HBO Max’s LGBT History Docuseries “Equal” Has The Best Gayest Dreamiest Cast Ever
When I was a kid, I’d make fake “programs” for film adaptations (yes I know programs are just for plays but I had a very active imagination) of my favorite novels for fun, because I was obviously very cool. It was an art project of sorts but the real joy in the process was not the cutting, pasting, and truly deranged adventures in hand-drawn fonts — but the casting. I just wanted to see my favorite actors (e.g., Whoopi Goldberg, John Candy, Sarah Polley, the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club) bring my most beloved stories (e.g., Dicey’s Song, Pippi Longstocking, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, M.V. Sexton Speaking) to life!
Looking at the cast for HBO Max’s upcoming docuseries “Equal” felt like seeing the natural progression of that deep early childhood work spread upon the stories that most enchant me now. In four parts, the program aims to cover several major milestones in LGBTQ Civil Rights history, blending archival footage with scripted drama. But the cast — my friends, the cast! We couldn’t have cut-and-pasted it better ourselves.
This is like fantasy football for LGBT history nerds!!
Episode One, set in the 1940s and 1950s, focuses mainly on cis white lesbian and gay activists: the early days of the Mattachine Society, the Daughters of Bilitis, seminal lesbian magazine The Ladder and rampant FBI investigations into gay persons in the United States. Shannon Purser and Heather Matarazzo play Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, founders of the Daughters of Bilitis and The Ladder. Sara Gilbert plays J.M from Cleveland, an anonymous reader of The Ladder who found community in its pages. Anne Ramsey plays an FBI agent. Anthony Rapp plays Harry Hay and Cheyenne Jackson is Dale Jennings, both early activists who were on the ground floor of The Mattachine Society’s founding.
Photo : Courtesy of HBO Max
Photo : Courtesy of HBO Max
Photo : Courtesy of HBO Max
Episode Two focuses on trans stories in the 1950s-1960s. We are introduced to Lucy Hicks (Alexandra Grey), a socialite and prohibition-era entrepreneur and one of the first known Black transgender people in U.S. history; as well as Jack Starr (Theo Germaine), a “prominent local outcast” and “enigmatic early figure who pushed the boundaries of gender expression” in turn-of-the-century Montana. Jamie Clayton will be bringing the story of glamorous entertainer and author Christine Jorgensen, the “world’s first transgender celebrity” who became internationally known for undergoing gender confirmation surgery, to life. Isis King plays Alexis, a composite character who was involved in the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot in 1966.
Alexandra Grey as Lucy Hicks Anderson (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
Theo Germaine as Jack Starr (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
(8) Jamie Clayton as Christine Jorgensen (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
(9) Isis King as Alexis (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
Episode Three brings us the moment we have all been waiting for our entire lives on this planet: Samira Wiley as activist and author Lorraine Hannsberry, who became the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway with the production of “A Raisin in the Sun.” Other featured figures include Keiynan Lonsdale as Bayard Rustin and Jai Rodriguez as José Sarria.
Samira Wiley as Lorraine Hannsberry (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
Episode Four brings us to Stonewall and its surrounding culture. Haillie Sahar is the legendary Latinx gay liberation and trans rights activist Sylvia Rivera, who co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries in 19970. Elizabeth Faith Ludlow will play Stormé DeLarverie, an oft-overlooked performer and gay civil rights icon who was known as “the guardian of lesbians in the Village.” Episode Four also features Scott Turner Schofield as Craig Rodwell, Cole Doman as Mark Segal, Gale Harold as Howard Smith and Sam Pancake as Dick Leitsch.
Hailie Sahar as Sylvia Rivera (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
Elizabeth Faith Ludlow as Stormé DeLarverie (COURTESY OF HBO MAX)
You have until October to figure out how the fuck to get HBO Max to play on your television set.
Pop Culture Fix: “Riverdale” Boss Promises Queens Toni and Cheryl Will Reign Supreme Next Season
Welcome to your Wednesday Pop Culture Fix, friends!
+ Okay so when Riverdale‘s time jump happens, it’ll be set seven years in the future. Before that, though, here’s Cheryl and Toni at prom.
+ The Ellen Show has fired three top producers in the wake of damning reports of racism and sexual misconduct behind the scenes. Also, DJ tWitch has been promoted to co-executive producer.
+ Amazon has ordered a gender-swapped Dead Ringers reoboot starring Rachel Weisz.
+ Before her DNC speech, Stacey Abrams gives Kerry Washington voter suppression survival tips.
+ A Black Lady Sketch Show‘s Robin Thede, Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis, Ashley Nicole Black, and director Dime Davis and superstar guest Angela Bassett chatted with Variety about the historic impact of the series.
+ Queer coming-of-age film Cocoon will land in the UK and Ireland in October.
+ Here’s how Mulan will work on Disney+.
+ The Gloria Steinem biopic, The Glorias, is coming to Amazon Prime.
+ Legend of Korra‘s messy, complicated legacy.
+ Warrior Nun has been renewed for a second season.
Warrior Nun has been renewed for a second season — watch the cast find out https://t.co/FOFY4N4RhT
— Netflix (@netflix) August 19, 2020
Ellen DeGeneres’ Talk Show Is in Question Amid Accusations of Racism, Intimidation, and Sexual Misconduct
If you’ve been on Twitter at all in the last 72 hours, you know things aren’t looking good for Ellen. If you haven’t been on Twitter — first of all, teach me your ways; and second of all, the world’s most famous lesbian and former daytime TV sweetheart has been trending nonstop over allegations that the facade of niceness on her show masks a toxic workplace.
Ellen has been in hot water since last October when cameras spotted her laughing alongside — and then refusing to apologize for her “friendship” with — former president George W. Bush at an NFL game. A disastrous interview with Dakota Johnson followed in November. But dissent from behind-the-scenes of her show didn’t become public until the COVID-19 lockdown in California. Since then, it’s been an avalanche.
It started when over 30 employees spoke to Variety about the lack of communication on the “status of their working hours, pay, or inquiries about their mental and physical health from producers for over a month” after the lockdown started and Ellen’s show moved to filming at her home. Remote filming was set up by a non-union, outside tech company, and when Ellen’s staff was finally contacted about their jobs, they were told to expect a 60% pay cut. A few weeks ago, BuzzFeed followed up on that unrest with a deeply reported piece in which current and former employees say they experienced “racism, fear, and intimidation” while working on the show.
One Black employee said when she was hired, “a senior-level producer told her and another Black employee, ‘Oh wow, you both have box braids; I hope we don’t get you confused.’ And at a work party, she said, one of the main writers told her, ‘I’m sorry, I only know the names of the white people who work here.'”
BuzzFeed chased that story last week with one in which dozens of employees say Ellen’s executive producers engaged in “rampant sexual misconduct and harassment.” BuzzFeed reports that EP Ed Glavin “had a reputation for being handsy with women” and that EP Kevin Leman solicited oral sex at a company party and was also seen grabbing an assistant’s penis.
WarnerMedia has engaged their employee relations group and a third party firm to conduct an internal investigation into the allegations.
Ellen issued an apology last week in a letter to her staff, which The Hollywood Reporter obtained: “On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,” she wrote. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case… I’m glad the issues at our show were brought to my attention. I promise to do my part in continuing to push myself and everyone around me to learn and grow.”
One repeated message in the reporting about Ellen’s show is that “That ‘be kind’ bullshit only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show.” After last week’s news broke, former Everybody Loves Raymond actor Brad Garrett tweeted “Sorry but it comes from the top. @TheEllenShow. Know more than one who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge.” Lea Thompson responded to People magazine’s tweet about Garrett’s comment, saying, “True story, it is.” Similarly, writer and comedian Kevin T. Porter went viral in March asking for “the most insane stories” people had about Ellen.
