LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items that caught my eye: • The Guardian: Deputy Joseph Benza III, of the LA Sheriff’s Department, has pleaded guilty to beating and arresting a trans man in February 2023 for flipping the middle finger. Eight other deputies were dismissed for helping Benza cover up his false police report. Continue reading “LA Sheriff’s Deputies Dismissed For Covering Up Trans Beating + More News”
Some news items you might have missed: • Pink News: Kit Connor (above), best known as bisexual rugby player Nick Nelson in Netflix’s queer coming-of-age series Heartstopper, has been cast in a leading role in the upcoming A24 film titled Warfare. Continue reading “Kit Connor’s New Film + The Making Of ‘Mommie Dearest’ + More News”
Writer and filmmaker Leo Herrera hits the bullseye with his poem ‘Unmistakable Softness.’ I wrote about this beautiful poem last year, and wanted to re-up it for Pride Month. Continue reading “Pride Poem: ‘Unmistakable Softness’ By Leo Herrera”
Jake Shears ‘Last Man Dancing’ (promo photo)
The satirical music video for “All I Want” from the new album “+/-” (pronounced ‘polarity’) by German-Iraqi DJ and producer Boys Noize is smart, a bit profound, and definitely of the moment. Continue reading “Music Video: ‘All I Want’ Harnesses Opposites With Ironic Results”
Bright Light Bright Light aka Rod Thomas (photo: Warren Giddarie)
“Sensation” is a cut from the forthcoming album Fun City, scheduled for release September 18, which will offer not only ’80s-inspired dance-pop, but will serve as a musical love letter to the LGBTQ+ community. The album title is a clever reference to a quote said by NYC mayor John V. Lindsay who, on his first day in office in 1966 amidst a crippling transit strike, said: “I still think it’s a fun city.” I recently wrote about the acclaimed first single from the upcoming collection, “This Was My House,” which was penned as a tribute to LGBTQ safe spaces. The evocative music video takes an unforgettable journey through NYC nightlife. Paper Magazine wrote, “It’s not every day that we get a perfect disco song” while Rolling Stone praised its “buoyant beat to dance through pain and trouble.” The vocals for Fun City were recorded on the empty dancefloor of East Village gay club Bedlam, a choice Bright Light Bright Light made as a way to channel the energy of the queer trailblazers that influenced him like Sylvester, Erasure, Scissor Sisters and Hercules & Love Affair. 
With Scissor Sisters still on hiatus, frontman Jake Shears continues to journey on solo including a recent turn on the Great White Way in the hit musical, Kinky Boots.
Now, Shears is releasing his first solo album titled – what else? – Jake Shears.
Billboard gushes, “The result overflows with the opulence of orchestral Seventies pop — as if ELO and the Bee Gees got together to make a Muppet fantasia of Cajun rock.”
While the Elton John influence is unmistakable, Shears shares his own musical voice and vision as only he can.
Watch below.
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| Alex Abramov likes Autumn |
Some news items you might have missed:
• Woofy Instahunk Alex Abramov (above) is enjoying NYC’s autumnal weather. I’m enjoying the view.
• A new study of 21,000 children shows no increased emotional or psychological difficulties among children raised by gay or lesbian parents.
• One of the gay men who was refused a marriage license by anti-LGBT Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis says he may run against her in the 2018 election.
• A survey of more than 5,000 Attitude Magazine readers shows 71% of gay men say they are turned off from dating another if they have shown signs of femininity; 41% said that effeminate gay men give the gay community a bad image or reputation.
• Former Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears has announced he’ll be joining the cast of the hit Broadway musical, Kinky Boots.
• I’ll close out this round-up with some Friday Superfruit “Fantasy,” the new music video from OUT100 2017 honorees Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi.
The video features a make-believe pool party, a trip to Paris, plus a cameo by K-pop star Amber Liu and some blue-wigged dancers. The tune, from the duo’s debut album Future Friends, is totally bopping. Dance into the weekend with Superfruit below.