Questions from the A+ Inbox were taking up such an enormous portion of the A+ Insider that we started dedicating an entire post to them instead! This A+ feature now exchanges bi-monthly with our column, Into the A+ Advice Box. We think this will be a lot of fun for the whole family. We’ve included as many questions as we can. We love you and your hair looks fantastic today!

MERCH, BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL CONCERNS

Hello fellow queers! My vexing question: Will you be restocking the Gal Pal hoodies? Mine is quite falling apart after a few years and it’s time to replace her (or learn how to use my sewing machine).

Sarah: We won’t be printing hoodies again, unless that specific type of garment has a resurgence in popularity! Our Gal Pal Sweatshirt however, is very cozy and soft. I would highly recommend it as a replacement.

Is there a way to see what user(s) liked a comment when a comment has likes?

Cee: Nope!

You know what would be a really cool autostraddle feature? If there was a “save this post to read later” button. Sometimes I’m scrolling through AS and I see something I want to read, but I just don’t have the time in that moment (or I want to save it for later to read) and I just leave it open in a tab and I inevitably forget about it and accidentally close the tab and ever end up reading it :(

Cee: That does sound like a cool feature. Unfortunately we don’t have a ton of money for development of custom functionality like that so I recommend either using your browser’s built in bookmarking feature or try something like Pocket.

Riese: I use Instapaper for that personally — it’s actually how I store everything I end up covering in Things I Read That I Love.

Hi this is for anyone who deals with spam accounts! Someone was asking what to do if they get spammy PMs with links to adult porn sites, and I suggested sending a PM to Al(aina) with the username so they can be blocked, but not sure if that’s what you’d like people to do? Thanks XOXO

Cee: Hi, I disabled PMs for the time being because we had about 10,000 fake accounts sign up and spam a ton of people and it was a nightmare to clean it all up. We’re still discussing if that’s even a functionality we need or if people use it. If we do turn it back on in the future, I think sending a tech support request via the contact us form might make more sense than trying to find a moderator.

None of my comments will publish today. After I enter the comment and click the button, the page refreshes w/out the comment. Am I on double top-secret probation or something?

Cee: It’s possible that the anti-spam plugin ate your comments (put them in quarantine). Send us a tech support request via the contact form if this keeps happening to you!

I’m having trouble smashing the “Like” button on comments! I click the little thumb icon and it buffers forever, or I click and it looks like it’s going to update but then it doesn’t. :( I want to support my fellow commenters and give them props!

Cee: Hi! the liking comments plugin borked out on us and we’re working on a replacement.

Is comment voting gone forever or is it just a WP bug?

Cee: The plugin we used for comment likes was being buggy, and slowed down our site tremendously, so it’s off for now. I don’t have an easy fix for this but it’s on the to-do list.

I’m at an L Word Gen Q premiere party in San Francisco at Jolene’s bar and they just keep playing the theme song to hype the crowd. SEND HELP 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

ALL-CONSUMING NEEDS TO SHARE

Bloody hell, Frozen II’s ‘Into the Unknown’ just totally undid me and broke my head a little, I feel so called out, and I have no one else to share this with who will actually understand! Well played Disney, with your Evan Rachel Wood Bisexual siren singing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go explain to my confused 8-year-old why it’s better to live a life that makes your soul sing, and that’s why Elsa would make the choice she makes at the end of the film… GAH!

Drew: It was just announced that Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are writing the music for an adaptation of The Prince and the Dressmaker and that sent me right back to the Frozen II soundtrack. I truly love it so much?? Which makes me more and more annoyed about the movie! I stand by my review, where I suggested that if Disney wasn’t ready for a queer princess they could have at least had her meet a gal pal with similar powers — not her mother. But anyway my Frozen II frustrations have now been transferred to a deep excitement for The Prince and the Dressmaker — a musical that is sure to be explicitly queer in all the ways we deserve. THAT is the life that makes MY soul sing!

