Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hazel Newlevant

@newlevant.bsky.social

2.3K followers 140 following 180 posts

Cartoonist and editor 🤪 they/them ⚧️

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · Jul 6

Guess what…I turned in the art for my upcoming book. I’m holding an ultra-advance copy of QUEER & HOW WE GOT HERE.

310 pages of graphic memoir and graphic history. Five years in the making. Cover art TBA. Coming out May 2026 from @littlebrown.bsky.social.

My hand holding a preview copy of my upcoming graphic novel QUEER AND HOW WE GOT HERE. Only the outside of the pages are visible. Background is a leafy garden. A rainbow shines across the image.

Photo of a comic page.

Panel 1:
A skinny white person with hairy limbs and a bright pink two-block haircut, wearing a pink T-shirt and cutoffs, lounges at their drawing table and winks at the reader. There are shoujo-style roses in the background.
“Oh, hi there! Didn’t see you come in.”
“I’m Hazel, your cartoonist and shameless narrator.”

Panel 2:
Same person making kissy lips and cradling a surprised tabby cat. Another tabby looks on, cluelessly.
“How come you’re such a little baby? I’m gonna eat you like a muffin!”

Photo of a comic page.

Panel 1:
City street scene at night, with a marquee saying “SAVOY MASQUERADE BALL," with music notes, over a lit-up entrance.
In the foreground are two young Black women walking shoulder-to-shoulder, laughing and smiling. They both kind of look like Ethel Waters—one wears a flapper hat, fur coat, and dress, and the other wears a bowler hat, jacket, vest, shirt, and tie. Further back, two queens in flapper attire walk together.

Caption: As America urbanized in the early 20th century, it got easier for lovers of the same sex to find each other and form communities.

Panel 2:
Two white women with bobs sit together at a cafe table, leaning together conspiratorially. One wears a men’s-style hat, jacket, and pants. The other wears a wide-brim har with flowers and feathers, and a v-neck dress.

Caption: They started slyly referring to themselves as “gay,” which to the mainstream meant “carefree” or “sexually uninhibited.”

Caption in typewriter font: “They were regularly gay. They were gay every day. They ended every day in the same way, and the same time, and they had been every day regularly gay.”
—Gertrude Stein, “Miss Furr and Miss Skeen,” 1922.

[hand-lettered promo graphic with sunset-colored gradient lettering on a light green background]

Queer and How We Got Here
Coming out
MAY 2026
From
L B INK

1 5 19

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · 1d

I made these simple “respirators required” signs for a friend. Anyone can download the PDF:
drive.proton.me/urls/5Y68VXK...

Two signs taped to a door, with a zip lock bag full of Blox respirators hanging between them. The signs read:

DEAR VISITORS

The resident of this apartment is highly medically vulnerable.

Airborne diseases including COVID-19 can spread and linger like smoke.

Such diseases are often spread by individuals before they show symptoms.

Therefore, visitors are required to wear a well-fitting respirator mask at all times while in the apartment.

[Sign 2, starts with a graphic of an N95 with a check mark, and a surgical mask with a red X]

Surgical masks are not sufficient to prevent airborne infection transmission.

Please take and wear a respirator mask if you do not have one already.

1 4 12

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio @rlmartstudio.bsky.social · 1d

This week in 1988: 1,000+ ACT UP demonstrators shut down the FDA headquarters, demanding (and eventually winning) action on developing HIV/AIDS treatments. ACT UP's militant and creative actions always included powerful visual artwork, and paved the way for movements in the decades to come.

A photograph from the 1988 ACT UP demonstration outside the FDA. Many people are participating in a die-in on the front steps, holding mock tombstones with messages like "RIP - killed by the FDA" and "Dead from lack of drugs." A line of police officers (some with classic 80s mustaches) wearing riot helmets stands between them and the building; one cop wearing white gloves is walking through the demonstrators. Affixed to the 2nd story windows of the building is a series of posters and a large blank banner reading Silence = Death.

18 1K 2.4K

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · 1d

Ghost World girls would be up there.

