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Actor formerly known as Ellen Page comes out as trans
Elliot Page has come out as transgender. The star of movies like Juno and TV shows like The Umbrella Academy, formerly known as Ellen Page, posted about his transition on social media on Dec. 1, according ...
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SHOWBIZ Singer Justin Utley, Gus Kenworthy, video game, 'Jackplot' film
OUTMusic Award winner Justin Utley has released the single "All Is Bright"—his first holiday release, a press release noted. Utley described the song as a little-bit of Lumineers/Mumford & Sons mixed in with a lot-a-bit of ...
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Laverne Cox 'in shock' but okay after transphobic attack
Transgender actress/activist Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black) said she was "definitely in shock" and "triggered" but okay after an anti-trans attack while walking with a friend in a Los Angeles park, USA Today reported. ...
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SHOWBIZ: Awards, 'Bebop,' Andy Cohen, Mariah Carey, Revry
The American Music Awards aired live Nov. 22 and some of the biggest names in music took home awards; Taraji P. Henson hosted. According to CNN.com, Doja Cat won new artist of the year and Becky ...
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MOVIES Paul Bettany talks 'Uncle Frank' and his own closeted father
In the critically acclaimed Amazon Studios movie Uncle Frank, out Nov. 25, Paul Bethany (the Avengers and Iron Man series; Master and Commander; The Da Vinci Code) plays the title character—a literature professor who has two ...
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MOVIES Peter Macdissi reflects on making 'Uncle Frank'
In the Amazon Studios movie Uncle Frank, out Nov. 25, Peter Macdissi plays Walid "Wally" Nadeem—the partner of the title character (played by Paul Bettany). However, the dynamics are a bit different in that Frank Bledsoe ...
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Day With(out) Art: Transmissions launches online Nov. 30
--From a press release
NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2020 — Visual AIDS, the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to raising AIDS and HIV awareness through dialogue, art exhibitions and public forums, announces their ...
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SHOWBIZ Wentworth Miller, Whitney, lesbian author, Mark Wahlberg
Out actor Wentworth Miller said he doesn't want to be involved in a new season of the TV show Prison Break if it happens, according to Deadline. On Instagram, he thanked fans for his support and ...
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MOVIES Trans-focused Born to Be to be released Nov. 20
Born To Be—a hit documentary on the country's first hospital center for transgender medical care—will open in Philadelphia on Friday, Nov. 20 (also the Transgender Day of Remembrance) with Gene Sickle Film Center Virtual Cinema. The ...
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MOVIES Henry Golding gets intimate in 'Monsoon'
Taking a turn from larger-budget movies such as A Simple Favor and Crazy Rich Asians, actor Henry Golding stars in the intimate film Monsoon. The movie features Golding as Kit, a young British-Vietnamese man who returns ...
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Mama Gloria, about Chicago's elder, trans, activist icon, to screen
--From a press release
CHICAGO, IL — Luchina Fisher's Mama Gloria, an important and timely documentary about Chicago's trailblazing Black trans elder icon and activist Gloria Allen, will hold nationwide screenings during Transgender Awareness ...
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SHOWBIZ Rock Hudson, The CW, Jillian Michaels, Isis King
Among Kino Lorber's December DVD and Blu-ray releases is a three-movie set (with the 1953-54 features Seminole, Golden Blade and Bengal Brigade) starring the late actor Rock Hudson, a press release noted. Co-stars in the films ...
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Chicago Underground Film Festival offers virtual and drive-in screenings in November
--From a press release
CHICAGO—The 27th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF), the world's longest-running underground film festival and called "the festival you wouldn't take home to mom," returns in 2020 with virtual screenings ...
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SHOWBIZ RuPaul, LGBTQ athletes, film winners, Charles Busch
RuPaul has a lot of irons in the fire, according to out.com. Not only is she on the cover of Cosmopolitan UK's January 2021 issue, but the drag icon has also posted her new five-track Hey Sis, It's Christmas EP. Also, ...
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Billy Masters
"We've got control of this thing. If you look at my Instagram, it's gone to almost nothing."—Donald Jr. tells Laura Ingraham that people don't have to worry about quarantine or the coronavirus, and that the deaths ...
