Letter From Your Editors

Y’all Summer is officially 2/3rds over and I am in p r o t e s t. It’s going by way too fast, with entirely too much chaos, and not nearly enough watermelon lemonade slushies! But we are making the best of it, hey look at our cute team and our cute lil summer vibes!

Top: Drew // Riese // Carmen // Kayla // Vanessa // Casey // Sarah
Bottom: Laneia // Heather // Meg // Ro // Stef // Nicole // Shelli

I know that I say this basically every month (got keep ‘em wanting more, amirite?) but we have some BIG changes coming up at Autostraddle! Like on Thursday night I was here working until I literally said to Riese “my eyes are getting blurry at the keyboard letters” and Riese was like “go to bed” (which I did!) and I do believe that the next few months are going to be tight and tbh a little overworked, but damn — wait until you see what we are building on the other side of this. Sometimes growth is hard and we’re also going to have some of that in August too, but twelve years in the game, Autostraddle has some growing to do. I couldn’t imagine a better group of people (I’m talking about you all, our A+ members!) to do that growth with.

On a very practical level, your dollars have been at work shoring up our infrastructure this month. In the winter and spring Riese and I got some gay legal advice (that came out this very A+ group! Thank you) around the best ways to adjust our image use practices to stay up-to-date with current digital use laws while still accessing the images we need every day to keep this website alive and publishing. They were so helpful, but also even more exciting was that coming out of those conversations, Riese decided it was time for us to finally purchase a Getty Images membership. If you read basically any news anywhere, chances are you already know Getty and maybe have never paid attention — but their watermark is everywhere. For a long time we couldn’t afford it, and we’d have to cobble together legal images of say, Zoe Kravitz eating an ice cream cone, like a patchwork quilt.

But thanks to you, we now can afford 2.5 Getty Images every day! I know this sounds technical and boring, but it’s an absolute game changer for me and Heather (we cover a lot of the celebrity news around here). We needed a photo of Jen Richards last minute, and I went to Getty and they had — I kid you not — six entire full pages of completely legal, absolutely fucking gorgeous, photos of Jen from every red carpet imaginable right at our fingertips. We needed a historical 1980s/1990s photo of kink at pride and it literally brought back FIFTEEN PAGES WORTH OF IMAGES. Nicole and I almost wept in disbelief. So that’s a very concrete thing that we have right now, because of you, that was beyond our reach even a year ago. Thank you.

We’re also in the process of switching the dashboards for how we track traffic and other internal monitoring to a potentially newer, improved, turbocharged, accessible, and easier to understand system that Laneia is overjoyed with! Another structural upgrade that is going to make this team more efficient, at a time when efficiency is a high value for us, because you’ve stepped up and provided support. On Tuesday my internet went down and I had to take a zoom call with our SEO consultant using headphones from the patio of a coffeeshop and it was objectively the worst of times, but it was also the best of times because you know what? We have a SEO consultant! Who has been teaching me so much! And I think you get the theme of this letter, but you’re paying for that. Thank you.

This summer hasn’t all been work. We see y’all write in and encourage us to take a break, and I am so excited to tell you that the work/life balance of Autostraddle’s senior team this July has inspired me so much. Nicole’s hard at work in their garden and spends their weekends doing queer construction work on their home that delights all of us to hear about during our Monday meeting. Heather left work early to go to a WNBA game! As I’m writing you this letter both Rachel and Tracy, the head of our tech team Yikes, are on vacation. I took an entire week off in July! Yes, a full week. I only came into work once. And even though I got rained out from my ambitious plans of “swimming every day,” I slept and read for fun and went to an incredibly fancy craft beer tasting and every second of it was a marvel.

There’s something about summer that really pulls at you to slow down, even for a second. Maybe it’s all that programming from summer vacations as kids? Whatever it is, I hope you’re getting a second to sit still and enjoy the sun warming your shoulders, too.

This month A+ members got three advice boxes — one for general advice, one for fashion advice, and one special edition as a part of our guest edited mini-series “Spaces & Places,” edited by Meg Jones Wall! Meg also wrote you a personal Letter from the Editor introducing “Spaces & Places” that you absolutely should read. We got you the full video (and transcript!) of Everything You Need to Know About Strap-On Sex. This month’s SLICK erotica entries were a series, Accept Transformation: Part 1 and Part 2 by D3VON.

We love you. We mean it.

Carmen / Rachel / Heather / Laneia / Sarah / Nicole / Riese

Top 10 Most Popular Posts From June 2021

These posts were hella popular last month.

