Header

Arthur’s Beloved Mr. Ratburn Comes Out and Marries His Ardvark Boyfriend

Dearly beloved, we gather here, on Autostraddle dot com, to celebrate the queer union of a rat and an aardvark. Yesterday morning, the long-running PBS Kids show Arthur interrupted the usual slate of morning cartoons with a big ‘ole gay wedding.

We’ve celebrated queer TV weddings here before from Carol and Susan’s infamous punch line of a wedding on F.R.I.E.N.D.S to Callie and Arizona’s doomed nuptials on Grey’s Anatomy and both gay weddings on Glee. Television has come a long way in its queer representation since then. Media has moved beyond the queer wedding and into legitimate representation. There is still a ways to go in bringing queer-led shows and non-binary and trans representation to the small screen, but the gay wedding was the beginning of it all. This week, gay tv weddings reached the final frontier: children’s media. On public broadcast television, no less!

Monday’s episode of Arthur, a beloved PBS show from my own childhood and likely many of yours about an earnest young aardvark named Arthur, brought us the nuptials of Mr. Ratburn, the central gang’s much-admired third-grade teacher, and Patrick, the local chocolatier. “Mr. Ratburn & The Special Someone,” begins when Mr. Ratburn answers his phone during class to talk about floral arrangements (he’s thinking about sunflowers, but agrees white is more elegant) and tells the class he’s getting married! Arthur and his friends speculate on Mr. Ratburn’s life outside of school and his late night plotting to assign them 4,000 word essays on the color gray, when he walks in to their regular lunch spot with a mysterious rat-lady, Patty (voiced by special guest Jane Lynch!). She requests the table with better lighting, orders “Green Tea steeped for precisely three and a half minutes, dry white toast, and some clean silverware.” Their homework assignments will get so much harder if Mr. Ratburn marries this intense lady-rat.

So the kids hatch a plan to sabotage the wedding. First, they whip up an embarrassing video of Mr. Ratburn as a hippie, hoping Patty will call off the wedding when she sees that Mr. Ratburn isn’t who she thought he was. She just guffaws at Mr. Ratburn playing the bongos in tiny Lennon glasses, so the kids move to Plan B; setting him up with the librarian. Arthur and his sister DW head to the local chocolate shop where they meet Patrick, the kind-hearted aardvark chocolatier. They ask him for help making their teacher and the librarian become a couple. He doesn’t think that’s really possible, but he helps them out anyway.

Mr. Ratburn asks the kids to return his copy of Love Poems by Pablo Neruda to the library and they stick an earnestly-written but ineffectual love note in its pages. The librarian gives the kids some solid side-eye, red-pens their misspellings, and hands them a copy of How To Write Poetry for Dummies. Their plans thwarted, they plot to make an objection at the wedding. Patty greets everyone warmly, confusing the kids and revealing that she’s Mr. Ratburn’s older sister!

“Then who is Mr. Ratburn marrying?” That’s when Mr. Ratburn walks arm in arm down the aisle with Patrick, the chocolatier. Cue the waterworks. DW gets it right as the kids stuff their faces with cake; “It’s a brand new world.”

https://youtu.be/KVLFapnKEms

I can count the number of times there has been queer representation in mainstream children’s media on one hand. And I’m talking for real, canon, actually on television queer representation. Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe and Shadi Petosky’s Danger & Eggs top the list followed by that one time there was a femme lesbian couple for a half second on The Disney Channel’s Good Luck, Charlie!, that one episode of Doc McStuffins with a queer couple voiced by Wanda Sykes and Portia de Rossi, the coming out scene on Nickelodeon’s Andi Mack. And, of course, the last second hand-holding and kissing on Legend of Korra and Adventure Time. That’s pretty much it. There might be a few others, but for the most part, the trend is a momentary acknowledgement or outing characters at ComicCon panels. Kid shows, with the exceptions of Steven Universe and Danger & Eggs, bring queerness in as an afterthought. But this is a step forward.