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Blumhouse's Diverse Box of Halloween Horrors
Over the past several years, Blumhouse Productions has been the force behind a number of horror films with a sense of diversity rolling down the backbone of their creation. In 2017, openly gay-writer director Christopher Landon ...
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SHOWBIZ Viola Davis, Tyler Posey, Elton John, Tegan and Sara
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom will premiere on Netflix on Dec. 18, a press release noted. The movie—based on the August Wilson play—will star Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman and Colman Domingo. In the film and ...
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BOOKS Former Warner Brothers head Alan Shayne reflects on a pivotal summer
Many things happened in 1941—Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Wonder Woman comic began publication and Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in for his third term as U.S. president. It was also a pivotal year for Alan ...
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Chicago Filmmakers to participate in Masterwork: Industry Conversations series
--From a press release
(Chicago, IL) Chicago Filmmakers is pleased to announce two new editions of Masterwork: Industry Conversations, a series of virtual interviews with long established and award-winning filmmakers followed by a Q&A ...
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'V for Vendetta' at Music Box Oct. 30. includes talk with Wachowski
The 15th-anniversary theatrical re-release of V for Vendetta, which now includes bonus content—a 13-minute, pre-recorded conversation with director James McTeigue and writer/producer Lana Wachowski—will run at the Music Box Theatre ...
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Trans films at Chicago International Film Festival
The 56th Chicago International Film Festival illuminates varying gender norms—in childhood, adolescence and old age—now through Sunday, Oct. 25 as part of the Festival's "Out-Look" LGBTQ+ programming. Three feature films ...
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Billy Masters
"I think it's important to find a way, all of us, to move on and fly away from this subject onto something else."—Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris responding to Rachel Maddow asking if she saw the ...
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MOVIES Ruby Rose talks new film 'The Doorman,' LGBTQ actors
In the new movie The Doorman, out actress Ruby Rose (TV's Orange Is the New Black and Batwoman; movies such as John Wick: Chapter 2 and Pitch Perfect 3) stars as the titular character in an ...
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Alliance of Illinois Judges hosting 'Coming Out Stories'
In celebration of National Coming Out Day (which took place Oct. 11), the Alliance of Illinois Judges (AIJ) unveiled the short film Coming Out Stories. Coming Out Stories features members of the judiciary sharing coming out ...
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Matthew-Lee Erlbach talks Be An #ArtsHero, career, other endeavors
Writer, actor and filmmaker Matthew-Lee Erlbach is on a mission to get financial relief to the many arts workers and institutions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Erlbach is calling on U.S. senators to sponsor the DAWN ...
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Director's cut of 'But I'm a Cheerleader' will be out Dec. 8
People can celebrate the 20th anniversary of a classic lesbian film when But I'm a Cheerleader: Director's Cut arrives on Digital 4K Ultra HD on Dec. 8, from Lionsgate. From Primetime Emmy-nominated director Jamie Babbit ...
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Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival names winners
--From a press release
(Chicago, IL) Reeling is pleased to announce the winners of the 38th annual Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival. The festival was held virtually this year from September 24 to October 7. The event included ...
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SHOWBIZ Diversity report, Zachary Quinto, 'Schitt's Creek,' Mariah Carey
In a new report from the UCLA-based Center for Scholars and Storytellers titled "Beyond Checking A Box: A Lack of Authentically Inclusive Representation Has Costs at the Box Office," researchers found that bringing authentic diversity to ...
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Pride Fall Film Festival Oct. 12
Eight short films, including work by new directors, some using new technology (iPhone 11, Filmic Pro), in explore sexual orientation and gender identity across cultures and among male and female-identifying ...
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Filmmaker Ric Burns explores life of neurologist/writer Oliver Sacks
For documentarian Ric Burns, whose work includes New York: A Documentary Film, American Ballet Theatre and VA: The Human Cost of War (and who co-produced and co-wrote The Civil War), the tumultuous life of gay neurologist ...