1. 25 Streaming Movies With Hot Lesbian Sex Scenes, by Riese
2. 36 Queer-Owned Businesses Selling LGBT T-Shirts To Support This Pride Season, by Riese
3. Quiz: Which Animal With Queer Tendencies Are You?, by Ro
4. Sha’Carri Richardson Is Going To The Olympics And I Hope She Brings Her Girlfriend With Her!, by Shelli
5. Daniela Sea On “The L Word,” Gender Identity, and Imagining Queer Liberation, by Drew (technically this was published on May 31st but that’s basically June)
6. June 2021: Here’s What’s New and Gay and Streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO Max, by Riese
7. I Still Can’t Believe They Did Marley Rose So Dirty on Glee, by Valerie
8. The L Word Generation Q Season 2: Everything We Know So Far, by Riese
9. Mae Martin on “Feel Good,” Labels, and Getting Kicked Off Hinge, by Drew
10. Two L Word Generation Q Season 2 Teasers Are Here and Full of Sex, Hair and Hands, by Riese

Nine Important Excerpts From Editorial Conversations

Rachel: relatedly! can anyone think of a topical issue or event I could throw together a book list or syllabus around? I’m blanking on themes rn but like this (5 Books on Queer & Trans Nuns)
Vanessa: 5 books to help you make it through the last 2 weeks of cancer season
Carmen: YEPPP
Says the Cancer
Vanessa: 5 books to take to the beach that say “i’m fun even tho i’m sobbing”
5 books that say “fuck this, nothing is normal, we’re all traumatized”
5 books that are just as messy as everyone’s lex posts this summer
Laneia: ooooh
that one
Vanessa: 5 books that prove dyke drama is The Only Truth
5 books to feel less despairing about climate crisis
Nicole: 5 books to read in a heat wave that will either send you into a panic spiral about climate change and the end of the world or help you feel kind of “eh” about it
lol
Vanessa
Vanessa: lol jinx
Laneia: 5 academic planners would be fun for aug/sept
i’m currently in an emotionally stable place so this is all i’ve got
currently = literally the last 24 hrs, so
Vanessa: wow laneia way to brag

Heather: i’m wearing an autostraddle shirt at the pet hospital where we’re picking up our cat socks. they’re only allowing one pet parent in for pickup. so the tech came out to get socks’ carrier and she was like “oh i like your watchband!” (pride one) and then “autostraddle! i love your shirt!” and stacy said “we’re family! please! let us both in!” and she did!(she’s a big shelli stan btw. she asked if shelli was single and i said ‘i think she allows dms!’”) (thanks for getting us both in to the hospital, shelli!)
(i hope you allow dms)
(but no pressure!!!)
Carmen: 🤣🤣🤣
Meg: omggg
Valerie: 😻
Natalie: lol.
Christina: NOT SHELLI’S SWAG BEING THAT IMMACULATE OMG
Heather: okay shelli her name is keegan, thanks for the assist! :orange_heart:
Shelli: Hold up I just woke up and my mantra every morning after my spiritual stuff is “what if something great happens today?!”
And OMG LOOKS LIKE IT DID!
AND EVERYONE IN THIS CHANNEL SHOULD KNOW I ALWAYS ACCEPT DMS!

For future reference!

Carmen: @laneia!!!
L A N E I A
Laneia: WHAT
what did i do
Carmen: I have never not ever in my entire life been more proud to know you
“I hope your weekend looks like the inside of a funfetti cake and that you’ve never slept so peacefully in your whole life. (Or, alternatively, I hope you get absolutely railed and don’t know sleep until Monday night. Choose your own adventure ilu.)”
Laneia: !!!
Carmen: oh my god
Laneia: one time rachel said she hoped i got absolutely railed before a date and it meant a lot to me, wanted to just share that love and support
Carmen: i’m going to make this my nightly prayer, may I always either rest peacefully and have funfetti cake or get railed and not sleep for days. no inbetween.
Laneia: !!!!
perfect
Carmen: i also love that this story once again highlighted how much we love Rachel
truly the ongoing theme of our lives
Laneia: yes !
Rachel: laneia! i really meant it
Laneia: 😩
Rachel: i hope we all get railed or the preferable equivalent to us personally
Carmen: 😭

Heather:

I’m so proud of you my wife 💕 #WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/oaB444Ujci

— Tay (@glamazontay) July 15, 2021

Natalie: i’m just ready for their reality show.
Heather: i want them to always have the same color hair for their show
Stef: my sims have those outfits