Mr. Ratburn has been a central, instructive character in the lives of the kids in Arthur’s class. And he has been that same figure for millions of kids across generations catching up on their morning cartoons before school. Just think of the millions of tiny humans eating their breakfast cereal and watching Mr. Ratburn’s gay wedding on their screens and that just being their run of the mill morning. Who knows if they’ll ever acknowledge Mr. Ratburn’s sexuality again. Who knows if we’ll see Patrick in future episodes. Maybe this is a one-off (I really hope not), but a gay wedding on children’s public broadcast television is no small feat. This is the beginning of a new generation of queers where boy rats and boy aardvarks can marry each other, and it’s no big thing.

Vida’s Season Two Trailer Is Here, Queerer Than Ever

I can’t believe it’s been a full year since I first fell in love with Vida. When it premiered on Starz last May, I told you it was “super sexy and unapologetic in its queerness.” It delivered on every level! Written by an entirely Latinx (and majorly queer) writers’ room, and brought to us by a queer Latina showrunner, everything about Vida was built with queer women and non-binary folks, especially Latinxs and Chicanxs, in mind.

Not only did the first season provide without a doubt the hottest and most important lesbian sex scene on television by mile, it also took time to thoughtfully explore the complications of internalized homophobia, racism, gentrification in Chicanx communities, and the scars that are left behind by our family. Here’s a quick refresher: Emma Hernandez (Michel Prada) – the queer protagonist at the heart of the show – and her sister Lyn (Melissa Barrera) returned home to their Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles neighborhood following the death of their mother. Things got immediately more complicated when the two sisters met Eddy, their mother’s handsome, shy, butch lesbian “roommate” who they find out at the funeral was actually her wife.

Vida’s story is delicious and complicated, sultry and heart-wrenching – and dammit, I want more! In the second season, we’ll follow Emma and Lyn as they continue learning how to trust each other and begin the enormous task of rebuilding their mother’s bar. They aren’t finished being haunted by the lessons of her legacy quite yet. Completing their family will once again be Eddy (non-binary queer actor Ser Anzoategui), who broke my heart wide open in Season One.

Without any doubt, Vida puts forth some of the best acting and writing in queer television. It raises the bar. This year, they’re adding queer actor and Autostraddle heartthrob Roberta Colindrez (Broadway’s Fun Home, I Love Dick, The Deuce) to the mix as Nico, a new bartender who promises to have a “will-they-won’t-they thing going on” with Emma. It seems that Vida won’t be letting go of its gold standard anytime soon.

Seriously, I cannot wait. Now we don’t have to hold our breath another second longer – thanks to this look at the Vida’s second season trailer given to us by Starz (I’ve already watched it a dozen times. Yeah, it’s that good):

Vida Season two premieres May 26th, but you can watch the first three episodes FOR FREE on Starz dot com right now! Season two will air weekly on Starz at 8pm. All ten episodes of the second season will be available on the Starz app and streaming platforms beginning May 23.

Queer to Queer: A Live Comedy Read from the Very Lesbian Diaries of Anne Lister

If you live near Los Angeles, you’re in for a night you’ll never forget! On April 26th — Lesbian Visibility Day — join us for a live comedy reading of some of the most relatable, lovable, and erotic diary entries of Anne Lister, the first modern lesbian, by Autostraddle faves Jasika Nicole, Cameron Esposito, Gaby Dunn, Rhea Butcher, Brittany Ashley and Brittani Nichols! Gentleman Jack-themed cocktails, beer and wine will be served for free (yes, free!) from 8:30-10:30 p.m.

In the early 1800s, Anne Lister started what would become a four million-word, 26-volume collection of diaries, a significant portion of which were written in a cryptograph of her own devising because they were full of personal ponderings like: “I love and only love the fairer sex and thus, beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any other love than theirs. And: “Then, after kissing with my tongue in her mouth, got the middle finger of my right hand up her & grubbled her longer & better than ever.”

