LGBTQ

The first trailer for the star-studded film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen has just dropped. The Tony-award winning musical debuted on Broadway in 2016, soon becoming hugely popular and especially beloved by queer audiences. The film version of the musical, from Universal, is set for release in September, 2021, with Ben Platt reprising his award-winning turn as Evan Hansen. Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager with a social anxiety disorder who yearns for connection with his peers, so much so that he pretends to have been the...

Bowser? Nooooo. (BMG/James Newman/Nintendo) Happy Eurovision week! It’s been two years since the last competition, but it’s finally that time of year again. It’s set to be a Eurovision like none before, thanks to the ongoing pandemic and need for constant COVID testing – by audience members, acts, and anyone else involved. But what if we were to judge each of this year’s acts not on their music but… by their gaming preferences? Could it give us a clue who might win? On the Eurovision site, each act has been...

Alireza Fazeli-Monfared was killed and beheaded by family after they found out he was gay. (Twitter) Human rights group Amnesty International has called for a full investigation into the brutal “honour killing” of young gay man in Iran. This month, Alireza Fazeli Monfared, 20, who identified as non-binary gay man, was killed and beheaded by his own family in Iran, when they discovered the military had exempted him from service because of “sexual depravities”. Amnesty International is now calling for a full investigation into his murder, fearing that the perpetrators will go...

Pride flag flies in front of the Historic Mormon Temple in protest to a change in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints policy towards married LGBT+ couples and their children in November 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) A professor at Brigham Young University’s religion department is under fire for labelling a gay student with a Mormon term associated with an anti-Christ. The Salt Lake Tribune reported Hank Smith, an assistant teaching professor, had been tweeting his thoughts on former parishioners being excommunicated from...

Resident Evil Village. (Capcom) Now that Resident Evil Village has been released, the world can finally experience in full the icon that is Lady Dimitrescu. The big tall vampire lady, as she’s colloquially known, has spearheaded the game’s promotion and sets the campy gothic tone for the rest of the game. That’s along with her three daughters, who collectively thirst for Ethan’s “man blood”. Honestly, almost every line Lady Dimitrescu speaks is iconic.  “Oh, so gauche,” she scoffs in one early scene, “the man thing’s suffering is assured.” Later she...

Christina Aguilera's Pride merch is now live and it all goes to a good cause (Instagram/@xtime) Christina Aguilera screamed trans rights with a new Pride collection in support of two pioneering transgender charities. The pop superstar launched the collection on Saturday (15 May), two weeks ahead of Pride month, and announced the news to her 7.3 million Instagram followers. She said she was “so excited” to share the Pride 2021 collection which includes rainbow sweatshirts, tank tops, masks and underwear featuring her moniker “XTINA”. “I am also proud to support...

Marsha P Johnson. (Netflix) The brand new design for the Marsha P Johnson State Park has been unveiled after initial plans were scrapped following complaints from the trans hero’s own family. New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced last year that Brooklyn’s East River State Park would be renamed for Johnson, making it “the first state park to honour an LGBT+ person”. But the tribute was halted in March when Black trans activists raised concerns about the “harsh thermoplastic colours and extended cement slabs”, while Johnson’s family accused the city of...

New York City Pride announced new policies to address the presence of law enforcement at its events (Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty) New York City Pride has banned police from the parade and associated events until 2025 to challenge them to “acknowledge their harm” to the LGBT+ community. Effective immediately, the New York Police Department will be asked to stay at least one block away from all Pride events, organisers announced on Saturday (15 May). An increased security budget will allow all aspects of first response and security to be reallocated to...

Pennsylvania representative Brian Sims revealed that donated a kidney to a neighbour, and then he took the recipient and his husband out to dinner with his family. (Instagram/@briansimspa) Democrat Brian Sims donated a kidney to a neighbour, and then he took the recipient and his husband out to dinner. Sims, who is a Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, was the first openly gay legislator to be elected in the state. The lawmaker and LGBT+ activist in a heartwarming series of social media posts on Thursday (13 May) that...

Rebecca Breeds as Clarice Starling (L) and Jen Richards as Julia Lawson (R) discuss the transphobia caused by Buffalo Bill in CBS show Clarice. (CBS) Silence of the Lambs spinoff Clarice is trying to counter and reframe the harmful narrative of Buffalo Bill as a “transsexual” serial killer, which resulted in real world harm to the trans community. Clarice is based on the psychological horror novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris and its 1991 movie adaption. Both the film and novel depict Jame Gumb, known as the...

Canadian singer Grimes revealed on Instagram that she was hospitalised for a panic attack shortly after appearing on SNL alongside Miley Cyrus (pictured) and Elon Musk. (Instagram/@grimes) Grimes has revealed that she was hospitalised for a panic attack after her surprise cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live. The Canadian singer, who has been in a relationship with Elon Musk since 2018, appeared alongside the Tesla CEO during last week’s episode of SNL. Grimes made a cameo appearance as Princess Peach for a Super Mario-themed roleplay skit, which was about as...

Members of the BOSS collective in 2019. (Instagram/blackobsidian_soundsystem/@lifethroughmylense_pro) A queer art collective nominated for the Turner Prize are criticising the Tate, the prize’s main sponsor, for laying off workers during the pandemic and for its handling of sexual abuse allegations against a prominent donor. Black Obsidian Sound System (BOSS) is one of five nominees for the Turner Prize, which this year, for the first time, has solely nominated groups. In a statement published on 10 May, BOSS said they are “grateful for the recognition for our work” but wanted to...

The family of the late fashion designer Roy “Halston” Frowick have slammed Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Netflix biopic series as an “inaccurate, fictionalised account”. (Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix) The family of the late fashion designer Halston have slammed Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Netflix biopic series as an “inaccurate, fictionalised account”. The series stars Ewan McGregor as the Studio 54 Icon Roy “Halston” Frowick. A synopsis released by Netflix said Halston, which will be released on Friday (14 May), will follow the fashion designer as “he leverages his single, invested name into a worldwide fashion...