“Yellowjackets” Casts Adult Lottie, Answering the Very Important Question: Who the F*ck Is Lottie Matthews?
Feature image of Courtney Eaton by Taylor Hill / Contributor via Getty Images; feature image of Simone Kessell by Don Arnold / Contributor via Getty Images
Who the fuck is Lottie Matthews? Well, now we know!
Following the very exciting news that Lauren Ambrose has been cast as Adult Van (which possibly, hopefully means Van made it out of the woods!) in season two of Yellowjackets, Showtime has now announced who will play Adult Lottie a.k.a. The Antler Queen a.k.a. the cannibal of my heart: Simone Kessell!
Recently, Kessell played Blackbeard’s mother on the horny pirate show, Our Flag Means Death. And playing the Antler Queen won’t be her first stint as a queen: She also played Breha Organa in the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. (Playing hot moms also seems to be a recurring theme here, I am…just…pointing it out.)
In an interview with Vulture following the first season of Yellowjackets, Courtney Eaton, who plays young Lottie, commented on the fantasy casting of her character’s adult version. She told Vulture:
I would love to see who people are casting as older Lottie. It’s hard. Everyone on set was talking about everyone’s different versions if we had adult counterparts. It’s hard! I’m part Asian, part Islander, and I don’t often see that many actresses who are a similar heritage to me.
Eaton’s father is of English descent, and her mother is of Chinese and Māori descent, and I completely understand — and relate to — her desire not to be whitewashed by casting theories and choices. (She didn’t explicitly use the word whitewashing, but that’s the impression I got from her hesitation about some of the suggested actors.) A lot of fans had put forth Shannyn Sossamon as a potential option for Adult Lottie, but I think Simone Kessell — whose father is European and whose mother is Māori — is an excellent casting decision, and I look forward to seeing how she fits in with the rest of the ensemble cast. Welcome to the cannibal fam!
In additional exciting news, Eaton has been upped to a series regular for season two alongside Liv Hewson, who was promoted last week. So we’ll presumably be getting a lot more scenes of teen Lottie and Van, who we last saw together performing some sort of ritual involving a bear’s heart, an altar, and ominous mutterings in French.
I will continue to hold my own ritual in an attempt to manifest a canonically queer Lottie in season two. You are welcome to join me (BYOBear heart).
I’d also like to take this opportunity to note my own stint as the Antler Queen at my birthday party earlier this summer. Here I am with a Teen Nat:
somehow, this was the third birthday in recent years where i was covered in fake blood
But truly nothing can beat my girlfriend’s spot-on Teen Van costume:
yellowjackets buzz buzz pic.twitter.com/UBHocGYRFC
— Kristen Arnett (@Kristen_Arnett) May 30, 2022
The Trailer for Tegan and Sara’s TV Show Is Here, Queer, Walking With Their ’90s Ghosts
The trailer for Tegan and Sara’s High School, the forthcoming TV series based on their memoir, has landed and it is full of 90s fashion, teen angst, twin drama, and oh so much more. High School, which stars queer twin TikTok sensations Railey and Seazynn Gilliland as Tegan and Sara, is executive produced, co-written, directed, and co-showrun by Clea DuVall. By which I mean: High School is also full of LESBIANS. Oh, and Cobie Smulders is their mom. Canada! (I hope they shoutout Robin Sparkles’ “Let’s Go to the Mall” at some point.)
As a closeted ’90s teen myself, I genuinely loved Tegan and Sara’s High School. So, if you’ll forgive me, I’ll just quote myself about it.
Tegan and Sara alternate writing chapters as they navigate their way back through conservative Calgary, Canada in the ’90s. The narrative builds and then brilliantly cuts out right before their careers take off, but their trajectory is anything but smooth. They teach themselves to make music when they find their mom’s boyfriend’s guitar in a closet under the stairs. They learn to write songs; they learn to harmonize; and, as they’re doing it, they’re pushing against and tearing at each other and slamming their bedroom doors so often the boyfriend takes them off their hinges… But their music is just the backdrop. They both struggle to accept their sexuality, to parse out their internalized homophobia, to come out. Despite their rising fame, they’re both consumed with loneliness. “In those first few months of high school, I learned to avert my eyes, to show them submission, to be a ghost,” Sara writes. She listens to Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness alone in her bedroom and cries.
So, you know, if you’re a ’90s kid, you’re probably going to relate to/cry about this one too! And maybe you’ll tie a flannel around your waist and clomp around in ripped jeans too. Just for posterity.
High School premieres Oct. 14 on Amazon Freevee.
“Yellowjackets” Casts Lauren Ambrose as Adult Van, Promotes Liv Hewson to Series Regular
Feature image of Liv Hewson by Jon Kopaloff / Stringer via Getty Images; feature image of Lauren Ambrose by Manny Carabel / Contributor
Buzz buzz buzz, my sweet little cannibal queers!!!! All has been rather quiet on the Yellowjackets front, and I would know, because I have Google alerts for exactly two things: my own name and the television show Yellowjackets. But today, we finally got some Yellowjackets season 2 cast news! Variety reports that Six Feet Under icon Lauren Ambrose will play the adult version of Van, which immediately makes me think: 1. Lauren Ambrose and Tawny Cypress in scenes together……. 👀 hello and 2. Does this mean Van did indeed survive the woods and make it back to the outside world?!
I’m thinking the answer has to be yes, especially since Ambrose is being brought on not just as a guest or recurring cast member but as a series regular for season two. So we’re going to be getting a decent amount of Adult Van stuff! On top of that, we’ll also be getting even more Teen Van! The ever-delightful Liv Hewson has been promoted to series regular for season two as well. And now that Taissa and Van’s relationship is no longer a secret from the team, I think we can expect a lot more gay makeouts in the woods.
(I suppose technically it’s possible that Van survived but did not make it out of the woods and is instead still there with an Adult Lottie, running a little cannibalism cult together, but I doubt it! And I hope not! Because I need an abundance of those aforementioned scenes between Ambrose and Cypress, which are bound to be devastating.)
In case you were wondering, in the time since Yellowjackets season one finished airing, I threw a Yellowjackets-themed costume party for my 30th birthday and also have steadily earned a reputation amongst multiple friend groups as “the girl who talks about cannibalism a lot,” a title I shall wear proudly. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with my famously long episodic recaps when the series returns for its hotly anticipated second season in which I hope somebody finally gets eaten. I’m kidding! (No I’m not.)
Hopefully, Adult Lottie casting news is next?!
Here’s What the Cast and Crew Are Saying About “A League of Their Own”
Feature image by Vivien Killilea / Stringer via Getty Images
I don’t know about y’all, but I’m super excited about the Prime Video reboot of A League of Their Own. It was one of my favorite childhood movies, and as much as I’m beholden to their original, I was curious about how the reboot would hold up.
I was lucky enough to attend an early screening of the first two episodes at this year’s Outfest. The crowd was a big one — it was absolutely one of the most coveted tickets of the festival, and for good reason. The show is really flipping good.
