Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
Ellen DeGeneres says goodbye to talkshowAn emotional Ellen DeGeneres says goodbye to her afternoon talkshow audience today after 19 years. Continue reading “Ellen DeGeneres Says Goodbye After 19-Year Run”
On March 29, Logo will premiere Trans Youth Town Hall – a three part series of discussions hosted by Raquel Willis about recent attempts to ban gender-affirming health care for minors.
As a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation targets transgender and nonbinary youth, it’s time to hear from young people themselves. Continue reading ““Trans Youth Town Hall” – It’s Time To Hear From Transgender Youth Themselves”
Decades of struggle, revolution, and love.
FX’s new six-part documentary, PRIDE, premieres May 14 at 8pm on FX, next day on FX on Hulu.
From the official description:
Featuring little-known characters such as Madeleine Tress or 1980s videographer Nelson Sullivan who chronicled a vanishing downtown New York City during the AIDS epidemic, the series also features international figures such as Civil Rights pioneer Bayard Rustin, writer Audre Lorde and Senators Tammy Baldwin and Lester Hunt.
The evolution of trans rights and identities through the decades is charted through interviews and archival footage of pioneers including Christine Jorgensen, Flawless Sabrina, Ceyenne Doroshow, Susan Stryker, Kate Bornstein, Dean Spade and Raquel Willis.
There was a lot in 2020 that was just heinous and I’m happy to leave it behind. But I did want to take a pause to look at some of the good news and big moments of the past year in this ‘Best of 2020 – LGBTQ edition.’ Continue reading “Podcast: The Best of 2020 – LGBTQ Edition”
Peter Porte and Juan Pablo Di Pace in Dashing in December (screen capture/Paramount)This really is the year of the gay Christmas movie!
I’ve previously reported on several holiday romance flicks coming our way including the Sony Pictures film Happiest Season premiering on Hulu, as well as Lifetime’s The Christmas Setup and Hallmark’s The Christmas House.
And now, there’s a gay cowboy Christmas rom-com on the way –Dashing in December – that looks to be a cross between God’s Own Country and Brokeback Mountain but with a much lighter touch and a whole lot more tinsel.
Official synopsis: When Wyatt Burwall (Peter Porte) finally returns home for the holidays in an effort to convince his mother Deb (Andie MacDowell) to sell the family’s Colorado ranch, a romance unexpectedly ignites between Wyatt and their dashing new ranch hand Heath Ramos (Juan Pablo Di Pace), who dreams of saving the beloved property and the ranch’s magical Winter Wonderland attraction while reawakening the spirit of Christmas in Wyatt’s lonely heart.
Dashing in December, from MTV Studios, will debut on Paramount TV on December 13 with simulcasts on TV Land, Pop, and Logo.
In this week’s podcast:
• Remembering the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a fierce champion for LGBTQ rights, who died this week at the age of 87
• A Navy veteran sues the Veteran’s Administration claiming he tested positive for HIV over 20 years ago and his doctors never informed him of the diagnosis
• A sportscaster suspended for using a gay slur on-air says he’s ‘never said the word’ before that moment
• A woman denied Social Security survivor benefits after a 27-year relationship wins in federal court
• New data shows the number of same-sex households rising in the US
• Burger King lays a whopper on Ronald McDonald for LGBTQ Pride
• Academy Award winner Jane Fonda reminds us what an awesome ally she is
• And GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics announces the best in 2020 TV entertainment. Click here to watch the glitzy honors special on Revry TV (free).
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
L-R Blake Lee, Ben Lewis (via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• TVLine: Blake Lee (Parks and Recreation, Mixology) and Ben Lewis (Arrow, Shadowhunters) – a married couple in real life (above) – have been announced to star in Lifetime’s first-ever holiday movie with an LGBTQ storyline, The Christmas Setup. Fran Drescher, of The Nanny fame, will play Lewis’s mother in the TV flick.
• Boy Culture: Madonna’s biopic has been fast-tracked by Universal, and today we learn not only is the Queen of Pop co-writing the script with Diablo Cody, but Madge will direct the film of her life as well.
• LGBTQ Nation: A city councilwoman in Minot, North Dakota, came out & delivered an epic smackdown to man complaining about a Pride flag. “So Mr. Walker, if you’re not aware, and I think a lot of people in this room are not aware and have come here just because this is a gay issue, I am proudly the first openly elected lesbian in North Dakota. So that is why I am not paying any heed to your crap.”
• Pew Research: A new 13-nation Pew Research Center survey indicates America’s reputation has declined among many key allies and partners since Donald Trump took office. In several countries, the share of the public with a favorable view of the U.S. is as low as it has been at any point since the Center began polling on this topic nearly two decades ago.
