Music Monday: Moved by Mavis

How can you not be moved by Mavis Staples singing “We Shall Not Be Moved?” In this moment, solidarity is our greatest power. Over the next four years we must come together to support our communities and other marginalized communities. LGBTQIA+ people, Black people, other people of color, disabled people, undocumented people, migrant people, poor people and all those others on the margins will need to support each other. We will not relent in our fight for our civil and human rights. We will not be moved from our shared humanity. Happy solidarity Monday, kittens.

My Weekend Crush

Well, what’s more joyful than coming out? And coming out while talking about one of the few things we can actually look forward to in 2025? Now, that’s a twofer of epically gay proportions. Kelly Marie Tran, of “Star Wars” and “Raya of the Last Dragon” fame, came out in a behind-the-scenes feature for Vanity Fair about the new even queered remake of “The Wedding Banquet” set to premiere next year.

To jog our collective memories, the movie will feature Kelly and queer Golden Globe winner Lily Gladstone as girlfriends who are trying to have a baby through IVF, who concoct a plan with their gay male friends – played by queer SNL star Bowen Yang and South Korean actor Han Gi-chan. The movie will also star LGBTQ+ ally extraordinaire (she of the 90s/early 2000s lesbian movies “Wild Side,” “What’s Cooking?,” “Saving Face” et al fame) Joan Chen as Kelly’s character’s mom and Oscar-winning South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung as Han’s grandmother.

The stellar, and stellarly queer cast, helped inspire Kelly to come out. She told Vanity Fair:

“I haven’t said this publicly yet, but I’m a queer person. The thing that really excited me about it was I got to play a person that I felt like I knew. I don’t feel like I’m acting at all in this movie…. I’m here doing this amazing movie with these amazing people. I’ve never been in a queer space before. I’ve never truly felt this accepted before.”

Congratulations, Kelly! I am going to assume that your toaster oven is in the mail. I am always extra thrilled to welcome more gaysians into the fold. You have certainly earned your truth and your tributes after having to weather relentless online bullying already for daring to be an Asian woman in a “Star Wars” movie.

It sounds like the experience of filming the new “Wedding Banquet” reboot with “Fire Island” director Andrew Ahn has been a reaffirming celebration of queer joy. Kelly says of the new film that “the spirit is the same, and I think it’s even more queer.” And Lily called the production “just one big cuddle.” And just look at the sapphic cuteness between Lily and Kelly together. Yes! More queer! More cuddles! Queer POC actors playing queer POC roles! More sapphic cuteness!

As I was saying, now that’s something to look forward to in 2025. Happy weekend, all.

Happy Gender Fuck Chersgiving

Well, kittens, today I am thankful for Cher dressed in Elvis drag being embraced by Stevie Nicks like she’s at prom with the bad boy your parents warned you about. In these grim times, it’s the little things that can bring joy. Hope you’ve found a little something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving as well. May you all have plenty of good food and company today, and a little gender fuck never hurt either on a Thursday.

Lesbian Soccer Mom Central

While I’m on a roll, how about even more joy? Soccer stars Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis are having a baby! The sporty couple (Sam plays for Chelsea and the Australian national team and Kristie for West Ham and the US national team) announced their engagement last year – also in November. They’ve been together since 2020, and famously confused a few fans by cuddling on the pitch after a USA/Australia World Cup match. Aren’t female friendships the best? I mean, it’s almost like they’re roommates. Anyway, congrats to the happy couple who in 2025 will become the very definition of soccer moms.

Fame & Fortune

OK, how about a little joy for a change? Just in time for the holidays, our favorite Hooters-loving lesbian comic is back with a new Netflix comedy special. “Crushing It” will feature more stories about Fortune’s family and wife, Jax. To which I say, break out the Hooters wings and let's get to laughing.

Music Monday: Let's Talk About It

Yes, another Tracy Chapman song. Yes, another reminder for these times. We can either rise up or continue to be ground down by the incessant demands of capitalism fueled by the endless greed of the 1%. Or we can start with a whisper that builds to a fucking scream. Do not comply in advance. Do not normalize these carnival barkers. Anyway, per usual, fuck the patriarchy, fuck white supremacy and fuck late stage capitalism. Happy Monday, kittens!

My Weekend Crush

I leave you this week with a moment of grace. Mahalia Jackson remains one of the most celebrated civil rights singers – from Selma to the March on Washington and, tragically, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. I think, during the next four years and beyond, we can all listen a lot more closely to Black women. Marginalized people will need every last bit of grace the world can give in the face of what is to come. Take a moment, steady yourself. Find your grace and happy weekend, all.

p.s. To the poster who continues to scream about how I lost Kamala the election by going on vacation, not that it’s truly any of your business, but I went to see my 83-year-old mother who I only get to see maybe once a year and lives half way across the country so we could celebrate my birthday together for the first time in more than 25 years and also could ride out the election side by side. If you don’t like how I spend my time you are certainly welcome to stop reading my little blog. Best.

Lesbians Matlock-ed In

Naturally, given my new age bracket, I love the new “Matlock.” Also, what a showcase for Kathy Bates. Hello, love her always. But as I was watching the first few episodes I kept thinking, “You know what this show needs? Lesbians!”

Well, ask and ye shall receive. In a recent episode they dropped that Maddy Matlock’s eager fellow junior associate Sarah Yang is gay. They also introduced a cute IT specialist Kira, too. So, you know, that better happen this season. Sarah is played by Leah Lewis, who you might remember from the queer teen coming-of-age movie “The Half of It.” (You know, the long-awaited second feature from “Saving Face” writer-director Alice Wu.)

