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The Dish: Taystee and Poussey Reunite in San Junipero, Amber Heard Plays a Superhero in “Aquaman”

“Man, the ’80s was stupid.”

Who’s happy it’s the weekend?

Netflix knows what lesbians like, and it’s the “San Junipero” episode of “Black Mirror.” So they put Taystee and Poussey in the dreamy heaven scenario together for this “Orange is the New Black” promo. Sadly, it doesn’t have the same happy ending.

Out lesbian Alice Weidel is a contradiction, leading the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party whose values would seem to defy her own. But she told The Washington Post “she saw no contradiction between her party’s stated stance in favor of ‘traditional families’ with ‘a father and mother’ and her life with her female partner and children. Germany offers civil partnerships, she said, and she and her party remain in favor ‘of keeping the status quo.'” She went on to say that she doesn’t care how gays and lesbians feel about her: “I was labeled by a gay magazine as the most dangerous homosexual in Germany. I called up my partner and said, ‘In Germany, especially in Berlin, we cannot show up at gay parties anymore.’ She was like, ‘We’ve never done that, and we won’t do that,’ so I have no problem.” Internalized homophobia is alive and well.

Speaking of conservative lesbians, out talking head Tammy Bruce apologized “as a gay woman and a feminist” for referring to an autistic boy as a “snowflake” who “stalked the vice president” after Mike Pence bumped into the 10-year-old and didn’t apologize at the White House for National Military Spouse Appreciation day. Conservatives care about children SO MUCH until they don’t.

The Root asks Americans considering a Blaxit to think about relocating to queer, POC-friendly Berlin, “a city where nature is fiercely preserved and radical queer feminists host summer barbecues where white people with dreadlocks are charged twice the admission as people of color.” Know who’s not invited? Alice Weidel.

Donald Trump’s presidency is endangering basically everyone, but it especially affects LGBTs around the world. The Daily Beast writes: “It’s not that LGBT people are being singled out by the Trump administration; we don’t have to be. Undermining the notion of international human rights, long a dream of the Putin regime and now a reality of the ‘America First’ Trump administration, covers women, sexual minorities, gender minorities, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, political dissidents, and women all at once.” It’s actually their silence and blissful ignorance that is most harmful. So basically Mike Pence owes all of us snowflakes an apology.

Portland’s hottest new queer-inclusive gatherings are desi parties, thrown by Indian organizers who wanted to create a space for people of color in the fairly white city. The parties are hugely successful and fun, but also politically-motivated. One regular attendee, Nafisah, “a 30-year-old lesbian and racial justice activist who’s married to an Indian-origin Hindu woman,” told GQ India: “If you’re not scared, you’re not paying attention. I’m not more afraid now than I’ve always been. It’s scary to be brown and queer and Muslim. It has been since before I was born. Before 9/11. Xenophobia, anti-Muslimness and anti-blackness are all core threads of America.” So while these events are meant to offer a safe space to queers and POCs, outsiders can come, as long as they’re allies. Said out organizer DJ Anjali: “You’re an old hippy who wants to dance up front? You’re a young fly Punjabi b-boy? Cool, you can come to our party. Just don’t fuck with the lesbians in the corner.”

“The Legend of Korra” fans will be thrilled to see that Korra and Asami’s love story will continue to play out in graphic novels. Said artist Irene Koh: “Their coming out as a couple opens up the conversation of how LGBT folks are viewed in that world (it varies per culture, just like reality). The only change in perspective it inspires is joy, really. I know certain institutions make it difficult to explore queerness in kids’ entertainment, so I’m honored to be able to spearhead it for an IP like Korra via the comics.” It’s also too rare that queer Asian women are depicted in relationships with one another, which is another huge focus for Koh in the adaptation. Even if you didn’t watch the original Nickelodeon series, the book might be your jam.

Speaking of comics, “Heathen” is super queer and sounds like something you might be into.