“Frozen 2” Review: Elsa Gets Mommy Issues Instead of a Girlfriend

Mary Lambert’s GF was on Jeopardy!! Pass it on!

Rachel: Wow I love Jeopardy, I love this for all of us

UHHHH so Erika Ishii, known bisexual tabletop roleplaying goddess, posted this video today and I have ascended?? Also, she liked my tweet where I called her my hero and called myself too gay to function. I’m so so behind on LA By Night but I might have to binge it this weekend… And have you seen her new haircut??

Heather: Friend, did you see her in the Critical Role Monsterhearts one-shot on Valentine’s Day? ‘Cause holy gay heck!

Jackie Fielder is running for CA State Senate. She’s queer. She’s indigenous and latinx. She has organized for divestment from DAPL, for public banks, etc. She’s 25. She’s awesommmmmmeeeeee!!!

Carmen: I haven’t had time to do much research on her, but from the first glance she really seems great! More queers for democracy is my personal motto.

I… just started watching The Real L Word and… I’m afraid to say, I am obsessed with this garbage 😂 I didn’t know I could like anything in the reality TV format, but Apparently all it takes is make it gay and I’ll enjoy it heaps more!!!!

Riese: I love this for you! And I very much hope you are accompanying your watching with reading my recaps because 10/10 recap readers say that my recaps made the show better. They are award-winning insofar as I have awarded myself a Rapunzel Prize for spinning all that straw into gold!

Literally “Lesbian Mafia” made a headline this week in sports. 

Carmen: Another win for the gay agenda.

Just here to deeply recommend the new Caroline Rose song “Feel the Way I Want” !!!

Laneia: YIKES. thank you I do love a new song!!! And now everyone here has been blessed!

From the sports world, the Women’s Arsenal Football (or Soccer as you please) has not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 CONFIRMED couples on it. Can you imagine??? Sure does make it easy for any queer to pick a favorite team. I love them and I’m not even sure where they play.

Heather: I’ll be honest, I couldn’t even believe this was real until I looked it up myself! Look out, NWSL/WNBA!

I thought Heather Hogan might be interested in this cool beer brewing collaboration by women brewers in Tucson, AZ and women brewers in Mexico.

Heather: You were absolutely right! I am VERY INTERESTED in this!! I love it when women talk about brewing beer; it’s like listening to a witch talk about the nuance and magic of brewing potions! You know who else will be interested in this? Laneia!

Laneia: Oh damn, I love everything about this! Up to and including the fact that I could drive myself to Tucson this very weekend and secure at least six cans of this beer! Thank you friend!

Just something I need to share. I had a girlfriend for a couple of weeks and it felt so different from being a “bi / gay person IN THEORY” to actually have a gf and sex. Now we’re broken up and all posts make me sad. :(

Rachel: I understand both of these feelings! I’m excited for you to feel that feeling of a girlfriend and sex again in the future, and the posts will still be here for you then when you feel happy reading them <3

Laneia: As someone who’s recently felt very sad about all the posts, because it meant other people were alive and functioning and having ideas and conversations, which only served to magnifiy the fact that I was doing none of those things, really, I want to tell you that one day — probably much fucking sooner than you think! — you’ll be reading up on how to keep it casual and also what you might need to take on a first date. (I cannot recommend a travel toothbrush enough, even if you’re not staying the night.) You did a good job back there. Now you just have to get through this and out the other side. Eat some fruit, I promise it helps! People love you and you’re doing great.

