Who’s the Boss? Who’s the Boss?
A bowdlerized biopic of Bruce Springsteen, starring Jeremy Allen White, flattens a musician whose politics and identity are much more complicated.
Oct 31, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
Reading Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” in the Age of Ron DeSantis Reading Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” in the Age of Ron DeSantis
More than 30 years after it was published, the seminal queer theory text still has some things to say.
Dec 14, 2022 / Feature / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
Where Solidarity, Abolition, and Queer History Meet Where Solidarity, Abolition, and Queer History Meet
Hugh Ryan’s The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison makes a compelling case for abolition as a central part of queer politics.
Sep 1, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
What ‘Girlhood’ Means in 2021 What ‘Girlhood’ Means in 2021
A conversation with Melissa Febos about her radical essays on youth and gender.
May 10, 2021 / Q&A / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
‘The L Word: Generation Q’ Is a Queer Soap Opera and There’s Nothing Wrong With That ‘The L Word: Generation Q’ Is a Queer Soap Opera and There’s Nothing Wrong With That
Talking, laughing, loving, breathing, fighting, fucking, crying, drinking—but not much in terms of politics.
Feb 12, 2020 / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
The Queerness of Bruce Springsteen The Queerness of Bruce Springsteen
The Boss’s songs of self-discovery and longing find an unexpected home with queer people.
Nov 6, 2019 / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
With a Confusing Musical Finale, ‘Transparent’ Ends on a Low Note With a Confusing Musical Finale, ‘Transparent’ Ends on a Low Note
The show’s campy and chaotic end reflects its many fitful evolutions across its five seasons.
Sep 27, 2019 / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
How Stonewall Veteran Jay Toole’s Life Has Changed Since the Riots—and How It Hasn’t How Stonewall Veteran Jay Toole’s Life Has Changed Since the Riots—and How It Hasn’t
Toole sees Stonewall as a turning point for the LGBTQ movement, but not for everyone in it.
Jul 2, 2019 / Feature / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
How Did South Dakota Become a Factory for Anti-Trans Legislation? How Did South Dakota Become a Factory for Anti-Trans Legislation?
The state’s legislature has fielded 16 anti-trans measures in recent years—and shows few signs of stopping.
Jun 27, 2019 / Naomi Gordon-Loebl
What’s It Like to Be Young, Queer, and the Mayor? What’s It Like to Be Young, Queer, and the Mayor?
Over tea, Samantha Paradis discusses the challenges of running a small town in rural Maine.
Apr 26, 2019 / Naomi Gordon-Loebl