Summary

Zena and Tita are due in court for stealing tampons; but they refuse to pay for the privilege of menstruating. They live in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of Toronto and pay for college by selling phone sex. Both are on the verge of losing their abuelas (grandmothers) During a night out with Tita’s two Columbian dark-skinned queer cousins, the foursome is bashed, the cousins assaulted with racial slurs. Zena assumes guilt over this incident because she is white. Half white and half Latina, Tita is able to reconcile her two racial identities and comfort her friend whom she loves. Reflective and insightful, Tampon Thieves gently weaves reflections on family with love between friends to tell a rich story of how queer women, and women and gay men of color are treated in a racist, homophobic, culture.