My Weekend (Re-Canceled) Crush

By now you’ve probably heard the collective “Fuck this!” launched by queer women everywhere at the news that Amazon has canceled, or I should say re-canceled, the second season of “A League of Their Own.” The queer and diverse reboot of the 1992 women’s baseball classic didn’t even warrant a final four episodes as promised. Instead the cancellation is yet another reminder that billionaire-led corporations don’t really give a shit about inclusive storytelling, lifting up marginalized performers and showcasing diverse voices.

Oh, and trying to blame the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes on the cancellation? Yeah, nah to that utter bullshit. We want the people who create and appear in the stories we love with all of our hearts to get paid fairly, you see. They create the value in the entertainment we enjoy, and they deserve a fair cut of the record profits, streaming and viewership their creativity and hard work bring into our lives. We decidedly are not rooting for the Bezos or Zaslavs and Sarandoses of this world to buy themselves more superyachts.

The ongoing Cancel Your Gays trend is a reminder that so-called rainbow capitalism is still just plain-old capitalism. They’ll court us as long as they think our queer dollars will help them profit. But as soon as things get even a little more complicated, goodbye fair-weather corporate allies. (e.g. Bud Light, Target, et al).

The importance of true allies and the essential need to be represented fairly are as critical as ever given our current political climate. There’s a reason conservatives and corporations fight so hard against including us in history or schools. Our very existence continues to be a revolution against the entrenched structures they cling to for power. And they are more than happy to whip up the easily convinced crazies at the expense of our community and everyone who supports us. That includes LGBTQ+ ally and shop owner Lauri Carleton who was fatally shot by a man criticizing the rainbow flag outside her store this week. Don’t tell me the anti-gay laws and anti-gay rhetoric don’t kill. It just keeps killing.

As sadly resigned as we all are now to the table scraps that these massive media companies continue to feed us when it comes to inclusive LGBTQ+ entertainment (but you got one whole season, why aren’t you full yet?), I am still forever grateful for the big-hearted, full-swinging storytelling of Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham and the entire cast and crew of the ALOTO series. Just like we have always been a part of history, LGBTQ+ and POC players have always been a part of baseball. The world needs more stories that bring home the simple fact that our world is more beautiful when we all get a chance to love and shine exactly as we are. Happy weekend, all.