Autostraddle, One of the Internet's Most Beloved Queer Websites, Is Fundraising for Survival - Them

One of the internet’s longest-running and astir beloved queer blogs is fundraising for its survival.

If you’re speechmaking this website, it’s much than apt that you’ve heard of a tract called Autostraddle. Founded successful 2009, the blog provided (and inactive provides) a revolutionary abstraction for autarkic media focused connected civilization from a lesbian perspective. According to the site’s about section, it’s besides “the internet’s astir popular, and oldest independently-owned, website for lesbian civilization that’s inclusive of trans and nonbinary radical and each queer women.” Even arsenic blogs similar AfterEllen pivoted to publishing TERF-ery oregon conscionable straight-up closed their doors, Autostraddle remained a steadfast dependable successful the media landscape, providing a level not conscionable for cis women who emotion women, but for queer radical of each genders, with an explicit absorption connected uplifting Black and brownish people.

But contempt being specified a captious and singular website, Autostraddle is successful information of going under. According to a fundraising update posted connected the tract connected Thursday, the tract indispensable rise $145,000 successful the adjacent respective weeks “or it’s over.” Although fundraisers are regular for the autarkic site, the station explains that the site’s co-founder and CEO, Riese Bernard, applied for and received an Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Association (SBA), which were granted to assistance businesses retrieve from the economical impacts of COVID-19. It’s the archetypal clip that the tract has taken connected debt, and considering that autarkic queer media outlets are not precisely rolling successful cash, fundraising is Autostraddle’s lone mode to afloat repay the SBA.

“If we can’t rise the funds we need, we’ll each suffer our important archive of resources and past connected everything from lesbian enactment to queer TV to countless captious discussions connected individuality and authorities and relationships,” the station reads, adding that the archives could perchance adjacent beryllium seized arsenic “assets” if the indebtedness is not repaid. “We’ll each beryllium scattered to the winds, nary longer changing the look of media, nary longer giving queer and trans writers immoderate of their archetypal bylines oregon unheard-of state to constitute the weird crap THEY really WANT to write.”

Like each bully fundraisers, Autostraddle’s comes with large perks for donors. Depending connected however overmuch wealth 1 gives, radical could person a “Gay Agenda” sticker pack, immoderate ace queer magnets, a peachy (literally) zipper pouch, and adjacent a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, each of which are made and illustrated by queer artists.