Over the weekend, tabloids began saying that James Cordon would take over Ellen’s show, but EP Andy Lassner says “nobody is going off the air.”
Ellen’s refrain, starting from the Bush pal-ing around through these allegations of sexual misconduct and racism, has been that she’s a good and nice person who just wants other people to be happy. But what her statements and apologies (and non-apologies) consistently lack is an understanding that simply “being kind” isn’t an antidote to systemic racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and the effects of ubiquitous and compounded abuses by men in power — from U.S. presidents to the producers of her show.
With #ReplaceEllen trending on Twitter this morning, it seems that speculation about Ellen’s future isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Pop Culture Fix: Is “Station 19” Setting Up Maya and Carina to be a Legendary Gay Shondaland Couple?
Hey howdy hi hi, here’s your Monday Pop Culture Fix!
+ Stefania Spampinato, Dr. Carina “Orgasm” Deluca, is making a full-time move from Grey’s Anatomy to Station 19. Carmen says: “Maya and Carina are going down in history with the Shondaland gay legends, and I’ll hear nothing about it!” (Natalie says: “A threesome with a newly single Teddy Altman would pacify me.”)
+ This was also featured in Sunday Funday, but it’s worth seeing twice: remembering the short-lived queer villains of horror.
+ Valerie Anne’s writing about Umbrella Academy season two for you, but until then, here’s Ellen Page talking about the [SPOILER].
+ Wynonna Earp‘s season four premiere ratings were huge.
+ Harley Quinn‘s animated series is now on HBO Max; if you haven’t watched it yet, treat yourself! Season two is one of my favorite gay seasons of TV ever.
+ The Emmys will be virtual this year.
+ The trailer for Evan Rachel Wood and Miranda July’s Kajillionaire is here.
+ The GLAAD Media Awards were more political than ever this year, and rightly so.
+ Bryan Fuller’s looking to Netflix for another season of Hannibal (no way Margot and Alana will survive that!).
The Category Is “Shut Out of the 2020 Emmys” and the Winner Is Pose, the Reason Is Transphobia
Ah I love the smell of fresh Emmys announcements in the morning!
But seriously, the 2020 Emmy Nominations were announced this morning, and there are a lot of feelings to be had. This year, there are 11 nominated lesbian, bisexual, queer or trans actresses being honored for their work! There’s 15 nominations going to LGBT women’s roles on screen. It’s perhaps becoming cliché to say that #RepresentationMatters, but it remains true that we all look for ourselves in the stories we tell. That seeing a little bit of yourself, out there in the world, in your full messy humanity, makes it that much easier to just be in your everyday life. Television may be a billion dollar industry, but its one that’s still built on the art of connection.
Nevertheless, the Television Academy — like Hollywood itself, and mainstream TV criticism — continues to commanded by the tastes of mostly straight white cis men. This year, as the year before, that became most prevalent in the near shut out of critics’ darling Pose in almost all major acting, directing, and writing categories, save Billy Porter’s nomination for his magnificent portrayal of Pray Tell as Lead Actor in a Drama.
It takes nothing away from the resplendent performance brought forth by Porter (who last year became the first out gay Black man to win in his category in Emmy history), to also note that when only the cis performer is deemed “worthy” of nominating from a show like Pose — which is created by, for, and centers the experience of Black and Brown trans women — there’s a problem afoot. It sends a message that no matter rich talent put forth — trans women who are the protagonists of their own stories aren’t worthy of recognition.
Pose does not work without Mj Rodriguez’s lead role of Blanca; she’s masterfully become the heart around which everything else revolves. It does not work without Indya Moore’s performance of Angel, the breakout role that turned the non-binary actor into an A-list Hollywood star. It does not work without the scalpel-like precision that Angelica Ross brought to Candy’s many layers, rising above any tragedy. It doesn’t work without Our Lady J and Janet Mock at the helm, writing scripts and directing.
Last year the Television Academy nominated Pose in the Outstanding Drama category without acknowledging the trans creators and talent that’s turned it into generation defining art. This year — they couldn’t even be bothered do that. And they should be rightfully shamed for it, because this isn’t about a lack of talent; it’s about transphobic gatekeeping. Their work is greatly missed from the nominations below.
The Category Is: I C O N S
Now, on to the rest of the nominees!
Congratulations are of course in order to Jodie Comer for her Lead Actress in a Drama nomination for the deadly bisexual assassin everyone loves and fears, Vilanelle, in Killing Eve along with her partner and playmate in the erotic cat-and-mouse, Sandra Oh (who remains the only Asian actress to ever be nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama). Rounding out the Lead Actress in a Drama category is Zendaya, who wrecked hearts as Rue Bennet in the queer coming-of-age drama Euphoria, scoring her first Emmy nomination in a career that she’s been working overtime at since she was a tween.
Samira Wiley scored yet another Supporting Actress in a Drama nomination for playing Moira, a lesbian who’s leading the revolution, on The Handmaid’s Tale. While Alexis Bledel was also nominated for playing — yes, really — another lesbian leading the revolution on The Handmaid’s Tale, Emily, in the Guest Actress in a Drama category. Lesbian actresses Fiona Shaw and Cherry Jones are nominated in the Supporting Actress and Guest Actress in a Drama category, respectively, for their work on Killing Eve and Sucession. Laverne Cox was nominated in the Guest Actress in a Drama category for her goodbye as Sophia in the final season of Orange is the New Black. Finally, we have Killing Eve andThe Handmaid’s Tale both nominated to take home Outstanding Drama Series.
Over in the comedies, Linda Cardellini was nominated for her queer lead role Judy Hale in the biting dark comedy, Dead to Me. Alex Borstein was once again nominated in the Supporting Actress in a Comedy Category as Susie (whom they still haven’t made gay, the cowards!) on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Speaking of Mrs. Maisel, Wanda Sykes received a nomination for Guest Actress in a Comedy for her brilliant work was Moms Mabley in the show’s third season (she’s also nominated for her voiceover work on Cranky Yankers). Trans actress Rain Valdez was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her work in the comedy, Razor Tongue. And of course, perpetual home team favorite Kate McKinnon is bringing in her SEVENTH Emmy nomination in the Supporting Actress category for her steadfast work on Saturday Night Live. Meanwhile, Mrs. Maisel and Dead to Me are each vying for Outstanding Comedy Series.
In the limited series category, our surprise queer hit of spring, Little Fires Everywhere, had a strong showing. Not only is the show nominated for Outstanding Limited Series, but also Kerry Washington is nominated for Lead Actress in a TV movie/Limited Series as Mia Warren, the queer bohemian artist with, excuse the pun, a “fiery” past. Little Fires Everywhere bisexual director Lyn Shelton also earned a posthumous nomination for her work on the series. Shelton directed four episodes out of Little Fire Everywhere’s eight, including the season finale, “Find A Way,” that earned her the nomination. We’re sending our congratulations and support to her family at this time.
For Variety Shows, lesbian comedian Hannah Gadsby was nominated for both Outstanding Variety Special for her stand-up set Douglas and also for Outstanding Writing for the same show. A Black Lady Sketch Show, which stars and is written by bisexual actress Ashley Nicole Black, was nominated for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
Emmys 2020, Pandemic Edition! May the odds be ever in your favor!
We’re sending our extra love and congratulations to all the out LGBT creators and actresses nominated this year: Ashley Nicole Black, Laverne Cox, Hannah Gadsby, Cherry Jones, Kate McKinnon, Fiona Shaw, Lyn Shelton, Wanda Sykes, Holland Taylor, Rain Valdez, and Samira Wiley. You’re deserving of all your recognition and we look forward to seeing you shine bright in September.