While Jane Austen was writing about long, chaperoned walks in the woods and stolen, furtive glances at the pianoforte, Anne Lister was writing about about finger-banging, scissoring, masturbation, pubic hair, dildos, lap-sitting, buttplay, cheating, crying, cheating, crying, cheating, and pining (with and about other women).

Join us to learn the art of Victorian seduction, a whole new vocabulary of lesbian slang, and all the ways 19th century lesbianism is exactly the same as the same as modern day lesbianism (before Instagram deep-scrolling, for example, all you needed was a good telescope).

This is a 21+ event.

RSVP Here

Watch Ellen Page and Lauren Morelli’s “Tales of the City” Trailer and Cry Some Happy Gay Tears

If you’re ready to shed some happy gay tears on this day, I’ve got good news for you: Yesterday Netflix dropped the first trailer for its Lauren Morelli-helmed, Ellen Page-anchored Tales of the City reboot and holy heck! I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything specific, but I think I can say I’ve watched several of the first season’s episodes and cried during every one of them (in a good way). This trailer really captures the spirit of the thing, which Morelli described a few weeks ago as “The escape that I hope we all kind of deserve right now. The characters deserve it, we, as an audience, deserve it. Let’s just create a safe space where we can disappear an hour at a time.”

Tales of the City lands on June 7. You’ll find your reviews and interviews right here on Autostraddle dot com very soon.

Bisexual YouTube Superwoman Lilly Singh Is Replacing Carson Daly on NBC’s Late Night TV

It’s been a busy 2019 for YouTube star Lilly “Superwoman” Singh. In February, she came out as bisexual on Instagram and last night NBC announced that she’ll be taking over for Carson Daly in their 1:35 a.m. slot with a new series called A Little Late with Lilly Singh. That makes her the only woman, the only queer person, and the only person of color to currently host a late night show on broadcast network TV. It’s a big forkin’ deal! NBC has already branded her their “late night comedy queen.”

The show will follow the traditional late night model of in-studio interviews and pre-taped comedy segments, plus some “signature elements.”

Singh rose to internet stardom on YouTube starting in 2010 when she created her channel, IISuperwomanII. Her first video had 70 views and she now has 14.5 million followers. Forbes named her to their list of top 10 highest paid YouTube stars in 2017, estimating that she made $10.5 million that year. Singh has also received a variety of accolades for her channel, including Streamys, People’s Choice Awards, MTV Fandom Awards, and Teen Choice Awards. She’s also starred in a couple of music videos, most notably with Maroon 5 and Cardi B in last year’s “Girls Like You.”

Doug Vaughan, NBC’s executive vice president of special programs and late night told Variety, “Lilly is truly a star and we’re thrilled to welcome her to our NBC family. She is a multi-talented performer who will surely have a great rapport with not only all her guests but also with our devoted late-night audience. We can’t wait to get started.”

Singh stopped by Fallon last night to make the announcement in person.

Several of your faves are also very excited!

https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1106357282005094400

https://twitter.com/natvanlis/status/1106362622138413056

Happy 20BiTeen, everyone!

“One Day at a Time” Is Cancelled at Netflix, But the Love of the Alvarez Family Lives On

Here’s the thing about familia: Saying goodbye is never really forever.

I come to you today with that perhaps cliché reminder because I’m following up it with absolutely heartbreaking news. Netflix has decided not to renew our beloved One Day at a Time. The cancellation comes roughly five weeks after the streaming network’s release of Season Three. According to Variety, Sony, the production company behind ODAAT, plans to shop the series elsewhere. Though The Hollywood Reporter notes that may be a difficult mountain to climb as Netflix will continue to own and house the first three seasons, unless a compromise deal could be brokered.