Because the show was at Outfest, I got to chat with some of the queer members of the cast and crew about the show and the impact they’re hoping it makes on audiences. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to speak with Maybelle Blair, the original AAGPBL player who came out at 95-years-old, but rest assured, she is as adorable and funny as you’d expect.
Maybelle Blair – John Salangsang / Shutterstock for Outfest
Kelly McCormack, “Jess”
“My trajectory coming up was very similar to a 90s, feel-good sports movie. So I think that kind of old-school, very positive, relatable sports narrative paired with a queer narrative and the narrative of empowering women to play sports is sort of an absolute bomb of good feelings.”
Desta Tedros Reff, Executive Producer
“The thing I thought that we had to get right was the conversations we had around it [Black stories and queer stories] because I think when you are telling specific queer stories or Black stories — we’re not a monolith, our stories are really individual. There are commonalities and universalities in all of our journeys and struggles, but they’re actually very individual as well.”
Molly Ephraim, “Maybelle”
“I don’t know if [others] know, but there are some lesbian women in women’s baseball and they have always existed. It was sort of lightly dusted on in the film. It’s not suddenly a zeitgeisty, flavor du jour of gender and sexuality that’s just happening today because of kids today — they’ve always been here.”
Will Graham, Molly Ephraim, Melanie Field and Chante Adams – John Salangsang / Shutterstock for Outfest
Will Graham, Co-Creator/Executive Producer
“When we were first talking to Maybelle Blair, we said “what was it like coming to this league and finding so many people like you?” and she said, “oh it was a party.” The idea of being able to tell this story through a lens of joy without taking away from the hard parts felt like something that could mean something to people.”
Chanté Adams, “Max”
“I feel incredibly honored that I was trusted with being able to tell their [the Black women originally excluded from the movie’s plot] story and also being put in this position where I could talk about Toni Stone, Mamie “Peanut” Johnson and Connie Morgan, the three women that played in the Negro Leagues because we need to know their names, and we’re gonna learn their stories.”
Melanie Field, “Jo”
“We got to see one version of the story in the original and it was lovely, but I also think it’s really cool to know all these other sort of things that were happening — this is an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing baseball, and I think we get that in our series.”
Abbi Jacobson, Co-Creator/Executive Producer, “Carson”
“I hope you leave the show feeling that if you don’t already have your people in your life, they are there. They’re out there and you just gotta find them.”
Rosie O’Donnell, Abbi Jacobson, Maybelle Blair, Will Graham, Desta Tedros Reff, Chante Adams, Kelly McCormack and Melanie Field – John Salangsang / Shutterstock for Outfest
After the screening, we got treated to a Q&A with the team, Maybelle Blair, and Rosie O’Donnell. Much of the conversation elaborated on things the actors said above, but we did get treated to some gems from Maybelle about going to her first gay bar, and how Rosie totally played a scene where her character Doris was in love with Madonna’s character Mae. She said that Penny Marshall kept asking her to play it “less gay” but she didn’t really change her tactics. It was hilarious.
A League Of Their Own premieres on August 12, 2022 on Prime Video.
2022 Primetime Emmy Nominations: All The Queer Humans and Characters Who Did Good Today
The 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced on this fine July morning and in addition to revealing that the Emmys are still, against all odds, hot for The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, there were quite a few LGBTQ+ people and characters nominated for awards, including for local favorites Yellowjackets and Hacks.
Best Comedy: the extremely queer HBO Max series “Hacks” was nominated alongside queer director/producer Jamie Babbit‘s “Only Murders in the Building.” Our highly beloved “Abbott Elementary” (eternal Friend of Autostraddle and noted queer human B Nichols is on the writing team) has a gay male character and also is objectively the best new comedy of the year! All the vamps in “What We Do in the Shadows” are pansexual. Other nominees are “Barry” (HBO), “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) and “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+).
Best Drama includes a nomination for our deep, unending passion “Yellowjackets” (Showtime), which features several queer women characters, the highly gay and highly controversial “Euphoria” (HBO Max) and perennial awards darling “Stranger Things” (Netflix), which has a lesbian character. Also nominated was my personal favorite drama of the year, “Severance” (Apple TV+), which has two gay male characters. The nomination of “Squid Game” (Netflix) is a pretty big deal as the first non-English language series to be nominated for an Emmy! Also up for grabs is “Succession” (HBO), which features in my personal opinion a subtextual romance between Greg and Tom. Other nominees are “Ozark” (Netflix) and “Better Call Saul” (AMC), two shows that land on the “best of” list every year but I remain uninterested in viewing.
Best Limited Series includes “Dopesick,” which featured Kaitlyn Dever as lesbian coal miner Betsy Mallum, alongside “The Dropout” (Hulu), “Inventing Anna” (Netflix), “Pam & Tommy” (Hulu) and “The White Lotus” (HBO), which has a few gay men at its luxurious resort.
Of the six nominees for Best Actress in a Drama, four are nominated for playing queer roles: Reese Witherspoon in “The Morning Show,” Zendaya in “Euphoria,” and both Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh for “Killing Eve.” The other nominees are Laura Linney for “Ozark” and Melanie Lynskey for “Yellowjackets.”
Supporting Actress in a Comedy honored queer writer/actor Hannah Einbinder for her role as bisexual writer Ava in “Hacks,” Alex Borstein for a character we all know is gay in “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” and queer actress/comic/writer Kate McKinnon for her final season of “Saturday Night Live.” Also nominated are Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph for “Abbott Elementary” and Sarah Niles and Juno Temple for “Ted Lasso.”
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie was completely overtaken by “The White Lotus,” which earned noms for Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell and Sydney Sweeney. Kaitlyn Dever was nominated for her lesbian part in Dopesick, as was Mare Winningham, who played her Mom.
Reality Competition Program honored my personal fave which is not gay enough for me, The Amazing Race, but more relevant here is nods for the very queer Lizzo’s Watch Out For the Big Girls, RuPaul’s Drag Race and Top Chef, as well as “Nailed It,” hosted by beloved queer comic / actor Nicole Byer. Also nominated is “The Voice.”
Directing for a Comedy Series includes two queers, both for “Only Murders in the Building”: Jamie Babbit and Cherien Dabis.
Directing for a Limited Series includes queer director Francesca Gregorini for “The Dropout.”
Outstanding Television Movie includes the queer-inclusive productions Ray Donovan: The Movie and Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas as well as Reno 911! The Hunt for Q-Anon starring bisexual actor Niecy Nash.
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series will see “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” which has a very queer team, duke it out against “Saturday Night Live” once again.
Notable snubs include Reservation Dogs, which did not earn a single nomination for some reason, and Station Eleven, which is one of the best television shows to ever exist in our lifetimes and was not nominated for enough awards! When Judgement Day arrives, I think that the nominating bodies are going to have a tough time explaining why Pam & Tommy was nominated and Station Eleven was not. It’s also upsetting that Carl Clemons-Hopkins was not nominated again for Hacks, as he was last year.
Here are all the nominees! I have put all queer humans nominated in italics, and indicated queer characters in parentheses.
