Photo: Instagram, Library of Congress, Netflix
Damn, there’s A LOT of LGBT news to cover this week.
January is typically the month when we emerge from our holiday stupor to a wave of new and returning TV shows, interviews to pour over, and political developments to analyze following our constituents return to Washington.
Needless to say, this week I’ve knitted together a hefty round-up of girl-girl action for your reading pleasure. Particular points of interest include Shay Mitchell talking the future of “Emison” on Pretty Little Liars, a lesbian couple taking over a Baptist church, and sadly… a major celesbian breakup.
So, hunker down with a strong cup of coffee (or cocktail) and prepare yourself for a bustling week in lady lovin’ entertainment.
ICYMI: Samira Wiley & Her Fiancée Chat to Out Magazine About Their Complicated Beginnings, Long Distance Relationships, & Getting Engaged
Photo: Out Magazine
Eep. I missed this interview when it came out a few weeks ago, but this is just TOO GOOD of an article not to include before I get to the more current news.
There’s a lot of gems in here, but one of my favorites is when Samira discusses getting to know the “ugliest” parts about Lauren and falling in love with her flaws.
Wiley explained:
“Maybe a year after we were officially together, we went on our first trip. We are so opposite in how we operate, so we’d bicker. We showed our true selves – maybe the ugliest, nastiest parts. We were out of our comfort zones. We were in Thailand riding elephants. We always say it’s amazing we survived that trip, but however horrible it was, it helped me know I want to be with her – because she could see all these parts of me and still want to be with me, and I could see all these parts of her and still want to be with her. I would rather have the worst day with Lauren than the best day with someone else.”Read the full interview HERE.
Side note — AE will be recapping the Handmaid’s Tale!
Shay Mitchell Dishes To Entertainment Tonight On The Future Of Emison & The Pretty Little Liars Finale
Photo: Instagram
My ultimate guilty pleasure for the past seven (?!) years has been Pretty Little Liars. In the beginning of the series, the character of Emily Fields came across as refreshing, relatable, and well-drawn. Emily was especially important to me since I was just coming out when the first season aired.
Cut to a few years later, and I’m wondering what the hell lesbian writer Marlene King has been smoking… especially in light of last season’s shenanigans. It’s crazy to me that each of Emily’s friends have had consistent love stories with (somewhat) well-developed characters yet Ms. Fields has a romantic history even a seasoned therapist would be hesitant to tackle. It’s confusing when one of our own is struggling to represent us.
That being said, actress Shay Mitchell caught up with Entertainment Tonight to discuss Emison and who she’d end up with by the series finale.
Check out the interview below!
The series finale is set to air on April 18.
P.S. The actress just landed a new reality show called Shades of Shay. The eight-episode season will follow Mitchell as she finds her professional footing after PLL.
Goodnight Moon Author Revealed To Be A Bisexual Renegade
Good news, guys — your favorite book from childhood is 100% NOT straight.
According to the biography In The Great Green Room, author Margaret Wise Brown was a bisexual woman who was engaged in a relationship with a married woman named Blanche Oelrichs (preferred name Michael Strange) during the 1940s.
The pair’s relationship was tumultuous, fiery, and above all — deeply romantic.
Per the biographer, Brown wrote a poem in honor of Michael titled Goodnight Room during one of their many breakups. The poem would eventually evolve into Goodnight Moon, which propelled Margaret into child author infamy.
I can’t stop smiling when thinking of all the anti-LGBT parents reading this book to their kids. It’s an incredibly subversive fuck you.
If you love reading about the lives of authors as much as I do, be sure to pick this book up.
Lesbian Quits Job After Bosses Force Her To Remove LGBT Pride Screensaver
Photo: Facebook
Everything about this story is disgusting and NOT okay.
According to Michelle Hurn of Colorado, she was forced to quit her job at Boulder Community Health’s Foothills Hospital over a LGBT pride screensaver.
Hurn, who is happily married, felt compelled to change her screensaver following Donald Trump’s win in November. Sadly, a coworker complained to management about the pride flag and she was put into a really unfair and tough situation.
Instead of deleting the image, Michelle decided to quit.
Explaining her decision to the Daily Camera, the proud lesbian revealed:
“For me, it was empowering. I don’t do things in life to say, ‘Show the haters.’ For me, it was honoring who I am. I’m proud, and I’m not going to pretend I’m not something. We’ve got to stand up any time we see instances of discrimination or people being marginalized.”I’m happy to report the dietician has since found a new job.
Bisexual Activist Stands Up To Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pick Jeff Sessions
Photo: Instagram
If you haven’t heard, our next Attorney General is a really awful person. Sessions vigorously defended Trump’s 2005 “grab them by the pussy” comments and he’s also a known homophobe.
Thankfully, bisexual activist Amita Swadhin was brave enough to testify against him at his ongoing confirmation hearing. Amita spoke out because she is a victim of sexual abuse — her father raped her for years when she was a kid.
“As a bisexual woman with a transgender romantic partner, and as an advocate working to support sexual assault survivors in the LGBT community, the prospect of Senator Sessions as attorney general is personally and professionally alarming. We need a justice department that can be a partner to families and communities. Our attorney general must be able to demonstrate leadership to victims of violent crime that helps us feel we can trust the state, the courts, and victim service agencies more than we fear our perpetrators. For most survivors of violent crime, this means trusting the state more than you fear the family member, friend or community member who you trusted and who raped or abused you.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. While her words most likely won’t change the outcome of this situation, at least she stood up for victims of sexual assault and our community.