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Billy Masters
"It's terrifying. It's scary. We have to get out and vote."—Lil Nas X's response to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Michael Bloomberg has found a way to help Joe Biden get more votes in Florida: ...
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SHOWBIZ Bradley Cooper, Spice Girls, greatest albums, film 'The Glorias'
Bradley Cooper has found his onscreen partner and a new title—Maestro—for the Leonard Bernstein film he will star in and direct for Netflix, Deadline reported. Carey Mulligan has been cast as Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, wife ...
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Reeling 2020 Reviews
For complete festival information and to buy tickets, visit reelingfilmfestival.org/2020. Ratings are on a **** scale but I'm a tough grader, so nothing gets over ***. Note: This year's installment of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International ...
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MOVIES 'Cicada' flies into virtual film festivals this fall
Set in New York City, a queer-centered movie called Cicada is now hitting virtual film festivals and explores complicated relationships with a backdrop of childhood trauma. Ben and Sam meet at a bookstore and a journey ...
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Chicago focus of 'City So Real' TV event running Oct. 29
National Geographic Documentary Films announced that the critically acclaimed five-part documentary series from Participant and Kartemquin Films, City So Real, will air in an unprecedented one-night, five-hour, commercial-free event on ...
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg films out Sept. 25
As a tribute of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life and legacy, Focus Features and Magnolia Pictures will be re-releasing On the Basis of Sex and RBG—both films about Ginsburg—Friday, Sept. 25 in theaters, ...
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SHOWBIZ Julia Child movie, Janelle Monae, 'Ammonite,' Harry Styles
David Hyde Pierce will star opposite Sarah Lancashire in Julia, HBO Max's drama pilot about the famous chef, trailblazing cookbook author and TV personality, Deadline reported. He replaces Tom Hollander, who originally had been tapped for ...
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Billy Masters
"The fact is, I'm a cheerleader for this country. I love our country. And I don't want people to be frightened. I don't want to create panic."—Donald Trump. No offense to any leaders of cheers out ...
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MOVIES Reeling goes online for 2020 edition
The pandemic did not stop officials from Chicago Filmmakers, the organization behind Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, from planning a diverse program of feature-length and short-subject narrative and ...
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MOVIES David Pevsner brings performance to home screens
Although Los Angeles-based performer David Pevsner's solo performance piece Musical Comedy Whore! is technically a one-man show, Pevsner takes care to differentiate it from others. "I think people are kind of surprised by it, [thinking] that ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Pose,' Matt Bomer, 'Mr. Soul,' Lil Nas X, Halsey, Dave Koz
SHOWBIZ 'Pose,' Matt Bomer, 'Mr. Soul,' Lil Nas X, Halsey, Dave Koz COMPILED BY ANDREW DAVIS FX's award-winning series Pose is planning to return to production in October, Variety noted. Production on season three was halted ...
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Reeling 2020 reviews
For complete festival information and to buy tickets, visit http://reelingfilmfestival.org/2020. Ratings are on a **** scale but I'm a tough grader, so nothing gets over ***. Note: This year's installment of Reeling: ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Star Trek,' Julianne Moore, benefit album, 'To Wong Foo'
The producers of Star Trek: Discovery announced that next season they will be introducing the first nonbinary and trans characters in the history of the Star Trek franchise, Advocate.com noted. Nonbinary character Adira, played by Blu ...
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Resisterhood, Democracy through female, LGBTQ+, minority lens, streaming Sept. 22
--From a press release
Washington, D.C. — Sept. 1, 2020 — Examining the ongoing reverberations of the 2016 U.S. presidential election from a women's perspective, Resisterhood is a compelling and impactful documentary urging us all to use our voice and ...
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MOVIES New documentary visits 'House of Cardin'
It took a queer eye to bring the new documentary House of Cardin to life. Husbands and business partners Todd Hughes and P. David Ebersole have directed a history of designer Pierre Cardin. Viewers of the ...
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LGBTQ+ actor Hank Chen talks OneWheaton, Tyra Banks and Robin Williams
Hank Chen is an actor and—perhaps more interestingly to people in Chicagoland—is a co-founder of the LGBTQ+ group OneWheaton, which consists of LGBTQ+ students and alumni of Wheaton College. Two of his recent credits include Life-Size ...
