Letter From Your Editors
Hello New Pals and Old Pals!
This month’s collage challenge was to show a picture of yourself traveling, a challenge which apparently stymied the vast majority of our team members who didn’t contribute pics to the collage. I (Riese) personally misunderstood the challenge but listen, it’s been a busy month:
Top: Kayla // Laneia’s dog Penny // Drew // Reneice
Bottom: Vanessa // Riese // Heather // KaeLyn
Wow guys, wow!!! This fundraiser! You! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
This beautiful team and all the hard work they’ve put into making this a SMASHING SUCCESS! Listen: I knew, numerically, that we had a lot of readers. But in the past two weeks we’ve heard words from so many more readers directly than ever before — via your notes with fundraiser donations, your support on social media, your responses to newsletter emails, your messages to us directly, your stories in the 616 writer applications we’re currently going through. Today we got a card in the mail with a picture of a rocky beach on it and what was inside made my cry real tears. It has been so much light upon me, upon all of us, as we met our fundraiser goals and then reached higher and higher, and met those too. We’re overwhelmed with gratitude for your trust in this team, and for the team itself, who has worked tirelessly for so little for so long. Autostraddle is far from perfect, and not all of our problems can be fixed with money. But you know what? A whole hell of a lot of them can!! It’s a start.
Last week’s HuffPo article “The Fall of Mic Was a Warning” really threw into focus the significance of what we’re doing here. Media that relies on venture capital, facebook algorithms, following trends (AHEM “pivot to video”) and capitalizing on social justice issues for outrage clicks — it’s all fun and money at first but it rarely lasts. Ultimately, big media companies have to answer to shareholders and aim for profits. The straight white cis men who own Medium, The Bustle Group, Buzzfeed and The Huffington Post have net worths in the millions and billions. Our aim has never been profit — it’s been to put as much money into the pockets of our entirely queer team as we possibly can.
Our origin story is familiar to a lot of you by now, but the gist is this: a bunch of talented friends who, in 2009, all agreed to build this thing with me for free. It’s not how most magazines are started: with money and a budget to build a team that reflected Still, we did it! We were limited in what we could do but we fucking did it. We stopped dreaming of an office or seeing each other more than twice a year a long time ago, but this fundraiser has enabled us to really reach some more achievable dreams: like earmarking a huge chunk of our editorial budget for POC and/or trans writers, to giving raises to our full-time senior staff, to getting the support we need to continue this work without physically destroying ourselves, and to give us the confidence that Autostraddle can support itself financially without A-Camp, thus enabling the process of developing a more definitive separation between the two entities, which require different leadership, skill-sets and approaches. (This is a very much in-progress concept but hey, you’re Insiders, so!!)
Tomorrow we get to send the invoicing email out to our Staff Writers with new, higher rates for the work they do. Next week we get to start the process of talking about new writers with rates that aren’t as good as the big media companies offer, but at least do not feel like apologies. We’ve already recorded two “To L and Back” podcast episodes with paid special guests, and will continue to. Soon we’ll be putting up calls to get a part-time help with A+, web development and project management.
Thank you for everything you’ve done for us — for your good faith, your patience with our mistakes, and your belief in our aspirations. I’m blessed by an entire team who threw their entire selves behind this wild campaign, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
We don’t ever want to be owned by anybody but you.
Love,
Riese / Laneia / Rachel / Heather / Carmen / Sarah
Top 10 Most Popular Posts From June 2019
These posts were hella popular this month.
1. Kristen Stewart Kicks Ass, Looks Gay as Hell in the First “Charlie’s Angels” Trailer, by Heather
2. Gay Pride T Shirts From 22 LGBTQ Owned Clothing Stores, by Riese
3. Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman Are Girlfriends, Invite Us to Consider Love Might Not Be a Lie???, by Carmen
4. Cara Delevingne Confirms her Relationship with Ashley Benson, Sex Benches for Everybody!!!, by Stef
5. Gentleman Jack’s Finale Was One of the Finest Hours in Lesbian Cinematic History, by Heather
6. Queer Horoscopes for June 2019: Opening Up to Surprises in Love, by Corinna
7. “The L Word: Generation Q” Announces Two New Characters, Bette and Tina’s Grown-Up Baby, by Heather
8. Pop Culture Fix: Pink Hair Don’t Care Megan Rapinoe Won’t Apologize for Being Awesome, by Heather
9. “The L Word: Generation Q” Has Cast Four Attractive Humans To Play Some Gay Parts, by Riese
10. 27 Summer 2019 TV Shows For Queers To Watch Out For, by Riese and Natalie
Nine Important Excerpts From Editorial Conversations
Al(aina): megan rapinoe’s leather shorts and a tux jacket ONLY look is exactly what a 7 year old might negotiate to be able to wear to a fancy thing, and i love it.
Heather: al! yes! it looks like a von trapp child party outfit!
Laneia: !
Rachel: SIX DAYS
WE RAISED THE FUNDS IN SIX DAYS
y’all it took god seven days to make the EARTH
Heather: omg
Laneia: :sob:
Riese: well six days
they rested on the seventh day
work/life balance
G-d loves self-care
and taking care of Their mental and physical health
Heather: omg riese
Heather: laneia i’m sorry i haven’t uploaded the next batch of thirsty classics insta images, will do that today!
Laneia: it’s ok i’m dead
i have forgiven you from heaven
Heather: :gentleman-jack:
Laneia: there’s no instagram here it’s beautiful
Heather: you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but is glee there or is it in hell?