Best Comedy
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
“Barry” (HBO)
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)
“Hacks” (HBO Max)
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)
“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)
“What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Best Drama
“Better Call Saul” (AMC)
“Euphoria” (HBO Max)
“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Severance” (Apple TV+)
“Squid Game” (Netflix)
“Stranger Things” (Netflix)
“Succession” (HBO)
“Yellowjackets” (Showtime)
Best Limited Series
“Dopesick” (Hulu)
“The Dropout” (Hulu)
“Inventing Anna” (Netflix)
“Pam & Tommy” (Hulu)
“The White Lotus” (HBO)
Outstanding Television Movie
Chip ‘n’Dale: Rescue Rangers
Ray Donovan: The Movie
Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon
The Survivor
Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas
Best Actress, Comedy
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”
Elle Fanning, “The Great”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Best Actor, Comedy
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”
Bill Hader, “Barry”
Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”
Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”
Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”
Best Actress, Drama
Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve” (queer character)
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets”
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve” (queer character)
Reese Witherspoon, “The Morning Show” (queer character)
Zendaya, “Euphoria” (queer character)
Best Actor, Drama
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Brian Cox, “Succession”
Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Adam Scott, “Severance”
Jeremy Strong, “Succession”
Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie
Toni Collette, “The Staircase”
Julia Garner, “Inventing Anna”
Lily James, “Pam & Tommy”
Sarah Paulson, “Impeachment”
Margaret Qualley, “Maid”
Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout”
Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie
Colin Firth, “The Staircase” (queer character)
Andrew Garfield, “Under the Banner of Heaven”
Oscar Isaac, “Scenes from a Marriage”
Michael Keaton, “Dopesick”
Himesh Patel, “Station Eleven”
Sebastian Stan, “Pam & Tommy”
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (queer character)
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks” (queer character)
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Sarah Niles, “Ted Lasso”
Juno Temple, “Ted Lasso”
Hannah Waddingham, “Ted Lasso”
Supporting Actor, Comedy
Anthony Carrigan, “Barry”
Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso”
Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary”
Toheeb Jimoh, “Ted Lasso”
Nick Mohammed, “Ted Lasso”
Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Henry Winkler, “Barry”
Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”
Supporting Actress, Drama
Patricia Arquette, “Severance”
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Jung Ho-yeon, “Squid Game”
Christina Ricci, “Yellowjackets”
Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul”
J. Smith-Cameron, “Succession”
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Sydney Sweeney, “Euphoria”
Supporting Actor, Drama
Nicholas Braun, “Succession”
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Kieran Culkin, “Succession”
Park Hae-soo, “Squid Game”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
John Turturro, “Severance” (queer character)
Christopher Walken, “Severance” (queer character)
Oh Yeong-su, “Squid Game”
Supporting Actress, Limited Series or a Movie
Connie Britton, “The White Lotus”
Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”
Alexandra Daddario, “The White Lotus”
Kaitlyn Dever, “Dopesick” (queer character)
Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus”
Sydney Sweeney, “The White Lotus”
Mare Winningham, “Dopesick”
Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie
Murray Bartlett, “The White Lotus” (queer character)
Jake Lacy, “The White Lotus”
Will Poulter, “Dopesick”
Seth Rogen, “Pam & Tommy”
Peter Sarsgaard, “Dopesick”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “Dopesick”
Steve Zahn, “The White Lotus”
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series
Jane Adams, “Hacks”
Harriet Sansom Harris, “Hacks”
Jane Lynch, “Only Murders In The Building”
Laurie Metcalf, “Hacks”
Kaitlin Olson, “Hacks”
Harriet Walter, “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series
Jerrod Carmichael, “Saturday Night Live”
Bill Hader, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
James Lance, “Ted Lasso”
Nathan Lane, Only Murders In The Building
Christopher McDonald, “Hacks”
Sam Richardson, “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series
Hope Davis, “Succession”
Marcia Gay Harden, “The Morning Show”
Martha Kelly, “Euphoria”
Sanaa Lathan, “Succession”
Harriet Walter, “Succession”
Lee You-mi, “Squid Game”
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series
Adrien Brody, “Succession”
James Cromwell, “Succession”
Colman Domingo, “Euphoria”
Arian Moayed, “Succession”
Tom Pelphrey, “Ozark”
Alexander Skarsgård, “Succession”
Variety Talk Series
“Daily Show With Trevor Noah”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
“Late Night With Seth Meyers”
“Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
Reality Competition Program
“The Amazing Race”
“Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls”
“Nailed It”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Top Chef”
“The Voice”
Writing for a Comedy Series
Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, “Hacks” (“The One, the Only”)
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” (“Pilot”)
Bill Hader and Alec Berg, “Barry” (“starting now”)
Alec Berg and Duffy Boudreau, “Barry” (“710N”)
Steve Martin and John Hoffman, “Only Murders in the Building” (“True Crime”)
Jane Becker, “Ted Lasso” (“No Weddings And A Funeral”)
Sarah Naftalis, “What We Do In The Shadows” (“The Casino”)
Stefani Robinson, “What We Do In The Shadows” (“The Wellness Center”)
Writing for a Drama Series
Jesse Armstrong, “Succession” (“All the Bells Say”)
Dan Erickson, “Severance” (“The We We Are”)
Hwang Dong-hyuk, “Squid Game” (“One Lucky Day”)
Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, “Yellowjackets” (“Pilot”)
Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, “Yellowjackets” (“F Sharp”)
Chris Mundy, “Ozark” (“A Hard Way to Go”)
Thomas Schnauz, “Better Call Saul” (“Plan and Execution”)
Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Drama Special
Elizabeth Meriwether, “The Dropout” (“I’m In A Hurry”)
Sarah Burgess, “Impeachment: American Crime Story” (“Man Handled”)
Molly Smith Metzler, “Maid” (“Snaps”
Patrick Somerville, “Station Eleven” (“Unbroken Circle”)
Danny Strong, “Dopesick” (“The People vs. Purdue Pharma”)
Mike White, “The White Lotus”
Directing for a Comedy Series
Lucia Aniello, “Hacks” (“There Will Be Blood”)
Jamie Babbit, “Only Murders in the Building” (“True Crime”)
Cherien Dabis, “Only Murders in the Building” (“The Boy From 6B”)
Mary Lou Belli, “The Ms. Pat Show” (“Baby Daddy Groundhog Day”)
MJ Delaney, “Ted Lasso” (“No Weddings and a Funeral”)
Bill Hader, “Barry” (“710N”)
Hiro Murai, “Atlanta” (“New Jazz”)
Directing for a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, “Ozark” (“A Hard Way to Go”)
Hwang Dong-hyuk, “Squid Game” (“Red Light, Green Light”)
Karyn Kusama, “Yellowjackets” (“Pilot”)
Mark Mylod, “Succession” (“All the Bells Say”)
Cathy Yan, “Succession” (“The Disruption”)
Lorene Scafaria, “Succession” (“Too Much Birthday”)
Ben Stiller, “Severance” (“The We We Are”)
Directing for a Limited Series
Hiro Murai, “Station Eleven”
Michael Showalter, “The Dropout”
Francesca Gregorini, “The Dropout”
Danny Strong, “Dopesick”
John Wells, “Maid”
Mike White, “The White Lotus”
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Saturday Night Live
The League Of Their Own Reboot Trailer Is The Most Arousing Thing We’ve Ever Seen
This morning a teaser trailer dropped for Prime Video’s A League of Their Own reboot series, and I let out a scream that broke at least three sound barriers.