Check out the list of nominations below. You can also read the longer, complete list including film shorts and production nominations on the Emmys website.
Drama Series
“Better Call Saul”
“The Crown”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Killing Eve”
“The Mandalorian”
“Ozark”
“Stranger Things”
“Succession”
Drama Lead Actress
Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”
Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Zendaya, “Euphoria”
Drama Lead Actor
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Steve Carell, “The Morning Show”
Brian Cox, “Succession”
Billy Porter, “Pose”
Jeremy Strong, “Succession”
Drama Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Thandie Newton, “Westworld”
Fiona Shaw, “Killing Eve”
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Meryl Streep, “Big Little Lies”
Samira Wiley, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Drama Supporting Actor
Nicholas Braun, “Succession”
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Keiran Culkin, “Succession”
Mark Duplass, “The Morning Show”
Giancarlo Esposito, “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Bradley Whitford, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld”
Drama Guest Actress
Alexis Bledel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Laverne Cox, “Orange Is the New Black”
Cherry Jones, “Succession”
Phylicia Rashad, “This Is Us”
Cicely Tyson, “how to Get Away with Murder”
Harriet Walker, “Succession”
Drama Guest Actor
Jason Bateman, “The Outsider”
Ron Cephas Jones, “This Is Us”
James Cromwell, “Succession”
Giancarlo Esposito, “The Mandalorian”
Andrew Scott, “Black Mirror”
Martin Short, “The Morning Show”
Comedy Series
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Dead to Me”
“The Good Place”
“Insecure”
“The Kominsky Method”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“What We Do in the Shadows”
Comedy Lead Actress
Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Linda Cardellini, “Dead to Me”
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”
Comedy Lead Actor
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
Ted Danson, “The Good Place”
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”
Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”
Comedy Supporting Actress
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
D’Arcy Carden, “The Good Place”
Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”
Marin Hinkle, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Yvonne Orji, “Insecure”
Cecily Strong, “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “Ramy”
Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”
Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
Sterling K. Brown, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
William Jackson Harper, “The Good Place”
Daniel Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy Guest Actress
Angela Bassett, “A Black Lady Sketch Show”
Bette Midler, “The Politician”
Maya Rudolph, “The Good Place”
Maya Rudolph, “Saturday Night Live”
Wanda Sykes, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy Guest Actor
Adam Driver, “Saturday Night Live”
Luke Kirby, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Eddie Murphy, “Saturday Night Live”
Dev Patel, “Modern Love”
Brad Pitt, “Saturday Night Live”
Fred Willard, “Modern Family”
Limited Series
“Little Fires Everywhere”
“Mrs. America”
“Unbelievable”
“Unorthodox”
“Watchmen”
TV Movie
“American Son”
“Bad Education”
“Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones”
“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend”
Limited/TV Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Regina King, “Watchmen”
Octavia Spencer, “Self Made”
Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”
Limited/TV Lead Actor
Jeremy Irons, “Watchmen”
Hugh Jackman, “Bad Education”
Paul Mescal, “Normal People”
Jeremy Pope, “Hollywood”
Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”
Limited/TV Supporting Actress
Uzo Aduba, “Mrs. America”
Toni Collette, “Unbelievable”
Margo Martindale, “Mrs. America”
Jean Smart, “Watchmen”
Holland Taylor, “Hollywood”
Tracey Ullman, “Mrs. America”
Limited/TV Supporting Actor
Yahya Abdul-Mateen, “Watchmen”
Jovan Adepo, “Watchmen”
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend”
Louis Gossett Jr., “Watchmen”
Dylan McDermott, “Hollywood”
Jim Parsons, “Hollywood”
Variety Talk Series
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
Variety Sketch Series
“A Black Lady Sketch Show”
“Drunk History”
“Saturday Night Live”
Variety Special (Pre-recorded)
“Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones “
“Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor “
”Hannah Gadsby: Douglas”
“Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill”
“John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch”
“Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah”
Competition Program
“The Masked Singer”
“Nailed It”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Top Chef”
“The Voice”
Naya Rivera Is Dead at 33, Glee Star’s Body Recovered from Lake Piru After 6-Day Search
This post was written by Riese Bernard, Carmen Phillips, and Heather Hogan.
On Wednesday July 8th in the afternoon, singer/actress Naya Rivera took her four-year-old son Josey Hollis Dorsey to Lake Piru and rented a pontoon boat. At 5 PM, her son was found alone in the boat by another boater, and eventually was Ventura County Sheriffs’ deputies. He told them that his mother had jumped in the water and not come back up. He was wearing a life jacket, and an adult-size life jacket remained in the boat. People looked for her body for a long time but then it got dark. Her last Instagram post was of her and her son, with the caption “Just the two of us.”
Over the last six days, local Ventura authorities have engaged in a detailed and thorough search and rescue mission, using sonar equipment to counter the lake’s poor visibility, along with dive teams, helicopters, and searching on foot through all the cabins and shore neighboring the lake. Rivera’s parents and ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey visited the lake in person over the weekend, mourning and helping the search as needed. Online, her cast mates encouraged fans to keep praying and Heather Morris went as far as offering to help with the search herself — anything to bring “our Naya” home.
This morning, her body was finally found. A photo, taken by Rivera, sent to her family shortly before her disappearance, aided in her recovery.
Although the exact circumstances of her drowning are currently unknown, a 2000 Los Angeles Times article about Lake Piru cited multiple recent drownings in the lake. Park officials told the paper that “the lake’s swimming beach is clearly marked and other parts of the lake are posted off-limits to swimming for grim reasons.” A user on twitter remarked, “please never come to Lake Piru to swim!! I lost my prima at an extremely young age while she went out for a swim when a sudden whirlpool dragged her 6 feet under.”
Naya Rivera is best known to all of us here for playing Santana Lopez on the teen musical comedy Glee, a program we covered with mild enthusiasm for about1.5 seasons and then, following Santana coming out as a lesbian; with obsessive, rapt and breathless attention.
Rivera was born in Santa Clarita, California in 1987 and grew up in and around Los Angeles. The agent of her mother, a model, took Rivera on as a client when she was eight months old. Rivera appeared in Kmart ads as a baby, and continued acting throughout her childhood, with small roles on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Family Matters. She struggled with an eating disorder as a teenager, comparing herself to Brittany Murphy’s character in Girl Interrupted in her memoir Sorry Not Sorry. In the 2000s, she did 11 episodes of The Bernie Mac Show and spots on CSI: Miami and 8 Simple Rules before landing the legendary role of Santana Lopez on Glee in 2009.
Santana Lopez became nothing short of an icon, but her rise in an overcrowded cast of couldn’t have happened without Rivera’s sheer determination and work ethic. Heather Hogan, Autostraddle’s Senior Writer and TV Editor, covered the Glee for both our website and another, and when asked for a comment she shared, “In my 13 years of writing queer TV criticism, I have never experienced anything like what Naya Rivera did on Glee. Santana Lopez was a tertiary character, created for one-liners and bitchy smash-cuts — but Naya Rivera was a firecracker, a superstar, a singular talent who simply could not be relegated to the background.”
Like perhaps many of you, Santana Lopez’s coming out scene was the first I’d ever seen on television where I could see parts of myself in her story:
It seems like — with respect to coming out stories — most girls saw a door. Maybe you had gone in but kept it a secret, maybe you stood it front of it every afternoon debating whether or not today would be the day you’d enter. Maybe you opened and closed it constantly, or gayly dashed back and forth through it. Maybe your family or friends were blocking the door.
But some of us never even saw the door, even with nobody blocking it, and once it was opened we fell straight in. A friend opened that door for me. I never, ever, ever in ten million years, would’ve opened it myself.
This scene, I think, is when Holly opened that door for Santana.
