THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Pride Month is approaching and Marvel Comics revealed all of this year's Pride variant covers, a press release noted. While artist Lucas Werneck captures the joy of Pride Month with characters paying tribute to Ballroom culture and gay nightlife, artist David Talaski showcases the power of Pride Month with character's strength and resilience on full display in various portraits. Characters featured include Web-Weaver; Askani (the daughter of Jean Grey); Aaron Fischer, aka the Captain America of the Railways; Black Cat; Fang, aka Daken, son of Wolverine; and Escapade. Also, a press release about Marvel's Voice: Pride #1 is at https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/marvel-voices-pride-2023-first-look.

And Marvel also unveiled Stars Wars Pride variant covers. "Marvel's Pride Month Celebration will once again extend to the galaxy far, far away by spotlighting LGBTQIA+ Star Wars characters, many of which star in Marvel's current line of Star Wars comic series," a press release read. Characters in the spotlight include assassin Just Lucky, former high-ranking officer Magna Tolvan and Doctor Aphra, among others.

SPOILER ALERT: In other Marvel-related news, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 introduces a major lesbian character from the comics into the MCU: Phyla-Vell, according to Out. Ultimately, she joins an all-new Guardians line-up that begins when the original team goes their separate ways. However, she's a girl in the movie; in the comics, Phyla-Vell is usually an adult and in an adult relationship with her fellow Guardian of the Galaxy, Moondragon.

And speaking of "Guardians," star Chris Pratt (also a part of the blockbuster The Super Mario Bros. Movie) is still very much in the news over his reportedly conservative background, per Queerty. For years, Pratt was linked to the controversial Hillsong Church, which has openly stated that it "do[es] not affirm a gay lifestyle." However, Pratt denied ever attending that church although he's admitted to attending the controversial Zoe Church in Los Angeles. (Zoe pastor Chad Veach—who said Hillsong influenced him—executive-produced a 2017 film that equated "sexual brokenness" with same-sex attraction, according to Men's Health.)

Singer Deborah Cox knows why gay fans adore her, according to Out. In part, she said, "I think it's the connection of just the storytelling and while you're able to dance and have fun, you're also feeling the emotion of a song. … They said it's a soundtrack to their lives, and I think it's because the stories resonate." A passionate LGBTQ+ ally, Cox recently performed a headlining set at InterPride's (the organization that runs WorldPride) Global Gala in Los Angeles recently, which included so many of her hits (as well as some covers from one of her musical heroes, Whitney Houston).

The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) announced its lineup of narrative, documentary and short films as well as honorees for this year's Filmmaker on the Edge, Excellence in Acting and Next Wave Awards, per a press release. Award-winning filmmaker, photographer, writer Bruce LaBruce is 2023's Filmmaker on the Edge; all-everything talent Billy Porter will be honored with the Excellence in Acting Award; and writer, director and actor Julio Torres as well as writer, actress and comedian Megan Stalter will both receive the festival's Next Wave Award. The Provincetown International Film Festival runs June 14-18 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Project Runway is entering its 20th year with a new, All-Star season, according to Out. Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell and Elaine Welteroth (who, at one time, was on The Talk) are returning as judges, with previous Project Runway winner Christian Siriano set as a mentor. This season will see 14 favorite designers from over the years returning to battle for the crown, including Jonathan Kayne Gillaspie (season three), Rami Kashou (season four), Anna Yinan Zhou (season 19), Laurence Basse (season 15), Fabio Costa (season 10), Bishme Cromartie (season 17) and Kara Saun (season one), among others.

Dolly Parton's long-awaited first rock album, Rockstar, will be out Nov. 17, according to Billboard. The country icon—who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2022—collaborates with musicians such as Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Lizzo, Sting, Chris Stapleton, Debbie Harry, Elton John, John Fogerty, Joan Jett, Steven Tyler and Peter Frampton, among others. The 30-track album features nine original tracks and 21 rock anthems, including "Free Bird," "Purple Rain" and "We Are the Champions."

Netflix dropped the trailer for Wanda Sykes' new comedy special, I'm an Entertainer, which will premiere May 23, per a press release. The special, directed by Linda Mendoza, was filmed in early February 2023 at the Miller Theater in Philadelphia. Sykes' 2019 Netflix comedy special, Not Normal, was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. See the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJdIRMolhE8.

Lesbian actress Marsha Warfield, who played the caustic bailiff Roz on Night Court for six seasons, made a surprise appearance on the May 9 episode of the series' 2023 revival, Variety noted. Warfield's appearance came on Tuesday during part two of the episode "The Honorable Dan Fielding." Warfield told Variety that she had no expectations of returning when the new Night Court—starring Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone (the daughter of the original series' Judge Harry Stone, played by the late Harry Anderson) and Larroquette—was first announced.