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Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Fest announces program
--From a press release
(Chicago, IL) Reeling will celebrate its 38th anniversary this fall with a new virtual edition of the second-oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world. Showing 30 features, 54 shorts across eight shorts programs from 21 countries, ...
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Filmmakers look back at pioneering movie 'Transsexuals'
Chicago-based Media Burn Archive presented an online screening of the rarely-seen 1971 documentary Transsexuals Aug. 27, and hosted members of its original crew, who presented insights on both its production ...
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SHOWBIZ #ReadOutProud, Mj Rodriguez, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lopez
Non-profit organization Pride and Less Prejudice (PLP) has launched a #ReadOutProud fundraising campaign video with LGBTQ celebrities including Adam Rippon, Nicole Maines, Darryl Stephens, Patrik-Ian Polk, Theo Germaine, Nikki Blonsky ...
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'The Boys in the Band' on Netflix Sept. 30
More than 50 years after Mart Crowley's play became an unexpected smash hit for putting gay men's lives center stage, The Boys in the Band will premiere on Netflix on Wed., Sept. 30, in a new ...
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Screening, talk regarding 1971 film 'Transsexuals' Aug. 27
Chicago-based Media Burn Archive will present a free virtual screening of the 25-minute 1971 documentary film Transsexuals on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 11 a.m. CT. The filmmakers noted in a press release that the film's title ...
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Billy Masters
"It wasn't me."—Kathy Griffin's tweet after reports that there was a shooter outside the White House I'm more than a little bit psychic—but you already knew that. Last week, I bemoaned life without The View. (The ...
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MOVIES 'Disarm Hate' features LGBTQ+ gun-control activists after massacre
Narrated by the iconic actor Harvey Fierstein, the film Disarm Hate seeks to create awareness about gun violence against the LGBTQ+ community following the 2016 Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando that took 49 lives as the ...
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MUSIC Performer Jane Badler helps present late son's musical vision
Actress/musician Jane Badler said that her late son, Harry Hains, was someone who was "in a different vibration." "He never fit in," said Badler, who is perhaps best known for her role as the villainous alien ...
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SHOWBIZ Janet Mock, 'Pose,' Joan Jett, Sam Smith, 'Digging Up Dorothy'
Transgender writer/director/author Janet Mock is teaming with actor Jeremy Pope (who has received an Emmy nod for his role in the Ryan murphy miniseries Hollywood) on a new drama called Scandalous!, Out.com noted, citing Deadline ...
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Documentary about Miss Continental pageant released
Independent nonprofit filmmakers The Reporters Inc. have released The Queens—a feature-length documentary celebrating the transgender women of the internationally revered Miss Continental female impersonator pageant. Nearly a decade in the ...
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LGBTQ performers and stories among 2020 Emmy nominations
Streaming services and cable networks were well-represented among the Television Academy's 2020 Emmy nominations, which were announced July 28. Netflix led the pack with 160 nominations, followed by HBO, which had 107. LGBTQ programming and creative ...
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MOVIES Reeling taking place virtually Sept. 24-Oct. 4
The 38th edition of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival will be held as an online virtual event from Sept. 24-Oct. 4. Chicago Filmmakers, the presenting organization of Reeling, made the decision to go virtual ...
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31st Annual GLAAD Awards airs virtually; Lil Nas X, Dolly appear
The 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards aired virtually July 30. Fortune Feimster and Gina Yashere co-hosted the event. Some celebrities who appeared were Lil Nas X, Dolly Parton, Dan Levy, Kandi Burruss, Cara Delevingne, Kaitlyn Dever, ...
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Wizard World postponed until June 24-27, 2021
Wizard Entertainment, Inc. announced that its Wizard World Chicago convention, originally scheduled for Aug. 20-23 at Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, has been postponed due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The revised dates ...
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NATIONAL Trans teacher, Billy Porter, TGNC home, gay police officer
Michigan honored a transgender educator as teacher of the year, LGBTQ Nation reported. The Michigan Department of Education announced at a virtual meeting that Owen Bondono—who teaches ninth-grade language arts at Oak Park High School, near ...