The Dinah 2017 Might Be Having Its Best Year Yet
Fabulous news, ladies! In 2017 The Dinah will celebrate LGBT women who achieved historic firsts — AKA those who’ve shattered glass ceilings.
Founder Mariah Hanson told LGBT Weekly:
“Now more than ever, it is enormously important to celebrate and raise the visibility of women breaking glass ceilings especially within our own community because we need to be reminded that we are strong, capable, united and powerful in a time when our voices, especially spoken in unity, are needed more than ever before.”Check out the full inspiring lineup HERE.
Married Lesbian Couple Become Co-Pastors Of Baptist Church
Is there anything better than this?
Married couple Sally Sarratt and Maria Swearingen will begin their new jobs as co-pastors of a baptist church in Washington, D.C. on February 26. It’s a really historic move for the Calvary Baptist Church and religious members of the LGBT community.
Maria told the Huffington Post:
“Calvary sits in a unique position to be both a progressive and multiracial congregation, Baptist in heritage and ecumenical in expression, offering vibrant space for people across racial and ethnic lines who hold theologically progressive views to share in Christian community together. Imagining such a place excites us!”Congrats, guys! Lea DeLaria & Her Fiancé Split Just DAYS After Their Intended Wedding Date
Photo: Instagram
Breakups are always sad, but I’m glad to see these two handled the situation with humor and maturity. At the end of the day, they had four successful years together and that’s what’s important.
Check out Lea’s Instagram announcement on the broken engagement:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPIjeqXF1w3/?taken-by=realleadelaria&hl=en
Ha!
Bisexual Actress Amandla Stenberg Shaves Her Head For Where Hands Touch
Photo: Instagram
Lookin’ good, girl! It’s nice to see a young actress unafraid to stray from typical Hollywood beauty norms.
Take a look at Stenberg’s inspirational post revealing her new hairstyle below!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-k3GthKSD/?taken-by=amandlastenberg&hl=en
Well said.
Lesbian Cartoonist Alison Bechdel Talks Bringing Back Beloved Comic Dykes To Watch Out For What awesome news!
In a recent interview with the The Gay Voice, Alison talked about bringing back Dykes To Watch Out For in light of our 2016 election.
The writer explained:
“Funny that you should ask that, because right now I’m just so distraught over the election that the only way I could see out of it, the only way I could help myself figure it out, was to start writing a “Dykes to Watch Out For” strip. I haven’t thought about these characters in eight years, but I’m right in the middle of writing an episode and kind of dragging them all out of storage.”The artist further revealed she’ll share the new strips on her local alternative weekly or on her website.
Ruby Rose Visits Ellen DeGeneres’ Show For The First Time EVER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRuMHXazRQo
Wait, Ruby has never appeared on Ellen’s show before? How is this even possible?
Either way, the actress looked flawless in a silk white dress and sounded super relatable when she discussed what it’s like to be broke while living in Los Angeles.
Queer Television writer Michelle Badillo Opens Up On Writing For Netflix Series One Day At A Time
Photo: Twitter
There’s no question the writing world needs more queer women and people of color. That’s why I’m so happy to learn Michelle is a writer for Netflix’s reboot of the ’80s sitcom One Day At A Time.
In a conversation with Broadly, Badillo discussed her fears about writing a lesbian character for TV as a gay woman herself, explaining:
“What gave me the most anxiety is that, at first, Isabella [Gomez]’s character Elena dates a boy and is pretty sexually aggressive with him. But there’s a prevalent and understandable complaint in the lesbian community that every time we see a lesbian character, it has to be in the context of a man. On screen, a lesbian always has to make out with a man to realize she’s gay, but that was my real experience. I kind of knew I was gay, but I was so desperate not to be gay, that I was very aggressive with men and wanted to have physical experiences with them just to feel normal. I knew I was contributing to the writing of a trope I know lesbians hate, but that trope was my life.”Well, it’s refreshing to hear such an honest take on just how difficult is to write lesbian characters. It makes me feel like I’m too harsh on Marlene.
Interested fans can catch the series premiere this weekend. Let me know if you end up watching!
New Poll Shows Gays Are Taking Over America
So, the only thing good to happen in 2016 is a new Gallup poll which shows the LGBT community is bigger than ever. Since 2012, there’s been 1.75 million increase in those who identify as LGBT.
The report revealed:
“Pollsters conducted interviews with random sample of 1.6 million U.S. adults (over age 18) for the past five years, asking, “Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender?” Nearly 50,000 responded in the affirmative.”Read the full findings HERE.
Sister Wives Stars Come To Terms With Mariah Brown’s Sexuality
Photo: TLC
For those who read the round-up last week, I covered Mariah coming out to her polygamist Mormon family.
I just happened to catch the new clips showing the aftermath of Brown’s revelation and I think they’re important enough to share… especially for those who currently embroiled in the coming out process.
Watch the emotional moments below:
That’s a wrap! Comment below with your thoughts and what I may have missed.
