Hiiiiii!
Elizabeth Warren and bisexual “Brooklyn 99” star Stephanie Beatriz have penned love letters to the LGBTQ community, adding to Billboard’s already pretty awesome line-up of public figures (both out and allies) doing so.
Halsey’s PAPER magazine cover story is queer AF, and she talks about the time Buzzfeed tried to police her bisexuality:
It was interesting to me because, for a lesbian writer, it seemed really bi-phobic. It seemed like, “Well, I don’t wanna claim her because she’s dated a guy, or because she’s doing this romantic collaboration with a guy.” And then she’s like, “Well, she hangs out with all these dudes, so is she fucking all of them or is she pretty much just a Lez Bro?” Obviously, she didn’t say it in those words, but she did actually say “Lez Bro.” There’s bi-phobia from the straight community and from the LGBT community. There’s a lack of acceptance. It happens in TV all the time when people write bisexual characters as going through a phase or struggling with something. It’s part of some mental breakdown or rebellion storyline, and that just sucks.
Out author Roxane Gay talked with Terry Gross about initially coming out as a lesbian, but eventually realizing she was bisexual. I’m glad to hear that it was a positive experience.
When I came out I knew it wasn’t the whole truth. I knew that I was also still attracted to men, but I was so scared of me that I just thought, “OK, I’m just going to find some safe harbor here,” and so I wanted to be the best lesbian I could so that maybe that would make my attraction to men go away. …
No community has been more welcoming to me, and when I needed community the most, [that] community was there for me. It was like discovering water for the first time, discovering clean air for the first time — to be seen, and to be appreciated and to be thought of as sexy and beautiful, it was just invaluable and I will never, ever forget the ways in which I was embraced by my community as I came out.
The Lesbian Archives of Sonoma County (LASC) sounds like a Bravo show I would watch. In reality, it’s a group of gay women trying to preserve the herstory of the lesbians who lived and loved in the area, and where they gathered (softball and potlucks are involved).
Is Pride still queer, or….? Some LGBTQs bemoan what the parades have turned into and don’t participate. Others do so begrudgingly. But what I find is that most of these complainers are talking about the parade and the parties and don’t seek out other events celebrating Pride that a lot of other orgs put on that are centered around politicization and herstory, including Dyke March. MARCH WITH YOUR DYKES, PEOPLE.
The New York Times writes about gay nightlife in NYC, and PAT, Hot Rabbit and Misster at The Woods are celebrated as spots for queer women. I love all three of those parties so I co-sign.
The Times also denotes a few historical LGBTQ landmarks in NYC outside of Stonewall. But in some other Stonewall related news, Google donated $1 million to telling stories of the famed Inn, which will go through The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. This comes from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, and have a focus on preserving the history of the riots and people who frequented the famous gay bar during its earliest (and most dangerous) years.
The Alice Austen House is being designated an official LGBTQ landmark today, as it fucking should be. The famed lesbian photographer’s home on Staten Island is being celebrated all day long, with some special events being live streamed so that the rest of us don’t have FOMO.
Teen Vogue chats with out YouTube star Shannon Beveridge who shares how her Tumblr postings about coming out in Texas gained her a following of thousands. The mag also shares some queer books for Pride, and I definitely added “Grrrls on the Side” to my reading list.
Want to get gay in Asia? Forbes shares some ideal destinations.
Georgia is having an important election today, and Georgians should definitely not be voting for Karen Handel. The Republican candidate for Georgia’s 6th Congression District told the mother of a lesbian daughter that she is “against gay adoption.” “Do I think that gay parents is in the best interest of the child? No,” she said. “But we do have our court system that deals with many and most of those issues. She said she’d also consider outlawing adoptions by same-sex parents: “Absolutely. I think that for a child to be in a household — in a family in a household with a situation where the parents are not married, as in one man and one woman, is not the best household for a child.” Let’s hope her opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff, wins.
A 12-year-old lesbian came out to her Mormon church in Utah, and was told to sit down and, well, shut up. She left in tears, but THANKFULLY her parents are supportive, and what she has to say will hopefully resonate with others. From her testimony: “I believe I was made the way I am, all parts of me, by my heavenly parents. They did not mess up when they gave me freckles or when they made me to be gay. God loves me just this way, because I believe that he loves all his creations. … I know I’m not a horrible sinner for being who I am. I believe God would tell me if I was wrong. I believe that if God is there, He knows I am perfect, just the way I am, and would never ask me to live my life alone or with someone I am not attracted to.” Say what you will about the youth of today, but I’m team 12-year-old lesbian right now.
TTFN.
