A Year

It’s been, quite frankly, a bit of a shit year. The tail end of 2024 has especially been working overtime. My favorite aunt, my mother’s only sister, passed away after a sudden and short illness last weekend. Very sudden and very short. So I will be taking a few extra mental health days. I should be back to posting regularly next week. Tell the people you love that you love them, kittens. Tell them today.

Music Monday: Squeeze a Fruit

Last Weekend’s Crush got me thinking about our shared history as queer people. And as long as there have been LGBTQ+ rights activists, there have been allies as well. So please enjoy this 1977 anti-Anita Bryant diddy “Squeeze a Fruit for Anita” by Anni O’Brien and Rosey Carter. I haven’t been able to dig up that much on the singers, but Carter was, I believe, June Carter Cash’s daughter. Squeeze a Fruit for Anita was also a popular protest slogan of the time. Here we are 47 years ago, fighting these same stupid battles against the same bigoted so-called Christians. Time to write some new songs, queers and allies. I mean, while we’re also loading up on pies. Happy Squeeze a Fruit for Anita or Pie a Bigot in the Face Monday, kittens.

My Weekend (Protest) Crush

I wanted to send you into your weekend with a little reminder that direct action has always been a part of resistance and protest. So please, please, please enjoy with all your little gay heart as famed anti-gay bigot Anita Bryant getting pied in the face. Yes, you are allowed to laugh. Making fun of absurd hatred by pointing out its absurdness works. While the pie-ing is the main attraction, please take note her matter-of-fact discussion of homosexuals “flaunting it” and “deviant lifestyles” and denying they’re trying to “do away with the homosexuals.” Gosh, does any of that sound familiar? Much to my surprise, she’s apparently still alive. And I bet she loves the GOP’s anti-trans messaging these days. Same old playbook. I guess we need a lot more pies in the years to come. Happy weekend, all.

Serious Funny Business

Fortune inspired me to find more joy. And comedians, well, if they’re doing it right they’re professional joymakers. So if you’re decompressing from your family and ready to laugh, here is a little taste of Wanda Sykes. I’ve watched all of Wanda’s Netflix specials. And it is high time I rewatch them. As an out Black lesbian comic, her career is a testament to perseverance, talent and just being yourself. Truly, she should have been as big, or bigger, than Ellen. But, you know, she’s doing pretty well as is – despite the election results. I can’t wait for her next special. Given her recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, she’ll have plenty of material. Sometimes we laugh to keep from crying.

ExMas Eve Viewing

When I say there are only a few lesbian holiday rom-coms this year, I mean besides Tello’s “The Holiday Club” I only found one other. “Last ExMas” is an indie film funded largely through, I think, a Patreon. Per its official description:

Maggie & Julianne, ex-girlfriends whose bitter breakup led them down different paths until they unexpectedly rekindle the spark during a visit to their hometown for the holidays. Are they meant to be or is it just the magic of the season? Maggie and Julianne will have to navigate their feelings, the gossiping town, and ghosts of exes past to find out!

From the trailer, they packed in all the exes and enemies to lover vibes you could ever want. The film is written by Adrianna DiLonardo, who also wrote the 2016 indie straight-lesbian besties comedy “Almost Adults.” And as proof of the It’s a Small Lesbian World Entertainment Carousel, “Almost Adults" lead Elise Bauman was one of the stars of my favorite lesbian holiday rom-coms, “Under the Christmas Tree.” So, you know, we’ve got some lesbian pedigree going. “Last ExMas” is available to stream now, so you know what to do.

Lesbian Christmas Returns

It’s beginning to look a lot like lesbian Christmas! Tello Films, that steadfast deliverer of sapphic content, is back with another holiday film. Honestly, it may be THE holiday film, given it's called “The Holiday Club.” Per the official description:

Sam hates the holidays. Bailey loves them. On a lonely Valentine’s Day, the two women in small-town Ohio meet incidentally, bonding over pastry and an instant attraction. With every passing holiday, they spend more time together … But romance proves elusive.

A slow-burn holiday rom-com after a meet cute PLUS pastries? Sold. And, from the trailer, the two leads have good chemistry. And, you know, there are baked goods. Looks like this Tello offering may be one of the few sapphic holiday films we’ll be getting this year. After offerings in 2023 from Hallmark (“Friends & Family Christmas”) and Lifetime in 2021 (“Under the Christmas Tree,” which honestly is underrated), the major networks don’t seem to be making things as merry or gay this year. But, at least indie producers like Tello are still out there. So if you are hankering for some sapphic holiday romance, head over to their site.

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.