Roxane Gay: gender fascism is on the rise

Ahead of her first UK tour, the iconic author of Bad Feminist tells Jason Okundaye about the fight for equality, life after weight-loss surgery and the new book she’s writing with Channing Tatum

- Jason Okundaye

ROXANE GAY — bestselling author, critic and feminist icon — is preparing for her first ever UK tour. When we speak, she’s at her home in Los Angeles where she lives with her wife Debbie Milton, and reels off a long schedule of meetings, interviews and a hair appointment.

Her hair is covered with a black headwrap, and she wears a black T-shirt with a small Lacoste logo. Despite being described as shy, Gay is warm and humorous. She shares stories about meeting Milton — who “chased her”, she jokes — and their June 2020 wedding “at a place called Instant Marriage LA.com”, which ended with “a socially distanced barbecue for eight in the backyard of our home”.