It was a storyline that came out of fandom, a throwaway line between Santana and her best friend Brittany S. Pierce. Santana declares “sex is not dating” and Brittany replies “If it were, Santana and I would be dating” — the moment was seized upon by Glee fans, who began lobbying for a full-fledged romance. And, we got it.
As we shared stories of our time working as writers and editors in fandom, Heather reminisced: “When fans latched onto the idea that Santana and Brittany were a couple, Naya didn’t deny it or refuse to talk about it or shy away in any way. At the time, in 2010, I could hardly get any actresses playing queer roles to do interviews with the gay website I worked for. No one wanted to be ‘typecast.’ No one wanted to be ‘stuck’ playing a lesbian for the rest of their career. But here was Naya Rivera — in a time when presidential candidates still didn’t believe gay people should be allowed to marry, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was still flourishing, and California voters had revoked marriage equality by ballot referendum — leaning into this queer on-screen relationship, fanning the flames, encouraging her fans to ask for more. It paid off. Santana Lopez became the first lesbian character I ever saw come out because of popular demand, and Naya inhabited her with vulnerability and passion and ferocity and hilarity and hope and just so much love.”
In the early 2010s, Autostraddle Deputy Editor Carmen Phillips was one of those fans. “For me, it was the following season — after Santana came out to Brittany — when she came out to her abuela. I remember the Dominican flag on her grandmother’s fridge so clearly. I sobbed. A little over a month later, I finally came out to my Mom. Santana was a teenager, but Naya and I are less than a year apart in age. It made a difference for me that she was a mixed race, Black Puerto Rican actress. That photos splashed across her Instagram of her family reminded me of my own. There was very little queer representation when Glee was most popular, but even less representation for Latinas. We had Santana Lopez and Callie Torres. Naya Rivera and Sara Ramirez — that was it.”
For Heather, the power of that community was like none other before then, because the technology itself had changed. “It’s common now, but Twitter was new then, and we crowded around our TVs every week, live, to watch Santana Lopez sing and brood and drop hard truths and dance and refuse to apologize for who she was, and also occasionally to slap a man who deserved it. We came together with a #GaySharks hashtag and we became a family, because Naya Rivera helped us make space to do it.”
Santana and Brittany would eventually marry in a double wedding with fellow classmates and equally legendary gay couple Blaine and Kurt, because that’s what happened on Glee. Santana Lopez was also in the series’ best mash-up ever, Rumor Has It / Someone Like You. One of Santana’s most beloved performances, a highlight of the Glee Live Concert Tour, was “Valerie,” by Amy Winehouse, who died at the age of 27.
Rivera, who maybe possibly hinted that she was bisexual on The View one time, also did work for GLAAD and The Trevor Project.
From where we are now, it’s almost hard to believe how much has changed in our media landscape, so quickly. There was a lot that Glee got wrong, but it certainly also encouraged us to dream for more. It’s in this moment, maybe more than most, Heather reminds us that the best of Glee and the gifts that Naya Rivera gave us don’t end here: “It’s been a decade since Glee changed the landscape of TV, but Santana inspires as much debate and adoration as she did ten years ago. We think of her when we hear ‘Landslide,’ even if it’s Stevie Nicks who’s singing it. When Adele sings ‘Rumor Has It,’ we bust in with ‘Someone Like You.’ When someone mistakes us for straight, we text our friends about it and they text back, ‘The only straight I am is straight up bitch!’… I believe, firmly, that the only lesbian TV character as influential as Santana Lopez was Ellen DeGeneres, and that character would never have existed without Naya Rivera’s advocacy and support. Through Santana, Naya made us braver, stronger, and absolutely unwilling to settle for representation scraps. There will never be another Santana Lopez. There will never be another Naya Rivera.”
Naya Rivera is now the third Glee cast member to die in their 30s.
Mark Salling, who was 27 when he began his role as high school junior Noah Puckerman on Glee, committed suicide in 2017 after being charged with possession of child pornography. Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, died of a drug overdose in a Vancouver hotel room in July 2013 at the age of 31. Today also happens to be the 7th anniversary of his passing.
I’ve been thinking about a lot of Naya’s performances today — the ecstatically queered “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” duet, the heartrending “Mine” cover delivered to Brittany in the back row of the Glee room — but there’s one I keep coming back to. Episode 503, “Quarterback” (the episode devoted to Finn’s death). “If I Die Young.” It’s a stripped-down number — just her, backed by acoustics, in front of the shocked, sad Glee Club.
She starts: “If I die young bury me in satin / Lay me down on a bed of roses / Sink me in the river at dawn / Send me away with the words of a love song.”
Almost at the end: “Sink me in the river at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song.”
A few verses in she breaks down crying, she can’t finish, she leaves the room.
But somewhere in the middle, she sang this: “the sharp knife of a short life.”
This piece will be updated as we learn more.
Meet Your New Batwoman — Bisexual Actress Javicia Leslie!
Holy Black bisexual bulletins, Batman — Lesley Goldberg over at The Hollywood Reporter just broke the news that The CW has found its new Batwoman: Bisexual actress Javicia Leslie, who you might remember as the lesbian sister Ali on God Friended Me. She is the first Black actress to play Batwoman, ever, and will become the second Black lesbian superhero in the Arrowverse, after our beloved Anissa Pierce on Black Lightning.
According to THR:
Leslie’s character, Ryan Wilder, is described as “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the Batsuit before her. With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero.”
It’s honestly impossible to overstate what a huge fucking deal this is and I’m not going to disguise my absolute and overwhelming joy to see a queer Black woman don the cape and cowl at this moment in our history. I texted Autostraddle Deputy Editor Carmen Phillips as soon as I saw the news and she said, “Here’s your official quote: LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO!!!!!!”
Here’s Javicia Leslie’s Instagram; you’re welcome.
Update: Ruby Rose has posted on Instagram to congratulate Javicia: “OMG!! This is amazing!! I am so glad Batwoman will be played by an amazing Black woman. ❤️ I want to congratulate Javicia Leslie on taking over the bat cape. You are walking into an amazing cast and crew. I can’t wait to watch season 2 you are going to be amazing !! ❤️”
Ruby Rose Is Done With Being Batwoman Now
In what’s nothing short of breathtakingly shocking news, Ruby Rose has departed as the title role of The CW’s Batwoman following the series’ first season. Warner Bros. TV has announced that the role will be recast.
The breaking news comes to us just as Batwoman concluded its Season One finale on Sunday night. There’s no set timeline yet for when a new actor will take on the famous bat cowl. As all you superqueeros sitting at home will remember, Batwoman was renewed for its season season back in January along with the rest of the Arrow-verse shows. It was (and we assume for now, still is) planned to anchor the network’s Sunday night lineup starting in 2021.
Here’s the statement from Rose:
“I have made the very difficult decision to not return to Batwoman next season. This was not a decision I made lightly as I have the utmost respect for the cast, crew and everyone involved with the show in both Vancouver and in Los Angeles. I am beyond appreciative to Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Caroline Dries for not only giving me this incredible opportunity, but for welcoming me into the DC universe they have so beautifully created. Thank you Peter Roth and Mark Pedowitz and the teams at Warner Bros. and The CW who put so much into the show and always believed in me. Thank you to everyone who made season one a success — I am truly grateful.”
Batwoman made Television history as the first TV series to feature a lesbian superhero as its lead character, and that importance only increased after producers expressed desire for the role to be cast with a lesbian actor. (The recasted role will similarly go to an lesbian, queer, or bisexual actor, per the producers’ wishes).
Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions released the following joint statement, congratulating Rose and discussing the show’s future:
“Warner Bros. Television, The CW and Berlanti Productions thank Ruby for her contributions to the success of our first season and wish her all the best. The studio and network are firmly committed to Batwoman’s second season and long-term future, and we — along with the show’s talented creative team — look forward to sharing its new direction, including the casting of a new lead actress and member of the LGBTQ community, in the coming months.”
