Also.Also.Also: The Lesbian TV Gods Know Justice, Victoria Cartagena Will (Once Again) Be Our Renee Montoya, This Time on Batwoman

Steak and a tall glass rosé as soooooon as I press publish, let’s gooooooooo


Queer as in F*ck You

I. AM. OBSESSED. Leyna Bloom Is Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue’s First Trans Cover.

What We Carry With Us: LGBTQ+ Refugee Storylab Now Available Online! The 6 micro-documentaries were created in refugee storylabs and produced by Citizen Film.

PrEP, the HIV Prevention Pill, Must Now Be Totally Free Under Almost All Insurance Plans

And for your music needs, a new Syd just dropped!

Whenever our very own Kayla writes a short story, we will share that short story. Those are the rules: “Allelopathy” by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya for Joyland (Kayla also wrote this delightful lil spark for us this week and you should definitely read it, My Pinned Tweet Is Solid Proof That Queer Time Travel Exists)

Speaking of music, it’s official! Halsey is a mom! Welcome to the world, Ender Ridley Aydin 💕


Saw This, Thought of You

You might have to be a very specific slice of queer nerd to enjoy this in its fullness, but this news broke our entire TV Team into shrieks of joy, so I’m going to do my best. First thing to know is that in 2014, Victoria Cartagena was cast as Afro-Latina lesbian superhero Renee Montoya in FOX’s Gotham. After promising a large role for her character, and fans quickly attaching to Cartagena, she was swiftly and unceremoniously pushed to the sidelines without a proper ending when the show took a decidedly more…. white and boring approach.

When Batwoman (not tied to the same universe as Gotham, listen comics TV is complicated) announced that in Season Three they were going to bring Montoya back, of course everyone thought of Victoria Cartagena, who has never seen proper justice for a role that she loved! But lol — did we dare to dream? What are the chances the same actress will be brought in to play the same fan beloved character on two different Bat-shows less than 10 years apart? WELL! WELL! WELL!

‘Batwoman’: Victoria Cartagena To Play Renee Montoya In Season 3 Of CW Drama (!!!!!!!!!)

(In case anyone is interested, yes Renee dates Batwoman in the comics. And yes Victoria Cartagena and Javicia Leslie are in the age range to be girlfriends if the CW is looking for any free ideas).

Ok on to other news…

Natalie says it is news but yall know that sports allude me soooo… Excited for all of you sports gays who hunt online looking for scores for your teams! Good job! At Just Women’s Sports, A Unique New Scoreboard Puts All the Shine on Just That

11 Podcasts for Your New Normal

I think Britney has brought conservatorships to the front of a lot of our minds, Himani found this piece and I found it so interesting and gripping: Hollywood Has Long Abused Conservatorships. I Spent the Past Decade Studying One of the Worst Cases. “The story of Harrison Post, a gay man put under guardianship in the 1930s.”

Y2K Fashion Trends Are Coming Back — And So Is Their Inherent Fatphobia

A People’s History of Black Twitter (This is part one! I’ll try to remember to include each subsequent section when they come out, but just in case its worth bookmarking on your own. Black culture is quite literally the backbone of digital humor and language and communities, don’t let it get erased.)

And since we’re already talking about being Very Online, What Will Happen to My Music Library When Spotify Dies? I’ll admit this very question has kept me up at night many times before.


Political Snacks

3 Tropes of White Victimhood. Leading conservative pundits today are pounding themes that were popular among opponents of Reconstruction.

Well this sure does feel related: Texas Senate Votes to Remove Teaching Requirement Saying KKK Is ‘Morally Wrong’

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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.

3 Comments

  1. That Syd video?? Kayla’s story??? The people’s history of Black Twitter??? This is such a good roundup??????

  2. Wow thanks for the What We Carry with Us shoutout! Wild to come across my company’s name while casually reading my favorite website.

  3. “And yes Victoria Cartagena and Javicia Leslie are in the age range to be girlfriends”

    Wait—is there an age range NOT to be girlfriends? {must take notes!}

    [Assuming consenting adults] Agism not cool, AS.

Comments are closed.