Laneia: search your heart for this answer
Stef: Anyway the Dalai Lama is canceled
Drew: I thought my grandpa was dead but turns out he’s the Dalai Lama
What a twist!
Heather: stacy just called me from work to tell me this viola [davis being cast in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom] news
Riese: HA
Heather: like on the phone
Natalie: LOL
Riese: SO MUCH BIG QUEER MEDIA NEWS TODAY
Heather: viola wants our fundraiser to succeed
Riese: thank g-d a queer tv team like this exists in online media
it’s almost as if we are necessary???
Heather: almost like we caused this
Riese: surprise stretch goal
was getting viola davis cast in ma rainey’s black bottom
Heather: :donates a billion dollars:
Riese: let’s just put like “indya moore gets a part in generation q” as a perk and see what happens
[re: the flash sale]
Molly: i want to buy cameron
Vanessa: I’m Cameron’s agent plz check in w me about buying Cameron
Cameron: who is buying me, is it molly?
MOLLY IS HUCK GOING TO BE MY BROTHER?? can we get bunk beds?
Molly: one cameron plz
you and huck will be housemates to start, and i’ll leave it up to you two how deep you want the friendship to blossom
Vanessa: IF WE ARE ADDING PERKS
A READER JUST SUGGESTED @Archie WRITE SOMEONE IN AS A CHARACTER ON GREASE BATS
AND ARCHIE SEEMED ENTHUSIASTIC
SO UH
SORRY TO YELL BUT
I THINK THAT’S AN IDEA
AN IDEA THAT I WANT TO BUY, IS WHAT I MEAN
Cameron: oh dang
Laneia: ok WOW
gus and cameron am i go to put these two things in the flash pile? !!!!!
if archie fully agrees to this perk will someone @ me please so i can add them also!
Vanessa: yes laneia
i take on that job
BAT SIGNALING @Archie
POPPERS JORTS GUS GEORGE PALS ZINES GUILT-FREE
(that was my attempt to say things archie might be called to)
Archie: Sure sounds good to me @laneia
Vanessa: @Archie did you like my bat signal to you
Archie: I really did I have jorts on now and poppers in my coat pocket
Valerie: I’m in a meeting and 100% shouldn’t be on my phone but I can’t stop watching this flash sale I FEEL LIKE WE’RE WINNING SPORTS
Vanessa: WE ARE WINNING SPORTS
OMG IS THIS HOW I BECOME A SPORTS DYKE
Rachel: is this how megan rapinoe feels all the time
Valerie: WE DESERVE THIIIIS
Drew: I would like to ask her
Vanessa: i think our next step
is throwing a party
where the entire US soccer team
attends
I WILL PLAN IT DON’T WORRY
i know i’m v selfless
Best Laid Plan(ner)s
Every month a different editor will give you a sneak peak into their notebook organization situation. This month Laneia’s giving you a tour of her Passion Planner!
What We’ve Been Reading
Heather: Open Heart, Open Mind by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Drew: Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash
Vanessa: Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett
Laneia: Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst and Jordan Saia
Reneice: Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Riese: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
MEET A WRITER’S PET!
Get to know some of our writer’s pets. This month we’re meeting KaeLyn’s Lionhead Bunny, Gandalf! (PS: Gandalf goes by Gandy! Just so we’re all on the same page here.)
What’s your favorite food (includes human food)?
So listen up, dude, some rabbits, they like fancy shit like watercress and endive and basil. Not me, brah. You know what I really hate?! FUCKING FRUIT. Do not, DO NOT, put a raspberry in front of me. I don’t want your smelly, sticky apple. Do you know that apple seeds can kill rabbits? Do you want to me to die?! Seriously, dude, it’s a hard pass.
What was the question? Oh, yes, my favorite food. For sure definitely, definitely, definitely my favorite food is TREATS!!! Fuck me up with some crunchy forage mix and some dry-ass timothy hay tablets. Ooh, yeah, sprinkle it right on my pellets, man. I will forage the fuck out of that treat mix. Can I have some? Can I have some? Sometimes the little human comes in and gives me a handful of forage mix but she’s never fast enough so I binky and zoom around her feet and then sometimes she throws it in my mane, but it’s OK – saving it for later, you know?
What’s your most perfect sleeping scenario?
I’m not one for emotional displays, but it’s hard to talk about my sleeping blanket without talking about Aphrodite. Aphie was my companion for the last three years of her life. She was a bossy older woman and I was a young, eager idiot that humped her face on our first date even though she was definitely a top. IT DIDN’T GO WELL. Anyway, she was soft, so pretty and soft, and I spent hours grooming her face and ears every day whenever she wanted it. When she crossed the Rainbow Bridge, my mom and dad gave me a soft blanket that felt like Aphie so I could lick, lick, lick it and also dig and shred it. I’ve had my sleeping blanket replaced a few times since then, but it’s always a plush blanket that feels fuzzy and warm like my lovebun. My perfect sleeping scenario is cuddling up with my gal, Aphrodite, but my second-best option is kicking it on my fuzzy blanket and it’s not the same, but it’s aight.
If you could have a home on the beach, near mountains, or in a lush forest, which would you pick and why?
In a lush forest is the obvious answer, because obviously, because bunny, right? I bet you thought I’d say, “Forest.” But us lionheads weren’t really made for the outdoor life, so a mountain might be even better as long as there’s plenty of grass and hidey spots and I had my soft sleeping blanket. I’m very good at jumping and climbing, so that could be nice and there wouldn’t be as many gross forest floor things like sticks and leaves to get stuck in my luxurious mane and butt floof. I would not consider the beach unless maybe the beach is crammed full of forage mix to forage! OMG, now I’ve got the munchies!
