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Monica Jones Found Guilty of “Manifesting Prostitution,” Will Be “Rescued” from Sex Work by Incarceration

Project ROSE is a program in the city of Phoenix, AZ that claims to help sex workers. In the name of rescuing them, police officers handcuff alleged sex workers and take them off the street and into a church to meet with prosecutors and Project ROSE representatives, who offer them “diversion programs.” Sex workers who aren’t interested in the diversion programs face jail time. These sex workers aren’t technically arrested, just made “contact” with; conveniently, if they’re not arrested, then they don’t need to be offered the chance to speak to a lawyer. In May of 2013, Monica Jones became one of the people arrested by Project ROSE; the charge was “manifesting prostitution” for accepting a ride home to her neighborhood from men who turned out to be undercover cops. This week, Jones was found guilty, and faces the possibility of serving time in a men’s prison as a trans woman.

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Daily Fix racism sex work trans women transmisogyny women of color

Meet The Real Alex Vause: Catherine Cleary Wolters Has Mixed Feelings About “Orange Is The New Black”

We were the first to report on the real identity of the woman who inspired “Alex Vause” in the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black, and today Vanity Fair became the first news outlet to publish an interviewwith the lady in question, 51-year-old Catherine Cleary Wolters. Vanity Fair reports that Wolters is currently working on her PhD in information technology, assurance and security, has written three unpublished novels and “exhibits a flair for the philosophical.”

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Tavi Gevinson Will Play Haddie’s Girlfriend on “Parenthood,” Continues To Do All The Things

Tavi Gevinson, the 17 year-old fashion blogger, Rookie Mag founder and editor-in-chief, TED Talker, Broadway actress and Miley Cyrus interviewer, is adding Queer Primetime TV Character to her already dizzyingly impressive resume. This Thursday on NBC’s, Parenthood, Haddie Braverman, played by actress Sarah Ramos, is coming home with blonde hair and a new girlfriend, played by the aforementioned Gevinson.

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Make A Thing: Recycled Two-Liter Textured Pot Planter

Thing Makers! Oh, how I have missed you so much these long winter days. I have taken to hermiting away and not crafting much, but now I feel like we can finally get back into the swing of Making Things.
Senior Editor Rachel recently sent me this adorable tutorial about making a two-liter bottle into a cat-shaped pot planter, and ever since, I’ve been hoarding two-liters in order to make a few. However, when I went to the nursery to buy myself a little succulent, I fell right in love with these textured pot planters:
This gave me the idea on making my new little succulent pot planter textured with hot glue. Initially, I was so worried that my lack of being able to use hot glue like an adult (whoa there shaky hands) but it turned out adorable! I’m super happy with it and now I’m going to make a million of them.

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Reina Gossett, CeCe McDonald and Dean Spade Sit Down to Talk Prison Abolition

On April 21, Reina Gossett, CeCe McDonald, and Dean Spade will be at Barnard College for an event called “I Use My Love to Guide Me”: Surviving and Thriving in the Face of Impossible Situations. It will take place at 7:30 pm at The Auditorium at the New School and admission is free. This event is a part of the No One is Disposable series, where Gossett has conversations for the Barnard Center for Research on Women about trans activism and prison abolition.

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cece mcdonald Daily Fix prison-industrial complex racism trans issues transmisogyny transphobia

Comedy Crush: Sara Benincasa, Comedian and Author

Sara Benincasa is an award-winning comedian and author. Her memoir, “Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom”, recount her battles with agoraphobia and depression. In “Great“, her modern retelling of “The Great Gatsby“, Naomi Rye finds herself drawn to her next-door neighbor and becomes entangled in the romance and drama of a Hamptons social circle. To cut to the chase, it’s a gender swapped, queered out version of “Gatsby.” When Benincasa isn’t churning out jokes, books or one-woman shows, she travels to colleges to talk to students about mental health awareness. If you wanna get the vibe of her stylings before you get your hands on the book, her piece “High School is Forever” is over on Medium now.

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comedy crush interview regular

Lumberjanes #1 is Soooooooooooo Good!

Ever since I first heard that our very own Intern Grace, along with the group of other super talented comic creators Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Waters and Brooke Allen, I have been pacing back and forth waiting for comic to actually come out. When I finally got my hands on a copy of it last week, I was not let down. Lumberjanes#1 is easily my favorite debut issue of any comic in at least two years. So often I’m worried that a lot of my friends won’t like the comics that I’m into, whether it’s because they’re too full of sci-fi weirdness, you have to know too much about the world, they have too much fighting or they’re too niche. This comic is completely without that problem.

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National Poetry Month: Denice Frohman Slams Down Oppression With Survival Poetry

Denice Frohman‘s poems aren’t just beautiful, powerful words — though they certainly are that. They are her history, her politics, her pain, her love and her future. In putting all that into words, Frohman shares tools, ideas and empowerment with all who hear her. Her poem “Dear Straight People” went viral on the internet right when I started dating my first girlfriend. As I navigated being visibly queer for the first time, the poem gave me hope and strength, as did knowing so many other people were hearing it too.

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48 Ways To Eat All The Peanut Butter

Let’s talk about peanut butter.
Can we all just start out by agreeing that peanut butter is nectar of the gods? I’m glad we all agree here. I’ve been eating peanut butter since before I can remember, in various forms (my mom used to put my asthma medication on a spoonful of peanut butter when I was a kid, and real talk, if I can retain fondness for a food that I took with steroids on the daily, that’s saying something). My family also eats peanut butter every morning with cereal – try it, just put a scoop of peanut butter on the side of your bowl, and take a bit on your spoon with each bite of cereal, you’re welcome. You might call me a peanut butter fanatic. I just know that me and peanut butter, we got a good thing going on.

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food list get baked Lists/Top 10s peanut butter recipe

CONTEST: Predict Tonight’s WNBA Draft Picks, Win WNBA Swag!

Tonight at 8pm ET on ESPN2 (or WatchESPN for those that prefer streaming) is the 2014 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm. The draft will take place in the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Conn. Last year’s draft put Brittney Griner on our collective radar for which we will be forever grateful. Tune in tonight to catch new talent, ladies in dope suits, and dreams coming true. And not only that – Autostraddle is bringing you the chance to win a bunch of cool WNBA Gear!

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Bra Tips and Picks for Ladies with Huge Racks

Hi everybody. How are your boobs? I’m here today to talk to you about what to do with your life when your rack is too substantial to fit into “normal” department store sizes. I don’t know about you, but I was already wearing a C cup by age 11, which made middle school an awkward and uncomfortable time for all involved. When you’re already a pretty weird kid, all you really want to do is blend in, but my own body betrayed me. I was cursed with giant tits that failed to deliver anything but purely negative and altogether unwanted attention. By the time I’d reached high school, the girls in my chemistry class were calling me by a whole slew of horrible nicknames, and I was made to feel incredibly self conscious about my body for the rest of my natural life! It felt a lot like this:

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bra week shopping guide

Star Trek N00b, Episode 19: Arena (Hunger Games in Space)

Before we launch into this recap, I have to let you folks know something: I’ll be wrapping up Star Trek N00b next week with episode 20.
Don’t draw your phasers just yet! I’m not really a complete N00b to Star Trek anymore. After analyzing the minute details of each episode, I’m able to hold my own in Star Trek conversations, laugh at in-jokes, and appreciate the historical impacts of this amazing series.
Friends, I’ve gained new geek skills, kinda like a Pokemon in its intermediate stage of evolution.

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Nerd Culture regular Star Trek N00b

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