The Oversexualization of Lesbian Relationships in Media

The entertainment industry profits off the sexualization of women. Whether typecast as a complacent suburban housewife or a strong crime-fighting machine, women in media are reduced to their sexual attributes, especially lesbians and other queer people.

Models of Pride Keynote Speaker Interview: Dylan Mulvaney on Trans Representation, Social Media and the Power of Cringe

At the Models of Pride event hosted by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Dylan Mulvaney received the Model of Pride Award and was interviewed on stage by Phillip Picardi, the center’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. Dylan spoke candidly about the struggles of being an influencer and the impact on her mental health, her hopes for authentic trans representation in film and television, and her advice to LGBTQ+ youth facing adversity. 

LGBTQ+ Youth, Lesbian Jesus and a Therapist (in training): The LA LGBT Center’s Models of Pride

On Saturday, October 14, the Los Angeles LGBT Center had their 31st Models of Pride, an event meant to offer a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth and expose them to queer role models. The event included workshops on topics such as sensory art, voguing, and “Dungeons and Dragons” for participants to attend in between speakers (including keynote speaker Dylan Mulvaney!) The main event space — located at the California Science Center — had a welcoming display of colorful inflatable chairs and booths from queer organizations and popular brands like NYX Cosmetics.

Queer Summer 2023 Favorites

Our OutWrite staff loves queer media! Here are some of our favorites from this summer:

Why Pride This Year?

Picture this: it’s June 28, 1970, nearly a year after the monumental Stonewall riots, and you’re attending the first Pride Parade in New York City. Except it’s not a parade, and it’s not entirely about Pride: it’s the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. Here, we recognize the familiar names of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and the lesser known names of the march’s organizers Craig Rodwell, Fred Sargeant, Ellen Broidy, Linda Rhodes, Brenda Howard and many more. Unlike today’s Pride Parade, this march in New York was dedicated to Gay Liberation in the forms of political speeches, demonstrations, and gay visibility.

FIFA Banned Rainbow Armbands at the World Cup: Here’s How Players Showed Pride Instead

In late June, eight armband designs were revealed that 2023 FIFA World Cup players could choose to wear on the pitch, including “Unite For Indigenous Peoples,” in partnership with United Nations Human Rights, and “Unite For Ending Violence Against Women,” in partnership with UN Women. However, despite the tournament’s theme of “Football Unites the World,” FIFA banned the “OneLove” armband or any armbands including Pride Flag imagery. This is ostensibly without reason; unlike Qatar which hosted the 2022 World Cup, the 2023 host countries Australia and New Zealand don’t criminalize LGBTQ+ people. Players receive a yellow card — a warning that could bar future participation — for wearing rainbow armbands, as was the case at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Queer Next Up: Atom Fellows

Atom Fellows (they/them) is a musician/filmmaker and YouTuber whose show, The Anarchy Funhouse, tackles the world’s most intractable issues using music, animation and puppets!

Straight Women Rules: A Guide to Being the Perfect Lesbian®

There’s a lot of wondering and a lot of waiting. I understand what you might be feeling. I know that you’re biting your tongue, and always waiting till you make them uncomfortable.

A Revisit

In July 2021, I decided to revisit my childhood school, Eisenhower Elementary. I decided to go because I had felt so many emotions from the culmination of so many situations, relationships, experiences, and lessons, and I was left with this feeling like I was losing myself. I had recently discovered I was attending UCLA, and much of what was tying me back to the Bay Area was slowly dissipating. The days felt like a blur, like reading the pages in a book and realizing you’ve made it to the end of a chapter and you remember nothing. The sense of liminality and being in a transition plagued me. I was looking for definition from the abstract, something concrete from the abyss.

Do Progressive High Schools Facilitate Queer Joy?

In the fall, I discussed how internalized homophobia produced complicated feelings about my old middle school’s increasingly progressive attitudes towards queer identities and rising numbers of “out” queer students. I unpacked my slight resentment toward those queer students, who seem to have an easier time exploring their queer identities out in the open since they exist in a less oppressive environment.