Would you say you’ve seen a ghost?
What is a ghost? Is it like a human? Would it touch me or just see me? It can see me all it wants, but I do not like to be to be touched too much so probably not touch me though ok ghost?
Which famous or fictional bunnies do you look up to and why?
The best famous bunny is Thumper and let you tell me why. Because he’s in touch with his soft gender expression and is very beautiful like me and also very motivated by favorite snacks like me and also he’s a good friend like me and because he is an outdoor nature bunny, I assume he also does not like to be manhandled by humans like me. So basically he’s the best. If I was an outdoor nature bun, I’d want to be like Thumper and eat the blossoms instead of the grass and be very brave and gorgeous AF.
What do you wish you could say to your Mom?
Mom! MOM! Hey! Hey! Hey! Can I have the forage mix? Heeeeeeeeeey! Oh, yummy, yummy, yummy time, TREATS! OMFG, you scared me when you almost touched me with your hand. I totally flipped out, holy shit! Why would you do that?! What’s wrong with you? OK, now you can pet me but just on the top. Oh, that’s kind of nice actually. OK, you can pet me but not the ears. Um, I don’t know how to say this, but I like it when you work in the office with me and it would be cool if you wanted to come up and hang more often if you want to but, like, I’m cool if you can’t. Whatever.
SLACKERS
Redesign Retro-Reading
This month we’ve been celebrating a very successful fundraiser — our first since 2012, which we did to rebuild the website. It debuted in December 2013, and we celebrated by publishing work from writers we’d always wanted to work with but couldn’t afford to, which we unrolled that December and January. These are some of those pieces.
The Second to Last Woman I Loved, by Roxane Gay – “I couldn’t admit this to myself but there was a pattern of intense emotional masochism, of throwing myself into the most dramatic relationships possible, of needing to be a victim of some kind over, and over, and over. That was something familiar, something I understood.”
Schecter 3:16 (Or How Jenny Schecter Saved My Life), by Heather Hogan – “There’s a Post-It note on my refrigerator that says Schecter 3:16. “Jenny died so you can live?” my roommate asked the first time she saw it. “Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, something like that.”
Holiday Party Fashion Shoot: Lady Vengence Style, by Arabelle Sicardi – “I was given free reign to do whatever I wanted, so I’m going to talk to you about my favorite things of the moment: looking terrifying (but also festive! Holiday appropriate!) and suits.”
I Am Going To Homeschool These Damn Babies, by Kim Katrin Milan – “…the skill I became best at with all these families was leaving: in the middle of the night, before I overstayed my welcome, leaving when I had nowhere to go, leaving when the yelling started, when the sun rose or in the dead of night.”
Top Ten Things I Genuinely and Unironically Love With Little to Zero Shame, by El Sanchez – “I enjoy cool kid things like independent film (mostly documentaries about food or whales), listening to vinyl (mostly Linda Ronstadt) and reading zines (people still make zines), but to be honest, most of my hobbies tend to fall into the mainstream.”
Are You The One? Hot Takes
We are all obsessed with the “sexually fluid” season of “Are You The One” and have created an after-hours slack channel to discuss it.
Drew: I’m tired of all this “the one” nonsense. More dating shows looking for “the sex idiot.”
Stef: “she’s here for a good time, not for a long time.”
Drew: What’s it called
Rachel: “are you the 2-5”
[…]
Rachel: I’m so worried about the jonathan situation going into this
Stef: i mean you are gonna think it’s as bad as it is and then it gets worse
Rachel: has anyone watched his naked & afraid episode
Stef: no but i am willing to
Rachel: you’re so brave
clothed & brave
[…]
Mika: I feel like remy gives me strong switch energy
What do we think
Stef: i was asking drew, do you think remy and basit have already fucked in nyc somewhere and are pretending not to know each other
[…]
Stef: who do we have to talk to to introduce the kai emoji to the greater emoji overlords at apple
Mika: please
no
im small I have no money
please
Stef: i want to text mika kai emojis all day long
Mika: It should never leave the safe space of Slack
Rachel: if mika figures out how to text the kai emoji my life will never know peace again
[….]
Drew: Like remember when Amber lost it in episode one!
Stef: “i see person and i’m like, ok, amber’s a person”
Drew: I DIED
That was when I decided this is my favorite show
Mika: also nour calling amber
WIFEY
it’s taking me back to the closet
Drew: nightmare
[…]
Riese:: you guys i can’t wait for the finale when Danny shows up with a knife
Stef: i hope there’s an episode where they bring in their exes
and Danny’s is just a skeleton
[…]
Riese:: jonathan just keeps finding new ways to look even worse???
she just called Paige a TALL ASS STUPID ASS BITCH
i hope someone insults me for being tall some day
Stef: i will
I’M RIESE I’M TALL
Rachel: i’ll do it for your birthday
Stef: THE CHICKEN
THE CHICKEN IS JENNA’S PERFECT MATCH
Drew: Why is there a chicken!!
[…]
Mika: Kai makes me want to like
not have had top surgery
thats how bad
Rachel: lmao
Mika: I wanna like
ascend when I have to watch him
Stef: i subjected mika to a deep dive of kai’s instagram
Rachel: the crying and yelling!
yell crying!
Stef: where 3 years ago he was sketching faceless characters with open shirts
dreaming of how douchey he would be someday
taking many instagrams of his own armpit
Rachel: kai should have explained that his gender is ‘open shirt’ in the pilot
Mika: cursed
[…]
Stef: i think jonathan’s glitter t shirt is my perfect match
Rachel: max’s celtic cross tattoo is a perfect match with justin’s pierced nipples
Stef: the chicken is a perfect match with paige, an ostrich
[…]
Drew: Kylie and Remy should be together tbh
Just put the two best people together
Stef: yeah she deserves remy
Drew: Do Geminis date other Geminis??