I am a queer person who worked on ART clinical trials for Gilead, and because I am not legally allowed to voice this concern anywhere else and you are linking related articles, I will say it here anonymously: Skepticism about PrEP is warranted and not homophobic. PrEP contains the exact same dose we give HIV positive people, and the data shows lots of adverse effects, including yes, kidney and bone damage, for all of the components involved. We consider the harms worth it when the drug keeps a positive person’s viral load down, but doctors ought to be having more nuanced discussions of the risks of these drugs with seronegative patients and they are not. Friends of mine have been told by their doctors that PrEP has no long-term side effects for seronegative users; the truth is that we don’t have the long-term studies yet to back up any such claim. The contrast between the informed consent process for hormone therapy, in which every possible side effect is laid out, and PrEP, where patients are just told ‘it’s safe’ is striking. Patients are alarmed by social media ads because they weren’t properly counselled by their doctors and this is the first they’ve heard of those side effects. It is disheartening to see a corporation that treats gay, trans and black bodies as medical research commodities now using LGBTQ activists to shut down critiques of their expensive product’s very real side effects. Gilead is not our friend and we ought to look at them very critically.

Carmen: Unfortunately, I’m not sure which articles of ours that you are referring to and you didn’t leave any links to point us in a specific direction, but rest assured — your comment has been noted.

All consuming need to share here — I have been watching Season 2 of Vida on repeat. It’s a MASTERPIECE OF THE AGES. My favorite most treasured storytellers are Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Kiana Davenport and this felt like their epic novels except on screen and QUEER. I am NOT here for Emma irrevocably effing up things with Nico in Season 3. No no no. I love how Emma and Lyn’s ways of functioning are so clearly hard won AND that Lyn and Emma aren’t static in their brokenness — the writers found such real ways for people around them to help them realize that what they’re doing is hurting others, and not what they want, and letting them try something different (and backslide). Nico has boundaries, she doesn’t need Emma, so she can give Emma the space and security for Emma to try receiving a tiny bit of safety and care, even if it’s a VERY bumpy road. I didn’t know how much I need to see capable, real, adult, queer women who aren’t white healing and taking care of each other (even if it’s not a swooney romantic relationship). Not just Nico and Emma — also Rocky and Eddy, and Emma and Mari, hell even Nico taking Eddy’s car keys. Really hoping for lots more of that in Vida and beyond. It honestly would make it easier to do that in the real world. It’s a lil lonely out here and we’re doing our best and seeing more of it on screen or on the page would be such a boost. Anyway ENDLESS GRATITUDE to Autostraddle staff for covering Vida, and to the Vida Team!!!!

Carmen: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Always ecstatic to meet another member of the Vida Hive! I absolutely agree with EVERYTHING YOU SAID!! And then some!!! Vida is a masterpiece (and according to our own experts, also houses the #1 and #2 queer women of color characters in television history! https://develop.autostraddle.com/the-top-100-queer-and-trans-women-of-color-television-characters-in-tv-history/). While I have you here, have you seen the trailer for Season Three?

You know what they say: what doesn’t kill you makes you más chingona. Get ready for Season 3 of #VidaSTARZ, returning Sunday, April 26 only on @STARZ. pic.twitter.com/RKSiTqD2ep

— @Vida_STARZ (@VIDA_STARZ) February 18, 2020

“En nombre de Oshun, de La Guadalupana, de santa Selena, and Jenny from the Block. Amen.” 🙏🏾

I just watched the Work In Progress finale and it broke me! it is the most connected I have felt to a show maybe ever and now the heartbreak is just as real and I can’t handle it. Are any of you in the same boat? I need Chris to be somehow ok but also on my screen all next season and I just don’t see how that’s gonna happen now???

Drew: I feel so torn about this too! I want Theo Germaine to come back so badly but also want Chris to move on from Abby. Maybe they’ll find a way to do both! Either way that breakup scene is truly one of the top five breakup scenes I’ve ever seen. So real and specific and utterly heartbreaking.

Riese: I too need Chris to be on my screen next season and am VERY upset about the possibility of this not being a guarantee. Maybe they will stay friends???!?!?!

Laneia: But has anyone considered the possibility of a Chris spinoff?

Doctor Who managed to have gay characters and NOT kill them off — it’s a low bar to be pleased that gay characters aren’t killed but hey!