Gay actor Jonathan Groff (Knock at the Cabin; TV's Glee and Mindhunter) is coming to Doctor Who as a new "mysterious guest" in the upcoming 14th season, according to Out. "I am so thrilled to jump into the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies and watch the incredible Ncuti Gatwa soar in this iconic role," Groff said in a statement. The new doctor is being played by Ncuti Gatwa, famous for playing gay student Eric Effiong in Sex Education; also, Neil Patrick Harris (playing Who's enemy), trans actress Yasmin Finney and RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon are all joining the cast of the British show next season.

On Saturday, June 3, at 1 p.m. CT, Pride and Less Prejudice (PLP) will host a virtual panel on the importance of queer people telling their own stories, per a press release. The panel will feature actor, author and producer Chris Colfer (Glee, The Land of Stories); comedian, actress and author Cameron Esposito (Take My Wife, Save Yourself, Queery); and actress, singer and author Alexandra Billings (Transparent, This Time For Me), with writer Sa'iyda Shabazz moderating. Telling Our Stories: A Panel on Queer Visibility and Authorship will take place on Zoom, and be followed by a 30-minute Q&A; tickets are at https://www.prideandlessprejudice.org/special-event-registration.

Disney gave a first look at the new animated film Wish with its first trailer, with queer actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, a girl with a talking-goat sidekick fighting a king who hoards wishes, Vulture noted. The king is voiced by Chris Pine while the goat—who only gets his voice after a run-in with a magical creature—is voiced by Alan Tudyk. The movie will be out Nov. 22.

And Ariana DeBose will be part of the annual Night of Covenant House Stars Gala, set for May 22 at the Javits Center Rooftop Pavilion and Terrace in New York City, per The Hollywood Reporter. Others slated to appear include Rachel Brosnahan, Audra McDonald, John Dickerson, Jason Ralph and Stephanie Ruhle, among others. (DeBose, Brosnahan, Dickerson and McDonald all serve as Covenant House international board members.) Covenant House is dedicated to helping America's youths facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking.

The MTV Movie & TV Awards unveiled its winners as its live show was cancelled (and several attendees, including host Drew Barrymore, opted out of the event) due to the Writers Guild of America strike, according to Variety. Some of the winners included Scream VI (Best Movie, besting Elvis, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Top Gun: Maverick, among others), The Last of Us (Best Show), Tom Cruise (Best Performance in a Movie), Jenna Ortega (Best Performance in a Show), Taylor Swift's "Carolina" (Best Song), RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (Best Competition Series), Pedro Pascal and non-binary actor Bella Ramsey (Best Duo), and Jennifer Coolidge (Most Frightened Performance; Comedic Genius Award).

Legendary British band Frankie Goes To Hollywood will be the subject of a new movie biopic from UK powerhouse Working Title and sales/production company Independent Entertainment, Deadline noted. Titled Relax after the group's 1983 hit single and based on queer frontman Holly Johnson's memoir A Bone In My Flute, the film is set to star It's A Sin breakout Callum Scott Howells as Johnson. After breaking up in 1987, the band didn't perform together again until May 8, when they played one song at a concert in Liverpool ahead of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Reality-TV star Chrishell Stause and Australian non-binary lesbian DJ G Flip announced that they got married, per Extra. Stause revealed the news on Instagram with a video timeline of their romance; a caption read, "Love doesn't always go as planned… Sometimes it's immeasurably better." Stause (who was previously married to This Is Us actor Justin Hartley) and G Flip met on Halloween in 2021, but were seeing other people. They later got together and confirmed their relationship in May 2022.

The NYC supper club 54 Below will present singer Robert Bannon and his "Pride Playlist" on June 2 to celebrate Pride Month, per a press release. "Robert Bannon's Pride Playlist" is directed by Robbie Rozelle, with musical direction by Yasuhiko Fukuoka; additional singers will be announced. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.org .

Oscar winner Nicole Kidman will have to wait a little longer to receive her Life Achievement Award tribute from the American Film Institute (AFI), as the June 10 event has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing writers strike, Deadline noted. The strike, which started May 2 after negotiations for a new contract broke down, turned the MTV Movie & TV Awards into a clip show and has stalled dozens of productions.

Hulu revealed the first trailer for its brand-new reality competition series, Drag Me to Dinner—featuring several drag performers going up against one another in a battle to throw the best dinner party of all time, Out noted. Several RuPaul's Drag Race queens will be featured in the series as contestants; Neil Patrick Harris, Bianca Del Rio and Haneefah Wood will appear as judges. The show—presented by Harris and husband David Burtka, with Murray Hill hosting—premieres May 31.

On a related note, Bianca Del Rio, who won the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, will return to host the "All Stars" season-eight weekly recap series The Pit Stop, Variety noted. Each week, Del Rio and her guest will recap and review the most recent episode of All Stars, which begins streaming on May 12 exclusively on Paramount+. New episodes of The Pit Stop will premiere Saturdays on the RuPaul's Drag Race's YouTube channel.

Michael R. Jackson, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning playwright of A Strange Loop, is writing the stage musical adaptation of the horror-comedy Teeth, according to Deadline. The 2007 film is a very dark horror-comedy concerning "vagina dentata," written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein. As described by Playwrights Horizons, the musical, like the film, will follow Dawn O'Keefe, "an evangelical Christian teen with a powerful secret not even she understands. When men violate her, her body bites back. Literally."

