LGBTQ news and entertainment
Demi Lovato (photo: Angelo Kritkos)
What are your pronouns? We have partnered with @UMG and some friends to share the importance of respecting pronouns not just during Pride month, but all year long. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BwzJuvsolq
— GLAAD (@glaad) June 30, 2021
(image via the US embassy in Russia)
• Edge Media: The Spanish Cabinet on Tuesday passed a draft bill on LGBTI rights that will seek parliamentary approval to allow transgender people over 16 to freely change their gender and name without doctors or witnesses intervening in the process. • Vogue Magazine: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden covers the August issue of Vogue Magazine. Annie Leibovitz snapped the gorgeous cover image and Jonathan Van Meter wrote the article titled, “A First Lady For All Of Us.”
.@flotus @drbiden stars on the cover of our August issue! Read the full profile: https://t.co/nxKE4csnjT pic.twitter.com/gopBPIxCff
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) June 29, 2021
Kataluna Enriquez, Miss Nevada USA 2021 (image via Instagram)Filipino-American model Kataluna Enriquez made history this past weekend becoming the first transgender woman to snatch the crown of Miss Nevada USA 2021.
The win qualifies Enriquez to compete in the Miss USA pageant in November where she will be the first trans contestant to walk the runway at the long-running competition.
The 27-year-old took to Instagram to share a photos and fashions from the event. Wearing a dazzling rainbow-colored gown of her own design for the coronation festivities, she wrote: “In honor of pride month and all of those who don’t get a chance to spread their colors.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQpGCDanjdy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Enriquez competed as Miss Silver State against 21 contestants in three categories of competition: interview, swimsuit/activewear, and evening gown. Contestants are scored on character, poise, confidence, and personality, according to the rules of the pageant.
Following her win, she expressed her thanks via Instagram to all that supported her. “Huge thank you to everyone who supported me from day one,” Enriquez wrote. “My community, you are always in my heart. My win is our win. We just made history. Happy pride.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqwmnzn2EA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Originally from San Leandro, California, Kataluna Enriquez is currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada. After graduating from high school in 2011, she enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Las Vegas, where she took a deep dive into her love of fashion design.
In 2016, she launched her own fashion brand, Kataluna Kouture. That same year, she represented California in the Transnation Queen USA pageant ultimately winning the title in Los Angeles.
Speaking to Fox5 News in Las Vegas, Enriquez shared that the road to the crown has not been that of beauty queens before her. In another pageant outside Nevada, when the organizers found out she was trans, everything changed.
“I was asked to provide documents that were invasive in my opinion physically asking me to get a letter from my doctor,” Enriquez said.
Enriquez was required to meet with a doctor who had to examine her and certify that she was female before being allowed to compete. No other contestants were required to submit to a physical examination. Also, at the same pageant, every contestant was assigned a roommate – expect her.
Should she win the crown, Enriquez would be the second trans woman to compete in the Miss Universe pageant after Spain’s Angela Ponce participated in 2018.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQooPXHHcMp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CQtsPafjPyt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CQrHd2yshk2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Singer/songwriter Kyle MotsingerOut singer/songwriter Kyle Motsinger is bored with today’s clothing styles. Missing the bolder and more colorful fashions of the past, Motsinger realized he wanted to dunk his junk in some throwback funk and disco.
Born to a beat that folks can wiggle to, Motsinger’s new single, “Retro,” is a fun, upbeat bop that puts deep emotional thoughts aside for a moment.
(screen capture from ‘Retro’)Instead, our musical ginger hero conjures up scenes of summer parties and high-flying style amid funky disco rhythms and sassy-as-summer horns.
I need to make the outside match the me inside I need to look further back when clothes were amplified Dress me up in Retro Oh Oh / Keep those boring threads away I can’t get no….Oh no / No joy from clothes today
In the music video (directed by Tyler Jensen), Motsinger dives into his own fashion fantasia at Hamlet’s Vintage in Manhattan. He’s assisted in his ‘retro review’ by drag queen Michael ‘Pickles’ Wakefield as the vintage store clerk.