Heather: Doctor Who is BREAKING MY HEART this season, but at least it’s not in a Bury Your Gays way, huh? And at least there’s plenty of Thirteen in suits.

Do you need a hug? Here, Have a hug.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN ABOUT THIS / I NEED INFORMATION/ ARTICLE IDEAS

Kayla and others with juice opinions: What’s the deal with Vitality Bowls Superfood Cafe (I think it’s a national chain?) I just went into one — because I needed to feel the punch of ginger in my teeth — and they were playing a Sunday morning church service/ televangelist broadcast on a wall mounted flat screen TV. (I thought: Fuck did my 8 freaking dollars just go to fund some homophobic mega church empire?) Is there overlap in juice/wellness culture and church culture? I would pay to read some deep dive reporting on this.

Riese: Hm this is interesting! Firstly a lot of super-healthy restaurants are indeed run by quasi-cults or evangelical Christians and which is just to say that YES there is an overlap in juice/wellness culture and church culture! This is one of my favorite topics for another day. Vitality Bowls appears to be an operation that is expanding using the franchise system, so the owners of your local franchise might just personally be interested in Sunday morning church service programming? I can’t find anything linking this specific franchise to a religion however. :-(

Carmen: I don’t think my all-time favorite juice people in Detroit (whaddup Drought!!) are run by Evangelicals? But also maybe this is a Cali thing.

Does Erin still write for y’all? I appreciate her voice and miss her humor!

Carmen: We also appreciate and miss Erin’s voice! We’re working on getting another Straight People Watch to you good folks, soon.

Have yall done a shout out for All My Relations podcast yet? I am not finding one with the search. Two episodes: Decolonizing Sex and Indigiqueer are of special interest to Autostraddle’s audience. In general, its an amazing podcast run by two indigenous women, Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene. The Decolonizing Sex episode is with Dr. Kim Tallbear, behind the criticalpolyamorist.com that Carolyn linked one time.

Thanks for all your amazing work and lots of wishes for bright moments in your day today!

Rachel: We are so often behind on podcasts in general I feel, or maybe just myself personally as someone who does not listen to them — thank you for this, I love Adrienne Keene and Kim Tallbear!

Has anyone made a list of all the Easy episodes that are gay? I am not keen on slogging through the hetero storylines

Carmen: We got your back.

Do you know of any outfit subscription services for MOC women? I’ve tried Trunk Club, and maybe it was just my stylist, but it wasn’t great.

Kamala: I have to say that there was only one I knew of, Greyscale Goods, and they’re no longer around. Was it the styles that were off or the fit? I’d say something like Trunk Club, Stitch Fix, Bombfell, ThreadBeast, Frank & Oak, or even Amazon’s Prime Wardrobe might work out, but only if you’re sure of your fits (like the cuts or sizes or styles of clothing that work for you), and then you can leave the curation up to a stylist. So it might be a situation where you tell your stylist that you’re just looking for jackets and t-shirts, because you know you can wear a men’s size medium, but you need there to be room in the chest, or the sleeves need to be shorter, or it has to have some stretch, and then you’re getting your pants and shoes somewhere else.

Carta Monir is making so much cool queer and trans work happen with Diskette Press, and her new sex memoir Napkin is no exception… whether or not anyone is able to write a feature or review, I highly recommend! 

Rachel: I love her art, and wasn’t aware she had a new book out – thank you for the tip, I will look up asap!

Could you do a thing where you tell me where to buy all the jumpsuits alice wears in Gen Q with affiliate links?

Riese: I will. I will do this for you!

I don’t know if this will be exciting to anyone else who reads this site, but one of my favorite pop stars, Tove Styrke, just officially came out! I had always gotten a queer vibe from her, but as far as I know, this is the first time she’s publicly said anything about it. Anyway, she posted a picture of her and her hot guitarist, Sanna Sikborn Erixon, at a Swedish Elle event and captioned it, “when your date is your actual date *heart emoji* *rainbow emoji*” So, I don’t know if any other readers would be excited about queer Swedish pop stars, but I definitely am! Could maybe be a good candidate for No Filter? Plus, her music is amazing so it’d be cool to see her get some new fans from Autostraddle.