Oh did you forget that Prime Video was rebooting the 90s gay cult classic to finally officially make it gay?? Starring Abbi Jacobson, D’Arcy Carden, Chanté Adams, and Roberta Colindrez — with a pilot directed by But I’m a Cheerleader icon Jamie Babbit?? With a promise to “take a deeper look at race and sexuality”?
Well, I DID NOT FORGET!!! Because A League of Their Own is singularly the most important movie of my gay childhood and nothing will matter or exist until August 12th, when this television show gets on my screen.
So how are we coping at Autostraddle? WE ARE NOT WELL!!!
Shelli: That’s a teaser trailer alright.
It’s the most arousing thing I’ve ever seen.
Drew: I. Am. So. Excited.
Kayla: Omgggg
Carmen: I’m on the phone with my insurance company so I haven’t watched this yet and I am dyyyyyying.
[30 minutes later]
Carmen: UPDATE I FINALLY GOT TO WATCH THE TEASER
AHHHHHHHAHDHFAHFAHHHH
WELL
OMG
WELL
I MEAN
WELL
I
I CANNOT
I’M MAYBE REALLY DYING
Kayla: I have watched it 7 times ajkdjsakldj
Carmen: I almost sent y’all an audio recording of me screaming tbh.
I am unhinged at this point.
Riese: omg sliding into the base making eyes with the catcher
Carmen: Yes.
Riese:
Newsies could never.
Welding, baseball, vintage jumpsuits, bicycles.
Carmen: WAIT BUT WHEN SHE THROWS THAT BALL AT THE END
Riese: Oh I thought that part was for me personally, I didn’t know that was in everybody’s trailer.
If you’re going to spend the rest of your afternoon spamming the A League of Their Own trailer in your group chats — first of all, same. But second of all! You can also: read about the Top Ten ’90s Movies Beloved by Girls Who Turned Out Gay (including A League of Their Own), take a quiz to see Which 90s Movie Made You Gay? (including A League of Their Own), and also read a short fun story about the time when I was six years old and forced my mother to rent A League of Their Own every single weekend — no, I am not exaggerating — for five months straight. Perfectly normal heterosexual behavior.
In conclusion, I have yet to watch this trailer without shaking the table. Please respect my privacy at this time.
Kristen Stewart Is Seeking Gay Ghost Hunters and I’m Thrilled To Announce My New Career as a Gay Ghost Hunter
Stylist CJ Romero sent shockwaves through the aspiring gay ghost hunter community today when he posted a video of our very own gay icon Kristen Stewart announcing a formal casting call for her hotly anticipated paranormal queer reality TV show. It appears as though Kristen Stewart teaming up with the very esteemed Scout Productions (of Queer Eye and Legendary fame) and aforementioned CJ Romero to produce the currently untitled Gay Ghost Show.
“Hello, so I am scarily excited to announce that I’m teaming up with Scout, the producers of Queer Eye, Legendary, The Hype, on the most gayest most funnest most titillating queer ghost hunting show ever,” Kristen says in the video, adding an exciting physical gesture while she says the word “titillating.” She continues: “Casting begins! We need to find the most incredible LGBTQ+ ghost hunters, paranormal specialists, mediums, psychics, investigators who will lead the pack on this super gay ghost hunting adventure.”
She invites all those interested to apply at Ghost.CastingCrane.com. The graphic declares “a MAJOR STREAMER is now seeking the queerest and most fabulous experts in the paranormal space for a brand new outrageous ghost hunting extravaganza!”
At the casting website for Kristen Stewart’s Gay Ghost Show, you are invited to share your social media handles, some personal history, and indicate your area of expertise: Ghost Hunting, Historian, Paranormal Investigation, Medium, Psychic, Paranormal Tour Guide, Supernatural Psychometry and the ever-elusive “Other (Please explain below).”
Other questions include “What is the SCARIEST place you have ever investigated” and “What would you offer to a team of paranormal experts?” So sharpen your pencils, LGBTQIA+ paranormal community, your big chance to summon the ghost of Mercedes De Acosta or your childhood dog is here!!!!!!
Also.Also.Also: First Kill’s Sapphic Teen Vampires Will Take a Bite Out of Summer (Sorry, I Had To)
I know it’s been a few weeks since we had a good old fashioned news link round up, but….
Queer as in F*ck You
We don’t always put trailer drops in this column, but look at this?? “First Kill” looks like Buffy had a baby with the good seasons of Pretty Little Liars, and that’s extremely my shit!
How the Reversal of Roe v. Wade Could Impact the Transgender Community (also, not to be biased, but this pairs very well with the excellent and thoughtful explainer that KaeLyn did for us last week, The Fall of Roe Is For All Of Us)
“My barometer for acceptance begins and ends with Black queer femmes because the care, time, and love that goes into our physical appearance is a political act.” How Black Queer Women Are Finding Agency in a Full Set
Demolition of Long-Abandoned Medical Center Could Leave Queer Beachgoers Exposed. “Those who flock to the sands of Bay 1 on Riis beach — including a historically Black and brown community of trans and queer sunbathers — fear tearing down a long-abandoned medical center that acted as a shield will ruin their ‘utopia.'”
Meg wants to make sure you know about this: “Angela Chen (author of Ace) is sponsoring five creative writing scholarships for ace/aro writers”: Aspec Creative Writing Scholarship
WELL THIS IS CUTE! “Pauline and Trixie are in their 80s. Despite enjoying a long-term relationship in their 20s, they parted 35 years ago, because they felt it was impossible for them to live openly as a lesbian couple. Having watched Gentleman Jack, Pauline was spurred into action to track Trixie down.” BBC Factual announces new BBC One documentary, Gentleman Jack Changed My Life
Halsey Opened Up About New POTS and EDS Diagnoses
Saw This, Thought of You
Canada and Mexico Prepare to Accept Americans Seeking Abortions (related: What Latin American Feminists Can Teach American Women About the Abortion Fight)
Researchers Pinpoint Reason Infants Die From SIDS
Leader of Pussy Riot Band Escapes Russia, With Help From Friends
What Should I Be Doing About My Student Loans Right Now? Sometimes I think about when federal loan repayments start back again, and hahahahhaaahahaaa
Political Snacks
The Horrifying Implications of Alito’s Most Alarming Footnote. “A ‘domestic supply of infants’ is exactly what the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment intended to abolish.” This is something that, on top of all the other abject horrors of the last week, I have thought about a lot.