Romper offers some helpful tips on how not to be a total dick to queer moms. Even the most well-meaning of hetero parents can overstep their bounds by saying some bull shit so feel free to anonymously share this with the guilty in your life.

Chelsea Manning is a free woman, and she posted a stunning photo of herself, smiling!

 

Jessica Capshaw says she loves playing a lesbian role on “Grey’s Anatomy,” and that it’s been pretty life-changing. “I never would have imagined that I would be able to play a character that would feel like it does so much good, whether it’s people who feel like the character resonates with them and it makes their day a little easier to see themselves represented,” she said. “Or if it’s someone watching it who has someone in their life who is gay and they might have not understood it before and all of a sudden, they have another person or another thing to point to and say, ‘Oh that’s a different context.’ Being able to play a lesbian as a series regular on television has been enormously rewarding. My daughter goes to preschool, and the preschool has all kinds of families. And I guess one of the kids said, ‘You have to have a mom and a dad to have a baby.’ And my daughter said, ‘No. No you don’t.’ And this was all overheard and told to me later. She said, in a very kind and patient way to that child, ‘There can be a mom and a mom and a dad and a mom and there can be a dad and a dad.’ I am so grateful that she will never know any different, and it will only be if she is in the presence of people who are on the wrong side of history or small-minded that she will hear anything other than that. I feel grateful to have her living in a family that will put her out into the world as someone who understands the world a little bit.” KIDS GET IT.

Oregon’s bisexual governor Kate Brown signed the bill that allows transgender people to change their birth certificates to reflect their true gender identity. The law will go into effect as of January 1, 2018.

I’m calling major bullshit on this study done by some guy at The University of Nicosia in Cyprus that finds lesbianism evolved “because it’s a turn on for men.” Researcher Menelaos Apostolou claims that because 15% of heterosexual men in long-term relationships and 30% of those in short-term relationships say that they would want their partner to have a sexual encounter with another woman, women then partake in same-sex experiences. Thankfully, other people are already dispelling this insanity. “The paper totally ignores a lot of other possible hypotheses and makes claims that are really not supported by the evidence they provide,” said Diana Fleischman, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth. Right, like the fact most lesbians don’t give a fuck about dudes and how they feel about their individual sexuality. THANKS.

Next time you’re visiting Barclays Center, Brooklyn Nets, New York Islanders, Long Island Nets or the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, silently thank Elisa Padilla, the out lesbian Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. The basketball fanatic says the election has given her even more of a reason to use her position as an out Hispanic woman in a fairly hetero field. “I was haunted that the rights granted to the LGBT community would be reversed, and being as I have a voice, I knew I had to use it,” Padilla said. “I never wanted who I am to inherently interfere with my professional growth or career so I thought it through tremendously. I feared how this would affect the brands I work on. I vetted my concerns with our public relations department whose support I had, and after disclosing my story leading up to Pride Night, I did not receive one negative response. Everyone was beyond supportive to the point that I wish I had the confidence to come out to my colleagues sooner. I had spent decades constantly turning conversations away from me and on to others. The barrier was finally broken. We need to educate, especially given the regression we are witnessing today, and I was not doing the next level of women coming up in sports justice by keeping my unique background a secret.” Women like Elisa Padilla are changing the world.

Amber Heard is playing Lady Mera is the new Aquaman movie, which means we’re getting another queer woman playing a superhero on the big screen.

 

Houston is getting its own LGBTQ-affirming senior center. 62-year-old lesbian Elaine Watson explained why these kinds of spaces are crucial for people like her: “As people get older, they tend to get more fixed in their beliefs, so it can be a real problem to find a place where you can really be comfortable and be yourself. I don’t have a partner at the moment, but if my prayers are answered there will be someone special in my life, and I can just imagine the gossip and maybe even outright hostility if I were to share an apartment with someone who is my lover.” Safe spaces are so necessary for LGBTQs of all ages. It doesn’t begin and end with gay bars!

With that in mind, support your local lesbian-friendly watering hole, and be kind to your elders.

Have a great weekend!

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