Netflix’s One Day at a Time was a modernized version of Norman Lear’s 1975 classic about a single mother raising her two children. The mother, Penelope Alvarez (Justina Machado), known as Lupita to her family, is an Army veteran living with anxiety and depression stemming in part from her time in the service. The eldest daughter, Elena (Isabella Gomez), is a teen whose coming out and subsequent “baby gay” arc warmed every heart on the Autostraddle team, along with our readers. Rarely are gay teens given opportunities to shine like Elena and her non-binary sydnificant other, Syd (Sheridan Pierce). Penelope’s son, Alex (Marcel Ruiz), lovingly referred to as “Papito,” can charm any room. EGOT winner and living legend Rita Moreno starred as Penelope’s mother and the children’s grandmother, Lydia, also known as Abuelita, who lives with the family and takes care of the household. There was no show like it in the history of television, which sounds like a hyperbole but absolutely is NOT. The hole being left in our hearts and the television landscape by the Alvarez family is going to take an incredibly long time to fill.

Netflix COO Ted Sarandos released a public statement calling the decision not to renew “a very difficult” one that only came after several weeks of trying to make another season work. From Sarandos: “It’s been a great honor to work with the legendary Norman Lear. I’ve personally spoken with Norman, and co-creators Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, to express my gratitude to them, all the writers, the dedicated crew and the cast including the brilliant Justina Machado and dazzling Rita Moreno for creating a series with such humor, heart and humanity. This was a very difficult decision and we’re thankful to all the fans who’ve supported the series, our partners at Sony, and all the critics who embraced it. While it’s disappointing that more viewers didn’t discover One Day at a Time, I believe the series will stand the test of time.”

The Netflix twitter account echoed Sarandos’ words this afternoon with a special message to fans: “To anyone who felt seen or represented — possibly for the first time — by ODAAT, please don’t take this as an indication your story is not important. The outpouring of love for this show is a firm reminder to us that we must continue finding ways to tell these stories.” The sentiment is nice Netflix, but the best way to support underrepresented communities is by keeping our stories on the air and not cancelling them. Perhaps you should try that next time. (As one of our television writers, Natalie, pointed out, it was around this time last year that Netflix also cancelled Everything Sucks!, despite having a lesbian coming of age storyline that was massively popular and resonant with viewers.)

One Day at a Time co-showrunner Mike Royce released a statement on Twitter on behalf of the show’s team:

https://twitter.com/MikeRoyce/status/1106247358960955392

Gloria Calderón Kellett, the show’s other co-showrunner, ruminated this afternoon about the show’s cancellation. She reminded those of us reading her words or having felt welcomed into her family these last few years that, “You are breathing rarified air. Feel your feelings and then… keep fighting.” Feel Your Feelings And Then Keep Fighting. Elena Alvarez couldn’t have said it better herself.

There are a lot of us who are going to mourn the loss of One Day at a Time today, after all it was a critics’ darling with a passionate (though sadly, ultimately not large enough) fanbase. The pain is going to be felt most acutely by those of us who saw parts of ourselves on television for the first time in the Alvarez’s living room. Maybe you found glimpses of your nerdy, goofy, non-binary self in Syd. Maybe your grandmother brings life in every room like Lydia. Maybe you discovered healing that you didn’t know you needed through laughter and tears and the embrace of their family’s love. If so, today is for you.

The Autostraddle family has always felt a particular connection to One Day at a Time – ever since they shouted out our website during Elena’s coming out story in the show’s first season.

We’ve felt love from their production team, and we’ve given love back at every turn. Few other television shows on air have taken such care for their queer characters (in addition to Elena and Syd, ODAAT featured Judy Reyes as Lupita’s lesbian friend Ramona and in the third season, Nicky Endres, a transfemme genderqueer actor who’s character Cynthia joined Penelope’s veteran PTSD support group. Bisexual actress Stephanie Beatriz also guest starred as Elena’s older queer cousin). The show employed and nurtured the careers of queer writers Michelle Badillo, Becky Mann and Janine Brito.

To those writers, along with Mike Royce, Gloria Calderón Kellett, and everyone involved in the show’s cast and crew, we say: Thank You. These past years are ones that we will all cherish, because we were lucky enough to experience them together.