Batwoman Cancelled After Three Seasons, a Devastating Blow to Anyone Cheering for a Black Lesbian Superhero
This is the one post I never wanted to write. After three seasons and 51 episodes, the CW has cancelled Batwoman. Here’s the announcement from Batwoman show runner Caroline Dries:
https://twitter.com/carolinedries/status/1520142094131613697
There will be a lot of speculation in the days to come, just as there has been over the last months while fans anxiously awaited news for a renewal. The CW is in the middle of a drawn out sale of its network, which certainly has complicated the renewal process for many of its shows. Batwoman wasn’t the network’s highest rated (though it’s worth noting that Batwoman had higher ratings than two shows that were already granted early renewal, Nancy Drew and Riverdale) — but in a streaming era it’s always hard to gauge how much network ratings factor, writers’ rooms and stars often encourage fans that after they’re done watching live to stream the next day on the CW app. But honestly, all the armchair post-game analyzing won’t matter much anyway.
What matters is that Batwoman was a shining beacon of what’s possible in Black queer storytelling on television. The first Black lesbian superhero character to lead her own show. The first love story between two Black women to lead its own show. Period. And it’s gone. And there are no words for that kind of hurt.
Last night on her Instagram Live, lead actress Javicia Leslie (Ryan Wilder/Batwoman) said of the show’s potential renewal that “whatever’s meant to be will be, in the most beautiful way. We’ve done it already though — that’s the great part. We’ve made this history. Ryan will always exist. Sophie and Ryan will always exist. Their love will always exist.”
That, of course, is true. Once a ceiling has been cracked wide open to let in the sky, it can’t be all the way closed back off to darkness. Once lungs have been filled with fresh air, they can’t go back to surviving off dust alone. And Black queer fans looking to see how we love and fight and survive, and yes become our own heroes — we’ve survived on dust for far too long. Ryan Wilder was sunshine. Gotham might be night, but she was like walking into daylight.
Javicia Leslie, as a Black queer actress working in this industry, knew that more than most. When Batwoman was recast at the start of Season Two, following the departure of Ruby Rose in Season One, many white fans were less than receptive. No. I’m the Black Editor-in-Chief of a queer website on the day that the first Black lesbian superhero show (and one of the very few Black-led lesbian shows in television history) was cancelled so I should just say it — Javicia Leslie faced sizable racist backlash. It’s been documented. And no actor should have to put up with that (other Black stars of CW shows, many of whom have built community with each other, have also discussed the difficulty of fan interactions online while fulfilling work obligations). So that’s the first thing.
But with time, those fans did fade away. With time, Batwoman became a safe haven for Black queer nerds looking for a home in a comic book pop culture terrain that is often centered around the needs and wants of white people. “Wildmoore Wednesdays” and Batwoman’ s third season created a fandom the likes of which that we’ve never seen in the media landscape before now, one that was normalized around Black queerness.
In December, before Ryan Wilder and Sophie Moore were officially put together on screen, but well into their courtship, Leslie tweeted “As a kid, it was so rare to see romance between two black women on screen… to see a reflection of myself, and other women I know.”
Rare doesn’t begin to describe it. And I’ll be honest — a lot of what I have right now is anger. Because Ryan was the first, and first’s are never easy. The decision was made to cast a Black Batwoman in the summer of 2020, in the middle of uprisings against state sanctioned anti-Black violence in this country. Javicia Leslie was given the job to helm a brand new character, in an established show and a beloved comic book property, in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic. And in so many ways, she was supported. There were fans who uplifted and supported Javicia, other Black actresses on the network stood together in solidarity, the writers’ room created an entire world for Ryan that was her own, fully Black and fully herself, going as far as casting the legend (there’s no other description) Robin Givens as Ryan’s mother in the its third season. We took to calling Ryan “our Batwoman” — and we all know who our is. Replacing Kate Kane’s straight haired red wig for Ryan’s curly Afro was, in and of itself, iconic.
Still. It took HBO Max, the Warner Brothers streaming network, two years to update the cast of Batwoman on its service — as late as February of this year, it still listed Ruby Rose as top billing. Ryan Wilder was never quite incorporated into the comics with the same ease as other CW-first superheroes. If you google Batwoman right now (as I did before finishing this article) Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane is still roughly half the images, even though she has not appeared in the role since the first season. It’s hard to choke down those small signals of what more could have been done to set Batwoman up for success in the wake of the show’s cancellation — to put your money where your mouth is, if you say you want to support Black talent and storytelling. It’s hard to know that being a Black queer fan is a little like walking with a pebble you can’t shake from your shoe. All the small ways the media landscape reminds you that you’re not the intended audience, even in your own home (and make no mistake, Batwoman was our home). There’s still so much further to go.
Anger, I suppose, is ultimately a stage of grief. It’s one that I hope to push past. So if I could take a moment, I’d like to tell you what Ryan Wilder and Sophie Moore meant to me — beyond their historic record breaking relationship, beyond the minutia of how the television sausage gets made, just me — a Black queer woman who watches tv in her sports bra after a long day of work. Because I hope that this is also their legacy. That this is what we remember.
When I was in third grade in the 90s, my cousin was obsessed with X-Men. Because he was my older cousin, and we spent every day after school together, I became obsessed with whatever he was obsessed with. Which meant I also fell in love with the X-Men, more specifically (because… I am me) I fell in love with Storm. The X-Men were my first comic books, my first trading cards, we watched the cartoon every day and could quote it to each other. When I asked for a Storm action figure that Christmas, my mother looked for one everywhere. It was impossible to find her. It felt like she didn’t exist.
When I was in my twenties and first coming out of the closet in the late aughts and early ‘10s, being a television obsessed nerd, I started devouring queer stories. Every Black queer character I saw, no matter how thinly drawn or poorly written, I etched into my skin like a memory. And not a one of them ever had a love interest that looked like me. The L Word (which, if you’re reading Autostraddle, you already know, but for everyone else who stumbled here — is a foundational text in lesbian television) had only two Black queer characters in its original six-season run to begin with, and it took them over a decade later, during the show’s reboot, to finally show a Black relationship.
I always have to take the long road when spelling things like this out, because otherwise when I say I was in my mid-30s before I could regularly and dependably see two Black women in love together on my television screen, you will think I’m exaggerating or being dramatic. When I tell you that I cried when Ryan talked about the exhaustion of being a Black woman expected to save the world, only to be comforted with a kiss by a Black woman who loved her, really loved her, who had fought her own family’s homophobia to be save herself and knew exactly what that exhaustion means (I did not have enough space to give all due credit to Meagan Tandy’s Sophie Moore in this piece, but she deserves), you will think that I’m doing the most. And you know what? Maybe I am doing the most. Maybe this entire hazy reflection of the trials and successes of one superhero show and its Black woman star is messy and all over the place. Maybe I am taking up too much space in my grief.
But maybe it’s because I wasn’t given permission to take up space begin with.
I don’t often get the chance to write about Batwoman and the indelible way its left me, how it’s worked its way into the marrow of my bones. Usually we leave that to our regular Blerd-in-Charge and Batwoman recapper Nic, who had this to say to fans of the show after learning about its cancellation:
“If you’ve read any of my recaps, then you’ll know I’m not often at a loss for words, but this one is hard, fam. My heart aches for the untold stories; for the unapologetic and oh so Black Wildmoore love we won’t get to see grow; for the change Ryan could have continued to bring to Gotham; for Mary and Luke and Alice’s journeys. In season two, Batwoman became a new show. It became a show for ‘us.’ So while I understand the complexities of television as a business, it’s hard not to take it personally when they take away another diverse show. The thing about us though, we’re not going away. We’ll follow the cast and cheer on whatever they do next, but one thing remains true: Javicia Leslie and Ryan Wilder will forever be our Batwoman. “
Amen, and peace be to Gotham.
