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

Gay rapper Saucy Santana (real name: Rashad Jamiyl Spain) talked with Good Morning America about queerness and hip-hop as the music genre marks 50 years, according to INTO. "We just need to be visible. A lot of times, 'gay' is behind the scenes," Santana told GMA. "I came in gay. I came in swinging. I'm going to put gay everywhere, music videos, makeup artists, whoever. It's going to be gay LGBT-involved." Santana has hits like "Walk," the Latto-assisted "Booty" (nominated for a 2023 VMA) and the "Material Gworrllllllll!" remix with Madonna.

Famed pianist Liberace's former space—a West Hollywood townhome—is listed at $3.59 million after having recently undergone renovations, Fox Business noted. The home has three bedrooms and bathrooms, along with an additional half-bath; the crown jewel of the home is the 2,000-plus square foot rooftop terrace with views of Hollywood. A community where other Hollywood greats Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner previously resided, The Shoreham was built by MGM studios in 1937.

With Lena Waithe as one of its executive producers, Magnolia Pictures' Kokomo City is a documentary focused on four Black transgender sex workers (Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver) in Atlanta and New York City—and is it available On Digital, per a press release. The movie, edited and shot in bold black and white, is D. Smith's feature directorial debut. Kokomo City won the Sundance Film Festival's NEXT Innovator Award and NEXT Audience Award, as well as the Berlinale's Audience Award in the Panorama Documentary section. The film's trailer is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdM2voAE-ok.

Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts and longtime partner Amber Laign were joined by their family, friends and co-workers (past and present) during a broadcast to celebrate their upcoming nuptials, a press release noted. GMA's Lara Spencer and actress Niecy Nash-Betts, who co-hosted the bash, brought the "party bus" filled with Roberts and Laign's closest friends and family to GMA, where they participated in "GMA"'s Deals & Steals and played the "Nearly Newlywed Game." The couple (who've been together 18 years) were joined by ABC News colleagues Diane Sawyer, Juju Chang, Kim Godwin and Deborah Roberts, among others, plus longtime friend Gayle King. Carla Hall also joined the show, preparing mocktail recipes. DJ Kiss played records all morning long, while En Vogue performed a medley of their greatest hits for the couple and their guests.

Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Michael B. Jordan and Sofia Coppola will be honored at the Academy Museum Gala to be held on Oct. 14, Deadline noted. The event (which the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have greenlit) will help raise funds to support the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' exhibitions, education initiatives, and public programming, including screenings, K-12 programs and access initiatives in service of the general public and the local community of Los Angeles.

Bradley Cooper is once again doing director/actor double duty—this time, it's in Maestro, an upcoming drama about bisexual conductor Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Out noted. In a teaser Netflix released, Cooper and Gideon Glick's characters (Bernstein and Tommy Cothran, respectively) can be seen caressing each other and sharing an intimate moment in a hallway. They are then interrupted by Mulligan's character, who catches them together. Cooper had been previously spotted kissing Bomer while filming Maestro, and it's been speculated that Bomer will play Bernstein's main male love interest in the film.

On Delta Work's Very Delta podcast, RuPaul's Drag Race season-eight winner Bob the Drag Queen talked about her unfortunate experience trying out for America's Got Talent (which happened before Drag Race), per Out. "[Then-judge] Howard Stern once bullied me. But, to be fair, I low-key signed up for it," Bob revealed on the podcast. Bob added, "Stern said something like... 'You guys weren't great, but I would have sex with that one,' and [my friend that he pointed to] was like—I can't remember which one it was—she was like, 'I would never,.' He was, like, 'Any one of you would love to have sex with me,' and I was, like, 'I don't think you get to say that.'"

RuPaul's Drag Race alum Pearl apologized on Instagram for a set of pictures she posted earlier on her account in drag in what looks like blackface, Out noted. "The character I posted this morning was not meant to resemble any other background other than my own," she wrote. "She's platinum blonde/blue eyes & meant to have 2000's britney-esque tan." She also sported exaggerated large lips and long press-on nails in the now-deleted images.

Judging from a photo on social media, another "Drag Race" alum, Monica Beverly Hillz, seems to have a relationship with former Bachelorette contestant Josh Seiter, who has come out as bisexual, per Out. In the photo, the drag star is hugging the reality star and the caption reads, "Tonight's menu: love, laughter, and a whole lot of yum." Seiter was briefly engaged to a fellow male exotic dancer, but that relationship has ended.

LGBTQ+ actress/comedian Rebel Wilson updated her condition from an on-set incident where she was accidentally "hit in the face with the butt of a gun" while filming her latest movie, Bride Hard, Deadline noted. Wilson showed her 11 million Instagram followers how she's doing after the "stunt accident" on the set; she initially required stitches, but is on the mend. In the film, Wilson plays a bridesmaid who is also a secret agent, and there's a hostage-taking by a mercenary group at a wedding.

Bravo star Kyle Richards and country singer Morgan Wade decided to "troll the trolls" by filming a music video for the song "Fall In Love With Me" in which they play lovers, per Out. (The couple, who say they're just friends, have been hounded by rumors that they're dating.) Even Richard's estranged husband, Mauricio Umansky, loved the music video. Flipping Out star Jeff Lewis also commented on the rumors, calling Richards a "lesbian on Ozempic" during a game on Watch What Happens Live; he has since apologized, Page Six noted.

Pansexual singer Tove Lo is bringing her Dirt Femme era to a close with a 19-track deluxe version of the album, titled Dirt Femme (Extended Cut), a press release noted. The new album features all 13 original tracks plus the recently released single "I like u" and "Borderline"; the extended version of "No One Dies From Love"; remixes by Jacques Greene, Jax Jones and Dorian Electra; and a brand-new song, "Elevator Eyes." Her tour will bring her to Chicago's The Salt Shed on Sept. 6.

