriana and have loved working with her to tell this inspiring story,” the producers said in a statement (per Deadline). “Although she’s not available to us as a series regular next season, as she’s looking to pursue other opportunities, we’re happy she’ll be returning for multiple episodes in Season 3.”

Related: Did you know that some of the earliest comic book creators, writers and illustrators like Patricia Highsmith and Marcia Snyder were totes gay? Hope Nicholson details the herstory in “The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen.”

Toronto-born, Ugandan rapper Keko came on PRI’s The World, telling the reporter how she knows the country is aware that she’s gay, but “are probably still in denial.” “I speak on it because there are so many kids out there that are like that … people always have that notion where they say, ‘Oh, [being gay] is such a Western thing, they are copying it from the movies,'” Keko said. “So, I speak on it because people need to live freer lives. And this is Africa. So, there is still a lot of time before that happens. But if they can look back and be like, ‘Well, Keko was not afraid to be open about it and stand up for herself, then I can just be myself.'” She’s brave AF, and I respect her for it!

A study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health finds that LGBTQ college students are going off-campus to find help with mental health issues, which means institutions need to up their game. The RAND Corporation study found that, “compared to heterosexual students, sexual minority students had higher rates of psychological distress (26 percent versus 18 percent), were more likely to report academic impairment related to mental health problems (17 percent versus 11 percent) and reported higher overall levels of stress over the past month (63 percent versus 55 percent).” So if anyone needs access to mental health services, it’s our community.

And before they get to college, here’s how high schools can help LGBTQ teens better assess and address their mental health. That mostly includes providing GSAs, known allies and allied spaces and generally being non-assholes.

You know who is making sure their queer teens are good? The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), which just implemented a mandate of new agency guidelines to better support LGBTQ children and youth in their care.” Specifically, they must “[p]rovide supportive and affirming care regardless of one’s personal attitudes, beliefs, preconceptions and/or judgments, if any, surrounding matters of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.” Hell yeah!

Lane Moore talks about finding love with Splitsider, and how her type is pretty much the same, no matter what gender the person may be. “For lack of a better word, I’ll use the word queer, but I don’t identify as anything,” she says. “If I’m into somebody, I always say, whatever gender they are, I’ll figure it out. As in, I’ll work with it. And a lot of the men and women I date look the same. They all just look like little nerds.”

If you live in Houston, check out “When We Were Young and Afraid,” a stage play that includes the character “Hanna, a militant and mouthy black lesbian, is looking for work so she can gather enough money to join the nearby all-female commune.” Living the dream, Hanna!

Until tomorrow!


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