Alice Wu Directed an Oreo Commercial and You’ll Cry Buckets of Art Film Gay Tears
Today the one and only Alice Wu, legend of her own name, director and writer of a lesbian classic that needs no introduction Saving Face, director and writer of modern lesbian classic in the making Half of It, dropped this unassuming tweet:
Took a Sunday this past March to shoot a little thing for @oreo. Hope you like it… #LGBTQIA #lifelongally @PFLAG https://t.co/T9vm0bQWaI
— Alice Wu 伍思薇 (@thatalicewu) April 4, 2022
I am no stranger to the Gay Oreo Commercials That Make You Sob Through Your T-Shirt as a genre, if you will. The Oreo Gay Cinematic Universe, one might say. But to have one directed by an icon of our own community? Get the box of tissues and pull up!
I don’t want to spoil what comes next, but if you’re hoping to see all of what makes Alice Wu’s work so beloved: subtle, almost muted elegance behind the camera (and yes I recognize I’m talking about an Oreo commercial), tenderness, complex family dynamics, specificity to Chinese American and Asian diasporic communities that’s full of oh so much queer heart — even in 2 minutes and 30 seconds about “everyone’s favorite cookie” you will surely not be disappointed.
On Twitter, Wu described the project as “a true labor of love and a great team of people who made it” which — again, I know I know I’m talking about an Oreo commercial — but absolutely comes through. It’s almost stunning how much story and heart can come through in such a short period of time, and sure maybe I’ve always rolled my eyes (or desperately wanted, you don’t know my secret life) at the rainbow colored Oreo’s every June, but using corporate Pride to fund indie queer short films about coming out is kind of thing I’m willing to get behind.
It’s end of the day on a Monday, there’s a whole long week ahead. Alice Wu used an Oreo commercial to make you an unexpected queer film. Enjoy.
Netflix’s New Dating Show “The Ultimatum” Will Have a Majority Queer Women Season
If you’re one of the infinite queer fans of Netflix reality shows, even inexplicably the more often than not very straight Love Is Blind (which we’ve long ago reclaimed as lesbian cultureTM) then I have BIG NEWS for you — at the end of yesterday’s Love Is Blind reunion special, Netflix announced an entire new line up of romance reality shows. One of which will be The Ultimatum, brought to you by the same team as Love Is Blind, and will have a queer-centric season featuring majority queer women.
What? Yes! But here’s where things get complicated (and whew do I love a realty TV show with a twist): Best I can tell, no one knows exactly when this mythical queer season is going to air??
The UK-based Independent promises that the queer season of The Ultimatum will air starting in just a few weeks, on April 6th. But Variety says that the queer season is actually not until Season Two, and the season beginning in just a few weeks will be traditional (which I imagine means: “straight”).
The confusion seems to stem from the way that The Ultimatum was announced. In a boy band music video parody of past contestants from Netflix dating shows (and no, none of those words made sense to me either), a variety of new shows are discussed all at once. After a line about The Ultimatum’s two confirmed upcoming seasons, the following line is sung: “One of which is queer with mostly women”.
But which season, buddy?!? WHICH ONE?!?!?
I’ve been advised by people who love me not to watch the parody video in question, but you sure can see it here:
Love may be blind, but this Netflix Reality boy band is too hot to handle.
Watch N-2-LUV’s music video and find out about the new and returning dating shows coming soon. pic.twitter.com/xkowoY9XNn
— Netflix (@netflix) March 24, 2022
Now onto The Ultimatum, what’s it about exactly? I already told you that it’s by the same great minds that brought you Love Is Blind, and it will also still be hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey. But in this version, we’ll follow six couples on the verge of marriage. While one partner is ready to take the big leap, the other isn’t sure, and that’s how an ultimatum is issued. Get it? At the end of the eight week “social experiment”, the couple must choose to fully commit to the whole marriage thing or move on into blissful singledom because Love is a Lie.
Ok so I can’t promise you which season of The Ultimatum will be the dyke drama season. But I promise you that there WILL BE dykes drama-ing at some point in your near-ish future.
Until then, here’s your trailer for the season the drops in April. Doesn’t look very gay to me, but fingers crossed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0mPYhPFAu0
This Rose Rollins Lesbian Basketball Show Also Features Ezra Fitz Getting Punched in the Face
A few minutes ago, Autostraddle Editor in Chief Carmen Phillips sounded the alarm for Natalie and I in our TV Team Slack, and while I was excited because Carmen only sends out the Bat(woman) signal for Very Important Queer News, nothing could have prepared me for what was waiting. You will remember, of course, that Rose “Tasha Williams” Rollins signed on for a new basketball series on BET last year, one that includes “Jordan, a 19-year-old feisty, fast and competitive Black lesbian” and an Indigenous character and an intersex character. Rollins plays the head coach of that team, J.C. Abernathy, “who finds herself in the middle of a career-shattering sexual abuse scandal.”
Well, the trailer just dropped, which is why Carmen sounded the alarm, and it not only features Rose Rollins walking around in suits and giving pep talks and dancing in tank tops, it also shows us our queers. Plus: Famke “Eve Rothlo” Jansen, whomst I still have not forgiven for breaking Annalise Keating’s heart, but I’m working on it. Also: Pretty Little Liars‘ Ezra Fitz getting PUNCHED IN THE FACE. Dreams really do come true!
Natalie went on a deep dive investigation and turned up the teaser trailer, which we somehow missed when it came out a few weeks ago, but which has proof of the lesbians in it! Jordan is in bed with another girl and they’re taking a selfie, which is very cute, but on a show about SCANDALS that also features EZRA FITZ, you really gotta be careful what kind of pics you take!!! JORDAN!
I don’t know about you, but I had forgotten just how, um, UNF! Rose Rollins’ voice is. She also has not aged???
The first episode lands on Spectrum on April 4th and will follow on BET in “nine months” apparently. Three new episodes drop each week for four weeks until the finale on April 25. So, we’ll have a few days to recover from the Women’s Final Four — 🐺, 🧡 — and then we’ll be all over this thing.
The “Gentleman Jack” Season 2 Trailer Is Lesbian Fire
About six minutes ago, did you hear a piercing scream from New York City? That was me! That’s just the noise I make when the trailer for Gentleman Jack season two arrives! Which it has done, and it is absolute fire! You will remember, of course, that when we last left Anne Lister and Ann Walker, they’d had themselves a little private gay marriage, after a Pride and Prejudice-worthy reunion atop a cliff in Halifax, after a full season of dancing around their feelings for each other. Mostly Ann was doing the dancing, while Anne was marching around the world in her top hat making deals and seducing ladies and polishing her thermometer. (IT’S NOT ILLEGAL!)