So far, no one has spoken directly about Rose’s decisions to leave the series so early in its life (and with such a bright future ahead of it!). Of course, Ruby Rose famously faced backlash on social media following their casting (eventually causing them to leave Twitter, though they remain active on Instagram). However, it’s also possible that their accident earlier in the year, almost causing paralysis, might have also weighed on their decision. They posted about their surgery on Instagram. A Batwoman production assistant was also left paralyzed this year following a stunt. That said, Deadline appears to have sources that indicate Rose’s decision is not related to their on-set injury. I suppose only time will tell what’s up behind the scenes! Sadly I’m just a human drinking a beer on my couch, so I have no inside information for you at this time.
Also, holy unfortunate timing Batman! Within an hour after announcing their departure from Batwoman, it turns out Ruby Rose appeared as part of a Jeopardy clue about the show they just literally left.
https://twitter.com/MichaelAusiello/status/1262883073588330496?s=20
Like so many other series near and dear to our hearts, Batwoman was forced to end its season early due to the coronavirus pandemic. The super-powered hour finished 20 of a planned 22 episodes, with last Sunday’s installment serving as the impromptu season finale. Our TV Editor, Heather Hogan, will be back here very soon to give you a review of the finale!
Until then, on behalf of everyone at Autostraddle, we wish Ruby all the best.
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are Finally Getting the On-Screen Romance They Deserve in DC Universe’s Animated Series
There are few queer fandoms as long-suffering as those who pinged Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as more than friends while watching Batman: The Animated Series all the way back in the early ’90s. Since then, their relationship has been immortalized in zillions of pieces of fan art and fan fic; teased by basically every group of creatives who’ve drawn and written them; finally consummated via smooching on the page in Marguerite Bennett’s alternate-universe DC comic, Bombshells, in 2015; and given a splash page in the main universe in 2017’s Harley Quinn #25. And while Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan has gone on record as saying she’d like to see them together in the film’s sequel, these two gal pals have never gotten the canonical on-screen treatment they deserve — until now!
DC Universe, DC’s streaming/e-comic subscription service, is two episodes into the second season of it’s very grown-up Harley Quinn animated series, and true to their word, writers and showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker are going all in on Harley (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy (voiced by Lake Bell) as friends-to-lovers this season.
Season two kicks off in a hardly recognizable Gotham City: Thanks to Harley, The Joker’s dead and Batman’s gone and she is finally free to do whatever the fuck she wants to do. The power vacuum creates an interesting dynamic for Gotham’s other crime bosses, who, fascinatingly, all view Harley as their main threat. Penguin, The Riddler, Bane, Mr. Freeze — first they try to work together with Harley to divide up the city, and then they all turn on her. While she’s trapped inside a block of ice, they reassemble their individual henchmen that Harley coaxed into quitting and grid off the city, each taking control of various essential resources like power and water. When Harley finally gets free, she decides she’s just going to have to kill every single one of Gotham’s villains and take over the entire city herself.
How does she get free? Well, Poison Ivy, of course. They are inseparable as soon as the second season kicks off. Harley is as erratic and homicidal as ever, and Poison Ivy is as baffled by and smitten with her as she always is. Ivy first convinces Harley she’s thinking too small. Batman’s gone. The Joker’s gone. The city could be hers. Harley really just wants the anarchy and chaos of it all, but when the other super-villains team up on and attack her, she decides Ivy’s right. The only way she’s going to be free is to take them all down.
After they unseat Penguin in episode one, they turn their attention to The Riddler in episode two. He’s taken over a local college, which also somehow houses Gotham’s power supply(?), so they pose as incoming students and infiltrate the campus. Harley is hype to party. Ivy’s just glad to have a dorm room to finally hang her favorite Indigo Girls poster on (an actual line of dialogue). They bicker and laugh and scheme and help each other heal from the trauma The Joker inflicted on both of them by being the support system the other one always deserved.
Harley Quinn is everything you’ve come to expect from other adult animated series coupled with everything that makes you laugh about DC properties that lovingly clown on their heroes and villains (like an R-rated Lego Batman Movie or Teen Titans series). It also sidesteps the objectification of Harley and goes the emancipation route. It’s irreverent and in-character and full of visual gags and quippy dialogue. And while we’re watching Harley and Ivy’s “slow-drip” relationship to take its promised “romantic turn,” we’re getting to watch the build-up against the backdrop of a new Batwoman origin story — I’ll let you watch that for yourself — and the reveal of a whole new Catomwoman (voiced by Sanaa Lathan), who is sure to cause trouble with the series’ criminal dynamic duo.
New episodes of Harley Quinn drop on Fridays on DC Universe. You can stream all of season one and the first two episodes of season two now. (You can also sign up for a free 7-day trial, which you can also use to watch all three seasons of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman!)
Dominique Provost-Chalkley Is Queer: “Wynonna Earp” Actress Comes Out on Her Birthday
Today, on her birthday, Dominique Provost-Chalkley came out as a queer woman. She wrote a lovely post on her website, Start the Wave, joining her castmate Kat Barrell in the queer fold. Dominique talks about how she’s always had an inclination she might be into more than just boys, but how society and fear kept her from facing that truth. She goes on to say that things changed once she got her beloved role on Wynonna Earp.
She says, “[Showrunner] Emily Andras took a chance on me and cast me as the beautifully positive bisexual representation that is Miss Waverly Earp. Through this incredible, enlightening journey of playing a queer character and meeting the fans that are drawn to her, I guess I’ve reevaluated how I am to face this part of me.”
I’m glad Waverly helped her as much as she’s helped so many of us.
Sometimes TV Editor Heather Hogan and I joke that we’re going to do the math on the percent of people who have played queer and then later came out as queer themselves, because it seems to be a trend we’ve seen, and loved, over the years.
But the truth is, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think in this heteronormative world, sometimes being cast as someone who is queer can often be the first chance a person has to face the possibility that they might be queer in a way that feels somewhat safe. I think often they get to play through what it’s like to be queer in a way I think a lot of us wished we could “try it out” with no consequences before we came out, but also it thrusts them into queer communities and often exposes them to more and more queer people and more and more queer stories and it’s a great way for them to see that there’s no one way to be not-straight and there’s no right story.
Barring any kind of unsafe situation, there’s no “bad time” to come out. You can be young or old, married or single; your truth is your truth, and however long it takes you to find it, that’s your story, and it’s valid.
And Dominique confirms this in her coming out post. She says playing Waverly and meeting the queer fans of Wynonna Earp (and possibly also helped by her queer roles in the Carmilla Movie and the Tello film Season of Love) made her feel like she could try to be brave and live her authentic truth.
She ended with the hashtag #OutIsTheNewIn, and also her official coming out, in her own words:
I am queer.
I am into ALL humans.
I guess maybe I am just really into love?
Who knows?
But finally…
I am OUT.
The Baby-Sitter’s Club Is Coming To Netflix And We Are Very Excited
The Baby-Sitter’s Club is gay! Sorry I don’t make the rules, when a fictional tomboy named Kristy wears a baseball hat and has a great idea and that idea is to start a club so that she and her best friends can hang out all the time in Claudia’s bedroom eating snacks and caring for their community while they grow up together, that is a gay story! Especially when it is written by a queer woman, Ann M. Martin! Very gay, tale as old as time.