I first watched One Day at a Time sitting on a couch in my mother’s living room. She raised me as a Puerto Rican single mom. Back then I was a nerdy, activist, geek of a teenager in a Catholic school uniform – not unlike Elena Alvarez. In my mind’s eye, my own abuela will always have the glamour of Rita Moreno. So when I say that I’d never felt as emotionally connected to a story before, I mean it. I’d never seen not just a Latinx family, but a Caribeñx family on television like this. One that was rooted in the cultural specificity and food and inside jokes of my family. One that centered the stories and pain and humor of women. One that educated as easily as it soothed.

Yes, losing One Day at a Time is a personal heartache for me – representation matters, I won’t lose track of that – but the fact is that it was also superbly written and acted. It balanced a tightrope so beautifully that it felt effortless to watch. Pound for pound, this sitcom quite simply lapped its peers, and did so with a smile on its face. As a queer Puerto Rican I mourn the loss of representation. As a television critic, I mourn the loss of an exquisite work of art.

The Alvarez family has a saying that they sing in unison when someone is celebrating success, “¡Dalé, [insert your name here], Dalé!” Dalé is a Spanish exclamation that doesn’t have an easy translation, but ultimately it means “Go ahead!” “Keep moving!” Go harder!”

Today I’m imaging that Alvarezes are singing that to me, and also to you. We will keep moving, we will go harder, we will keep celebrating. The fight for representation on television – for women, for queer folks, for Latinxs – is very far from being over. While we gear up for what comes next, we’ll raise our flags and dance loudly in the streets. It’s what Abuelita Lydia would’ve wanted.

A “Baby-Sitters Club” Reboot Is Coming to Netflix, Better Be Real About Who All’s Gay

“Say hello to your friends!”

Today’s the day that I didn’t know I was waiting for my whole life: Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-Sitter’s Club – beloved book franchise, short-lived television show, and cult classic movie for nerdy book girls of at least two generations – IS BEING REBOOTED AT NETFLIX!

Yes. Let’s do this. “The themes of The Baby-Sitters Club ​still resonate 30 years after the original book series was released, and there has never been a more opportune time to tell an aspirational story about empowering young female entrepreneurs,” said Melissa Cobb, Vice-President of kids and family at Netflix. I don’t know you, Melissa Cobb, but I feel like we are going to be best friends now because I couldn’t agree more. Tell me all the aspirational stories about my childhood all-time favorite imaginary friends.

The reboot will be an updated and contemporary take on the childhood classic. It will be ten episodes, a dramedy, and obviously the only thing I watch the weekend it comes out.

If you’ve never read or seen The Baby-Sitter’s Club, let me explain why I’m excited: Ann M. Martin created what’s arguably the most iconic take on female friendship of the ‘80s and the ‘90s. Original characters Kristy Thomas, Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill and Dawn Schafer were featured in more than 200 books and sold over 180 million copies to date. They also spawned a 13-episode series on the Disney Channel and my favorite childhood movie (yes, I saw it in theaters like five times and no I have no regrets. Ten-year-old Carmen was living her best life). The crew of middle schoolers ran their own business and got into fun highjacks that always solved themselves by the time you hit the back cover. They loved books and art and sports and dance, but more than anything they loved each other.

The other great thing about The Baby-Sitter’s Club (and there are lots!) is that it’s beloved by lesbian, bisexual, and queer women who grew up seeing themselves in these scrappy young girls who never took “No” for an answer. Case in point? I personally just took a survey of the Autostraddle editors’ team in the last five minutes and found BSC archetypes matching four out of the six of us! FOUR OUT OF SIX I TELL YOU!

There’s a very good reason that the multi-media series have always felt one with the community; in 2016 Ann M. Martin publicly came out. If that information is new to you, then I bet a lot of your childhood makes sense in a whole new light right now. She also loves cats. Like, she really loves them. “I’ve probably fostered hundreds of cats. Right now I have five kittens, and their default setting is making the tiniest little hisses you can imagine,” she told New York Magazine. “Taking care of them is like my version of babysitting.” And listen, that’s probably the gayest thing I’ve ever heard.