And now here we are:
https://youtu.be/WgKAKlAykmc
And not a pig eating a man or a straight murder-mystery in sight!
Here’s the official synopsis:
In the newest season, it’s Yorkshire, 1834. All eyes are on Anne Lister and Ann Walker as they set up home together at Shibden Hall as wife and wife, determined to combine their estates and become a power couple. Anne Lister’s entrepreneurial spirit frightens the locals as much as her unconventional love life and, with Halifax on the brink of revolution, her refusal to keep a low profile becomes provocative and dangerous.
Also please enjoy this photo of suited Suranne Jones and Sophie Rundle from this week’s premiere. SUIT BABES!
Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take the dyke-iest walk around the block that my neighborhood has ever seen to honor Mrs. Lister.
Kate McKinnon Says GAY GAY GAY in Response to Homophobic Florida Bill
Saturday Night Live didn’t have an easy task of, you know, being itself this weekend, what with the entire world engulfed in flames. Which makes it kind of like kids in Florida who are facing down HB 1557, a Republican bill that’s come to be known as “Don’t Say Gay,” and which has already passed in the Florida House of Representatives. The legislation would prohibit K-3 teachers from talking about gender or sexuality in any capacity, or any other teachers from talking about LGBTQ people or issues “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
It’s homophobic trash and so Kate McKinnon stopped by the Weekend Update desk with her take on it last night.
Kate McKinnon stops by the Update desk to discuss Florida's Don't Say Gay Bill pic.twitter.com/NjLd7HXXXq
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 6, 2022
And now GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY will be stuck in my head all week.
Just kidding it’s always stuck inside my head every day!
Gillian Anderson and Lily Rabe are Queer Loves Eleanor and Hick in Showtime’s “The First Lady”
Okay I’m going to be real with you: When Showtime first dropped the trailer for its ten-episode mini-series, The First Lady, I didn’t pick up on the queerness because I was so focused on Viola Davis as Michelle Obama kick-boxing (because my own personal queerness involves a substantial amount of swooning over Viola Davis). But then! At the Television Critics Association winter press tour, executive producer Cathy Schulman told reporters “it was time to do it” re: portraying the well-known love affair between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena “Hick” Hickok on-screen. So I went back and rewatched the trailer, and lo! That’s Lily Rabe playing Hick opposite Gillian Anderson’s Eleanor Roosevelt. See for yourself!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j36nGWGC5FI
If you’re unfamiliar with Eleanor and Hick’s love story, you’ve really gotta check out Susan Quinn’s Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady. But allow me to whet your appetite a little bit: When superstar Associated Press reporter Lorena Hickok met Eleanor at the Democratic convention in 1932, she wired her boss immediately and said “This dame has enormous dignity, she’s a person!” Hick lobbied for the White House beat, and within six months, she was sleeping in Eleanor Roosevelt’s hotel rooms and road-tripping with her across the northeast and into Canada — without chaperones. Eleanor convinced the Secret Service that if anyone snatched them, there’d be nowhere to stash them. Eleanor was six feet tall and Hick refused to be wafer thin. (“I like to eat!” she told Eleanor at one of their first meetings.) Their correspondence and their personal writings about each other are overtly gay, but, like so many queers before them, Eleanor’s relationship with Hick was written off by historians as some kind of gal pal school girl crush. It was not; it was a full-blown love affair.
After their return home from their early FDR presidency road trip, Eleanor arranged for Hick to travel the country to report on the Great Depression. For the next 12 years, she almost lived at the White House. She even had her laundry sent there! Eleanor’s personal tailor altered all of Hick’s clothes! They even spent every Christmas together, except the one when Winston Churchill arrived as a surprise. Hick’s reporting helped President Roosevelt and his advisers create the New Deal, and she was often the second person to hear the president’s now-famous speeches. First he sent them to Eleanor, and then she read them out loud to Hick.
Not much is known about how FDR felt about his wife and Hick, but The First Lady trailer hints that he was fine with it because of his other love interests.
No matter how good or bad The First Lady is — and it looks awesome — I take comfort in knowing it will at least wash the Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher residue from my eyeballs and ears!
The First Lady premieres on Showtime on April 17th.
Lesbian and Non-Binary TV Characters Are All The Rage, Relatively
After years of roaming the earth listlessly in search of a televised field in which to triumph, lesbians have achieved a remarkable pinnacle in the field of media representation: for the first time in GLAAD’s storied history of reporting on this topic in their annual Where We Are on TV Report, lesbians represent the majority of LGBTQ characters on broadcast television, outnumbering the previous consistent winner of “Gay Men.” For the first time since the 06-07 season, lesbians also represent the majority of characters on cable. However, as in ’06-07, GLAAD attributes this to the prevalence of lesbian characters on a show from ye olde The L Word franchise.
Just a Few Shows Are Doing All The Work: The L Word‘s impact isn’t unusual. handful of shows comprising the majority of any given year’s gains or losses is a pretty typical feature of a Where We Are on TV Report, and there’d be value in looking at the overall percentage of shows with LGBTQ characters, period. The 2010 report noted massive losses for queer female representation, but anybody who hadn’t been watching The L Word wouldn’t have noticed a seismic shift. In the cable analysis section, GLAAD notes that the majority of Freeform’s LGBTQ characters appear on Good Trouble and Single Drunk Female and that FX’s are concentrated on Better Things and What We Do in the Shadows. Furthermore….
Trans Representation Getting Better: There is an increase in the number of trans characters, as well as a “welcome increase in trans characters who appear in a comedy series.” After decades of being used as the butt of the joke, it’s encouraging to see more trans characters making jokes, and sometimes even being lead characters, as in Euphoria, Saved by the Bell and Sort Of.
In recent years, growth in trans representation was carried by Transparent and/or Pose, usually alone, and it’s actually incredibly promising that despite Pose‘s cancellation, the number of transgender characters on cable has only decreased slightly. And that’s actually only if you look at the numbers in a very specific way, which brings us to….
More Non-Binary Characters Than Ever: GLAAD reports 42 transgender characters, including eight non-binary characters, on television overall, but they then note the existence of 17 “additional characters who are non-binary and not transgender.” Detailed later in the report, they explain “If the character is non-binary, but the word transgender is never mentioned, the character explicitly says they are not transgender, or creators confirm the character is not transgender – the character will be counted as non-binary but not counted as transgender.” According to GLAAD, characters falling under this category of “non-binary but not transgender” include characters on Grey’s Anatomy, Feel Good, And Just Like That and The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Hands-down the most difficult part of analyzing LGBTQ+ data of any kind is deciding how to define any of the terms in that acronym — terms that are always evolving and mean different things to different people. Based on GLAAD’s own definition of transgender as “a person’s gender not matching what they were assigned at birth,” it does seem that if we are counting “women who date women” as lesbians regardless of them explicitly saying they are lesbians, we should count “people who don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth” as transgender regardless of if they say the word? Relying on characters with notoriously limited screen time and cis writers/creators to label their characters feels… tricky.