I’m pretty sure the poster for The Baby-Sitter’s Club movie, released in 1995, is one of my personal gay roots, and Autostraddle’s very own Senior Editor and Baby-Sitter’s Club Enthusiast Carmen Phillips has formally made the bold statement – which I agree with entirely – that the entire club is gay.
https://twitter.com/carmencitaloves/status/1238143256283709442
With that said, I assume you will understand our pure gay joy over Netflix producing a new series about our favorite sitters, and also our extreme dismay that the show isn’t available to watch RIGHT NOW. Yesterday Netflix released a new poster for the series along with its casting decisions, but so far, there’s no premiere date. We will wait (not very patiently) with bated breath to see if perhaps they will make one (or all?) of the sitter’s canonically gay.
All this talk of the Baby-Sitter’s Club reminded me of my absolute favorite blog from 2010 – perhaps you read it too. Laneia did! Remember What Claudia Wore? God I loved this blog. Kim, the genius behind that endeavor, now has a baby (!) and an Instagram called Baby-Sitters’ Cover Critiques. I love growing up together on the internet. What were you up to in 2010?
Anyway! Can you believe how many people ghost-wrote those books? My favorite was the super special edition – I think it had a shiny silver cover with holographic stars??? – where they went on a road trip and they each got to pick one destination, do you know the book I’m talking about? Maybe I should reread every copy of The Baby-Sitter’s Club.
In conclusion, we love The Baby-Sitter’s Club, The Baby-Sitter’s Club is gay, and it would be great if Netflix could start airing episodes today, thank you very much in advance!
Early Season 4 Crown Photos Suggest Gillian Anderson Blessedly Unsexy as Margaret Thatcher, Thank God
Back in 2019, fans of both British-American actor Gillian Anderson and Netflix sensation The Crown contended with a range of emotions upon learning that Anderson had been cast to play Margaret Thatcher, onetime Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader of the UK. Anderson’s fame and sex appeal, initially earned in her iconic turn as Agent Dana Scully in pioneering sci-fi hit The X Files, has only increased as she’s aged and taken an array of starring roles in recent years from The Fall to Sex Education, as well as celebrated stage roles like Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. In contrast, Margaret Thatcher’s legacy has aged poorly, with her commitment to deregulation, privatization, opposition to unions, and policies in Northern Ireland cementing her as a fairly cut-and-dry villain. How will Anderson portray such a polarizing figure, many wondered, and more pressingly, will I have to reckon with being attracted to her while she does it? As more photos from the set of Season 4 of The Crown emerge, the answer to that question appears to offer some relief: This is arguably the least hot Gillian Anderson has ever looked, thank God.
Margaret Thatcher was many things to many people, although to a majority, “hot” was not necessarily one of them — at the same time, Anderson has shown such a consistent commitment to remaining a total fucking smokeshow in a murderer’s row of “cold, aloof elder British women” roles that it was hard to feel totally safe. Candid photos of her in costume, however, seem to largely allay those fears — while still recognizable as Gillian Anderson, she does indeed look like Gillian Anderson playing Margaret Thatcher, complete with impenetrable bouffant and a vaguely unsettling aura that suggests she might at any moment shut down free milk programs for young schoolchildren, vilify striking miners, or refuse the demands of hunger-striking Northern Irish state prisoners. Acting!
Can we be absolutely sure the average viewer will be able to watch Season 3 of The Crown attraction-free? No — there may yet be a fictionalized scene in which Margaret Thatcher poses for a boudoir shoot, or perhaps you will find yourself impacted by ways you regret by an icy, pointed argument characterized by furiously regimented politesse. On the other hand, nothing in this world is truly guaranteed; you could find yourself having a confusing but compelling sex dream about Margaret Thatcher even if you never watch, a victim of your own randomly firing neurons. There’s still the hurdle of Cate Blanchett playing Phyllis Schlafly to overcome for many of you, but it tentatively appears you may have dodged this bullet.
Wait, This New Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara Movie Is NOT a “Carol” Sequel?
Moments ago, I opened Twitter and saw a few photos of Carol (2015) on my timeline, which is normal; and then I saw a few more photos of Carol (2015) on my timeline, which is also normal; and then I saw a few more photos of Carol (2015) on my timeline, which: again, normal. I mean obviously it was Carol. It’s Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett in the snow and Cate’s got that Carol hair and the cigarette and the gloves, of all things, and Rooney’s looking at her like she’s afraid she’s about to get murdered and also like Cate hung the literal moon in the sky, and in at least one of the photos, Cate’s making that “we’re not ugly people, Harge” face. But then, I noticed that it seems like Therese is wearing Carol’s coat. And Therese’s hair is longer; a lot longer. And, like, why do these camera angles look unfamiliar to me, a person who has seen Carol no less than one hundred thousand times.
“Oh my god!” I screeched, out loud, springing from my chair and sending my cats flying in all directions, “IT’S A CAROL SEQUEL!”
these set photos of cate blanchett and rooney mara shooting guillermo del toro’s latest are all i need to see to know it’s already going to be my favorite film of 2020 pic.twitter.com/Ab4C3psxbu
— keaton bell (@keatonkildebell) January 31, 2020
But then I read the captions of the tweets and no? It’s not a sequel? Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett are wearing the exact same clothes from Carol and standing very close and intensely next to each other for a whole other movie? It is Guillermo del Toro’s remake of the 1947 film noir Nightmare Alley, which, according to the plot summary I just read on Wikipedia, is literally Pretty Little Liars.
Well, that’s that. The best movie of 2020.
Pop Culture Fix: Tank Top Twins Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart Will Fall in Love in “Happiest Season”
Happy Pop Culture Fix day, pals!
+ Mackenzie Davis has joined Clea Duvall’s Christmas rom-com, Happiest Season, as Kristen Stewart’s love interest. What if they both keep their butch action movie hair! What if I never stop making bananas feature images for this movie! Update: This article is from January 2019, ONE ENTIRE YEAR AGO, hahaha. Lord have mercy. Hey, but thanks to Kristana, here’s an update from this actual year.
https://twitter.com/jetgirl78/status/1221091032491798528
+ Queen Latifah will star in the title role in the new Equalizer reboot!
This “reimagining” of the classic series stars Queen Latifah as “an enigmatic figure who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn.” Castle executive producers Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller will pen the pilot, and original series co-creator Richard Lindheim is also onboard as an EP.
+ Motion to give Lizzo’s flute a Grammy.
+ Finally! An official still of Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya in Birds of Prey!
+ Also: Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan on the advice Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins gave her.
+ More sports! Team USA pulled out a victory over UConn on Monday night (don’t laugh, they lost to Oregon) and of course there was plenty of Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi chatter around the big event.
+ This lesbian couple met competing on Jeopardy and now they’re married!
+ Lesbian DJ Tracy Young makes Grammys history.
+ Rachel Slawson is the first openly bisexual Miss USA contestant in the pageant’s history.
+ GLAAD and the Black List announce the most promising unmade LGBTQ-inclusive film scripts.
+ The L Word: Gen Q showrunner breaks down the finale cliffhangers.
+ The brilliant messiness of Showtime’s Work in Progress.
+ Watch the first 99 seconds of the season seven of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Alice Preps For Seven-Minute Sex In New “L Word: Generation Q” Trailer
Wow, bet you didn’t know this Monday was gonna bring you a new trailer for “The L Word: Generation Q” in which Shane might still want to f*ck Alice’s Mom, Tess (Jamie Clayton) gives Shane a big hug in what appears to be the interior of a bar-ish-situation (perhaps it is “Dana’s,” where Shane / Alice / Bette are spotted posing for a selfie in the trailer), Finley (Jacqueline Toboni) plays the entire field available in a small bar, Alice (Leisha Hailey) and Nat (Stephanie Allyne) get in a quickie, Dani (Arienne Mandi)’s Dad does NOT give his blessing and Angie (Jordan Hull) and Jordi (Sophie Giannamore) dance in Jordi’s car. All that and so much more in this new video!
Have you gotten your Bette For Mayor t-shirt yet?
