State of the Autostraddle Union #3: A Letter From Your Editor
Welcome to the third-ever State of the Autostraddle Union, in which I speak directly about what the fuck is going on around here! It’s been two years since our last State of the Union, and three years since our first. 2013 was wild — surprisingly hard, at times, and exhilarating at other times. We’ve grown and changed and learned and gotten haircuts and made apple damn sandwiches and now there’s so much catching up to do!
You are my lover and I am your mistress, and kingdoms and empires and governments have tottered and succumbed before now to that mighty combination – the most powerful in the world.
—Violet Trefusis to Vita Sackville-West, via Autostraddle
I need to start writing letters again. I used to do that a lot, admittedly in a romantic sense, but I’d like to write to friends as well. Nothing is quite so fantastic to receive as a letter from someone you are pleased to know.
(via girlinstereo)
Evan Rachel Wood Bisexual and Nikki Reed were Two Girls in Love During ‘Thirteen’
January marks the tenth anniversary of Thirteen, the Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Woodfilm based…
What’s some of your favorite stuff that you’ve done thus far, sort of breaking into the whole advocacy queer activism community? And what’s some stuff that you’re dreaming of that have yet to do?
Oh my God. I think the number one thing, to be honest, was connecting with other trans women. Because I think that the way that I grew up was kind of like, you “transitioned” and then you move on with your life and you move on because you need to survive, right? So you move on away from the community that kind of raised you. Like I was raised with trans women, like a group in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was older trans women. My best friend was a trans woman. You graduate away from that once you can kind of live this “realness” life, right?
And so telling my story connected me to a whole network of women. And that has been the biggest strength for me. I have new friends in my life who are amazing trans women. Writers, artists, activists. And now I can tap into that network of women and really know what community is. It’s uplifting one another, it’s affirming one another, it’s challenging one another, it’s caring for one another. That has been the biggest gift in my life so far. And that all came through the act of stepping forward and telling my story and just speaking up. And so my voice connected me to other voices and it only enriches my voice. And so that has been the biggest gift in my life so far, being able to do that.
And I just want to continue storytelling and letting other women see themselves, right? Because when we create media, like I know how Autostraddle has done, you tap into other women. They start creating media and they start doing things. So that’s been the most inspiring thing is to see young trans women come to me, or just young women of color, queer women of color, who say that my story has meant this to them and so they created this project or meant this to them or they started telling their story or created a blog. And so I just love how that’s the part of the story’s sharing process, right? The telling is just step one, but the sharing part, you don’t know where that’s going to take you and it encourages other people to share their stories. And I think that we need more and more stories, our own stories.
Dear Queer Diary: Looking For Love In All The Write Places
“Okay, so I keep thinking how in a few years I am going to be reading this and thinking it’s so…
Brittani’s Video Party: Fortune Feimster and Veronica Mars Sing “Teen Dream”
Header by Rory Midhani
Zolita’s 90s inspired video for “Teen Dream”turns the usual teenage girl…
i thought emma goldman’s queerness was speculative/folklore more than anything, but apparently not. please for the love of god check this out. it contains the phrase “the rhythmic spurt of your love juice” if that helps at all.
The one resting higher (ie. the lower one in the lower picture) is by me. With these shoes you could walk to infinity and beyond. We’re awesome.
15 Ladies Who Were Writing Sexy Lesbian Love Letters Before You Got Born
Lesbians and queer relationships as we know them are a relatively modern construction, but women…
Queer Outfit of the Week: It’s Cold Inside the Party!
Click for more Queer Outfit of the Week
Header by Rory MidhaniLast week many of you were appalled…
“The Call to Adventure,” Issue 1 of qu.ee/r Magazine, Is Here!
Back in August we told you about the literary journal qu.ee/r Magazine, which is “committed to…
