Me Time
It's Lesbian Visibility Week!!!
It used to be just one day but clearly that wasn't long enough!
Here's a piece I wrote on the subject for the April issue of the newsletter of the American LGBTQ+ Museum.
Celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week: April 21-27, 2025
As the official Lesbian Visibility Week site states, the point of this week is to uplift lesbians and “show solidarity with all LGBTQI women and non-binary people in our community.”
Originally founded in Los Angeles in 1990, Lesbian Visibility Week seemed to fall off the radar after 1992 until it was revived in 2008 as International Lesbian Visibility Day in the UK, with April 26th named as the official day. The Day was lengthened to a Week by DIVA Magazine publisher, Linda Riley, who declared that 24 hours was totally insufficient!
A listing of events celebrating Lesbian Visibility Week in the US can be found here. In an article about the Week, Parade, an entertainment site, suggests that “the main point of Lesbian Visibility Week is to celebrate and support lesbians in your own lives and communities. This can be by telling them you care, aiding them in some way, and educating yourself on the stigma they might face.”
Given all the horrible news that's out there, I was happy to see just how much content I was able to pick up for the Culture & Joy section of this issue. Remember, joy is an act of resistance!
Sapphic Lit and Other Book Stuff
PEN America Submission Manager - U.S. Writers Aid Initiative
The U.S. Writers Aid Initiative is intended to assist fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists in addressing short-term financial emergencies. Thanks for this link go to Erika Dreifus.
Students Fighting Book Bans Are the Focus of the New Documentary Banned Together | Teen Vogue
Banned Together follows three students’ efforts to preserve intellectual freedom in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Banned Lesbian Books You Should Read This Week | by Emily Chudy | Prism & Pen | Apr, 2025 | Medium
With anti-LGBTQ+ book-banning on the rise, this Lesbian Visibility Week here are the banned sapphic books you should know abou
AI Killed NaNoWriMo. This Just In: The writing month… | by Justin Cox | Apr, 2025 | The Writing Cooperative
While NaNo is dead, the spirit will live on through Writing Month.
The Second Edition of The Business of Being a Writer Officially Releases Today | Jane Friedman
The second edition dramatically revises and re-envisions how to best help writers understand the business they’re entering and how to approach their careers with the same creative spirit as their writing.
The Struggle With Writer Imposter Syndrome | by Margery Bayne | Apr, 2025 | The Writing Cooperative
I struggle to feel I deserve the title
'ChatGPT Hyphen': Are Em Dashes a Giveaway of AI Writing?
ChatGPT didn't invent this punctuation mark out of thin air — human authors have used it for centuries
A One-Of-A-Kind, One-Time Only Learning Event – Writer Unboxed
Classes and deep-dive workshops with: Grace Burrowes, Dorian Cirrone, Emma Dryden, Sarah Fisk, Sheree Greer, Janice Hardy, Leah Henderson, Saritza Hernandez, Lorin Oberweger, Veronica Rossi, Jason Sitzes, and Christopher Vogler.
A Quick Post About Tariffs - by Kathleen Schmidt
Books are exempt from tariffs. Paper, pulp, ink, fuel, shipping costs, and production costs (in China) are affected by tariffs. There was a baseline tariff on books with China, which remains.
Why Did Tinx Hire a Lesbian Ghostwriter for 'Hotter in the Hamptons'? | Autostraddle
Tinx has written a “spicy” sapphic romance novel titled Hotter in the Hamptons, debuting this May. Why would a straight influencer choose this topic for her fiction debut? Was she about to come out, resulting in me, an Autostraddle editor, needing to learn about her like I once did with Chrishell Stause and Jojo Siwa? Alas, no. The apparent answer is much stranger.
News For A Challenging Time
Mom charged for allegedly bringing gun to Indianapolis elementary school | wthr.com
Rivers allegedly told police that her daughter's teacher had given an assignment dealing with same-sex relationships. The teacher told police the assignment was about flags, and that she brought up the flags of several countries and states before referencing the flag in her classroom, which is a rainbow flag with the words "be kind" on it.
'Resistance Rangers' Safeguard LGBTQ+ History As Government Efforts To Erase It Intensify - GO Magazine
This revolution is being led by a group of over a thousand off-duty, fired, and retired National Park Service employees who call themselves the Resistance Rangers. Their mission? They are reclaiming the stories this administration wants us to forget. Specifically, the contributions of queer and trans people to the fabric of American history. As this fight to rewrite LGBTQ+ history intensifies, the Resistance Rangers are holding the line for truth and memory.
Lesbian Cop Who Was Told To Be “Submissive” To Men Or Sleep With Them Wins $10M In Damages - GO Magazine
he says she was passed over for promotions, removed from crime scenes without cause, and even placed in danger when another officer failed to search a homicide suspect for weapons.
Sedona Prince Skipped in WNBA Draft Amid Abuse Allegations | Them
several women came forward and accused Prince of intimate partner violence or sexual assault.
“Improper Ideology”—Trump Demands Women’s History Museum Remove Trans People or Lose Funding
The American Women’s History Museum must remove trans people from its exhibits and programming, or lose its federal funding, Trump says
Lesbian Herstory Archives has been documenting Sapphic history since 1974
“The act of preserving history is an act of revolution,” said Deborah Edel, one of the founders of the Lesbian Herstory Archives, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Caravan of Hope brings LGBTQ+ justice & support to rural queers in red states - LGBTQ Nation
Caravan of Hope, a way to offer mobile legal services to LGBTQ+ people in underserved areas. Using mostly her own money, she purchased an RV trailer, renovated it into a mobile office and planned a 30-day trip to 14 cities across the nation — an over 5,000 mile drive — where she offered a day’s worth of queer-related legal services like gender marker and name changes, basic estate planning, uncontested divorces, and general legal guidance.