Carmen: PS: I just googled “is renee montoya batwoman’s girlfriend” and the first result that popped up was ours

And now that I know the answer is “yes” I immediately googled the age difference between victoria cartagena and javicia leslie
Valerie: I DID THE SAME THING CARMEN
i was surprised that javicia and meagan are my age-ish
i thought they’d be like 24 because CW haha
Carmen: Meagan looks our age
FOR SURE I thought Javicia was like 24
Stunning, she’s aging backwards
Valerie: turns out i truly cannot tell anyone’s age. people are either “literal children” “my age” or “boomers”
there is no nuance
Carmen: I can do babies, children, 16-end of college, the rest of 20s through my age, over 55

Carmen: I’m shocked this wasn’t bigger news today??
Sara Ramirez Announces Split From Husband Ryan DeBolt
But I’m glad I checked, because at least I can headline AAA with it
(I wonder if it wasn’t bigger news because I had made the assumption that they weren’t with their (ex)husband for a while now? I wonder if others did too)
Anyway Rachel, your time is now.
I remember that you share a Sara Ramirez crush with me.
Rachel: oh wow
i bet a listicle of bisexual/lesbian celebs who have gotten divorced would do numbers tomorrow/this week in particular
if riese is available to write it
Carmen: i sure bet it would
Nicole: thee definition of Other People’s Drama to be sure
Carmen: Does this image say “Sara Ramirez has Consciously Uncoupled from Husband, Is Available For All Your Queer Activist Date Dreams”

Sarah: lolol yes
Nicole: look at that fancy getty watermark!
getty images
💖
Sarah: it’s very solemn which is good
we don’t want to be TOO excited but we are so excited
Carmen: you say solemn, I say hot
but yes
Sarah: also they look like they could step on me
and i would be fine with that
Carmen: hahaha THAT’S THE MOOD
Sarah: YES
hot and serious
daddy ramirez
Nicole: omg
Carmen: omg Sarah I wanted to say it
I am so glad you said it first
Sarah: LOL
me too
something told me that i would be received well
Sarah: thats so raven

i had a premonition
Carmen: lmaoooooooooo sarah I love you so much
Nicole: “Sara Ramirez Consciously Uncoupled From Husband, Is Free To Step On Us Please” is definitely the mood of that photo
i love you both for this
Carmen: I knowwwww I want to make a thirstier headline but I got scared
Because their Instagram post itself is so respectful
UGH THE ETHICAL DILEMMA
“Is Free to Step On Us Please” is so many fewer characters.
Sarah: LOL

Laneia: @channel two interesting searches that led people to us last week and which, frankly, maybe should be articles:
+ lesbian action films
+ cereals with gay names
just throwing this out there! happy friday xoxo
Natalie: My choice for “cereal with gay names”

Riese: we did rank cereals by lesbianism once
obviously in a pre-razzle dazzle era
Shelli: TIMBITS?!?!
Carmen: We also did a ranking of leesbian action films before!
Laneia: oh ! lol listen
i do read this website
Carmen: I’m thinking they found this
Laneia: do i retain crucial information pertaining to it? i do not
Carmen: it’s a lot of information to hold!!!! I just hope those people found what they were looking for
Laneia: i definitely thought the lesbian action films would be a tongue in cheek situation that just claimed straight films as ours, just bc we say so
bc that time drew claimed juno as trans was such a beautiful day on twitter

Laneia: making quiz graphics for kayla’s upcoming masterpiece and this happened and it felt important

Drew: Omg this quiz………..
Shelli: Oh my goodness
Drew: I think mine is Halloweentown but I have no idea why
Wait! Zenon
Motocrossed??
Shelli: I want to say I’m BRINK! but I’m simply not that butch
Laneia: !!!
Shelli: I could pass for a Smart House or a Cheetah girl with the attitude I have tho
Drew: Smart House !!!
That one hits right in the mommy issues
Shelli: I could’ve sworn I was gonna marry Johnny tsunami though
And the Princess protection program is my nonexistent group chat for half my hook ups
Kayla: Zenon, Brink, Cheetah Girls, and Smart House are indeed all possible results!
the quiz is very biased toward DCOMs that came out like 1999-2005 lol because i just picked my favs
but also that was a peeeeeak era
Shelli: I love this for me

What We’ve Been Reading

Heather: Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Riese: Girlhood by Melissa Febos

Vanessa: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Nicole: Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens

Ro: The Sunset Route: Freight Trains, Forgiveness, and Freedom on the Rails in the American Westby Carrot Quinn

