A roundup of this week’s top Black LGBT stories (12/14/13-12/20/13).

5 Reasons I’m Here for Beyonce’, the Feminist

Crunk Feminist Collective’s Brittney Cooper breaks down why King Bey continues to reign:

[Wh]ile we were all still trying to get our lives after the Scandal Season Finale Part I, Beyonce stealth dropped a new self-titled totally unpromoted album…

She’s a work in progress, as are we all. In 2010, she gave an interview saying she was a “feminist in a way,” because she valued her female friendships deeply. Earlier this year, she claimed she was a “modern-day feminist.” Now she is straight up embracing the term in her music and claiming her right to tell women to both bowdown and encouraging them to be self-confident from the moment they step out of bed… in the same damn song! I rock with that because her feminism is complicated, and ours is too.

More on Crunk Feminist Collective.

Laverne Cox and Jac Gares on Their New Documentary, FREE CeCe!

On June 5th, 2011, CeCe McDonald and some of her friends were heading to a grocery when a group of people came out of a bar and started hurling racist and transphobic remarks, and eventually drinks and broken glass. By the end of the night one attacker, Dean Schmitz, was dead and a bleeding CeCe was under arrest. CeCe, being a trans woman of color, was assumed by the police to be the aggressor despite the testimony of her friends.

CeCe herself continues to speak out against racism, sexism, and transmisogyny via her blog as a survivor of racial and gendered violence. Now Laverne Cox, known for her role as Sophia in Orange is the New Black, and her co-producer Jacqueline “Jac” Gares want to bring CeCe’s story to a larger audience. Their documentary project, FREE CeCe!, is currently in production.

Read the interview here.

WATCH: New John Mayer and Katy Perry Video Features What Looks Like Black Lesbian Couple

John Mayer and Katy Perry recently released the video for their song “Who You Love” featuring what looks like a black lesbian couple. We can’t tell for certain but we dig the brown girl on brown girl affection. And with lyrics like “you love who love,” we might be on to something (fast-forward to the 0:20 mark):

(H/T Black Lesbians United)

Ethiopia’s War on Homosexuals

Seventy-six countries criminalize sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and 38 of them, including Ethiopia, are in Africa. According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 97 percent of Ethiopians think homosexuality should be outlawed. Unlike Mauritania, Sudan, and Northern Nigeria, Ethiopia doesn’t mandate the death penalty for same-sex sexual acts, but thanks to draconian laws that forbid activism while allowing Western evangelicals to promote homophobia, Ethiopia is on track to join their ranks.

More over at Newsweek.

Angel Haze Showers Us With Gifts From On High, Including First Listen to New Track

Yesterday pansexual rapper and winner of queer hearts Angel Haze delighted fans with a multitude of presents from on high:

1. The cover art for her upcoming debut album, Dirty Gold.
2. A lyric video of “A Tribe Called Red,” one of the tracks on the album…
3. …and an alternate cut on Soundcloud. (The sound is richer and she gives an intro touching on racial identity in her music.)

Continue reading on Autostraddle.