Stef: oh god can you imagine
what a fucking mess
Drew: I’d like to watch
Stef: Famous Gemini-Gemini Couples
• Barbara and George Walker Bush
• Shia La Boeuf and Carey Mulligan
well.
Drew: OH GOD
Stef: that was NOT what i expected to find
Five Posts Rachel Can’t Believe You Motherf*ckers Didn’t Read Last Month
Marching at the End of a Very Long Parade: On Being A Queer Alcoholic, by Sagaree
This piece is such a skilled and generous balance of personal account of finding a sobriety community and exploring what that can and can’t look like, an analysis of the importance of and gaps in the AA model, and a daring exploration of what a future could look like. I love it so much!
15 Crushes and the Art They Gave to Me, by Drew
This club has everything! Sweet and acerbic meditations on youth and crushes that feel like they’ll kill you! Tidbits about art films you probably don’t know! Insightful exploration about how our crushes say more about who we are (or want to be) than it does about the crushee! Do not miss out!
12 Quotes About Freedom from Queer and Trans People of Color to Meditate on This Independence Day, by Carmen
When Carmen first floated the idea for this piece I was thrilled; the 4th of July is such a complicated and emotionally fraught day, and this was such a perfect way of centering the conversation on freedom in a way that matters, leaning into what it means to live freely (or not) in the US and rejecting empty nationalist abstractions.
Yes, Virginia, You Can Date Your Best Friend You’re Secretly in Love With (At Least, In Theory), by Rachel
I NEVER put my own work in here, but I am genuinely proud of this piece and writing and researching it took directions I didn’t expect, and I’d love for you to read it! I think it made me believe in love again, at least on a shaky, conditional basis?
Drew’s Outfest 2019 Coverage, by Drew
Did you even REALIZE that you were getting top-tier up-to-the-minute reviews and criticism of basically everything you care about at Outfest this year??? The DREAM!! The dream of having excellent, current and provocative film criticism on our website is HAPPENING because Drew is a goddamn genius. Don’t be left behind!
Social Media Spotlight
Our top tweet of July — by a lot — wondered what in the bisexual heck Tessa Thompson and Evan Rachel Wood were getting up to in the new Westworld trailer. It was a rhetorical question, but some people had some good answers.
Possibly Tessa Thompson IS Evan Rachel Wood. 🤔🤯
— Stacy (@LaikaSpaceDog) July 21, 2019
Don't question a blessing
— Nik (@NoTrueName) July 21, 2019
the machines have discovered spooning
— Jerkface McButternuts (@JMcbutternuts) July 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/Synth_Paladin/status/1152747232342478849
When you are alone in the world,
you have to SPOON together.— Rudy James (@RudyyyJames) July 21, 2019
🥄
— Christopher Blewett (@Blewett17) July 21, 2019
No, YOU get up and find the damn blanket…
— Henry P (@hellodollyllama) July 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/thelittlefrien2/status/1153232835207151617
I think the bigger question here is, WHY THE HECK ARE THERE SHOES ON THE BED DOLORES? https://t.co/fuslTt1uZA
— Michelle Knew-when (@LeShaker) July 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/shookteenth/status/1152729445683400704
They heard me scream at the tv that I wanted their characters to fuck 🤷🏾♀️ https://t.co/Y6Ed03t2G9
— Margaret Wartime (@sryimnotsorry1) July 20, 2019
The future is bi Host on bi Host and I want this to be the new poster they sell on the quad on every college students wall! https://t.co/mSYFi1kBDd
— Baby Faced Daddy (@Arocka120) July 21, 2019
thank you for reminding me about @evanrachelwood's strong big spoon energy https://t.co/qUNNDIgqnW
— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 21, 2019
Q+ A: Are You The One?
Stef: Paige just sent me info for contacting contestants for interviews
Mika: omg
ahfgjagjakshgas
Stef: what would we even ask them
is mika your perfect match
Mika: yes
that should be a question to everyone
Stef: which emoji are you
:giraffe_face:
Rachel: I wanna ask if danny like, packed a lot of plastic sheeting and duct tape and if anyone has asked why
Stef: drew thinks danny isn’t creepy anymore and i DISAGREE
Mika: I wanna ask danny what he feels about high school
Stef: well i am gonna try to interview… the women
and not danny
[…]
Stef: riese what do we want to know?!?!?!!?!
paige was just like LOL SOUNDS FUN
Drew: I want to know just how drunk they were at different moments
I want to know how much time passed??
And what they did all day when not doing challenges
Riese: yeah wtf did they do all the time
Drew: And whether people had sex outside the boom boom room
Riese: if it was really hot in the house
because nobody really ever had clothes on
also what was with the random dancing scenes
Drew: What was Aasha doing the first week
Riese: also were they required to act like they’d just had 10 sudden orgasms every time Terrance J or Dr. Frankie said literally anything
Stef: where did the chicken come from
did the chicken find her perfect match
Riese: He says “we’re doing a challenge”
and everybody goes BANANAS
Stef: it’s like getting tyra mail!!!!!