Sarah: Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

Drew: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Carmen: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Meg: Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

Scorpios Make the Best Exes

Heather: for gayest zodiac sign may i please submit the answer of: scorpio, with the explanation of: this photo

Meg: i feel deeply seen and also very attacked, thank you Heather
Heather: lolol i thought you said “seen and attracted” which also would be fair
Meg: how dare you read my mind like that
Heather: 🤣
Drew: That Scorpio collage has SEVERAL Capricorns IMO
Heather: it’s a thin line
Drew: Okay maybe not several. But I’m claiming Emma and Leila since their actors are Caps.
Heather: ahahaha i knew that’s who you meant!
Drew: I love that at my job around regular people I’m like “I have strong feelings about deadnaming being bad” and in this Slack I’m like “I have strong feelings about the sun signs of these fictional characters”
Heather: so real
jsyk when i put emma and leila i OBVIOUSLY thought of you and thought you would have a feeling
Drew: Love a little controversy
Heather: this is why i can’t talk to my family. they’re like “why don’t you call” and i’m like “well did you get any opinions about fictional queers?”
Valerie: Faith isn’t a Scorpio, she’s a misunderstood Sagittarius
though this is the best collage i’ve ever seen regardless of star sign accuracy
Heather: aw me and faith have that in common
Vanessa: okay but the gayest sign is unfortunately obviously gemini
i don’t have a collage i just have My Truth
Heather: it is true that the memes back up your claim

Your Bone Bone Horoscope Going Into August 2021

pic.twitter.com/lYoPdMcchQ

— ㅤَ (@bonebonebot) July 28, 2021

Are you feeling ready to venture out? See and be seen? Bone Bone understands. It’s summer, we’ve been inside for a very long time; we are feeling, perhaps, the return of a spark of curiosity about what it might feel like to be Perceived in all our glory and also mess. What would you like to have noticed about you after all this time? What are you noticing in others? Heat waves bring their own unique challenges, and also sunlight is the best disinfectant.

You Can’t Get Rid of Scorpios That Easily

Meg: stef i was out here alone
Stef: you were never alone
it was i who carried you
etc etc
Meg: i was gonna drop a scorpion gif but they’re all vaguely upsetting (edited)
Stef: we are for sure the gayest zodiac sign because of all the yearning and brooding
it’s baked in
Meg: this’ll do

obsessions with sex and death? a deep penchant for secretive longing and revenge? it writes itself
add the black and the sulking and we win
Stef: it doesn’t feel like we win but
we win something
Meg: the prize is probably just more self-loathing and imposter syndrome
what a day
Stef: ugh do we even deserve it
Meg: shit you’re right
Heather: SEE! THE GAYEST SIGN!
Valerie: you know i slid into Heather’s DMs yesterday to contest Theo Crain being a Scorpio but after reading this back-and-forth i think she was exactly right
Stef: ok for sure a water sign and if not a scorpio sun, for sure scorpio features heavily in her chart
like maybe a pisces???
but no
too sexy
sorry
Meg: might be a scorpio moon
Meg: (i haven’t watched it, bly manor destroyed me)
Stef: not like me, specifically a monster, but all the sexy scorpios
oh it’s good
Meg: yeah it looks great, i’m just afraid all the ghosts standing over sleeping people will somehow make my life-destroying insomnia even more ridiculous
Stef: oh that’s not the half of it
Valerie: i’m gonna make a spreadsheet
so when we watch i can warn you of all the sleep scares
Meg: my love language
Stef: i love the bent neck lady
Stef: i miss her
for sure a better ghost story than bly manor’s, sorry.
Meg: lol
Stef: yeah i’m gonna say theo is probably a pisces with a scorpio moon
Stef: as much as i want her in the club
i do usually want to fight people with more scorpio in their chart than me
Meg: i think that’s a perfectly reasonable response
Heather: also it’s PRETTY FASCINATING that the people who have shown up to protest the scorpio collage have done so on behalf of the characters MOST LIKE THEM
i believe saying this is my aries moon speaking, according to former autostraddle senior editor yvonne marquez who used to mumble “fucking aries moon” at me all the time despite also being a fucking aries moon!!!!!
Drew: Literally every time I connect with a fictional character I’m like “oh they must be a Capricorn”
Stef: i’m not PROTESTING i’m just CORRECTING that’s my capricorn rising
the straight men in our audio department have informed me that sara ramirez’s comedy is very funny (i cannot hear it, only see it)
oh i also think cheryl blossom is an aries goodbye

XOXO

Team Autostraddle

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