Brigette Lundy-Paine Is Non-Binary: “Atypical” Star Comes Out on Instagram
Feature image Brigette Lundy-Paine’s Instagram
It was only a year ago that Atypical star Brigette Lundy-Paine came out in an interview with The Advocate stating “I come from a very queer family. I think it was just like a teary phone call to my mom when I had my first girlfriend. And then after that it was kinda like, Oh, I don’t have to really tell anybody else. I just date who I want and not have to put up with it.” In the interview, Lundy-Paine also said they’d received a message of support from someone saying their performance helped them come out as trans. “I don’t know why, but I love that so much.”
Big news!!! They’ve just come out as non-binary using a very artistic snap of a ginger cat basking in a sea of light from xe’s higher non-binary power.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4k6MXNF4y-/
In a post on Instagram the star wrote, “I’m non-binary, always felt a lil bit boy, lil bit girl, lil bit neither. using they/them as of late n it feels right. scary af to come out n been rly putting this off. But I feel I owe it to myself and to all of us who struggle w gender. If you’re NB comment and celebrate yourself! u r beautiful and u r whole. thank u guys ily 👽🔆”
Grab your flags folks because those are some full circle feels. Fellow Atypical actors Nik Dodani and Amy Okuda commented. “You are the most amazing human I know. My god I love you,” and “I love you so much,” showing support for their co-star amongst almost seven thousand more comments from fans on the social media platform.
Lundy-Paine’s character felt like the androgynous kid we all tried to be… some of us still trying even past high school, queer life y’all. Polo shirts, check shirts and midriffs galore. If you’ve seen season three of Atypical, you wouldn’t have forgotten Lundy-Paine bringing dapper suit realness to their character a few episodes before Casey and best friend Izzie finally made progress to becoming official girlfriends in the Netflix show. From holding fingers and then full hands in a car to kissing on a running field to SPOILER ALERT… PDA’ing in the hallway at school omg.
Readers, in true Lundy-Paine style, if you’re non-binary let us know and celebrate in the comments below! Show us your favourite outfit, your favourite song that affirms your gender (you betcha there’s a playlist we can all add to!) and if you’re an ally, share some affirmations or photos of your sun-basking pets!
It’s been a month for Lundy-Paine and their character Casey and Autostraddle could not be happier! From everyone at Autostraddle, we see you Brig.
Vulture Festival: Sunday Dinner With the “One Day at a Time” Family
The second the clip began I started to tear up.
“I really like him, but I don’t think I like him like that,” Elena Alvarez confesses to her mom, Penelope. Elena is trying to be subtle, Penelope’s cluelessness only deepening. She finally states: “When I think about love, I see myself someday loving a woman.”
Feeling embarrassed by my own emotions, I tried to blink them away only to notice that actress Isabella Gomez, who plays Elena, was also tearing up. So was Justina Machado who plays Penelope. And while we were tearing up, One Day at a Time co-creator Mike Royce was fully crying. I remembered that this storyline was based in part on his daughter’s coming out.
Any gathering of a show’s cast, producers, and fans, would be celebratory, but Vulture Festival’s Sunday Dinner with the One Day at a Time Family felt as special as the show itself. Everyone at the table, including Rita Moreno, kept trying to pass off the success of the series to someone else, less as an act of humility, and more so they’d feel less self-conscious praising it themselves.
The excited energy shared between those on stage and those in the crowd was only heightened by the fact that earlier this year the show’s future seemed uncertain. Canceled by Netflix, it seemed like the end of One Day at a Time, no matter its quality, no matter its importance, no matter its low production costs. After an adamant campaign by fans and crew, it was announced in June that the show would be rescued by Pop TV.
Vulture writer Maria Elena Fernandez asked about the shift to Pop and how the writers were adjusting to the shorter episodes. Rita Moreno interjected, “Excuse me. What are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry. You’re still going to get a lot to work with,” co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett joked back.
Calderón Kellet expressed excitement about the shift of becoming week-to-week. This will allow the show to be even more topical than its already been and allow more extended engagement with fans. Instead of us all watching a season within 24 hours we’ll get to live with the Alvarezes for months.
Fernandez asked Norman Lear where the initial idea came from to reboot One Day at a Time with a Latinx family. “I was broke,” he cracked. Rita Moreno shot back, “You’re full of shit, Norman.” Without missing a beat he replied, “I have to hear that from the woman who’s carrying my child.” Cue audience laughter.
It really did feel like watching a family, if, ya know, your always funny, sometimes inappropriate, grandparents happened to be Norman Lear and Rita Moreno.
After one of the clips, Royce said, “I want to hear from Justina how the fuck she’s so good at acting.” Moreno furrowed her brow. “Wait a minute there were three of us on that screen!” Machado smirked and turned to her on-screen mother. “Was there really though?” Moreno threw up her arms. “And that’s how it really is. They are bitches!” Gomez was ready with the button: “We learned it from the best.”
Later, after a clip of Elena fighting with her brother Alex, Fernandez mentioned to Gomez and Marcel Ruiz who plays Alex that it’s one of the few times they fight–“On-screen,” Ruiz said with a grin. “What did you tap into?” Fernandez continued. Gomez didn’t miss a beat. “Off-screen,” she grinned right back.
It was as if the cast’s casual banter was written by the show’s writing staff.
But amidst all the laughter there was still plenty of time to discuss the show’s more serious topics. Both creators discussed the importance of representation. Calderón Kellett explained that if it weren’t for Desi Arnaz on I Love Lucy she wonders if her Cuban parents would have found a life in America. Royce said that his daughter came out to him after writing her college essay about finally seeing herself on TV in The Legend of Korra.
Calderón Kellett also shared how personal Penelope’s depression storyline was to her. The late night recordings that Penelope makes were based almost verbatim on recordings she herself had made.
Her own parents struggled to help her with depression and she wanted to tell a story that normalized and educated. “To be able to tell this story with Justina saying those words was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career and I’m so blessed that she did it with such beauty.”
Praise for Justina Machado was rightly endless. “Nobody listens like she does,” Moreno said. “I have such admiration for her talent.”
“The process I do with any scene with Justina is how do I not cry,” Todd Grinnell, who plays their neighbor Schneider, said.
“It’s a comedy, people. I swear!” Justina responded.
But there was no doubt about that. Even when discussion turned serious they always gave us a reason to laugh, just like on the show.
My favorite anecdote of the night may have been what Moreno shared about Elena’s coming out. When Gomez found out that her character was going to be gay, she excitedly approached Moreno and exclaimed, “I’m going to be gay!” Moreno just looked at her, with her perfect comic stare, and replied, “Well, that’s nice.”
It was obvious, not just from all our tears, how impactful Elena’s coming out story remains. Even Norman Lear felt moved to discuss it after the clip. “I’m probably the oldest person in this room. Anyone older than 97? So I may have seen a little bit more about this thing called life,” he began. “I was so touched. I think that is such fabulous writing and performances. I know I watch six minutes of that and it’s added time to my life because I’ve taken that much pleasure from it… I feel such gratitude for being able to see that scene and take that message and live that life. Thank you.”
Same, Norman. Same.
One Day at a Time will premiere its fourth season on Pop TV in March.
LGBTQ TV Characters Are at an All Time High, According to GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV” Report
The energy in the room was cautious excitement.
GLAAD was about to announce the 2019-2020 “Where We Are on TV” numbers and they were better than ever. For the first time, over 10% of series regulars on broadcast shows are LGBTQ. Over half of the LGBTQ characters on broadcast shows are people of color. There are twelve more transgender characters across platforms than last year.
But this was a room filled with people who understand the stakes. “Our community finds itself in 2019 facing unprecedented attacks on our progress,” GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis began. “The role of television in changing hearts and minds has never been more important.”