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SHOWBIZ John Waters, Billy Eichner, 'Trans & Nonbinary Kids Mix,' RuPaul
Gay filmmaker John Waters (Serial Mom; Hairspray) is the latest face of the French fashion brand Saint Laurent, Out.com noted. He appears in a suit from the brand with black shades, shot by David Sims. "My ...
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NUNN ON ONE PHOTOGRAPHY Peter Bussian focuses on New York's trans community
Peter Bussian is a visual artist who continually promotes international themes in his work. He's been published in The New York Times, LA Times, Paris Match and O: The Oprah Magazine, among others. Several galleries in ...
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MOVIES Film probes Chechen's anti-LGBTQ atrocities
The Toronto-based LGBT-rights advocacy Rainbow Railroad hosted an online discussion of the HBO documentary Welcome to Chechnya on July 16. That film, which premiered last month, details both hostilities facing LGBTQ persons in that Russian state, ...
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Studio Responsibility Index reveals mix of high, low numbers
GLAAD released its eighth annual Studio Responsibility Index (SRI)—a report that maps the quantity, quality and diversity of LGBTQ characters in films released by the eight film studios that had the highest theatrical grosses from films ...
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SHOWBIZ: Ellen, Scooby-Doo, 'Survivor,' LGBTQ singers, Andy Cohen
The executive producers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show are responding to claims that employees experienced a toxic environment while working on the popular daytime talk show, USA Today noted. In interviews with BuzzFeed News, one current ...
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SHOWBIZ Seth Rudetsky, LGBTQ films, Janelle Monae, trans singer
Norm Lewis, Megan Hilty and Cheyenne Jackson will join the line-up of talent slated to participate in The Seth Concert Series—the weekly virtual series based on Seth Rudetsky's international Broadway series that began at The Art ...
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Welbon invited to join Motion Picture Academy
Local Black lesbian filmmaker Yvonne Welbon was among the 819 artists and executives invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 2020 class is 45 percent women, 36 percent underrepresented ethnic/racial communities ...
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Billy Masters
"I might as well ask you what your paychecks are. Paul, what's your penis size?"—Chris Evans interviews Paul Rudd and asks the two most sensitive questions you could ask an actor. Paul answered, "It's even bigger ...
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NUNN ON ONE MOVIES Queer filmmaker has 'Mucho Mucho Amor' for famed astrologer
For generations, Puerto Rican astrologer Walter Mercado has brought hope and the future for many families over the years. He grew up a dancer, an actor in theater and starred in many telenovelas before his unique ...
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SHOWBIZ Paris Jackson, GALECA nods, Halle Berry, Jennifer Holliday
More than 274,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to prevent the distribution of the indie film Habit, which critics say is "Christianophobic garbage," USA Today noted. "A new blasphemous Hollywood film is predicted to come ...
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INTERNET
Juan Pablo Di Pace: Life's all about the small things in 'Minutiae'
The coronavirus pandemic has put many things on hold—but has also led to creative output from individuals who may not otherwise have had time to produce such projects. Such is the case with Juan Pablo Di ...
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SHOWBIZ Terrence McNally, Latino/a/x musicians, singer Harry Hains, Lena Waithe
Tony-winning actors Billy Porter and Rita Moreno, along with director Jeff Kaufman, will celebrate Terrence McNally on Wed., July 1, at 8 p.m. CT, with the International Documentary Association (IDA) ...
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PODCASTS 'A Queer Serial' delves into LGBTQ history
Devlyn Camp, the host of A Queer Serial podcast, is preparing for season two, continuing the stories of milestones in LGBTQ history before the Stonewall Riots. The show explores the world of lost LGBTQ history through ...
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TELEVISION Dashaun Wesley spills the tea on HBO Max's 'Legendary'
"Ladies, gentlemen and genderqueers" exclaims Dashaun Wesley as host and emcee for the new ballroom culture reality-competition show Legendary, on HBO Max. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, he came out at 14 and visited Christopher Street ...
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