But again, this isn’t easy stuff to sort through!! In the Autostraddle community lexicon, we do include non-binary people in the definition of “trans,” so I will be conflating GLAAD’s numbers when I say things like this: there were 25 non-binary characters this year and that’s an impressive leap! As someone who has been maintaining an orderly and updated database of TV characters who are LGTBQ women and/or trans since 2017, this tracks — it’s been a very noticeable rise. Streaming networks seem to be performing best in this regard with14 trans women, 17 non-binary characters and six trans men.
Trans Characters Played by Trans Actors: Of the 42 characters it counted, GLAAD noted 41 were played by trans actors. (This is another tricky thing to count, especially when it comes to young actors!)
Other notable tidbits:
- GLAAD “challenged” platforms to have at least 50% of its LGBTQ+ characters be characters of color, and network television and cable continue to meet that goal, but overall racial diversity of LGBTQ characters on broadcast and streaming increased, while cable saw a decrease.
- Only TWO (2) ASEXUAL CHARACTERS emerged from the ether this year, and one was on the now-cancelled program genera+ion. GLAAD has promised a second asexual character on a streaming series whose details “are under embargo at time of publication.” That’s exciting!
- Bisexual+ characters comprise 29% of all LGBTQ characters on broadcast, cable and streaming, an increase of one percent from last year. Bisexual men remain elusive, with 50 bi+ men out there. There are also nine bi+ non-binary characters, although I’m not sure what that means.
In conclusion, it’s a great thing that our exact demographic continues to see increases in representation! We do hope that as viewing options multiply, that more networks see the value in investing their marketing dollars in various ecosystems long taken for granted, such as websites that enable them to reach the exact audience they require to support the LGBTQ-inclusive content they’re creating. It’s one thing to create the shows, but one must also invest in their success, and it’s sad to see so many of the best shows for queer representation, like genera+ion and Gentefied, get cancelled before their advertising departments have exhausted even their most obvious option. Just saying!
L Word Generation Q Renewed For Season 3 At Showtime, Blessed Be The Fruit on Bette’s Counter!
After months of nervous anticipation during which I personally experienced deep anxiety regarding the possibility that there might not be an L Word Generation Q Season 3, at last word has come: Showtime has renewed The L Word Generation Q for Season 3! FINALLY!!!!
We have been praying at the stars, pleading for answers: will it ever be April 9th (two times) again? Will Shane take a short road trip to Las Vegas to make love to Tess under the sparkling beacon of the majestic bargain Luxor hotel? Will Finley emerge triumphant from fancy rehab into the welcoming arms of the LGBTQ+ center recreational soccer league? Will Dani have out-loud phonesex in jail or actual sex with Gigi in a bed? Will Bette invite Tina into her home for a cup of water and a plastic apple? What is the fate of my OTP #Sinley? Will I personally be hired to join the writers room? WILL THE L WORD GENERATION Q GET A SEASON THREE???!
At last we have our answer to one of those questions:
THE L WORD GENERATION Q IS RENEWED FOR SEASON 3
WE’RE SO EXCITED
According to Variety, Season 3 will have ten episodes and is slated to air later in 2022.
Kate McKinnon Is at Her Kate McKinnon-est in the “Joe vs. Carole” Trailer
I have never seen Tiger King, nor do I ever plan to see Tiger King, because I cannot stand to see animals in pain. I guess that means I have something in common with Carole Baskin because based on the one thing I know about her from watching Kate McKinnon in this new Joe vs. Carole trailer, she too is a crazy cat lady? Although she has Florida cat lady vibes which are completely different from Georgia cat lady vibes, which is what I have. Anyway, the trailer for Peacock’s new limited drama series dropped just now and it is both a hoot and a spectacle and that’s how you know it’s a Kate McKinnon project!
This makes the fictional Carole Baskin the third gayest fictional Carol after Carol Aird and Carol Danvers.
Here’s the official description of the series: “Based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic: Tiger King, hosted and reported by Robert Moor, the limited series will center on Carole Baskin, a big cat enthusiast, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe ‘Exotic’ Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit. She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy. The results prove dangerous.”
Also, Joe Exotic was recently sentenced to 21 years in prison, so I guess we know who wins this one?
All episodes of Joe vs. Carole will premiere on Peacock on Thursday, March 3.
“Killing Eve” Season 4 Trailer Shows Villanelle Hungering For Eve’s Touch, Which Like LOL Same
The final season of Killing Eve is around the tender corner and we are here, watching this new Killing Eve trailer on the very edges of our seats, wondering if Villanelle and Eve are ever going to fingerbang!!!! This trailer features: Villanelle kissing a girl who is not Eve, Eve kissing a man who is not Villanelle, lots of mention of the “Twelve” thing they’re still trying to make happen, some violence, some therapy, some suggestive eye contact, and lots of suspense and excitement.
In the grand tradition of my first-ever post about Killing Eve, we get a pitch-perfect lesbian relationship moment right in the middle of this trailer because I mean, who has not been right here (both sides):
Relateable!
As we knew and as this new Season Four Killing Eve trailer suggests, we’ll be returning to our sofas on February 27th for the first episode on BBC America and AMC Plus.
Kristen Stewart Hitting Target Demographic Dead-On With Gay Ghost-Hunting Reality Show
In a recent profile in The New Yorker, our very own Kristen Stewart revealed that in addition to her work adapting bisexual author Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir “The Chronology of Water” for the cinema, she’s also writing a TV show with her fiancee Dylan Meyer and, in a move that will undoubtedly delight the 25% of LGBTQ+ people who have seen a ghost, developing a gay ghost-hunting reality show with a friend. Kristen Stewart told New Yorker writer Emily Witt that the ghost program will be “a paranormal romp in a queer space” with “elevated aesthetics.” She also told the writer that “gay people love pretty things” and therefore the show is “aiming for a richness.”
As noted in the paragraph that preceded the paragraph we are now in, ghosts are of particular interest to the queer population. Our research found that LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people are certifiably more haunted and more likely to believe in ghosts than the population at large, and last year our writer Ro made a passionate and 100% convincing case that ALL ghosts are gay. This hypothesis likely rings true to the creators of the Queer Ghost Hunters, a YouTube series based in Ohio that produced two seasons of gay hauntings in the mid-to-late ’10s.
Stewart’s filmography is pretty haunted, too. In 2007, she appeared in very bad film The Messengers as the daughter of a family that moved to a farm in North Dakota only to find themselves under constant peril from ghosts only visible to Stewart’s character and her brother. She sought out the ghost of her dead twin brother, a medium, in 2016’s Personal Shopper. And she is visited by the ghost of Anne Boleyn in 2021’s Spencer, in theaters now!
This New Yorker profile has more in store for you than simply the gay ghosting news: at one point, Stewart shows Witt her lookbook for “The Chronology of Water” and tells her, “I want to fuck with a split screen. Like, genuinely shredded memories. I want seasons. I want the movie to have scope.” Early in the article, it is confirmed that Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer have been engaged since this past summer.
In conclusion, there has never been a better time to be a gay ghost!!!!
feature image credit: American actress Kristen Stewart at the 78 Venice International Film Festival 2021. Spencer red carpet. Venice (Italy), September 3rd, 2021 (Photo by Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)