Three Complicated Concerns for April 2022

By Carolyn Wysinger–

In case you haven’t heard … we are having a Pride Parade in June!!!

And as you can imagine, I am pretty busy. So busy, in fact, that my thought process has been whittled down to lists. To do lists. How to lists. Everything but a Honey do list 😉

So, I decided this month to go back to my blogger roots and do a good ole listicle. If you weren’t part of the Blogger-verse of the mid 2000s, this may not make any sense to you. But, if you ever read sites like Everyday Feminism, listicles were a whole thing. So here is Dubb’s List of 3 Complicated Concerns for April 2022:

One: Watching the Confirmation Hearing of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was a roller coaster of emotions. Watching her torn down by deplorable Senators Lindsay Graham, Ted Cruz, and Marcia Blackburn was infuriating. The racist dog whistles of Graham and Cruz were already a special kinda of terrible. Then here comes Blackburn asking Justice Jackson to “define what a woman is,” an obvious dig at our trans community members. As painful an ordeal as it was, it was not unusual for a Black woman to hear. It is also not unusual for a Black woman to have her aptitude, competence and morality questioned by those who clearly have none of those attributes. I’m grateful for Senator Cory Booker, who as one of the only Black men in the Senate stood up for Justice Jackson. I additionally am grateful for our own Senator Alex Padilla, who encouraged her from his seat and reminded her that this was just political theatre. I couldn’t help but think how terrible it would have been if one of the amazing Black lesbian judges from across the nation had been sitting in the hot seat. Asking her what a woman is and trying to position her as “pro-pedophilia” would have been the tip of the iceberg. I encourage all of you to exercise the same amount of allyship to Black queer and trans people in our communities as Senators Booker and Padilla did during the hearings.

Two: Brittney Griner is still being detained in Russia. Brittney is a Black lesbian woman who was basically forced to play basketball out of the country because sexism says that WNBA games should barely be supported or promoted, resulting in the players getting paid less than entry level tech workers and therefore going out of the country to make extra money. It’s like the gig-economy for basketball players. While there are many articles being written about her detention, she is being largely forgotten. You know what is important? Tom Brady has unretired. Of course, that’s important! What is there not to understand about this? That’s the way it works, right? Welcome to being a Black queer woman. Can we use emojis, Bay Times editors? Lmao. (Editors: Just for you, Carolyn!)

Three: Have you watched Severed on Apple+?! You need to watch Severed! It is such a great commentary on the toxicity of traditional workplace culture that it made me want to cry. Watch it and report back, please. And (spoiler alert) watch out for the elderly queer couple.

Carolyn Wysinger is an LGBTQ author, activist, and President of the SF Pride Board of Directors. She has written for Autostraddle, Everyday Feminism, and Black Girl Dangerous. She can be found starting trouble on Instagram & Twitter @CdubbTheHost 

Published on April 21, 2022