“Retro” is available for streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and Soundcloud. Download the new single from iTunes here.
You can check out my previous coverage of Motsinger’s music here, and look for his live performances in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in July and August.
Kyle Motsinger in ‘Retro’
In this week’s podcast: • NFL player Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders comes out as gay Continue reading “Podcast: NFL Player Comes Out, 1st Trans Contestant Heads To Miss USA Pageant”
Hugh Sheridan (image via Instagram)Hunky Australian actor/singer Hugh Sheridan came out (again) over the weekend in a social media post sharing with the world they are non-binary.
Sheridan’s Instagram post highlighted the cover of DNA Magazine’s latest issue which features Sheridan with their fiancé Kurt Roberts.
“Given that’s it IS #pridemonth & I am beyond honored to share the most coveted DNA cover of 2021 with the greatest lover/HUMAN of all time,” wrote Sheridan referencing Roberts. “I understand why @dnamagazine chose LOVE over… another pic of a guy with a towel.”
“FYI,” Sheridan continued, “I AM still a human (nonbinary/bi/me/Hughman) but I’m in a monogamous relationship with another human, who I love. I don’t accept a label cause it limits me… if you want it; take it. I chose zero labels for no other reason except the exclusion, limitations, separation, I believe are all one, deeeeep down. &…who knows? Why chose?!! Be you. Be true. Be free: to BE, to JUST BE… you, a human, same as me.”
The 35-year-old closed their missive urging folks to “READ THE ARTICLE, you’ll laugh. I did.”
At this writing the post has received over 15K ‘Likes’ including a comment of fire emojis from Aussie pop-star/actress Natalie Imbruglia.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQjnpRSHNi2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CQjf1iqHnaq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
In an October 2020 essay for Stellar Magazine, Sheridan shared that they had been in relationships with both women and men in the past, but preferred not to put a label on their sexuality.
In the essay, the actor admitted they’d been bullied as a teenager for being gay, even though they were sexually attracted to the opposite sex at the time. It wasn’t until they moved to Sydney to attend the National Institute for Dramatic Arts, that they fell in love a man. “I finally met a guy who I connected with emotionally, mentally and physically,” Sheridan wrote, saying they were “over the moon” because they realized they “could finally be what people always wanted me to be.” But the relationship would eventually end, and they began dating a woman. Eschewing this or that sexual identity, Sheridan wrote, “I believe labels are for clothes, not people.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CGbBJ2JHsxc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
On March 5, 2021, Sheridan proposed to now-fiancé Roberts (a former DNA Magazine cover model) at the opening night performance of their stage show Hughman.
A familiar face on Australian television, Sheridan starred in the long-running show Packed To The Rafters, winning four Logie Awards (Australia’s excellence in TV honors) for their work. They are currently working on a spin-off of the series, Back To The Rafters, set to debut this September on Amazon Prime Video. https://www.instagram.com/p/CMEtto3FzYD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/COflooBnyzm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CO1-Wzfn96x/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CLWbQJpFGGS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
(Courtesy of Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer)
Right-wing pastor Greg Locke used his sermon today to allege that there are child-trafficking “tunnels” under the Capitol and White House and accuse Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Hanks of being “a bunch of pedophiles.” pic.twitter.com/hYC864ir8a
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) June 27, 2021
There’s no doubt that @DonaldJTrumpJr is high on something here. Any guesses as to what drug he’s on?pic.twitter.com/toxjP3DDiB
— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@joncoopertweets) June 28, 2021
A new ad spot from the NFL boldly declares “Football is gay.” Set to a raucous drum solo, the text of the ad continues: “Football is lesbian. Football is beautiful. Football is queer. Football is life. Football is exciting. Football is culture. Football is transgender. Football is queer. Football is heart. Football is power. Football is tough. Football is bisexual. Football is strong. Football is freedom. Football is American. Football is accepting. Football is everything. Football is for everyone.” The spot closes with a message of support for The Trevor Project, the nation’s leading suicide support group for LGBTQ youth. The text quotes studies which have shown, “LGBTQ+ youth with at least one accepting adult have 40% lower risk of attempting suicide.”