Riese: right! same question for those girls
everybody needs to calm down
Stef: what did dr frankie do the other 23 hours and 59 minutes of her day
Riese: oh dude
Stef: did she really have to go to medical school for this
Riese: she’s a lesbian matchmaker
i learned this a few days ago in a fugue state
it just came back to me
Stef: tell me everything
is she the chicken’s perfect match
Riese: i am going to ask her to find my perfect match for me
for free
for an article
for autostraddle
Stef: oh absolutely
spoiler alert it’s jenna
sorry
Riese: no
[…]
Drew: You should personally host a reunion special
Stef:: that is my dream
me, you, riese and mika
i’m dr drew
you’re watching teen mom
Riese: omg i can’t wait
let’s get an airbnb and just reunion special this shit
new campaign goal
Stef:: honestly? down
i’m about to put myself in severe medical debt i’m ready to max out my credit cards
Drew: “We partied with cast of AYTO and everyone ended up in the boom boom room”
headline writes itself
Stef:: i’m ready to :max: out my credit cards
Riese: !!!!!!!
i’m ready to :max:out amber’s sexual stamina
Stef:: here for it i’m ready to button kai’s shirt for him
Drew:: I’m gonna put a condom on Remy
Riese: thank u for your service
Stef:: i’m gonna tie jonathan’s hair to the staircase
[…]
Stef: ok hi mtv wants to know who we specifically would like to talk to and the “angle” of our story lol
Drew: :kai:
Stef: that’s the angle
Drew: I think if you email that emoji back they will understand
Riese: yeah kai turned at like 3/4
is the angle
Drew: hahahaha
Riese: the angle of our story is that we honestly love this show and just want more of it i think right?
Stef: yeah?
Riese: we’re thirsty
Stef: bisexual representation?
Riese: for more
yes
love it
link them to our tila tequila interview
Stef: i’ll tell them we’ll pay them ninety thousand dollars to interview the whole cast
that’s what that fundraising money was for right?
Riese: yes
would love to do photo shoot with Robin
Stef: idk how you’re gonna afford THAT, i guess that’s what the extra money is for
Riese: i think honestly we’d like to know more about their journeys and what the experience was like for them as human beings prior to and on the show
Stef: do we want to do a series or a longform
Riese: we only get to see one side of them on the show and we want to see the other side
Stef: also you’re asking me
Riese: because they’re bisexual
Stef: yeah
riese
so they have two sides
our angle is “all sides”
Stef: well not if they’re pansexual, they reject the binary amount of sides
Riese: also biset
how are they coping?
Stef: like jonathan only has two sides
for sure
one side of jonathan has a lot of hair
the other side cannot eat frogs
i do not care about interviewing jonathan
or justin
Riese: no we want to talk to: the ladies, biset
Stef: kai?
remy?
Riese: kai
remy
Stef: that’s it
Riese: mhm
for remy we want to talk JUST about peter theil
Stef: :remy:
ok i will let you know what they say
Mika: BASIT CONFIRMED VERSE TOP
XOXO
Team Autostraddle
P.S thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
I love you, Autostraddle
Why hasn’t autostraddle addressed the medium article yet?
Please address the Dan Owens’ medium article. And no, not in a comment. Post a public letter on the front page addressing the incidents and behavior discussed in the article by Dan, Carolyn and your QTPOC readers. I don’t expect Autostraddle and its staff to be perfect, but I do expect you to be accountable.
I have to second this.
I have never been to A-Camp and don’t pretend to know what it’s like. The comment in the medium article about there being a “cool kid group” that one could feel excluded from made my heart sink a little. I don’t want to think of autostraddle this way. I love you too much.
hi leapfrog! i won’t speak to the rest of it, because i want to only speak about my personal experience, but that “cool kid” part of the medium article was very different than my experience!
2016 was my first a-camp (I’m not a-camp staff and i wasn’t yet writing anything for AS) and the extent to which there was not, and hasn’t been, an impenetrable ‘cool kid’ group has healed my whole heart every time i’ve gone to camp.
i don’t want to and can’t refute other people’s experiences, because i don’t live in their brains or bodies, but having been bullied quite a bit by the “popular girls” (lol what even are cool kids) in school, it’s been really healing to be at camp, make a snap judgment to protect myself that a person i see might not be nice or open to me, and then have that judgment totally blown away by our interactions, and realize that we’re all adults with something to offer each other.
i don’t know if talking about that experience here is useful for you, but it has certainly been very healing for me, and an important part of why i go back to camp each year.
Aw, thank you for your response! That is definitely useful and really great to hear. I do hope to experience camp one day and have envisioned a magical and inclusive place, one where memories of pining to sit at the popular girls table won’t come bubbling up.
Obviously, the points brought forth in the article are much more significant than mine and I wasn’t trying to make this “about me”!! Also obvious is that there is more going on below the surface in regards to the writer’s experience.
Anyway, thanks again for sharing your experience qg. Heart AS so fucking much 🙂❤
No problem! Hope I’ll meet you there someday <3
1) thank you for the ayto slack chats
2) please tell me the story behind “konmarni”
2) thank you for asking pips. that would be kristin + marni.
This fundraising campaign has made me think about how important you (Autostraddle) are to me. I don’t remember when or how I discovered this magical site but it is now my favorite part of the internet. After I came out and I as grew into my queer identity, Autostraddle has often been the first place I’ve turned for advice and community. Whether it was exploring all of the lesbian dating articles as I created my tinder profile after moving alone to a new city or excitedly telling my parents about the Tamora Pierce quiz, Autostraddle has made me feel so at home. With the site and tweets from all of the team, Autostraddle is a part of my everyday that makes me smile. So thank you!
Pretty disappointed at the lack of public/official response to the Dan Owens medium article.