Carmen: So excited for this human!

Is Mika planning to write anymore Find your Fit? I’d love to crib Dan Lavery’s style at a reasonable price point, but also I’m in LA and layering is challenging in hot weather!

Kamala: While I’m certainly not Mika, as someone who regularly layers in LA, I think it’s about

1. Taking sleeves out of the equation when it’s possible and not gauche — sometimes armpits are fantastic to parade around, sometimes less so
2. Getting the weights of your layers right (I’m often working with nylon, silk, linen, flowy chambray)
3. Being prepared to tie a layer around my shoulders (if you’re lucky enough to have a waist, something I don’t have, you can tie it there too) to keep it in the outfit, but not have to fully it wear it.

Laneia is a gorgeous, radiant sunfish and is the funniest and coolest human!

MISC

Is it just me or are a lot of lesbian relationships shown on TV/in the movies (esp/ older ones) vaguely coercive? Or is it just that we are having a different conversation about consent these days?

Riese: Nope it’s definitely not just you! Many lesbian relationships and sexual encounters on TV/film (esp the older ones) are indeed vaguely or outright coercive.

I think a few things are happening here!

One, we are having a different conversation these days not only about consent, but also about desire. Women and other not-cis-men actually have become far more comfortable in recent years sharing their wants and desires as well as experiencing them and naming them than they did in the past. Especially for lesbian desire, there was absolutely a time when a woman might be 100% open to actually making out with another woman and also 100% closed to actually saying so out loud if asked, or otherwise demonstrating her desire. It’s also an easier (and lazier) story to dramatize.

It’s also a common trope in general when you look at standard straight romantic comedies and wow, it’s somehow portrayed as really cute and charming when a man refuses to take no for an answer over the course of an entire film?!?!! I remember an early boyfriend of mine when I was a teenager being like, can you please stop saying “I can’t do this” and turning away in the middle of us making out and then starting it back up again? Because I did that! Over and over! And I didn’t mean it — I’d say “no” and then like dramatically turn around and kiss him again — I only did that because that’s what I’d seen on TV as what women do. It was gross and unwieldy and unfeminine to desire openly and consistently. Sex was a thing men convinced women to want, not a thing we wanted on our own and pursued. And that was in the ‘90s! And I was heterosexual! So this plot was doubly common where lesbians are concerned because lesbian desire was and often is still seen as forbidden and disgusting; it makes sense that the stories told about it have rested heavy on plotlines wherein a woman has to be relentlessly pursued in order to Accept The Truth About Herself.

The other is that yes the way we talk about consent has changed. Let’s talk about The L Word! What I discuss in the above paragraph might apply when looking at Marina and Jenny, for example. (You can see we’ve come a long way just by comparing that story from the original to the reboot — in which Finley asks girls at a bar if she can buy them a drink and one “nope” is all she needs to say “copy that” and move on. Marina did not.) But it does nothing within the context of something like Tonya and Dana in Season One of The L Word, which now reads to me as quite honestly a rape scene and I am baffled by the version of us that ever found it acceptable or funny. Or Alice and Lisa on the boat in Season One — again, Alice has no interest in Lisa’s consent and forces her into a sexual act she has no desire to perform. Papi getting Kit, a professed straight woman, wildly drunk and then taking her home for sex? Wow! An absolute nope to that!

Hello, can you please do a deep dive analysis into what star signs all of The L Word characters are? This is necessary content and you are the experts. Thank you!

Riese: Yes, of course.

Zooming in on my kitten’s face is worth it (even though the resolution gets low.)

Laneia: You were right! What’s kitten’s name!!