All of this is to say: If Netflix is going to be serious about this reboot, then it’s time to let the Baby-Sitters’ finally live their truth. It’s time to honor our community that has kept the series alive for 30 years.

MAKE ONE OF THOSE GIRLS GAY, YOU COWARDS.

(My money is on Kristy, but Claudia makes sense, too. Our Editor-in-Chief, Riese, is betting all her chips on Mallory. How about you?)

Netflix’s “The Dragon Prince” Reveals Some Kickass Lesbian Queens

The Dragon Prince is a little bit Avatar and a little bit Game of Thrones, which makes sense; who better to capitalize on the golden age of dragon lore than Last Airbender head writer Aaron Ehasz and veteran video game developer Justin Richmond? The first season of the show landed on Netflix last fall to mixed reviews, but the second season, which dropped over the weekend, is already being celebrated by critics and fans, especially ones who’ve grown up on Korrasami, Steven Universe and She-Ra. By which I mean, ones who expect a real commitment to intersectional storytelling in their all-ages media.

A quick overview: The Dragon Prince is set in a fantasy world on the brink of war. Humans, who were driven to the edge of the continent by the dragons and the elves because of their use of dark magic, have now slain the dragon king and his egg, and the elves are out for revenge. The human king’s son is named Ezran. In season one, he meets a young elf named Rayla. Along with Ezran’s brother they uncover a whole lot of secrets, including: the dragon king’s egg was stolen, not destroyed. It seems like maybe these leaders are being manipulated into war. So Ezran and Rayla and Callum decide they’ll set off on a harrowing adventure and return the egg to the dragons and thwart the war.

In season two, we meet a queen named Aanya, who is really just a child. Viren, the human king Harrow’s mage advisor, wants war real bad, so he gathers Aanya and a few other monarchs and tries to convince them to invade Xadia. All the other leaders are on board, but Aanya’s reluctant. She may be a smol, but she was raised by some loving, level-headed, kickass parents — just a couple of in-love, interracial lesbian queens, nbd — who gave their lives to save her and their kingdom. She already knows the cost of war, and she’s not willing to risk her people’s lives just because Viren is eager to start fighting. Because gay parents are the best parents, Aanya taps into the wisdom and strength of her mothers and finds that she has the courage to stand up for herself and her kingdom. Then the actual adults in the room follow her lead and do the same.

But not before her moms kiss right on their mouths in a flashback!

That’s not the only thing The Dragon Prince is doing in terms of diversity. One of the fan favorite characters on the show is Callum and Ezran’s aunt, General Amaya, who is deaf and speaks with American Sign Language. She’s an excellent warrior, but, like nearly all the women and young characters, she’s not greedy for the blood of her enemies. She’s competent, and not to be messed with, but she’s not impatient to practice domination. She’s also super fun and funny and full of sass. Shades of Cassandra Pentaghast (of a different dragon age). There are several royals who are people of color, including one of Aanya’s moms and King Harrow. And the lead characters of the show, Callum and Ezran, are interracial. There’s also a blind sea captain who is able to navigate his ship with the help of a seeing-eye parrot.

Before he was killed (…or was he?) King Harrow spent a lot of time talking about how he wanted to create an egalitarian society, where people of all races and classes and sexualities and gender identities would be treated fairly and equally. He demonstrated his desires by spending his life as a servant of his people and a being good steward of their collective resources.

The other thing The Dragon Prince has in common with She-Ra and Steven Universe is its unwillingness to paint its characters in broad Good Guy vs. Bad Guy strokes. It also plays with the same themes: Life is complicated no matter what, power lends itself to corruption, hope and heartache can exist inside the same heart, family shapes us but it doesn’t define us, and, if adults will get out of their way, kids are more than capable of saving the day.