1 6

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · 1d

I made these simple “respirators required” signs for a friend. Anyone can download the PDF:
drive.proton.me/urls/5Y68VXK...

1 4 12

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Arika @aridissents.bsky.social · Mar 5

Covid Zine Library

1 6

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Erika Price @erikapriceart.bsky.social · Sep 11

Gretchen also has a patreon, you can check that out here and help support her that way www.patreon.com/scumbelievable

Creating Filth

www.patreon.com

6 56 77

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Ayo @darrylayo.bsky.social · Sep 11

Blue sky, give it up—we LIKE Gretchen! We’re gonna complain every time you ban her and we’ll make you reverse it

18 79

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

amy brown (spooky edition) @amybrown.xyz · Aug 22

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me?
Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

37 8.7K 19K

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Gretchen Felker-Martin 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · Aug 23

Come chill with me today at Comics n' More in Easthampton, MA! I'll be reading from BLACK FLAME, taking questions, and signing my books!

2 10 75

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

robin finn @fiddleheadfinn.bsky.social · Aug 21

September mini print for patrons: "Things the US Government Doesn't Want You to Have"

Close up of Robin's hand holding a mini print of their gouache painting, a colorful grid of 9 banned or restricted objects: vaccine vial and syringe, a COVID mask, a bottle of PrEP, an IUD, a passport, a condom, a porn magazine, HRT vials, and a can of "soup for my family"

1 49 120

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Ellie Marney @elliemarney.bsky.social · Aug 7

Only management can revoke Gretchen Felker-Martin's account suspension, but her book came out yesterday, so you can support her in other ways!
torpublishinggroup.com/black-flame/...

cover image of BLACK FLAME by Gretchen Felker-Martin, featuring (against a black gradient background) a black-haired woman with glowing yellow eyes, crying black tears, as dirty cinematic film falls out of her mouth

1 190 290

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Sean T. Collins @seantcollins.com · Aug 6

Just got hit w a huge car repair bill the week before a road trip for a family event. You can help by joining our Patreons or buying something from @thorazos.bsky.social's Etsy store—use code BRAKES for free shipping!

patreon.com/theseantcollins
patreon.com/thorazos
thorazos.etsy.com?coupon=BRAKES

freelance writer

patreon.com

3 19 25

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Bright D Limm 임대중 @bdlimm.bsky.social · Aug 4

WHEN WILL COVID NO LONGER BE DANGEROUS?
1️⃣ Most buildings have #DavosSafe tech
2️⃣ We've got a cure for #LongCovid
3️⃣ We have vaccines that prevent contraction / transmission
--
UNTIL THEN, WHAT DO WE DO?
😷 Mask up when around others
📈 Use @michael-hoerger.bsky.social's data to plan
✊ Organize for 1️⃣-2️⃣-3️⃣

1 24 65

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · Aug 4

Had a dream where I was cracking myself up with indie comix rap brags:

"Three bricks on the shelf, still got more mortar /
Waiting on Silver Sprocket to pay me this quarter"

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · Aug 3

I do like “quasi-biographical,” though.

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

George @hannahtempler.com · Aug 3

hi!! posting this again, getting so close to my goal! making big progress with my treatment and looking forward to being able to function and navigate the world more easily! any donations are so appreciated, shares too. thank you thank you

Donate to Help Georgie get a life-changing service dog!, organized by Hannah Templer

PLEASE NOTE: if you are a current icoc/icc member please do not attempt t… Hannah Templer needs your support for Help Georgie get a life-changing service dog!

www.gofundme.com

1 120 110

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · Aug 3

Thank you, so glad to hear IF THIS BE SIN continues to resonate! 🎶

ITBS is a 40 page collection of comics about queer women and music (Gladys Bentley, Wendy & Lisa, and a fictional blues dancing competition) and you can order it here: newlevant.storenvy.com/products/200...

1 4

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Cartoonist Cooperative @cartoonist.coop · Jul 30

The Cartoonist Co-op stands against the censorship and pay discrimination of 18+, erotic, and NSFW artists.