WHAT IS THE RHYME OR REASON TO THE ASTROLOGICAL DATING POSTS?! You started with the Leo post on July 31st. Yes, good. It is Leo season. This makes sense. Then I suppose the logic was moving through the fire signs. But to start the article series in alignment (Leo in Leo season) to where we are now: CANCER posted during CAPRICORN (and the rest of them weren’t posted during their sister sign’s season so we can’t even rest comfortably on this convention!!!!!). It’s chaos. So my question is: Why?
Signed, my very virgo rising.

Rachel: This has really made my day, thank you! The answer to this is that we did start in Leo Season because of Leo Season, but the series ran biweekly, not monthly, so it would not have ended up matching up per season regardless, and so instead we went by element — all fire signs, etc, then all the other elements grouped together. There was not a pattern w/r/t the order of the elements or the signs within those elements, other than that which is informed by the editorial calendar w/r/t which posts were ready and which needed more work/input. My sincere condolences for the distress this caused you.

I need help from the plant queers and cat queers: My plants are cat safe but my cat’s not plant safe and there is nowhere in my studio the cat can’t reach.

Laneia: Friend, have you tried growing some grass specifically for Cat to fuck up and chew on and knock around? Could you hang your plants from the ceiling at a height that would prevent Cat from reaching them, somehow? I’m extremely invested in the outcome of this situation and I urge you to follow up with photos when possible. Thank you in advance.

Hello! I am trying to stay off Twitter today because the news is bleak. So I’ll say hi! Also FYI last night I had a dream that I learned the true origins of the word “Autostraddle,” and it was in fact a term that originated in the gay male community, for a sex act, not unlike frottage! That’s weird, my dreams are weird. Have a great day!

Laneia: I think I’m one of maybe three people who enjoy hearing about other people’s dreams so this was a real treat! Thank you!!

I do embroidery and I recently did a commission for an acquaintance of my girlfriend who told me she and her roommate were watch The L Word together, so they wanted matching embroidered patches that say “fucking nightmare.” My gf and I CANNOT figure out what “fucking nightmare” is a reference to, and we are both pretty big L Word fans. I thought I’d use my A+ privilege and ask the L Word scholars of Autostraddle. What does it mean? (Girlfriend and I both too proud to just ask)

Riese: Well, in 405 Jodi tells Bette she doesn’t envy her having to raise money from creepy men and Bette says “it’s not so bad” and Jodi’s like “really?” and Bete’s like “actually it’s a fucking nightmare.” It’s also what Bette says about the construction on her house in episode 605. It’s kinda something I imagine Bette saying like in general, although those are the only certified instances of it?

Laneia: Just here to support the pride (albeit misplaced, bless) in not asking.

I have two questions for The Speakeasy team:

1. Is it okay for me to comment on Speakeasy roundtables/articles?
2. Is my use of a Latinx comic book character as my avatar cultural appropriation?

Thanks in advance.

Carmen: OK I’m going to answer the first part of your question, because I think other readers may also be wondering  about it. If it’s published on Autostraddle, we expect our readers to be able to read and comment on it if they’d like to! As a general rule of thumb, leaving engaging comments is always nice for the writers. It can make someone’s day! ❤️

Now, let’s take this one step further — some of what’s written on Autostraddle by QTPOC writers may not be written with white readers in mind, just like the vast majority of the internet isn’t written with QTPOC in mind. We still read the internet everyday regardless, and I’d encourage our white readers to get a ‘lil uncomfortable with what it means to read something not designed around or catered to your point of view — it’s what the rest of us have to do every day.

THAT SAID! If there’s ever a reason where the comments of a post were rude, against our guidelines, or otherwise taking up space in a way that isn’t helpful or is disrespectful to the intention of the piece, you can rest assured that we’ll let you know it right away. We reserve the right to delete those kinds of comments, particularly if they go against our comments policy. And if there’s ever a reason where the comments on a post are explicitly for POC only (that hasn’t happened in a long long time) — we will let you know that upfront as well. Otherwise, feel free!

