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Lez Dish It Out! AfterEllen’s LGBT Weekly Round-Up

Photo: Facebook, Instagram, DC Comics

Happy Friday, all.

This week we all survived Valentine’s Day, the most emotionally exhausting holiday for single people AND couples. Life is hard enough without having to sift through heteronormative greeting cards and endless V-Day posts on social media, right? Next year let’s just give our pets roses and call it a day.

Anyways, this week I have a lot of cool things to report, especially where it concerns queer comics and lady lovin’ women making waves. This round-up has a little something for everyone!

Lez get to it!

Susan Sarandon Declares Her Sexual Orientation Is “Up For Grabs”

Photo: Instagram

I have very mixed feelings about Susan Sarandon. On one hand, Suze is a bad ass Hollywood icon who looks AMAZING for being 70-years-old. On the other hand, she says a lot of questionable things — especially where it concerns politics.

In the latest installment of What Is Susan Sarandon Actually Saying, the actress set off a flurry of headlines when she revealed her sexual orientation is “up for grabs”. Coming from a celebrity gossip background, I’m not surprised many articles led with click bait titles such as: Susan Sarandon Is A Lesbian! It’s all about da clicks, people.

The ACTUAL quote from Sarandon reads:

“I married Chris Sarandon when I was 20, and that went on for quite a while – each of my relationships have. I haven’t exactly been in the midst of a lot of offers of any kind. I’m still not! I don’t know what’s going on! But I think back in the ’60s it just was much more open. I’m open. My sexual orientation is up for grabs, I guess you could say.”
So… I think Susan is trying to imply she’s sexually fluid. While I think the star could have phrased her revelation better, more power to her.

Singer Shura Talks The Importance Of Coming Out

Photo: Instagram

In 2015, Shura released a queer visual masterpiece for her single Touch. The celebrated music video propelled her into stardom and soon she was opening for the likes of Tegan & Sara.

While the artist came out as a lesbian at age sixteen, she didn’t come out to fans until a few years ago. Apparently Shura never thought being out in the public sphere was too big of a deal, a perspective which drastically changed after the horrific Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016.

The 25-year-old explained:

“Post-Orlando, things definitely changed in my brain on whether it was important or not that I was out, and giving visibility to the community. It inspired me to be more proactive… it’s not over. We’re in the middle of a long journey.”
Well, I’m glad to hear the musician is dedicated to bringing more visibility to the community. As for Shura’s next venture, she’s set to play at this year’s Coachella.

Remember Vanessa Carlton? She’s Bi & Speaking Out For LGBTQ Rights!

Photo: Facebook

If only my middle school self knew Vanessa would one day reveal herself to be bisexual. A Thousand Miles would have been just that more enjoyable!

For those who haven’t kept up with Ms. Carlton following her 2001 hit turned karaoke anthem A Thousand Miles, she’s been up to a lot. Not only did the singer come out as bisexual in 2010 (we wrote about it HERE), she also got married, popped out an adorable daughter, and totally revamped her image/sound.

Now that the 36-year-old is free from the chains of a major pop label, she has become more candid about politics and her allegiance to the LGBTQ community.

Talking to PrideSource, Vanessa explained:

“If the administration tries to take away the right to adopt and same-sex marriages – if I could lose my mind any more, I will. I can’t even fathom… at this point, we’re talking about civil rights of Americans, and LGBTQ is a community and that is real… the most fundamental human rights in this country are at risk.”
We know, girl. We know.

Kristen Stewart Discusses Her Latest Movie Role & Enjoys A Low-Key V-Day With Stella Maxwell

Kristen is one busy girl these days. In addition to directing her own short Come Swim, the actress has appeared in a ton of movies this year, including Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. For those who haven’t heard of Ang, he’s an incredible director who adapted Rick Moody’s novel The Ice Storm into a critically acclaimed film.

This week Yahoo! scored a behind-the-scenes interview with Stewart in which she discusses working with Lee. Check it out below:

As for an update on Kristen and Stella’s relationship, they were spotted enjoying a chill Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles:

In a funny twist, I noticed a lot of headlines claiming Kristen bought Stella flowers for V-Day. Besides there being no photographic evidence of this, I’m not sure why that tidbit would be news. Breaking: Same-Sex Couples Are Just Like Us!

Queen Latifah Recalls The Difficulty Of Playing A Lesbian Character In Set It Off

Photo: Instagram

While I haven’t seen the 1996 film Set It Off, I was interested to hear Queen Latifah’s take on playing a lesbian character as an African-American woman. The actress admitted that at the time there was a lot of stigma attached to the role, a challenge she faced head on for the betterment of her community.

