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Operating as usual
It’s August, and Outward is leaning into the heat. First we gab about the beach. Why, exactly, are q***r beaches so delightful? Is there a secret geography of finding the gay beach? Then we talk to GirlFlexx, a le***an dom stripper who performs largely for straight women in a traditionally male style—and kills it in adoration and tips.
Is there a secret geography of finding the gay beach?
“I knew—no exaggeration—at least two dozen people, all vaccinated, all sick with COVID.”
My “hot vax summer” has turned into season of confusion and dread.
On this month's ep, we look back at all the q***r milestones we didn't get to share during the pandemic. Then we speak with opera star Lucia Lucas about her own milestone of performing "Don Giovanni." Join us!
Plus, an interview with baritone Lucia Lucas.
“We’re women who dance in a masculine way. … We don’t mind pulling girls on stage.”
“Dom” performers like Girl Fle### and Kaution are collecting big tips and even bigger fans, even among straight women.
“We don’t disguise ourselves as a dating app. It’s very s*x forward.”
Sniffies—an upstart, very upfront gay hookup site—is here to help.
Why did it take so long for someone to follow Dave Kopay’s lead?
In the decades since Dave Kopay came out, gay football players have been disincentivized from following his example.
It’s Pride month! In this special episode, we're joined by Julien Baker (!) to discuss q***rness, fluidity, and ways of interpreting q***r art. Then, a trans cop in upstate NY stops by to hash out the debate over police at Pride events. 🏳️🌈✊✨
Why must we have the same fights every June?
Drag Race may have given Aja fame, but authentic expression was more elusive.
Finding authenticity in music required leaving the expectations of Drag Race behind.
The New York Times doesn't know what Pride is for...
The paper adds "NYPD" to LGBTQ.
This month, we're joined by Sarah Schulman, whose new book "Let the Record Show" is a moving history of ACT UP New York and a guide for the activism we need now. Then we discuss three distinct collections of q***r portraiture. Who are they for, and will they be seen by the people who need them most?
Shaping how AIDS activism is remembered and how q***rs are seen.
Two classes of trans kids are emerging: the puberty blocker haves and the have-nots.
And the current wave of anti-trans state legislation is only making things worse.
States once viewed race like some view s*x today—to be defined and enforced. They failed then, and they’ll fail now.
These measures will end states’ ability to define the very thing they claim they want to protect: s*x.
Why are anti-trans activists so concerned with other people’s body parts?
Calls to “protect healthy bodies” are just another form of transphobic control.
No wonder Republicans didn’t want to answer any inquiries. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/republicans-virginia-same-s*x-marriages.html
Republicans’ silence is a reminder that the GOP retains a commitment to outlawing same-s*x marriages.
In the early 20th century, le***ans were at the forefront of “new ways of seeing and saying.”
To do: host salon, create new art forms, manage “18 assignations” in one night.
On this month's Outward, it's all le***ans, all the time, IN all times. First, we chat with Diana Souhami about her fab new book "No Modernism Without Le***ans." Then we puzzle over the weird, electricity-free vogue for Le***an Period Dramas. Join us!
Why can’t le***ans in the movies get a little electricity?
The former star’s announcement makes the show look horrible in new, amazing ways.
The entire season was explicitly about his “secret.”
It’s no surprise that North Carolina Republicans want to ban gender-affirming care for adults, too.
Anti-transgender organizations want to use the machinery of the government to impose their cruel ideology on everyone.
The flood of anti-trans legislation is an assault on transgender children’s right to live authentically.
Affirming care for transgender kids is a blessing. Efforts to outlaw it are an abomination.
“People were so afraid that they’d just steal this book. And I’m glad they did.”
Creating it in the 1970s was a feat.
Can we please stop infantilizing transmasculine people?
But a culture that infantilizes transmasculinity refuses to treat him like one.
This month, we discuss a New York magazine piece about fashion designer Alexander Wang, the dynamics of power and consent, and the swiftly changing norms of gay spaces. Then we're joined by science writer Riley Black to discuss her recent Slate piece about how science might not be the best tool to argue with those who oppose trans rights.
Discussing power, s*xual consent, and why science may not be the best tool to fight the transphobes.
Russell T. Davies’ major AIDS drama missed the mark with Jill.
Jill deserved a life beyond caring for the boys.
Here’s why the right is so obsessed with trans girls playing sports.
State-level bills around women’s sports and adolescent medical care would seem to share a common goal.
It’s a trap that distracts from the real issue.
As a trans woman, I head for the hills when allies do this.
"A rolling panic about gender and s*xuality is one of the few things animating a Republican Party whose entire 2020 platform was 'Whatever the president wants,' especially now that said president has lost."
The PC police have detained America's most beloved anthropomorphic root vegetable—and they have their eyes on his p***s.
This month, the crew is joined by June Thomas to discuss Jeremy Atherton Lin’s new book "Gay Bar," our own personal histories with gay bars, and if such q***r spaces have a future. Then we're joined by Autostraddle’s Shelli Nicole to talk about the Lex app, a text-based dating app aimed at q***r, trans, and gender-nonconforming people. We discuss how the app got its start, the ways it’s changed in just one year, and if q***r women will ever have an app that’s just for s*x.
Looking for spaces in real life and online where we can be our full selves.
Will the “detransition movement” go the way of the so-called ex-g**s?
“It’s very similar to ex-gay communities,” she now says. “No one really changes.”
The new president will extend more than 100 federal laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.
With one executive order, Biden guaranteed the expansion of rights to millions of LGBTQ people.
Torrey Peters discusses how divorce literature shaped her new novel, Detransition, Baby.
In writing her new novel Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters found inspiration from a different group of women navigating change.
Happy Inauguration Day! On this month's Outward, we wade into the "gay civil war" over NYE circuit parties and COVID "shaming," and we discuss DETRANSITION, BABY, one of the year's must-read novels, with author Torrey Peters. Join us!
Exploring q***r adult fiction, and asking if shaming ever works.
Dividing g**s into “good” and “bad” COVID camps will do little to change anything.
Dividing the community into COVID villains and vigilantes is doing little to improve behavior or reduce harm.
This month, we speak with Ruth Coker Burks, author of the new book All the Young Men: A Memoir of Love, AIDS, and Chosen Family in the American South, about her work in the 1980s, helping Arkansans with AIDS. Then we discuss three of 2020’s bumper selection of LGBTQ holiday movies: The Christmas Setup, Happiest Season, and A New York Christmas Wedding. Should we be grateful for the gift of representation, or should we be searching for the receipt?
Ruth Coker Burks on AIDS in the South, and a gift bag full of LGBTQ holiday films.
Why Elliot Page’s vulnerability is such a meaningful part of his coming out.
He’s come out before. But this time is different.
Shiva Baby’s Emma Seligman discusses what it’s like to enter the bis*xual canon.
Why Shiva Baby’s chaotic protagonist is a step forward for bi representation on screen.
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