The new LGBTQ+ Prime Video movie Red, White & Royal Blue has had much success since its Aug. 11 debut—and GLAAD has commented on it. In a statement, GLAAD Vice President of Communications and Talent Anthony Allen Ramos said, "The tremendous initial success of Prime Video's Red, White & Royal Blue sends a clear message that entertainment with LGBTQ-lead stories can be hits with audiences and by industry standards. The fact that the film is already the streamer's third most watched romantic comedy ever and that memberships to the platform have spiked related to its premiere also prove that the fringe anti-LGBTQ activists who are attacking inclusive entertainment are both wrong from a moral sense, and from a business sense."

The second leg of the Dave Koz & Friends Summer Horns 2023 tour launched in New York City with a Blue Note Groove Cruise, setting sail on The Cornucopia from Pier 40, per a press release. The openly gay, Grammy-nominated musician is teaming with two other sax greats—Candy Dulfer and Eric Darius—for the run, with vocalist Maysa appearing at certain stops. Also, Dave Koz and Friends at Sea will visit Greece, Turkey, Israel and Egypt in May 2024 on the two sold-out Cradle of Civilization voyages. See www.davekoz.com .

Billy Porter slammed Harry Styles' Vogue cover again—after previously apologizing for his initial comments—and called magazine head Anna Wintour a "bitch," per Page Six. Talking with the Telegraph, Porter spoke about his disdain for Vogue using the singer as the face of genderfluid and non-binary fashion back in 2020. "It's not Harry Styles' fault that he happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way," Porter said, adding, "I call out the gatekeepers." In addition, Porter said, "That bitch [Wintour] said to me at the end, 'How can we do better?' And I was so taken off guard that I didn't say what I should have said," which was "Use your power as Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders of this de-gendering of fashion movement."

After three seasons on the Los Angeles Rams cheerleading team, Jose Capetillo and Brendan Ryan are now cheer captains—making them the first out gay men to ever lead an NFL cheerleading team, according to Out. Ryan told Queerty that becoming the first out gay captain felt "surreal." Capetillo added, "Knowing that our teammates voted for us to be in this position is a really special feeling. It makes us feel super supported."

Vlatko Andonovski resigned as head coach of the United States women's national soccer team following the squad's early exit from the Women's World Cup, ESPN noted. While his record with the U.S. was 51-5-9, in major tournaments he was just 3-2-5. Assistant coach Twila Kilgore will be interim coach for a pair of friendlies against South Africa on Sept. 21 and Sept. 24.

LGBTQ+ American Idol alum David Archuleta refuted a story a man told on TikTok about going on a date with him, Out noted. The unidentified man told TikTok personality Emma Wahl a story about going on a "coffee date with a singer guy." The man said the singer (who also allegedly brought a guitar on the date) wouldn't stop talking about how he was on a singing competition show when he was 16 and won second place and how annoyed he was that the person who took first place had the same first name as him. Responding on TikTok, Archuleta said he would never play guitar in public and that he's "so self-conscious" of his time spent on TV that he would never bring it up, let alone brag about it.

Shania Twain is returning to Las Vegas with "Shania Twain: COME ON OVER—The Las Vegas Residency—All The Hits!" opening at Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on Friday, May 10, 2024, per a press release. Twain stated, "I am excited to be returning to Vegas for my third residency, COME ON OVER. Performing in Vegas is a huge honor and I love this theater." Tickets go on sale starting Monday, Aug. 21, at noon CT at ticketmaster.com/shaniavegas.

Charli XCX released her official music video for "Speed Drive," her track from Barbie the Album, per a press release. Filmed in Los Angeles, the video was co-directed by Charli with Ramez Silyan, starring Charli and Devon Lee Carlson racing a pink Corvette convertible under the Californian sun. The video (with a cameo from Sam Smith and a couple of lines familiar to people familiar with Toni Basil's classic "Mickey") is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7jzzvKxgZ8.

Marking three decades since the initial release of the album, Grammy-winning band Green Day announced the Dookie 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, out on Sept. 29, per a press release. Dookie 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be available everywhere digitally as well as a limited-edition six-LP vinyl box set and four-CD box set. In addition, a special version of the six-LP vinyl box set will only be available on the band's web store and at indie record stores with each record pressed on a different shade of brown vinyl.

The band The 1975 has been fined $2.6 million because of lead singer Matty Healy's on-stage same-sex kiss with bandmate/bassist Ross MacDonald to protest Malaysia's anti-LGBTQ+ laws while at a Malaysian festival, Out reported. Because of Healy's act of protest, the next two days of the Good Vibes music festival were canceled; now, the festival's organizer, Future Sound Asia, wants the band to pay the fine. A group of Malaysian musicians and vendors is also prepping a class-action lawsuit against The 1975, and even the Malaysian LGBTQ+ community has condemned the protest, calling it "white savior behavior" and "purely performative activism."

Paramore canceled its "This is Why" U.S. tour, citing the illness of lead singer Hayley Williams, per Deadline. The band previously postponed four shows as Williams attempted to recover from "a lung infection," Williams shared on social media. But the singer said her doctor told her she's now risking long-term damage.

Country-music superstar Luke Bryan announced the final dates of his record-breaking headlining engagement, "Luke Bryan: VEGAS" at Resorts World Theatre inside Resorts World Las Vegas, a media release noted. Bryan will conclude his concerts on Jan. 6, 2024 following the success of his near two-year engagement. The last dates will be Dec. 29-31 as well as Jan. 3, 5 and 6.