Gender Fuck Thursday: ALOTO Butches

Omg, have I not stopped talking about the new “A League of Their Own” yet? Of course not. I will NEVER. So when I say the butch representation in ALOTO goes a long way toward rectifying the egrigious lack of representation in most of our more mainstream queer entertainment, I am in no way kidding. Think “The L Word,” where Shane is the group’s resident butch — but really just its andro fuckboi.

But the way the show has shown a nuanced representation of butch and trans people during the era has truly been a revelation. These are legitimately butch-presenting and masculine presenting characters that showcase the beautiful diversity in our community. Roberta Colindrez’s Lupe, Kelly McCormack’s Jess and Melanie Field’s Jo DeLuca, plus Chanté Adams’s Max and Lea Robinson’s Uncle Bert are not only wonderful, but also important. (And Rosie, oh Rosie Rosie.)

Our community contains multitudes, and butch and trans representation is a big and beautiful part of that. So it’s about time we saw them in all of their glory. And it’s not just about putting them in pants or suits or cutting their hair. It’s an attitude. And you just love to see it. You really do.

Vacation Vixen: Roberta Colindrez/Kelly McCormack

I can’t get enough of Lupe and Jess’s lezbro friendship. Along with Lea Robinson as Uncle Bert, Roberta and Kelly and Chanté’s Max are making amazing strides for butch/masc/non-binary/trans representation. (Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Rosie. Later.)

Play Ball

If you heard loud, unrelenting cheering earlier this week it was just all the lesbians (and friends of lesbians) rejoicing at the first teaser trailer for Amazon Prime’s new “A League of Their Own” series. The new streaming show won’t premiere until August (whines internally), but given the intense female-to-female eye contact and sports badassery, my body is ready now.

The series stars “Broad City” alum Abbi Jacobson, “The Good Place” alum D'Arcy “Not a Girl, Not a Robot” Carden, “Vida” alum and out queer artist Roberta Colindrez, “Killjoys” alum Kelly McCormack, and relative newcomers Chanté Adams, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Priscilla Delgado as the new Rockford Peaches. They’s also hired “Parks & Rec” alum and mustache aficionado Nick Offerman as their manager. Set in 1943, the show will cover the formation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

But while it shares a name and general premise with the movie, the series follows a different group of characters and promises to be more inclusive of both women of color and queer women. Like, we all peeped the intense look D’Arcy gave I think Abbi when she slid into home, right? Right. I’m very excited to watch this, though also bracing for the inevitable era-authentic racism and sexism (who are we kidding, those have no era unfortunately, they’re just ever present).

So, thoughts? Get read for some dirt in the skirts, kittens. Play ball (in like two months…)