Autostraddle has meant and does mean so much to me but it is hard to hold it dear without accountability
Wow even Laneia’s passion planner is cute
Wow thanks Valerie!
“sex tbh” is GOLD.
Pretty disappointed in the autostraddle team for the radio silence a full week after Dan’s medium article came out. I’ve been a loyal reader for nine years and considering canceling my A+ membership over your refusal to accept accountability.
I adore you lovely batch of humans <3
Hi, y’all! I just want you to know I’m seeing you and hearing you about the Medium blog post, and plans for addressing it are being made and carried out by the A-Camp senior staff. I don’t want you to think you’re being ignored, even though it might feel that way. We’re reading your comments and passing them all along.
Thank you for addressing this, but in all honesty, the responses I’ve seen where a comment on the medium article and a tweet by the A-Camp account, not even the official Autostraddle one. We’d all like to see a more visible and open conversation.
I get that there might be personal problems as well, but the moment Gabby Rivera chimed in I was convinced that something has went horribly wrong these past years.
Oh god, grammar.
Thank you, Maria! I’ll pass on this comment as well!
(I would absolutely wear a t-shirt that said “Oh god, grammar.”)
So, I really think you should put up an article sooner rather than later? If nothing more than “We are planning to address this soon, watch this space,” because obviously people want to talk about this and having a dedicated comment thread would help maybe get everyone on the same page?
I actually feel like Autostraddle managed to strike nice balance with your response to the Medium article. Kristin and Marnie responded in good faith to the real and specific issues raised about racism at camp while not engaging with the bad faith elements of Dan’s personal antagonism. Racism and white supremacy are serious issues that should not be swept under the table or ignored, but responding on Medium – the place where that article was published – is not the same thing as silence.
Hopefully the success of the fundraiser will help to build an even stronger and more inclusive community, and allow for better pay and more bylines for QTPOC writers. I have absolute faith that while Autostraddle may not be perfect, it’s run by a really dedicated group of flawed but improvable humans. Who make mistakes sometimes! Who learn and grow and take us as readers along on that journey! Who are constantly trying to do better and be better! Who inspire me to do the same! Who provide a vital and necessary space for queer women! Who bring me joy everyday!
Thank you all for doing the work to make Autostraddle happen.
I want to second everything about this comment. I’ve never been to A-camp, but the criticisms in the Medium article sounded like things I have frequently seen acknowledged and highlighted by editors here as things they want to address.
Just FYI: if you want to turn AS into an are you the one fan site i would still read it religiously everyday.
Wow Gandy sure has attitude ! An interview with a Lionhead bunny during Leo season, I see what you did there.
Also when are you planning to recreate the AYTO group photo with AUTO staff ? Advance notice would be good so I can prepare my fainting couch.
I live with a Dwarf Lionhead, and the ‘tude is universal
I’m impressed.
Though I suppose it could be similar to some of my human roommates, where the cuteness might outweigh the attitude. Nah, no human I lived with was ever that cute !
He is super cute, and his rage is more amusing now that he’s an old bunn and not a feisty little scrapper. If he had a lawn, he would disapprove of us being on it.
Can I just say that at the 2016 A-Camp I was not a fan of the Cameron Esposito’s set due to the transphobia and racism and ALSOOOOOO her blatantly trying to shove hillary clinton down our throats (based on the fact that hillary clinton menstruates?) when Riese had specifically said we are not gonna talk bernie/hillary at camp, please (in fact, I was heckled by Cameron when I responded aloud! ’twas chill) — but I recall DAN being a person who told black people to quiet down…IS THIS A FALSE MEMORY? I also remember Dan apologizing immediately, but like, weird not to include that bit in your Medium article specifically related to that issue. I am genuinely looking forward to a statement from Autostraddle on the page because I feel like a lot has been done to rectify the issues presented in the Medium article (especially in light of the fundraising goals that have funds earmarked specifically for QTPOC writers), but it will be great to see that outlined in more detail.
Also this https://twitter.com/meyrude/status/1155632551752376321
And this https://twitter.com/alainamonts/status/1152659718973923329
Thank you for linking! For those of us out of the medium/Twitter world, this thread was v hard to follow. Appreciate the context.
omg I would do ANYTHING to have access to the full slack AYTO transcripts.
Also, THANK YOU for bringing up Danny’s sociopath vibes!! I can’t get enough AYTO so I’ve been listening to these crap super straight podcasts about them and theyre all like “danny is so cute and sweet!” nopenopenope
One of the hardest things about not living in NYC anymore is missing out on Remy and Basit’s watch parties. An autostraddle interview with them will partly make up for it :)
I WENT TO ONE ON WEDNESDAY AND SHOOK BASIT’S HAND AND IT WAS MAGIC
Ahh so jealous. They’re perfect 🥰
Our A-Camp co-directors posted a statement in response to the Medium blog post on the blog itself, to try to make sure it was part of the public record on the post, but it was hidden by the post’s author multiple times, while they made videos claiming that A-Camp had not responded — so our camp co-directors decided to post the comment directly on A-Camp’s Twitter and immediately retweeted it from Autostraddle because Autostraddle’s account has so many more followers. You can see the statement here. (We would link to the comment on the Medium blog post, but, as I said, every time we do that, it’s immediately hidden from view.)
We acknowledge and will continue to acknowledge that Autostraddle has areas of oversight when it comes to race, gender, and disability; and areas informed by white supremacist structures and a mostly-white leadership team. We’ve been listening to feedback in those areas and working to address them, and will continue to do so; when we’ve received criticism or feedback about harm we’ve caused in good faith, we’ve consistently reached out to those speaking out and addressed the issues directly; we’re happy to say that many readers and staff members who have called out Autostraddle in the past are members of our community today, and we believe in working through conflict when possible and doing the work to repair those relationships. We are incredibly grateful for and indebted to the hard and often frustrating work and advocacy done by our trans and POC staff in consistently holding us accountable and pushing us for change, and many of our accomplishments are a result of that advocacy.