As for the second part of your question — my friend, use our pal Google. It will be good to you.

My niche skill is terrifying men on the subway. Let me know if you need details.

REALLY NICE THINGS YOU TOLD US

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER! HOPE IT WAS A GREAT ONE, LOVE YOU LOTS

Heather: Thank you so much! It was an absolutely perfect day!

LANEIA YOU ARE A SHINING BEACON AND HAVE BEEN SINCE THE INTERNET WAS BORN LIKE A MILLION YEARS AGO <3

Laneia: WOW wow omg wow, thank you and may the goddess bless you and keep you! I now identify as Internet Crone and will be taking no further questions at this time.

I see you all hustling hard on those affiliate links whatnot and I hope you get all the $$$ you need!!! I can’t imagine how hard it is to keep all the gears in Autostraddle running and everything each of you does to make that happen is heroic! Along with your writing! And supporting each other! And keeping it going & showing up when it’s hard or extra-hard! Be proud and drink water if you haven’t recently! THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU <3 <3 <3

Riese: THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I TOO HOPE WE GET ALL THE $$$$$$ WE NEED. I love water even though my dog, like, hates water? Which sucks.

One day in the future, the queer ppls will have the time and space and energy they need to tell the stories and ask the questions and make the art, and be supported with all the food, and water, and shelter and care they need because they are beings. And they will tell of a time when their queer ancestors managed to tell some of the stories and ask many of the questions and make so much of the art while ALSO having to win at this awful contest to collect dollars in order to get what they need. And they will be so grateful to yall and set a place for each of you in spirit. Did I mention what you do every day is heroic? Cuz it is. THANK YOU

Laneia: THIS MADE ME CRY.

Hello Autostraddle. I won an oral presentation contest a few months back and finally they’re saying the prize check is in the mail or whatever. I used to shake from head to toe talking in front of, um, literally anyone. But then I came out and grew as a person and stuff. And I say this all the time, and I’ll say it again, but I owe a lot of my growing as a person to this website. My newish ability to speak in front of other humans is perhaps not so directly related to AS, but irrelevant — I decided you deserved a new year’s present. Please continue to exist for us. <3

Laneia: I am SO FUCKING PROUD OF YOU for winning that contest and taking up space in front of other people with your whole true self! I was still crying from the other message and now I’m just crying more!

Just in case you haven’t already seen, Autostraddle is now archived in the Library of Congress! :D 

Carmen: I HAD A FULL NERD FREAK OUT OVER THIS!! It’s soooooo cool to know that our work here is going to be archived and saved for future queer library nerds and researchers.

CRYING CRYING CRYING from the ‘impact report’!!! SO EXCITED for Kamala’s vision, and SO SO GREATFUL to Carmen, Sarah, Rachel, Laneia, Heather, and Riese for pulling Autostraddle to this point. I’ve been breathing easier since the fundraiser, and especially since Kamala and Nicole came on!!!

Kamala: I’m so thrilled to have other people excited by my vision!! Please know that you can always write in and tell me whose work or the kinds of voices would let you know that we’re headed in the right direction.

Laneia: 🎉 Same me too!!

Riese: THANK YOU SO MUCH WE LOVE YOU.

Sarah: Same! I am so excited for our future. Thank you sweet Autostraddle angel! <3

Nicole: (Nicole here: for those who did not catch the email, you can view the Impact Report here. We are so grateful for you all! Look what you do!!! Also: You, Anonymous A+ member! You rock!)

Finished grad school and can now finally afford to upgrade back to A+ Gold. Excited to be back — so proud to be part this community and grateful for all the work you all are doing <3

Riese: Congratulations on graduating and thank you for your elegant return to this premiere level of support we are so happy to have you!

Laneia: !!!

Kamala: We’re so incredibly grateful to have you in our community! Congrats on finishing grad school, and I hope you’re out there wowing people with your knowledge, because that’s the whole point, right, to lord your grad degree over people?

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!