interview Archives

2020 election

interview

A photo of Angela Walker, a Black woman with a shaved head, seated on a log, leaning forward and smiling broadly in a blue checked flannel shirt

news

Real Candidates and Party Reps on What’s at Stake for Trans Rights in the 2020 Election

Autostraddle spoke to reps from US political parties – including third parties – to ask them directly about their commitment to trans issues and what we can expect from them…

Winter Breedlove —

Oct 29, 2020

Asian American

interview

a graphic of the cover of mcsweeney's queer fiction issue, and a photo of the author patti yumi cottrell. the cover features tendrils, foliage and plants with a hand at the bottom.

book features

What Is Queer Fiction? An Interview with Patrick Cottrell

The first time I encountered a book with queer characters must have been James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. At the time I remember feeling afraid of its intensity. Now it’s one…

Kamala Puligandla —

Oct 28, 2020

interview

literary fiction

literature

Talking with Shani Mootoo on the True Story That Became Dark Lesbian Novel “Polar Vortex”

Shani Mootoo is one of the towering lesbian novelists of our time. In her newest novel, Polar Vortex, Mootoo winds the interior lives of its three central characters like a…

Julie R Enszer —

Sep 24, 2020

interview

literary fiction

on the left, Zaina Arafat, a Palestinian American woman in a light blue tank top looks at the camera. on the left the cover of her book, You Exist Too Much — a typographic cover on top of an abstract painting with swipes of lavender, green, blue, and gold

literature

Queer Arabs Taking Up Space: An Interview With Zaina Arafat

Zaina Arafat’s You Exist Too Much is the bi Arab romance novel l didn’t know I needed. We chat about the book, first-gen traumas, sexual ambiguity and Arab parents.

Sarah Yanni —

Sep 21, 2020

interview

movie features

“The First Time”: Drew Burnett Gregory Made a Movie in Quarantine and it’s 15 Minutes of Pure Queer Bliss

The First Time is everything I’ve come to love about Drew’s writing over the last several years: smart hilarious, powerful, and deeply generous. And just heckin’ gay and trans.

Heather Hogan —

Sep 17, 2020

interview

mal blum

television

Mal Blum on Writing Music for “Trinkets,” Queer Representation, and the Trans Narratives of Bruce Springsteen

“Whether it’s the gay internet or a show like ‘Trinkets’ it makes it easier to be like maybe I’m not the one that’s wrong. Maybe everyone around me is wrong.”

Drew Burnett Gregory —

Sep 15, 2020

interview

nigeria

film

Ìfé Writer and Director Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim on Decolonizing Nigerian Storytelling and Queer Love Stories

“Ìfé is a story that not many queer people have seen come out of Nigeria. I’m really hoping that, apart from everything else that it does – normalizing the queer…

Chinelo Anyadiegwu —

Sep 9, 2020

disability

interview

music

Creative Interviewing Creatives: “Asymmetrical Artist” Victoria Canal’s New EP Will Make You Feel Something

You may have heard Victoria’s recent single in a Nike campaign to promote their Jordan Flyease, a shoe designed for athletes with disabilities. Victoria just dropped her new project “Victoria”.…

Jackie Lipson —

Sep 8, 2020

interview

work

politics + activism

A Candid Conversation About Queers in the Labor Movement with Longtime Union Activists Miriam Frank and Desma Holcomb

In 1990, Miriam Frank and Desma Holcomb released Pride At Work, a booklet on organizing for gay and lesbian rights in the workplace. They spoke with Autostraddle about their lives,…

Lena Ruth Solow —

Sep 4, 2020

interview

Lingua Franca

film

Isabel Sandoval on “Lingua Franca,” Sex Scenes, and the Trans Female Gaze

“There’s a certain undeniable assertion of identity and personhood in seeing a woman think.”

Drew Burnett Gregory —

Aug 28, 2020

interview

film

Film Historian Jenni Olson on “Mädchen in Uniform,” The First Ever Lesbian Film

“They were like whatever we have dozens of lesbian bars, we have magazines, we have all of this culture, we have Marlene Dietrich, we don’t need this little girl thing.”

Drew Burnett Gregory —

Aug 13, 2020

2020 election

interview

Kirsten Harris-Talley, who is running for public office in Seattle, sits on green grass in a yellow sweater and matching beanie, while she looks up into the sunlight.

politics + activism

Q & A With Kirsten Harris-Talley, A Queer Black Scorpio Femme and State Rep Candidate

Kirsten Harris-Talley is an organizing phenom, queering notions of political leadership — what can a “serious” political figure value publicly?

Anis Gisele —

Aug 12, 2020