We do not habitually pat ourselves on the back for our accomplishments in this area because we know we have a LOT of room for improvement. But we do pay our staff and writers equitably, and in fact consistently strive to pay trans and POC writers more. Whenever there is even a smidge of extra profit, we put that towards trans and QTPOC writers first. One of many examples is paying POC contributors to Boobs on Your Tube back when nobody was getting paid for those contributions. And we have already begun paying out money you donated during our recent fundraiser to our longtime QTPOC writers (as well as raising our individual rates across the board, and setting aside funding specifically for longform work from our QTPOC writers). Since bringing on Heather in 2014, all of our hires or promotions to the senior staff team have been women of color, including a black Senior Editor, and we will continue in that spirit with future hires.
Our white camp directors stepped down in June and we have been working toward hiring new QTPOC camp leadership, and hope to do so soon!. Although my own involvement in A-Camp planning and leadership has been inconsistent over the years, I will be also officially stepping down from any association with A-Camp leadership to make room for more diverse voices at the top.
As I mentioned in this month’s A+ letter from the editor, we recognize that A-Camp and Autostraddle are very different entities to run, and formally separating the two to ensure better operation of both is in our immediate plans. Our next funding priority is bringing another POC editor on our senior staff team.
We have failed our POC, trans, and disabled writers and readers in many ways over the years. We are sincerely sorry for the harm and pain we’ve caused in all of those areas. We’re also eager to continue to learn from our mistakes and keep striving to make Autostraddle a space where everyone under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella feels seen, heard, represented, and safe. And we urge you to stick with us and watch. We’ve done what we said we’ll do with our resources in the past, and will continue to do what we promised — raise rates for writers across the board, with funds devoted specifically to paying for work from QTPOC writers, and prioritizing the hire of another full-time senior editor of color — with the money you donated to our fundraiser. We are committed to doing what’s right and to taking responsibility when we fail. We’re thankful to you for holding us accountable and for believing we can do even better. ‘Cause we believe that too!
Nicely said. I believe in all of you.
Will you be posting this on the main autostraddle site, so others can see it too? Not everyone is on Twitter, and the medium article probably affected some willingness and certainly eagerness to donate to the fundraising.
The stories in the Medium article needed to be heard, and need to continue to be addressed.
Dan Owens, however, is co-opting these stories for what is very clearly their own personal motivations, and their hypocritical, manipulative and self-serving behaviour – a white person with their own problematic history who is now trying to control this narrative, tell people what to say and think, and shut down QTPOC who disagree with them – needs to stop.
There is a lot going on in this post and in the comments, so hopefully there’s enough space for that and also to ask Laneia, our dogs are obviously sisters, right?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq3wB9IF0-L/
OUR DOGS ARE TOTALLY SISTERS !!!
does your dog freak out every time you watch a horror movie bc your heart rate speeds up? do they start bark-whining at you for no discernible reason, like it seems like they just remembered you existed and are overwhelmed with the knowledge??
Ha! No bc horror movies :-/ She doesn’t really talk much but she grumbles when she digs and rubs on things, which I think is a way of showing affection? Tell Penny I love them.
1. I hope that the individual black/QTPOC writers and camp staffers currently involved with Autostraddle/A-Camp feel at ease to express as much or as little as they want to about the medium essay, and that the claims made there by QTPOC campers and staffers are addressed in time with specificity.
2. I get a very babe.net vibe from Dan Owens. The stories shared by QTPOC here deserve attention but Dan really wove this essay together in a messy fashion and I don’t really get their (Dan’s) intention. I suspect a personal grudge and there’s no valid reason for them to keep deleting the camp directors’ response.
Hm, I’m not saying it is an entirely valid reason but they did explain the deletion – one being that they want their Medium page to be a “safe space” for people to voice their grievances about AS and not be triggered by half-baked apologies which they then explain in their video in detail (not clearly naming what they apologise for and only offering to be trying to do better without getting specific about either). I get a personal vendetta vibe from Dan, too. For instance, I have sincerely no idea what they actually WANT Autostraddle to do. I just find this discussion here on this comment page one-sided against them as well.
I like your babe.net comparison though, that is spot on! And I fully agree with both parts of your first point.
Where was this explanation? I don’t see it on the original piece or in the comments. If you write an essay on a particular platform and want to provoke a discussion, stick with that platform. Don’t send readers on a goose chase to look at your twitter, youtube, instagram etc.
I don’t really buy this safe space claim anyway, and working from the premise that the QTPOC quoted in the essay deserve to have their specific issues heard, I think it would make more sense to post a response to the directors statement in which they name what is wrong with that apology and point to specific parts of the original text that the directors ignored etc. Challenge them to answer the accusations that have been made about Cameron Esposito, or the pay issue. You can’t write an article condemning someone, refuse to post their response, accuse them of not responding at all, and then pretend you did it to protect safe space.
This IS, just sooooo babe.net. Why didn’t Dan provide any digital evidence where possible? While some of this testimony refers to stuff where I don’t expect or need to see textual documentation (like the in-person conflicts with that one harassed black camper, or people describing how they felt in social situations), there should be an email or textual trail when it comes to pay disparity.
Dan comes off as an amateur with a vendetta and the QTPOC quoted in the piece deserve better.
