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: LauraLeigh@PinkRobinShop.com
Nancy: Carmen Maria Machado’s Queer Horror Stories
Nancy was a podcast from WNYC Studios, hosted by Tobin Low and Kathy Tu. The series featured “stories and conversations about the queer experience today.” The series ended its run in 2020, but many of their topics and guests are still relevant.
If you’re not familiar with writer Carmen Maria Machado, this episode is a great–and quick–way to get acquainted with her. In this episode Machado and the hosts talk queer horror stories, writing about pandemics, and why intimate-partner violence in queer relationships is a taboo and under-discussed topic.
I have been dying to watch this series but couldn’t bring myself to pay for another streaming service. Well, guess what! This is a new addition to Netflix. I’m ready to settle into fall with some sexy, spooky fun. You’re probably familiar with the 1994 film adaptation of the same name, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, but this adaptation is the queer interpretation we deserve.
Game of Thrones’ Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid are oozing chemistry as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt, respectively. And honestly, Netflix really said it best: “Their supernatural love story — and the ensuing drama that it creates — beckons viewers on a spellbinding journey that spans more than a century. There will be blood, but also swoons and heartbreak, as Louis learns immortality is rarely a salve for life’s great problems. More often than not, it only creates greater monsters.”
This is a must-watch while snuggled up in bed, from the comfort of your own down comforter.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Sure, this memoir has been around for nearly five years, but if you haven’t read it yet, now is the time. First, check out this month’s Queer Listen and get acquainted with Machado’s writing, then dive into this excellent read.
Intimate partner violence in queer relationships is a taboo topic, and one that’s rarely discussed in the mainstream. Machado’s memoir explores her own relationship in which she was the victim of psychological abuse at the hands of her partner.
Machado uses some creative license in this memoir, including referring to herself as “you,” straying from the typical chronology of a memoir, and referring only to her abuser as “the woman in the dream house.”
We love this book because it subverts our expectations and brings an experimental approach to the genre while bringing attention to a rarely talked about truth of queer life.
‘Tis the season for an adorable vintage corduroy cap from Polychrome Goods, available now on Pink Robin Shop. Available in five perfect fall colors, you won’t leave the house without it.
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.
lauraleigh@pinkrobinshop.com
I remember when my wife and I first became moms, I knew that our ability to “pass” was behind us. I was never going to pretend that my wife and family were something other than exactly who they were. It was freeing to know that I had to live my queer life out loud, that I would forever be myself in every space, all the time.
In a 2023 CNN article Daniel Korschun, associate professor of marketing at Drexel University explained that when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, executives “are becoming much more skittish about taking these stands and making strong statements.
According to a 2022 Pew Research Poll, roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults say there is at least some discrimination against transgender people in our society. Because trans rights have become such a contentious issue across the country, companies that used to view supporting pride as “low stakes” have become less likely to support the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. “The pendulum is swinging a bit back … toward a more conservative approach, where they’ll be less vocal,” says Korschun. According to a recent NBC News article, Target stores will only sell pride merchandise in select locations this year. The retailer will not have Pride collections in about half of their locations. Additionally, they will only sell pride merchandise for adults.
An argument that Target has made in the past and is now using again is that this decision protects their LGBTQ+ employees, but let’s be clear: Conditional allyship is not support. Pulling queer merchandise from their shelves and essentially pretending that we don’t exist–and ignoring those of us who have children that want to celebrate pride with us–is detrimental to our community. Erasure threatens our safety. This weekend my mom told me that she’s done with Target. Like her, I can’t say I feel good about spending my money in a place that doesn’t value my family. As of today, the ACLU is currently tracking 515 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. We exist, and abandoning us only endangers us.