Check the link below for our official statement, ways to take action, and resources.
cartoonist.coop/censorship-p...

Art by @greedygulo.bsky.social

Anthropomorphic dip-pen and inkwell stand infront of a table stacked with books. Pen holds a sign with '18+' drawn on the center, with a heart around it. Inkwell is holding a paper colored rainbow with 'LGBTQA' upon it. Inkwell is holding a hand up in a 'stop' motion. Behind the table is the vague sense of a crowd also holding signs. Above image it reads: "CARTOONISTS Against Adult Content CENSORSHIP"

51 4K 8.4K

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Wild Ramp Publishing @wildramppublishing.bsky.social · Aug 2

Also, disability justice zine microgrants are back for fall! This time I'll be giving out three $250 grants. Any kind of zine is welcome but I am giving a priority to perzines this time. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Disability Zine Microgrants

Wild Ramp Publishing offers four $250 grants to cover printing costs for zines with a disability justice focus. Our grants support zine production and distribution, focusing on marginalized and underr...

docs.google.com

1 27 27

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

robin finn @fiddleheadfinn.bsky.social · Jul 31

Please share and help us grow!

robin finn @fiddleheadfinn.bsky.social · Jul 31

Want to join a discord for artsy disabled folks?
Comment or DM me!

All disabilities, skill levels, and arts & crafts mediums welcome. I'll be hosting virtual craft nights! 🎨

The caption "Artsy Crip Discord!!" superimposed over a paper cutout diaorama of Little My from the Moomin series.

2 5

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Jay Edidin @edidin.bsky.social · Jul 29

Chrissake, Pete. I didn’t pretend marry you in the first grade for this bullshit.

Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · Jul 28

Buttigieg said parents have legitimate concerns.

To be clear: If you cannot be relied on to unequivocally defend transgender kids, you can’t be relied on to defend anyone or anything.

www.advocate.com/news/pete-bu...

Pete Buttigieg weighs in on ‘fairness’ of transgender kids playing girls’ sports

He said he rejected blanket policies about trans participation in sports.

www.advocate.com

13 67 490

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Mel, AnarcHochulist 🏳️‍⚧️🔰♨️ @astruckpersonn.bsky.social · Jul 30

“your body does not belong to you” is the root of transphobia, opposing no-fault divorce, and getting mad at service workers who sit down

☀️ Starshine @starshine.bsky.social · Jul 30

part of the appeal of transphobia to movement conservatism is child transitioning inherently requires a degree of autonomy and its a threat to the foundation of their ideology in the same way no fault divorce was

Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · Jul 29

the US profoundly needs a children's rights movement. children are not property... they deserve opportunity and learning and autonomy and security.... and our country just does not acknowledge this

3 31 93

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

Suzanne ✨🌑 @tendermiasma.com · Jul 30

Not only is that a jaw-dropping number it's only a fraction of our power, let's turn it up

✨🎠グルーピー @dismalwether.bsky.social · Jul 29

so when i was calling earlier, the mastercard supervisor mentioned something like, 8000 calls that they've gotten over the weekend. Just wanna say keep it up, keep up the good work, i'll continue to do my part. Let's make 2025 the year of not rolling over anymore

5 420 960

Reposted by Hazel Newlevant

taylor robin @taylor-robin.bsky.social · Jul 29

if your use of paypal is primarily as a customer or otherwise are NOT somebody that makes a living off adult work, you are the best people to pressure paypal! there is a risk of retaliation for adult creators, but if you don't have that risk, please call!

St John Starling (evil now) @stjohnstarling.bsky.social · Jul 29

CONTACT PAYPAL:

(US): +1 (888)-221-1161
(outside US): 1-402-935-2050
Customer Service: +1 (877)-569-1116

CONTACT STRIPE:

(Headquarters): +1 (888) 963-8955
(US) 877-887-7815
(France): +33 805-11-19-67
Stripe: [email protected]

6 1.8K 2K

Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · Jul 28

Many years of instant portraits. Judging by the hair, the earlier ones are from 2013-2014 and 2017. I guess I could try raising the price???