Following the recent coming out announcement from Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, it would seem the NFL wants to make clear its support. Sam Rapoport, NFL senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion, told Outsports, “I am proud of the clear message this spot sends to the NFL’s LGBTQ+ fans: This game is unquestionably for you. I will be playing its first line over and over in my head all season.”
If you love this game, you are welcome here. Football is for all. Football is for everyone.
The NFL stands by the LGBTQ+ community today and every day.
For more information on how you can help the @TrevorProject, visit https://t.co/YtauzLAHIF pic.twitter.com/bkdWkAZ3vF
— NFL (@NFL) June 28, 2021
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by a Virginia school board that hoped to reinstate its transgender bathroom ban. That decision leaves in place lower court rulings that found the policy unconstitutional. From the New York Times:
An appeals court had ruled that the policy violated the Constitution and a federal law by prohibiting the student, Gavin Grimm, from using the same bathrooms as other boys. The school said Mr. Grimm could use a private bathroom.
The Supreme Court had agreed to hear an earlier appeal in the case but dismissed it in 2017 after the Trump administration changed the federal government’s position on transgender rights. The Biden administration has since adopted policies protecting transgender students.
What this means: there is now strong precedent that schools in the 4th Circuit (Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia) cannot prohibit students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
Last year, the Supreme Court for the first time ruled in favor of transgender rights, saying that a federal employment discrimination law applied to LGBTQ workers.
In Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., the Supreme Court refuses to take up a Virginia school board’s request to reinstate a policy prohibiting transgender students from using school bathrooms that reflect their gender identity.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 28, 2021
The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a transgender student’s right to use school bathrooms matching his gender identity.
This refusal to review Gavin Grimm’s case allows lower court rulings that say treating trans students differently violates federal law to stand pic.twitter.com/MQF7stH3Jb
— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 28, 2021
Lil Nas X and dancers at the 2021 BET Awards
When Madonna shared a same-sex smooch with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, it was a sensation, but when openly gay pop singer Adam Lambert enjoyed a similar moment with a male band member at the 2009 American Music Awards, it caused a backlash that nearly derailed his career.
That societal progress was evident Sunday — during the final weekend of Pride Month — at the BET Awards, when Lil Nas X ended his fiery performance of the homoerotic hit “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” by passionately kissing one of his male backup dancers. In 2021, this move was met not with scorn but with delight, as Nas’s fearlessness was widely celebrated on social media.
Also – during her acceptance speech for the night’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Queen Latifah gave a shout-out to the LGBTQ+ community and her long-rumored girlfriend Eboni Nichols.
“I’m gonna get off this stage, but I thank you so much for all of you, the fans, for supporting every crazy-ass thing I’ve done through the years,” said the rapper and actress. “And thank you for making Equalizer number 1. Eboni, my love. Rebel, my love. Peace. Happy Pride!”
Queen Latifah Lifetime Achievement #BETAwards Salutes the lgbtq community. Happy Pride 💜🌈#LoveWins pic.twitter.com/o1W09DBMtB
— Nina Nicole Kapowski (@NinaNicoleShow) June 28, 2021
Lil Nas X is the black gay popstar I needed to see as a kid. The fearlessness it takes to be so decidedly queer in front of a notoriously homophobic audience. I needed that. pic.twitter.com/Y7n4ZGDGEM
— Sisa (@BaddieTitan) June 28, 2021
Still not over Lil Nas X being unapologetically queer on the BET Awards last night! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/sUDVdJRYMu
— them. (@them) June 28, 2021
Billboard ranks Lil Nas X's “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” as the best performance at the 2021 BET Awards. pic.twitter.com/dN3eRpWBKo
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 28, 2021