The star recalled:

“When I got the role of amateur bank robber Cleo Sims in Set It Off, I sat down with my younger siblings and told them, ‘Listen, I’m playing a gay character. Your classmates might tease you or say negative things about it’. But I’m doing it because I believe I can bring positive attention to the gay African-American community, and I believe that I can do a great job as an actor.’ They understood, and when those things inevitably happened in school, they were OK with it.”
Props to Queen Latifah for taking a risk.

Queer Entrepreneur Vanessa Newman Is Here To Curate Your Perfect Date… For Cheap!

Photo: Facebook

There’s nothing I love more than queer women starting their own businesses and creative ventures.

In honor of Black History Month, NYLON magazine is profiling all aspects of black culture through interviews, op-eds, and reviews. This week they chose Vanessa Newman, a queer entrepreneur and techie who founded Butchbaby & Co., a maternity line geared toward masculine, transgender, and queer parents. I think we can all agree that’s a severely underrepresented market, right?

While Butchbaby & Co. ultimately folded, Newman has moved onto a new project — Beau & Arrow. The company aims to provide unique date ideas on the cheap.

The boss lady said of the project:

“If you want to do something different [on a date] that you’ve never done before, I will provide you with ideas-like outings and gifts. In this era of dating, millennials are kind of broke [and] we’re not going all out with the romance. Things are a lot more instant, but people still want to show they care and there are definitely ways to be romantic but cheap. And I think it’s important for people of color. Black love is important.”

For three to six creative date ideas or gift concepts, you’ll have to shell out $35 dollars. The cost also includes a consultation fee.

Check out Beau & Arrow HERE.

P.S. Check out AE’s articles on Black History Month HERE & HERE.

Batwoman Writer Marguerite Bennett Promises To Deliver A “Defiantly Queer” Reboot

Photo: DC Comics

For those of you who are comic book fans, you’re probably already aware Batwoman was getting a reboot through the DC Comics Rebirth series. Marguerite Bennett will be penning the latest installment of Kate Kane’s story, and she couldn’t be more thrilled to highlight Batwoman’s queerness.

Ms. Bennett told Movie Pilot:

“I hope we make something beautiful, brutal, and defiantly queer. I hope we show you elements of Batwoman and her world you’ve never seen before, had never even imagined, and push her to heights and drive her to depths that make you delight and despair for her. I hope we do justice to her legacy, and create the book I wish had existed when I was young and growing up.”
Yes, I’m on board with ALL OF THIS.

Oh, and there will be LOTS of kissing scenes:

“I mean, I wrote all these kissing scenes just for me, but if y’all want to read ’em too, I’m not gonna holler. But seriously: yes. And in the sense that a queer identity is not set simply by who one is or is not kissing. (But there are a lot of kisses. I like kissing. Don’t make it weird).”
Below are some preview images for fans to salivate over:

Photo: DC Comics

Photo: DC Comics

Samira Wiley & Lauren Morelli Are Still #CoupleGoals

Photo: Out Magazine

Oh, Samira and Lauren. Where do I even start!

Over the past week, the sweet couple were highlighted in Out Magazine‘s love issue, slayed New York Fashion Week, and had a picture perfect Valentine’s Day. This is what dreams are made of, ladies!

Check out the ladies’ lovey dovey week below!

Fashion week:

Photo: Instagram

V-Day lovin’:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQg7QieFTUX/?taken-by=whododatlikedat&hl=en

When is the wedding, ladies?!

Queer Gamer Has Developed An Incredible Database Highlighting LGBT Representation In Games

Photo: Twitter

Yay for members of our community doing awesome things.

While sifting through the news this week, I came across an article on Alayna Cole, a queer gamer who is dedicated to finding better LGBT representation in the gaming world. Cole is so dedicated to the project that she has developed a very thorough database (there are spreadsheets and elaborate visuals!) called “Queerly Represent Me”. The site details which games feature the best LGBT characters and offers a TON of articles on queer representation.

Alayna elaborated:

“The queer community is such a diverse community and representations of individual identities are quite few. Representations often use stereotypes or rely on tropes, there’s very little in terms of positive, strong or realistic characters.”
Admittedly I’m not much of a gamer, but I have a feeling those who are will appreciate this site. Visit Queerly Represent Me HERE.

Queer Web Series Brown Girls Airs Its First Episode

Photo: Megan Lee Miller

Hey, remember when I told you about the new web series Brown Girls? I’m happy to report the series’ first episode JUST aired and it’s already getting great reviews.

In honor of the occasion, the show’s writer Fatimah Asghar spoke out on why it’s important to bring queer women of color to the forefront of television and film, stating:

“A lot of people come from intersections that get erased on media platforms. If we can shed light that these people exist and are real, and have many different personalities, it will expand the definition of what some of these identities mean.”

P.S. You can watch the first EP below :

That’s it! Let me know what you liked and/or what I may have missed in the comments!

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