Why Lesbians Face a Maternal Healthcare Crisis
Eighty-three percent of queer women reported birthing complications. From systemic bias to outdated medical policies, lesbians face a maternal health system that was never designed with them in mind.
The Paris Afrolesbian and Translesbian Lesbian March on April 26, 2025
Events are planned in the U.S., U.K. and France, where Afro-Caribbean lesbians will march.
Culture and Joy
Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer Are Married
the couple exchanged vows at home in front of an intimate group of loved ones — including Ashley Benson and her husband Brandon Davis — after obtaining a marriage license at the courthouse.
Revealing the 2025 Curve Power List - CURVE
Congrats to Radclyffe of Bold Strokes Books and Julie Enszer of Sinister Wisdom, and everyone else!
As a highlight of Lesbian Visibility Week, the Curve Power List celebrates LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary individuals making seismic shifts in North America-shaping culture, policy, and social change. From sports and entertainment icons to corporate leaders and politicians, these individuals are breaking barriers, challenging norms, and leaving an indelible mark on our community and beyond.
This year, we were confronted with an unfortunate first: two of our finalists asked to withdraw from the list, fearing the current administration would target them.
7 LGBTQ+ Health Pros to Follow on Social Media -
Many queer women and nonbinary individuals are trailblazers in the fields of mental health, sexual health, and collective wellness. As the LGBTQ+ community grows online, we have the ability to hold one another closer on multiple platforms, particularly in instances of social and political unease.
Lesbian Lives 2025 Call for Papers | Sinister Wisdom
For the first time since its inception in 1993, the Lesbian Lives Conference is crossing the Atlantic to New York City! The conference is hosted by the Journal of Lesbian Studies, Sinister Wisdom, and CLAGS: the Center for LGBT Studies at the City University of New York. Lesbian Lives brings together academics, artists, writers, and activists to showcase, enjoy, and critically analyze lesbian culture.
Rooted in an ethos of inclusivity, dialogue, diversity, and accessibility, the conference welcomes people of all sexualities and genders.
Lesbian Lives 2025 will be held on October 24 and 25 at the Graduate Center CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10016.
Shayanne Sellers Got WNBA Drafted and Gay Engaged This Week | Autostraddle
Sellers proposed to her girlfriend, Seton Hall hooper Faith Masonius, and Faith of course said yes. The pair announced their engagement on Instagram yesterday after a few days of teasing it on TikTok, sharing professional photographs (taken by Quis Makale) of Sellers proposing on what appears to be some kind of dock overlooking the waterfront. It’s very cute and they are very cute!!!
‘Harlem’ Star Jerrie Johnson Preps for Wedding at New York Bridal Fashion Week - The New York Times
Jerrie Johnson, a star of “Harlem,” and her fiancée, Dria Brown, attended shows and fittings during New York Bridal Fashion Week in preparation for their wedding next year.
Ashlyn Harris Opens Up About The "Really Dark" Side Of Her College Sports Experience - GO Magazine
Ashlyn Harris, the two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion and former U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper, recently opened up about a deeply personal chapter of her life: her struggle with Adderall addiction during her college years.
Inside Lesbian Garros: How Lesbians Are Transforming Madrid's Tennis Culture - GO Magazine
Lesbian Garros, Madrid’s queer and inclusive tennis league, has grown to over 250 players in two years. GO Magazine spoke with co-founder Ana Leal.
New Podcast 'Femme4Femme' Is Part Education, Part Comedy, And Totally Gay - GO Magazine
Femme4Femme is Torres’s first professional venture with Lopez, her girlfriend of nearly six years. While both women are veterans of the entertainment industry in their own right, they tell GO they’ve never done anything like this podcast. It’s part comedy, part history, and puts the couple front and center in a new way. Femme4Femme is a love letter to the lesbian experience told by two people who are also in love with each other. They hope it’s also wildly entertaining.
Inside the Art-Filled Home of Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman - The New York Times
Enter the L.A. Home They Have Turned Into a Gallery
Rosie O’Donnell on Ireland, Trump and Her New Hulu Documentary - The New York Times
She’s moved to Ireland. She’s befriended a Menendez brother, and she’s making documentaries. What’s next?
On 'Love on the Spectrum,' Tina and Pari Are Unabashedly Autistic, Queer and 'Part Jewish' - Hey Alma
In episode three, viewers are introduced to Pari, a 22-year-old Bostonite who loves the color purple and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, or as it’s commonly known, the “T.” She tells director Cian O’Clery that she dated a guy in high school, but later realized that she’s also interested in dating women. “I want to find my own Princess Charming,” Pari says.
Enter Tina, a 20-something Cortical Visual Impairment and Disability advocate.
Margaret Qualley Is Playing a Lesbian (Again!) Opposite Aubrey Plaza | Them
Honey Don’t! will star Qualley as a gay private investigator and Plaza as a “mystery woman.”
JoJo Siwa Questions Her Gender Identity On CBB
Met a lot of people in my life that are nonbinary, and these beautiful nonbinary people are who I feel the most like and… I don’t know, it’s not something I want to say about myself yet
Ani DiFranco Documentary Shows Her First Time Writing a Song With Another Artist - The New York Times
The film “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” follows the fiercely independent artist as she tries a career first: writing a song with another artist.
‘The Wedding Banquet’ Is the Next Great Queer Romcom | Autostraddle
The Wedding Banquet (2025) is about codependent college besties Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Chris (Bowen Yang), both gay, both with complicated relationships toward their theoretically supportive Chinese American families.
Kelly Marie Tran on ‘The Wedding Banquet,’ Coming Out, and Her Queer Relationship | Them
The Wedding Banquet star is ready to talk about queerness, love, and overcoming imposter syndrome.
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