The latest episode also featured a lesbian couple who filed a wrongful death lawsuit over the death of his baby. So, you know, they’ve locked down the lesbians of a certain age viewership for sure now. The good news is we will have more to watch since the show has already been renewed for a second season. The show is on a little break right now, until after the holiday. But that gives us all the time to catch up. And also imagine the awkward yet adorable first date between Sarah and Kira.

ETA: Had to screenshot the lil Matlock lesbians for ya. So cute!

Mountains of History

Just a reminder – for those of us who have forgotten or perhaps were never taught – the wealth-hoarding elites of this world have always pitted those at the margins against each other. Human innovation (not to mention obscene wealth) has almost always come with the cost of human exploitation. And history has shown us accept that price over and over and over again – often for the possibility of even a fraction of said wealth. Anyway, just something you think about when the literal richest man in the world is now also suddenly one of the most powerful men in politics. Funny how that works. Tracy knew 36 years ago. How little things truly change. How badly they still need to.

Fuck the Patriarchy

I’ve lost the capacity to be disappointed in America. I know that is my privilege speaking – many communities have long ago lost faith in their fellow citizens’ concern for their life and liberty. Yet I stupidly thought we had maybe learned our lessons from 2016. Maybe we were ready for an incredibly smart and extremely qualified woman instead of, you know, the least qualified and most heinous man in the whole fucking world. Yet here comes the American electorate, Lucy-ing all sane citizens with that damn football. Again.

So, again, I look at every passing person and think, “Did they vote against my and other marginalized people’s pursuit of happiness?” And the answer, in most cases, is probably, “Yep, they sure did.” Racism, sexism, greed, stupidity. Pick your Pandora's box poison, it all went into his win and our loss. Those are some hard truths about your fellow Americans to sit with. Hard truths, but unfortunately nothing new.

As the horror of the second Trump term grows ever closer, we each need to find the best way to survive and – if we can – thrive. And that starts with checking on your people. All of the people I care about are scared and stressed and barely holding their shit together at this moment. While many of us may want to turn off the lights and find a safe place to gently rock back-and-forth, I implore everyone to keep caring, keep connecting.

When people say that our institutions will not save us, this is exactly what they mean. I feel foolish to have taken this long to fully understand how vulnerable and ineffective so many of our civic systems truly are. If they cannot protect us during the onslaught to come, then they were never actually designed to help those who need it the most. Instead we must strengthen our communities and find new alliances for support and power in the coming years. Think globally, act locally should be more than just a bumper sticker mantra.

A clear-eyed look at our country’s history shows those of us who support expanded freedom and civil rights locked in an endless knock-down, drag-out brawl against those who are against including more people in the American dream. From colonialism to slavery to civil rights to women's rights to LGBTQ+ rights and immigrant rights. I mean, we’ve been punched in the face by the patriarchy for 248 years, what’s four more?

The entrenched cis-het white male power structure has always worked against giving more and more diverse people autonomy and equality. I mean, the Founding Fathers went to war over freedom from taxation, not just freedom for all – full stop.

So where are we? Well, fucked. Clearly. But also, kind of in the same place. The same people who always fight against progress are fighting against progress. The time and labor those of us who want progress will have to expend pushing back against their bigotry, stupidity and nonsense is precisely why they do it. We’ll be fighting for the next four years – and then some – to get back to where we are now. But fight we must.

I too am frightened and angry and exhausted all at once. But I also feel a grim solidarity with all similarly like-minded people. And while the total vote tally may wind up showing fewer of us this time, we are still legion. To say that I’m comforted that so many other people are in the same panicked state – stressed, sad, scared – would be wrong. I don’t feel comfort from the unjustified suffering of others. But I will say it makes me feel a little less alone. And maybe you too will feel less lonely in this grim moment. Some 74 million of us are all feeling the same fear and loathing.

May all of us, after a little rest and a good cry, dust ourselves off and continue the work of creating that more perfect union. Keep fighting, keep connecting, keep lifting each other up. Our fight does not end with one election. Our communities are stronger and more resilient than one man. We will continue bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice for all. Because, and I mean this with every fiber of my being, fuck the patriarchy.

Music Monday: America Goddam

The thing is, America has always been like this. The whole “Great Again” refrain has always been a backlash against progress, always been an anthem for the status quo, always been propaganda for the existing white patriarchal world order. Nina Simone knew it 60 years ago. We know it today. America, goddamn.

Mental Health Vacation: POTUS SBP

Truly, the very, most and beyond not a real reason to be genuinely scared and upset in this historical moment, but FUCK WE COULD HAVE HAD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES STRAIGHT BETTE PORTER. I deal with crippling despair about what is to come with humor and profanity, preferably together. Be kind to yourselves this weekend, all.

Mental Health Vixen: 80s Rock

At this point, I won’t lie, I am just posting random photos I find in my archive folders that spark any kind of joy. So here are Cyndi Lauper and Elvira/Cassandra Peterson in the late 1980s. You know, the decade when that orange bastard was mostly just a gossip punchline, not the most powerful fascist on the planet. Sorry, I truly did mean to spark joy. Who knew I would look toward the 80s for that these days.

Mental Health Vacation Vixen: Bite Me

I meant to post this around Halloween. But then I didn’t and then the mood passed. But you know what? Become ungovernable. Bite whoever you want whenever you want – with consent, unless of course they are breaching your consent in the first place. Fuck it. Bite them.