• Edge Media: An Italian man has been accused of killing his 18-year-old sister in a rage because she was dating a transgender man. The suspect told authorities that he “wanted to teach her a lesson.”
• CNBC: More on the death of civility – CNBC host Jim Cramer called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “Crazy Nancy” to her face during an interview on Tuesday morning — a derogatory term usually used by Donald Trump. The Mad Money host was asking Pelosi about stalled negotiations on a 4th coronavirus stimulus package when the nickname popped out.
“What deal can we have, Crazy Nancy — I’m sorry, that was the president,” Cramer said, realizing the moment didn’t play as well as he’d planned in his head. “I have such reverence for the office, I would never use that term.” Pelosi (D-Calif.) stayed calm telling Cramer: “But you just did. But you just did.”
Here’s the clip: pic.twitter.com/4k2Cw5WL0d
— The Recount (@therecount) September 15, 2020
In this week’s podcast:
• A gay Instagram & TikTok influencer in Russia was found murdered in a possible hate crime
• The world’s first openly gay prince denounces so-called ‘conversion therapy’ and calls for banning it in his native India
• The European Union denied funding to six Polish towns that say they are “LGBT free”
• Lifetime Channel has announced a gay romantic movie for the holidays and Hulu’s Love, Victor gets the green light for a second season
• What to watch now? How about four short films exploring the intersection of coming out and soccer? Find The Male Gaze: Strikers & Defenders on Amazon here.
• NYC-based singer/songwriter Kyle Motsinger releases his new disco-themed single, “No Shame,” that drops the beat on body shame.
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report podcast.
Beginning tonight – Playbill is proud to present Pride Plays 2020 in celebration of Pride month.
The festival, taking place throughout the month of June will feature four primetime live streams of key LGBTQIA+ plays and culminate in a musical celebration with Playbill’s Pride Spectacular June 28.
The event, presented by Playbill, will serve as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
The Pride Plays season will include:
• one in two by Donja R. Love at 7PM ET tonight, June 12
• Masculinity Max by MJ Kaufman at 7PM ET June 19
• The Five Lesbian Brothers reuniting for a one-night-only live reading of their 1992 play Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy at 7PM ET June 22
• Mart Crowley’s The Men From the Boys, directed by Zachary Quinto, at 7PM ET June 26.
All live streams will air on the Playbill website at Playbill.com/PridePlays.
Honoring iconic LGBTQIA+ musicals, creators, and musical performers, the Spectacular will feature performances by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Tony Award winner John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Tony nominee Jenn Colella, Tony nominee Caitlin Kinnunen, Pose star Mj Rodriguez, Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon, Cheyenne Jackson, and more.
Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: Woofy Joel Green (above) offers some good advice this Monday – ‘Do not give your past the power to define your future.’ Follow him on Instagram here.
• Amazon Prime: The streaming video platform has curated a collection of LGBTQ films, documentaries, and television series all in one place for you to peruse including Rocketman, The Handmaiden, The L Word, RuPaul’s Drag Race and more.
• Provincetown: The Massachusetts LGBTQ getaway is open for business just in time for Pride Month. The announcement by Governor Charlie Baker of Phase 2 of the reopening, effective today, allows lodging, restaurants, and retail to open under newly eased and specific guidelines mandated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
(image via Provincetown Instagram)• Out: Oregon State Head Coach Jonathan Smith dismissed sophomore football player Rocco Carley after learning he’d used racist and homophobic language in a recently discovered audio recording. Smith, along with the school’s Athletic Director Scott Barnes, agreed on booting Carley from the team saying what they heard was “entirely unacceptable, regardless of the circumstance or environment.” Carley has issued an apology saying – like just about everyone who finds themselves in this predicament – the recording doesn’t ‘represent’ who he is today.
• The Advocate: L.A. Pride organizers have stepped away from the previously announced Black solidarity march after the event came under fire for its involvement with law enforcement. Some activists noted that any partnership with cops is counterintuitive to the purpose of the protests taking place in response to the killing of George Floyd, police brutality, and race-based violence. Pride organizers say they are “in full support” of the new protest, which is now named the All Black Lives Matter March.
• New Music: Dig the super-catchy new single from pop-rock band Neon Trees, “New Best Friend,” from the band’s upcoming album, I Can Feel You Forgetting Me.
“They call me crazy, but crazy’s my new best friend.”
“’New Best Friend’ is about embracing the crazy that lives within all of us,” shared out frontman Tyler Glenn. “The nostalgic highs, the unflattering lows, and the beautiful messiness of being human. I’ve realized that there are memories with people that have come and gone in my life, and while I reminisce on those moments, ultimately at the end of the day I’m still left with myself.”