If all of this makes Autostraddle as a community more conscious and aware of the ways that we all need to actively unlearn the constructs of white supremacy, then it will be a great thing. And that’s true regardless of who Dan is as a person or what their motivations are.
But I do take the statement by the camp directors as a genuine attempt at dialogue about racism at camp. Getting into the specifics of who-got-paid-what-and-how or hashing out more details about the MOC camper seems like it has a lot of potential to devolve into a shouty back and forth. I hear what you’re saying about their statement maybe being overly general, but it felt to me like they were responding to the big picture part of the problem. And, honestly, these conversations about what’s been done and what’s being done should be centering QTPOC – no matter how many steps Dan takes to center themself. Like, I agree with you that it’s unclear what exactly Dan wants! But I also think that should not be the question. The question should be how can Autostraddle do a better job serving and supporting the QTPOC community.
White supremacy is obviously present wherever white people are present, and women’s/QT organizations are all responsible to consistently identify and work against it. But I respectfully disagree that this medium essay will elevate the conversation about white supremacy at Autostraddle/A-Camp; I think sloppy exposés actually distract from meaningful analysis/accountability, particularly in an era when many of us are exhausted by call outs that turn out to be more about someone’s ego than anything else.
I also think it’s absolutely essential that people get into specifics whenever detailed allegations can be proven. I am willing to accept the directors’ response regarding things like general bad vibes, or the disastrous incident with the black camper ostracized for alleged transphobia, (this situation caught them off guard, they were trying to do right by a trans camper, they’re hiring QTPOC camp directors going forward etc). When it comes to the charge that a white person was paid 500$ while a POC got nothing for the same work, I am less forgiving and don’t think this can be explained away as an oversight. If A-Camp did this, I will be VERY pissed as an A+ member and my continued support for the site will depend on remuneration for the people affected. But having seen how petty Dan is, I don’t know who to believe about this claim.
The question SHOULD be about how Autostraddle can do a better job serving QTPOC, but that’s not why Dan published this. They’re not trying to improve A-Camp or Autostraddle, they’re arguing that the situation is irreparable and they want us to stop supporting it.
The discussion is one-sided because frankly Dan’s behaviour has been appalling.
-THEY are one of the people who contributed to the unsafe atmosphere at camp as outlined in several linked tweets and comments above, yet they are attempting to deflect the entirety of the blame onto camp staff (who, yes, absolutely have their own responsibility to bear here as well).
-They have responded to these tweets by either ignoring them or stating they have learned and grown – so they expect forgiveness and understanding for themself, but are out with pitchforks telling their followers to take AS down and sabotaging any attempts at constructive reconciliation.
-They have lied, distorted facts and taken control of narratives that don’t belong to them.
-They have ignored POC who have pointed out that sabotaging AS directly affects the livelihoods of QTPOC who work and/or publish here.
-This is unsubstantiated as far as I know, but I read comments to the effect that some of the people quoted in their blog did not give permission for their stories to be published.
Giving a platform to marginalized voices means boosting ONLY those voices, with their permission, and then stepping aside and letting the people who have been harmed decide how, when and where they want accountability and restitution. It does not mean appropriating those voices, talking for and over them, and stoking white-knight outrage to gain some kind of personal petty revenge.
I entirely disagree with the notion that Dan has provided any positive contribution to this discussion. The actions outlined in AS’s response aren’t happening because of the Medium article; they were already in motion prior to its publication. Whether these actions are sufficient is, again, up to the harmed parties to decide, but this current white-ego-driven cancel-culture parade is not making the world a better place for anyone.
Actually I am going to slightly amend my last point after rereading speakpirate’s comment above – the one positive thing that can hopefully come of all this is increased awareness and need for accountability on the part of us, the AS community and campers. But imo that is in spite of, not because of the way Dan chose to approach this issue.
Yes, and I should probably have been clearer as well. I do not think Dan is a positive force in any part of this. Like, we don’t need to do any work to prove that they are a bad actor. Dan’s own actions are demonstrating that in spades.
But it seems like making this about Dan is entering into the argument on Dan’s terms. They want to be the focal point of the story. They want to wield the power of declaring what level of apology is or is not enough. They want to create a fight so that they can feel righteous. And very little of that has anything to do with the actual issue of racism or the ways that our community can and should try to dismantle white supremacy.
If our community can band together to do the work of listening to the stories in that article and hold them alongside the things that Al(aina) and Mey and Reniece and Abeni and Riese and the camp directors have said and then figure out tangible ways to make our spaces more inclusive and intersectional, that’s the part that I think can be positive. And hopefully that’s what will happen! In which case the credit is due to the people who build a better community, not to the one who just wanted to burn it down.
100% agree with you and all your comments, thank you !!
OMG YES THIS
I’m just here to say that Dan Owens seems high key insufferable. Talk about a self satisfied white person. What an ass. The deletion of the apology is so highly suspect and shows that they’re not interested at all in actually letting a productive dialogue happen.
I was sad to read the accusations but I trust that AS will do their best to make it right. Jesus Christ no one is perfect.
This is the best thing I’ve ever read. Best. Thing. I want to be on AS staff just to see things like this all day.
Rachel: SIX DAYS WE RAISED THE FUNDS IN SIX DAYS
y’all it took god seven days to make the EARTH
Heather: omg
Laneia: :sob:
Riese: well six days they rested on the seventh day
work/life balance G-d loves self-care and taking care of Their mental and physical health
Heather: omg riese
AYTOSTRADDLE!!
also i have met dr frankie in real life, i bet she would love to do an as interview