Ellis was quick to remind us that while the 10% landmark is worthy of celebration, 20% of Americans ages 18-34 are LGBTQ. She announced that GLAAD is now calling for the industry to reach this 20% goal by 2025. “That’s six years so we have time,” she added, underlining how practical and reasonable they’re truly being.
As a trans lesbian who was sitting next to an asexual person, both of us lamenting how rarely we see ourselves on screen, I appreciated the complex framing. It’s not that there isn’t cause for celebration, but when the stakes not only include gaining political acceptance, but personal acceptance, better only means so much. As Ellis said, “Television must evolve.”
This mix of optimism and awareness continued on the panel moderated by Dino-Ray Ramos featuring Ellis, Gloria Calderón Kellett (showrunner One Day at a Time), Jacob Fenton (UTA), Nicole Maines (Supergirl), Brian Michael Smith (The L Word: Generation Q), and Sabrina Jalees (Carol’s Second Act).
Ramos began by bringing up the 20% goal and asking if the panelists currently saw themselves on TV. Jalees quipped, “I’m not going to be happy until 100% are specifically Pakistani-Swiss lesbians. What’s it gonna take?”
Calderón Kellett spoke about the importance of behind the scenes representation, specifically as a straight showrunner: “I think it’s really about empowering queer voices. I know that the storylines on our show are made excellent because we have a largely queer staff. And I think that is lifting up those voices and making sure they’re learning the process of showrunning… And the hope is they’ll become showrunners themselves. Because to answer your question I had to create a show to see myself on screen.”
“It’s also that shift of understanding the real value of queer voices versus checking off a box,” Jalees added. “I’ve been in rooms where I felt like I’m here because I’m the diversity hire and I’ve also been in rooms where I feel like I’m here because I’ve got a story.”
And on the subject of token queers, Maines discussed a frustration many of us share, when shows only have one LGBTQ character. “We tend to flock!” she exclaimed. “I know when I was in college I had a whole suite full of gay people. I wouldn’t see a straight person for days.”
This is the first year where LGBTQ women characters outnumber LGBTQ men, a welcome change of pace. As Jalees noted: “We all know within the queer community that lesbians get the one night at the gay bar. We get to rent it out for the night and then we’re out of there!”
“Stack the chairs before you leave!” Maines added.
But Maines also pointed out that this gender breakdown isn’t so simplistic when discussing trans stories. “There’s an overwhelming majority of trans women to the point where there aren’t nearly as many stories of trans men being told,” she said. “I don’t think men should outnumber women. I don’t think women should outnumber men. I think it’s important that all queer people’s stories are being equally represented.”
There is one queer woman show that is going to have not one, but two trans male characters.
“I mean, it’s The L Word so it’s gonna be a lot of joy, a lot of sex, a lot of bodies, a lot of discussion of issues. There’s gonna be lesbians! It’s gonna be great,” Smith said, the crowd growing rowdy, and Maines piping in: “Stop there. I want that.” (Sorry Supergirl fans, Maines did also say at one point she is not gay.)
Smith went on to say that he was a fan of the original series until Max’s storyline. But he was much more positive about Generation Q‘s trans representation.
“Instead of trying to shoehorn everything in the transmasculine experience that there could possibly be into one character it was very clear they recognized there’s diversity in the transmasculine experience,” he explained.
Smith also discussed being the first black trans man to be a series regular with his upcoming role on 9-1-1: Lone Star. And Maines discussed being the first trans person to play a superhero on TV. Turns out transphobic Twitter comments aren’t Maines’ only challenge.
“It’s an uncomfortable suit. I’m not used to having good posture. The vest pulls everything back. I’m like, this is awful!” she confessed. “Can I be the first slouching superhero? That I think is the representation we need to see.”
A reoccurring theme among all the panelists was how important representation was to them growing up and how much they wished there was more. “To picture myself seeing that kind of representation it would’ve changed my narrative of my identity for the better,” Jalees shared. “It feels really good that there are young people watching us, watching our stories, and feeling better about who they are. This myth that we’re supposed to be some version of normal can go away and we can all just be ourselves.”
I am very excited to say that in the upcoming season there are going to be three trans lesbians on TV. But the number of asexual characters has gone from two to one and that one show is ending. As Smith said, “It’s not inevitable. You have to really work to keep the truth and authenticity out there.”
We’re getting to a place where we can expect and demand nuance, and we need to keep pushing to ensure all our stories are told. Every identity. Every intersection of identities.
There is plenty to celebrate. And there is plenty of work to be done.
Stoned Bette Porter Toasts to New Beginnings in the Latest “The L Word: Generation Q” Trailer
There are still 45 whole days until The L Word: Generation Q finally hits Showtime, but a fourth trailer is here, and it has everything: Bette throwing a shot over her shoulder Hustlers-style, gay eye contact by a pool, swirly feelings of love, crying in church, and lots of gay kissing/sex/handholding!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brkZIIwZvqM&=&feature=youtu.be
This particular trailer focuses a bit more on the show’s new characters: Arienne Mandi’s Dani Nunez, Leo Sheng’s Micah Lee, Jacqueline Toboni’s Sarah Finley, and Rosanny Zayas’ Sophie Suarez. Stephanie Allynne also shows up!
Bette’s out here talking about becoming the first lesbian mayor of Los Angeles, Alice looks excellent in yellow, and Finley speaks for us all with her exasperated: “He’s gay; I asked.” And Dani promises an elaborate gay wedding proposal, but this show has absolutely conditioned me to believe any grand romantic gesture will be swiftly followed by gay heartbreak.
“We all get scared and then we do things we shouldn’t do,” Bette, known expert in doing things she shouldn’t do, preaches with a joint in hand. Who’s! Ready! For! Stoned! Bette!
If you don’t already have December 8, 2019 marked on your calendar, what are you waiting for?
New “L Word: Generation Q” Trailer Promises “Real Life From The L to The Q,” Just Like the MTA
Getting a jump-start on filling our cursed Sundays with blessed lesbian content, our friends at Showtime dropped their third teaser for “The L Word: Generation Q,” which debuts December 8th, 2019.
Featuring cast members Jennifer Beals (Bette), Leisha Hailey (Alice), Kate Moennig (Shane), Arienne Mandi (Dani Nunez), Leo Sheng (Micah Lee), Jacqueline Toboni (Sarah Finley), Rosanny Zayas (Sophie Suarez) addressing the camera directly from a very blue room (probs inspired by the sky and/or ocean), the trailer emphasizes the progress made from the original to the reboot, namely that our communities include lesbians but also people who identify as other things. However, at the end, all the cast members come together in the Blue Place to make an “L” gesture with their hands. A series of identities are listed, notable for their inclusion of “tops, bottoms and verses” so I guess they are using “verse” and not “switch.” Interesting.
New footage in this trailer we haven’t seen before
- Dani going down on her girlfriend Sophie
- Dani working with Bette’s assistant Pierce Williams (Brian Michael Smith), so therefore Dani must also be working with Bette
- Finley and Sophie in an empty church on an empty pew together, with Sophie laughing while Finley makes the sign of the cross, which means she’s probably not Jewish, but also we already knew that ’cause Finley has been described as coming from a conservative Christian background
- Bette swiveling around in her chair and saying, “Hello again,” wearing the shirt she is wearing in the scenes we’ve seen in other trailers where she’s hooking up with a guest character played by Lex Scott Davis
- Shane, Bette and Alice eating a really funny salad
- Finley hooking up with somebody with long dark hair who is wearing a nice bralette. Also I like Finley’s shirt. Drew thinks the girl with the long dark hair is Olivia Thirlby’s character.
- Micah wearing a polo shirt laughing in a chair
Well, gird your loins because the big premiere is only two months away!