queer

A New Wave of High-Femme Pop Stars Are Queering the Girl Group

Ruby and Queenie, a queer singing group, pose in front of a red background
by Sofia Barrett-Ibarria
August 21, 2019 at 2:55pm
Sateen is moving the girl group away from hints and subtext toward an aesthetic and musical style that’s unmistakably queer, trans-positive, and staunchly pro-girl.
Miley Cyrus, a white woman wearing a white tank top with tattoos, is on stage singing into a microphone.

Knee-Jerk Biphobia: What Responses to Miley Cyrus’s Breakup Say about Queer Erasure

by Elly Belle
August 19, 2019 at 8:59am
Miley Cyrus isn’t “back” just because she’s dating a woman. She’s always been queer. Read more »
A photo of characters from the cover of The Sims 4

20 Years of Queer Exploration: How “The Sims” Helped 13 LGBTQ People Find Realization

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
August 6, 2019 at 2:47pm
In July, Electronic Arts revealed the cover art for The Sims 4, which features the first same-sex couple since the franchise began nearly 20 years ago.  Read more »
A photo of James Baldwin, a Black man. Baldwin smiles and looks to the right of the camera.

7 Books by Queer Black Writers to Read in Honor of James Baldwin’s Birthday

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
August 2, 2019 at 3:55pm
Today, more LGBTQ Black authors are carving out the space that James Baldwin helped craft. Read more »
A meme created by @atmfiend about having a crush

The Vanilla Internet: How Instagram Is Failing Queer Sex Workers

by Erin Taylor
July 30, 2019 at 7:40am
Following FOSTA-SESTA, Instagram has increased its censorship of content that can be perceived as related to sex work—with at times devastating effects on digital queer sex worker communities. Read more »
DeWanda Wise as Nola and Ilfenesh Hadera as Opal on She's Gotta Have It

Queerbait and Switch: “She’s Gotta Have It” Fails LGBTQ Viewers—Again

by Zoe Samudzi
July 11, 2019 at 4:54pm
We were baited with a girl-on-girl softcore scene only for female-centric romance to be altogether abandoned just a couple of episodes later. Read more »
A photo of artist Lil Nas X. Lil Nas X, a black boy, wears a bright outfit and his signature cowboy hat.

Beyond Expectations: Lil Nas X Forges a Freer, More Fluid Hip Hop

by Aurielle Marie
July 11, 2019 at 2:21pm
Lil Nas X is as interested in complicating genre as he is in complicating expectations of men in the music industry. Read more »
A photo of Megan Rapinoe, a white woman with dyed lilac hair, holding her arms out wide over the soccer field during the US Women's World Cup

From Memes to Equal Pay: How Lesbian Meme Culture Produced A New Dedicated Soccer Fandom

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
July 8, 2019 at 7:09pm
With their World Cup win, the United States women’s national soccer team has been extensively memed, leading to newly obsessed queer fans—and more supporters in their fight for pay equity. Read more »
a dark-skinned Black woman with a short, curly fro and big, bold pink earrings smiles on Pose FX

The Category Is “That Bitch”: Angelica Ross on Candy Ferocity’s Fierce Season 2 Turn

by Dr. Jon Paul
July 2, 2019 at 10:45am
This season, Candy still has had a lot to prove to a lot of people—and she’s not shying away from the challenge. Read more »
A photo of Kevin Keller, a gay white male teen character from Riverdale.

Swipe Left: When Marginalized TV Characters Turn to Dating Apps

by Hannah Steinkopf-Frank
June 28, 2019 at 10:26am
For marginalized characters, small-screen depictions of dating apps are more regressive than excitingly futuristic. Read more »
The cover of The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg, which features the two main characters, Max, a gay biracial Mexican baseball player, and Jordan, a gay poet.

A Queerer World: 2019 Is the Year of the LGBTQ YA Novel

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 26, 2019 at 2:12pm
This year, LGBTQ young adult novels have finally diversified the queer experience. Read more »

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Best of Bitch

A Conversation About Transgender Representation in Pop Culture

by Sarah Mirk
June 19, 2015 at 12:35pm
Janet Mock, on her MSNBC web show, is one of a handful of transgender people who has recently gained international visibility. Recently, we... Read more »

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

by Tina Vasquez
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
"Redefining Realness" is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

Trans Women Are Women. Why Do We Have to Keep Saying This?

by Leela Ginelle
June 9, 2015 at 4:54pm
Caitlin Jenner posing on the cover of Vanity Fair.  This Sunday, the New York Times ran an op-ed by... Read more »

"Moonlight" is an Essential Work of Art for the Current Political Moment

by Nijla Mu'min
December 5, 2016 at 8:15am
Moonlight displays the kind of empathy and humanity that we desperately need right now. Read more »