What You Need Now – June 2025

This is our round-up of recommendations for our LGBTQ+ fam! Is there something you can’t stop talking about? A show you're binging, a podcast that’s making you look forward to your commute? Maybe it’s a book that kept you up all night, a new lightweight tee, or a dainty pair of earrings.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This is our round-up of recommendations for our LGBTQ+ fam! Is there something you can’t stop talking about? A show you’re binging, a podcast that’s making you look forward to your commute? Maybe it’s a book that kept you up all night, a new lightweight tee, or a dainty pair of earrings.

Share it with us and you might find it in our next newsletter: La********@***********op.com

Pride month isn’t over yet! We’re still celebrating! So duhhh, this month’s recs are a little EXTRA.

QUEER LISTEN

It’s Been a Minute: The Pride month vibes are off, but there’s still hope.

June is usually my favorite month of the year. Pride is usually my favorite celebration. But this year, I feel scared. Pride feels like a protest. Again. And I am treating it as such. 

In this episode, author Raquel Willis says, “I think Pride means the same thing this year as it meant in past years to many folks on the margins, I mean, it’s about remembering that radical history.” When it comes to all the things–gestures to the Trump administration and growing numbers of anti-trans legislation–Culture journalist Tre’vell Anderson adds, “Pride is a chance for us as a community to come together in spite of all of that as well.”

Yes, I do want to celebrate with my family and friends. But I also want to show up and speak up in support of my greater LGBTQ+ community. This sentiment from Raquel Willis has stuck with me: “It’s hard right now, but no one can tell me it’s harder than it’s ever been.” This is a great–and quick–listen for its conversation about ongoing anti-trans sentiment, white supremacy, and what pride really means.

BONUS: QUEER LISTEN

Fiftyfaces Focus 2025 Pride Special

This is the 5th Pride series of the Fiftyfaces podcast, and this year the pod is featuring conversations about visibility, allyship, and learning to accept ourselves. 

This year’s series contains a collection of stories and interviews with guests like Luigi Lewin of GLAAD, Trans advocate Taryn Talley, and Rob Smith from the Phluid Project. 

  • And don’t forget to get some Pride playlists in your ears!

    • Pink Robin recommends: 
      • Good thing – Kehlani
      • Pink + White – Frank Ocean
      • The Giver – Chappell Roan
      • Only Have Eyes 42 – Janelle Monae
      • Baddy on the Floor – Honey Dijon
      • Lucid – Rina Sawayama
      • Maniac – Conan Gray
      • Silk Chiffon – MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers

 

QUEER WATCH

English Teacher on Hulu

If you’re a regular reader of What You Need Now, then you already know that I am always looking for comfort food in the form of entertainment. I crave silly and easy and queer. This sitcom is all of those things. 

Created by and starring Brian Jordan Alvarez, the show follows gay English teacher Evan as his personal life clashes with his professional life in a Texas high school. Yes, the show touches upon politics and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, but it also embraces community, optimism, and humor. 

This one is binge-worthy and has already been renewed for a second season.

BONUS: QUEER WATCH

Étoile on Amazon Prime

Come for the ballet, stay for the queer love story with a neurodivergent character. This one hasn’t been renewed for a second season, but I still think it’s worth the watch. There’s dancing, Paris, and New York City-sized egos. At its heart, of course, this show is about what we’re all really looking for: Love.

QUEER READ

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson

I’ll be honest, I didn’t actually know who Andrea Gibson was until I heard Tig Notaro talk about her upcoming documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light (which will be streaming on Apple TV+ this fall). The project sounded lovely and heartbreaking and bursting with queer community. 

A friend loaned me You Better Be Lightning and I’ve been staying up late reading just-one-more-poem before bed. Gibson’s poetry is personal and beautiful, heartwarming and heartbreaking, and somehow her lyrical stories speak directly to her reader. These poems–published in 2021–are what we need right now to face the world, each other, and ourselves. 

I really connected with the poem, “What Love Is.”

And these lines: 

… I will refuse to call it heaven

If the people I love

(Who put me through hell)

Aren’t there.

QUEER GEAR

BIKE Short Sleeve Practice Jersey

This here is the ultimate in queer style. How do I know? One word: Mesh. Okay, you need another word? Crop. This jersey comes in a variety of colors, and worry not, there’s a tank version too. Snag this for your last-minute Pride Party, or, uh, an upcoming “sports practice.”

BONUS: QUEER GEAR

Murray’s Pride Belt Bag

I have been coveting this ridiculous little $25 belt bag ALL MONTH LONG. Maybe it’s the queer cheese party, or maybe it’s just that I finally feel the need to buy my first belt bag. Whatever it is, I think this thing is the cutest. Even better is that “sales will be donated to the Ali Forney Center, a New York City-based organization working to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.”

Stay Safe. Have fun. Pride is a Protest. Happy Pride!

Hey there. Laura Leigh here. I’m a wife, writer, mama, small business owner, podcast host, and the Head of Content here at Pink Robin.

I love supporting the queer community and bringing shared experiences to life.

If you have a story to tell, I’m here for it.

la********@***********op.com

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