Also.Also.Also: There’s No Such Thing as an Ethical Billionaire, but Thanks Mackenzie Scott for the $275 Million to Planned Parenthood

Feature photo by JORG CARSTENSEN/dpa/AFP via Getty Image

I took time this afternoon for a donut…. and it was glorious?


Queer as in F*ck You

Pride Apologize for Not Allowing ‘Gay’ Banner. “The Orlando Pride apologized after a supporters’ group was told it could not display a banner that said “gay” at a match this weekend.”

Seattle Pride Drops Amazon as a Sponsor of City’s LGBTQ Parade

Utah Governor Cites Suicide Rates for Transgender Youth in Vetoing Sports Ban Bill: ‘I Want Them to Live’

Ooooh I bet yall are going to have some opinions on this one! (A warning here that there’s a lot I don’t like in this piece, including this sentence specifically “My ex-husband is the one who hosts the sleepovers, and he looks the other way when they are in the bedroom, reasoning that… ‘It’s OK because there are no penises involved.’”) My Daughter Is Having Sex With Her Best Friend. Must I Tell Her Mom?


Saw This, Thought of You

From Natalie: “Billionaires shouldn’t exist but if they do, they should be more like MacKenzie Scott.” Mackenzie Scott Makes Record $275 Million Donation to Planned Parenthood

Viola Davis’ #1 fan Heather Hogan wants you to know this: “This is SO GREAT! viola davis in conversation with tarana burke about viola’s upcoming memoir/grammy award/EGOT — and they’re making it accessible via stream! so it’s safe and you don’t have to be in NYC to attend!” Finding Me: Oscar, Tony & Emmy Award Winner Viola Davis in Conversation with Tarana Burke

This is such relieving news! Now BRING HER HOME!! US Embassy in Moscow Finds Brittney Griner ‘In Good Condition’ After Getting Consular Access

How We Talk About The Pandemic Still Matters

I have thought about this often! Why Don’t “Size-Inclusive” Brands Carry Plus Sizes In Stores?


Political Snacks

We’re still following the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, which concluded today.

“For me, it was the pause. I knew that the confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson would produce a lot of insults and smears from Republicans trying to be racist enough for Fox News viewers to get the message but not so racist that The New York Times would have to acknowledge it. Jackson surely knew it too. And despite over 20 hours of questioning over two days, during which Republicans yelled at her and grandstanded and repeatedly insinuated that she was a terrorist and child-sex-trafficker sympathizer in front of her daughters and parents, she never once lost her cool.

But she did take one really long pause.”

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Long Pause Explained Racism and Sexism in America by Elie Mystal for The Nation.

“Every Black woman in a professional setting understands exactly what that moment was… We have to think, ‘Is it worth it to react to how I’m feeling inside? Is this person worth my career?'” Jackson Had to Keep Her Cool.

And if you haven’t seen these remarks from Senator Cory Booker yesterday about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, you absolutely must. But also, grab some tissues first:

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Carmen Phillips

Carmen Phillips is Autostraddle's former editor in chief. She began at Autostraddle in 2017 as a freelance team writer and worked her way up through the company, eventually becoming the EIC from 2021-2024. A Black Puerto Rican feminist writer with a PhD in American Studies from New York University, Carmen specializes in writing about Blackness, race, queerness, politics, culture, and the many ways we find community and connection with each other.  During her time at Autostraddle, Carmen focused on pop culture, TV and film reviews, criticism, interviews, and news analysis. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. And there were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. To reach out, you can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.

Carmen has written 716 articles for us.

5 Comments

  1. I do not generally ever expect politician’s statements to make me cry, but jeez that Utah governor’s statement got me by surprise. I think because it was so simple.

    The electoral system is trash and the GOP doubly so, but that was a nice little bit of humanity poking through

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