Bitches on Comics' "Decoding Pride" is creating daily queer fiction to celebrate Pride month

Pride Month will be different this year, that much we know is true. Gone will be the parades and parties we've grown accustomed to, replaced with virtual events and digital dances. The spirit of Pride, is not something that needs a physical venue to be expressed, but for a community that thrives on exactly that, community, it will be a challenge. Then again, we've always found a way to thrive in the face of adversity.

This June, Bitches on Comics, a podcast hosted by Sara Century (she/her) and S.E. Fleenor (they/them), is trying something new. Their project, Decoded Pride, is a "story-a-day anthology of queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror by queer authors." That means a new LGBTQ story a day for thirty days. For Sara and S.E., Decoded Pride came about "because we believe that it is important to honor the rebellious, anti-fascist history of Pride by focusing on queer artists and writers of today."

Fleenor, who is also the Managing Editor of Bella Media Channel also shared this with QMM. "As queer writers of fiction and non-fiction, Sara and I can attest to the fact that it’s really, really hard to place writing of any kind that is queer—unless it’s Pride month. Then, a lot of straight-owned publications suddenly care about LGBTQ+ issues and that’s because Pride sells. That’s what made us realize we should do our own Pride-related anthology. We both knew we were too busy, but we couldn’t deny that this was a good idea. A really good idea. No, this was a f***ing great idea. Since we’re both mega-nerds and know that it’s even harder to place queer science fiction, fantasy, horror and comics, we decided we would make a place for queer creators and queer readers and our allies to come together and have a big celebration of Pride entirely focused on storytelling. And if we were going to do it, we were gonna do it right. Forget queer coding and subtext. We wanted queer texts, so we decided to call it: Decoded Pride. Two months later and Sara and I have just finished selecting the last of these stories and they are brilliant. There are stories about genre favorites like superheroes and princesses, but there are also eerie stories about the things you see out of the corner of your eye—and stories that will make you laugh so hard you cry. There are gorgeous comics that will make you think—and every story will be accompanied by an original illustration by Sara. Honestly, it’s going to be something really, really special. And, I’m hoping you’ll join us in supporting LGBTQ+ creators writing queer stories—stories for us, by us."

You can pre-order Decoded Pride now and get these stories delivered to your inbox, hot and fresh for the month of June. Supporting Decoded Pride is also supporting the artists involved as well. A subscription is just $15, which is a killer steal for 30 original stories. Celebrate your queerness in a new way this year, with Decoded Pride.