Fox cancelled the Mayim Bialik show Call Me Kat after three seasons, according to Deadline. Out co-star Leslie Jordan, who passed away last October, was a big part of the cast. Swoosie Kurtz, Cheyenne Jackson (another member of the LGBTQ+ community), Kyla Pratt and Julian Gant also starred in it. Also, Fox renewed series such as The Cleaning Lady, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers and 9-1-1: Lone Star—although flagship series 9-1-1 was not renewed and is moving to ABC.

Bad Cinderella—Andrew Lloyd Webber's updated musical re-telling of the classic fairy tale—will end its Broadway run on Sunday, June 4, according to Deadline. The musical, with lyrics by David Zippel and book by Emerald Fennell, has been struggling at the box office after garnering bad reviews. It also received no Tony nominations.

The New York City Gay Men's Chorus (NYCGMC) will hold its summer Pride concert, "Chasing Rainbows," on Friday, June 16, at 8 p.m. ET at the Hostos Community College Center for the Arts and Culture in the Bronx, per a press release. A free matinee performance is also available at 1 p.m. specifically for NYC middle and high school students. "'Chasing Rainbows' is an evening of music that reminds us that the journey to self-love is unique and revolutionary," the release stated. Visit www.nycgmc.org .

The San Sebastian Film Festival, running Sept. 22-30, will honor actor Javier Bardem with its prestigious Donostia Award at its 71st edition, Deadline noted. The actor will receive the career achievement prize on Sept. 22 at the Kursaal Auditorium, thirty years after his first visit to the Spanish festival for the competition screening of Bigas Luna's film Golden Balls in 1993.

A major Paramount division announced it will shutter MTV News and slash its U.S. workforce by 25%, CNN reported. The decision to shut down MTV News—which started in the 1980s and had already been significantly scaled down in recent years—comes less than a month after BuzzFeed announced it would eliminate its award-winning news division and Vice Media canceled its acclaimed Vice News Tonight as part of a broad restructuring.

TLC and Shaggy announced the "Hot Summer Nights Tour," Brooklyn Vegan noted. North American dates begin on June 1 in Pelham, Alabama and wrap up on July 14 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and most shows are with En Vogue and Sean Kingston. A few of the other stops include Friday, June 23, in Tinley Park, Illinois (a half-hour outside Chicago); Monday, July 3, in Austin Texas; and Friday, July 7, in Phoenix.

On the Tamron Hall Show, Salt-N-Pepa's Cheryl "Salt" James said she was "asked to have an abortion" for the sake of her career, according to Billboard. James, appearing with Sandra "Pepa" Denton, added, You just have to know that it's something that you're capable of handling if you want a kid and you want to have a career. And it's definitely harder."

Out fashion designer Tom Ford recently railed against cosmetic procedures, saying on the iHeartPodcast "Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi" that people are injecting way too many things in their [faces]," Page Six noted. "You look at a lot of celebrities now and you just think, 'Oh, my God, what do they see when they look in the mirror?' They don't even look like themselves any longer. And it is truly dysmorphia," he added. Ford just announced his departure from his namesake label following its acquisition by Estee Lauder for $2.8 billion in 2022.

The Kelly Clarkson Show will move production from the Universal lot in Los Angeles to NBC Studios in 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York next season, Variety confirmed. The move follows the expansion of New York's Film Tax Credit, which was recently signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in the fiscal year 2024 budget. A new state-of-the-art studio will be built for Clarkson's show, as well as technical facility and support space.

The Real Friends of WeHo co-star Joey Zauzig married Brian Grossman at the Rosewood Le Guanahani resort in St Barths, Out noted. Without any pre-arrangements, the fiances made it official with only a couple of close friends who were also vacationing on the island.

Sebastian Lelio has set Voyagers as his next film at FilmNation Entertainment, with Andrew Garfield attached to play astronomer Carl Sagan and Daisy Edgar-Jones to play Cosmos filmmaker Ann Druyan, Deadline noted. The film is set in 1977 as NASA prepared to launch humanity's first interstellar probes and a team led by Sagan set out to create a message to accompany them: The Golden Record. But then an epic, unexpected love story blossoms between Sagan and his collaborator, Druyan.

LA Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Beaudet tossed out most of musician Marilyn Manson's defamation case against Evan Rachel Wood over the Westworld actress' claims of abuse during the former couple's relationship, according to Deadline. "We are very pleased with the Court's ruling, which affirms and protects Evan's exercise of her fundamental First Amendment rights," Wood's lead attorney Michael Kump said.

Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak is ending her marriage, filing for divorce from Kroy Biermann on the heels of the couple's financial struggles, per TMZ. (Zolciak and Biermann reportedly owe the IRS more than $1 million.) The two were married for 11 years and had four kids together during that time. Zolciak said she's filing because the marriage is "irretrievably broken with no hope of reconciliation."