“The L Word” Reboot Is Really, Actually Happening This Very Year

Well, it’s official: Showtime is really, truly, actually rebooting The L Word. President of programming Gary Levine said so himself, “cautiously,” at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour earlier this week. And Showtime confirmed it during their TCA slot today.

According to Deadline, they’ve been hard at work at it for over a year. And by “they,” I mean new showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan; your old pal Ilene Chaiken; and Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey, and Kate Moennig, who will serve as executive producers and reprise their roles as Bette, Alice, and Shane. The Hollywood Reporter says “other characters from the original series” may also appear, and includes on that list Erin Daniels and Mia Kirshner. Any skepticism I have about this reboot would vanish instantly if someone could confirm Dana and Jenny will appear as ghosts or vampires.

The L Word: The New Class will reflect “how members of the community’s relationships, their lives, and experiences have evolved and what has changed (and what hasn’t) since the show’s inception.” Maybe, for example, people of color and trans people and bisexuals exist in West Hollywood now! Maybe lesbians know how to talk about those identities without being monsters! Maybe no one’s going to get breast cancer on Tuesday and die on Wednesday! I do hope Bette Porter keeps saying “fuck” a lot, though; no one fucking knows how to swear like Bette Fucking Porter.

Showtime has ordered eight episodes, which are expected to premiere before the end of the year.

Update: Sarah Shahi is in. Reporters asked her about the reboot at TCA today. Caroline Framke at Variety reports that she said: “This was something that was brought up in a discussion [with original L Word cast members] last year… The girls were talking to me about it, and my involvement was discussed very heavily that I would be in it. I think they want to keep it that way, and so does Showtime.”

https://twitter.com/jenniferbeals/status/1091034778961408000

Pop Culture Fix: Stephanie Beatriz Shines, Syd and Elena Smooch in the New “One Day at a Time” Trailer

After a holiday slumber, Hollywood is back in action and there’s plenty of queer proof in this week’s Pop Culture Fix. 

+ Here’s the all-new One Day at a Time trailer starring Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero and also Elena and Syd kissing!

+ Maybe I knew but I don’t think I knew that Sarah Paulson is playing Nurse Ratched in Ryan Murphy’s Netlix One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest adaptation, succinctly titled Ratched. Anyway, I know now because this week news broke that New York gubernatorial candidate and foremother of legalized weed in the Empire State, Cynthia Nixon, has also joined the cast. Sarah’s playing a younger version of Nurse Ratched, so I guess we get to see her become… a psychopath? So far, it’s got a two-season eighteeen-episode order. (I learned that the Beaver is the state animal of New York when I was researching this series, just so you know.)

+ Please enjoy the Grace and Frankie season five trailer and guess what else? Netflix has already given it a season six!

+ Jane the Virgin’s final (😭) season kicks off on March 27. (Also, I am so excited for Gina Rodriguez’s Carmen Sandiego I can hardly stand it.)

+ Shane McCutcheon is coming to grown-ish.

+ Breeda Wool, who you know as Faith from unREAL and also as Jen Richards’ doppelganger, is joining G.L.O.W. for season three and I will bet you ten American dollars that she’s playing gay again.

+ Pose‘s Hailie Sahar is coming to Good Trouble.

+ Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek spin-off is real!

+ Women characters outnumber male leads more than two to one in U.S. TV dramas?!?!?!

+ Angela Robinson is putting down roots at Paramount. (I wish those roots included a D.E.B.S. TV show.)

+ Would you like a trailer for Tessa Thompson’s Little Woods? She shannot be confined by genre, y’all. Shannot!

+ Supergirl will meet Nia’s family when the show returns next week, and also Alex will somehow be looking gayer and gayer.

+ Amandla Stenberg is one of Essence‘s Black Women in Hollywood honorees this year.

+ And finally: Oscars problem solved.

https://twitter.com/rgay/status/1085193594388901889

2019 Golden Globes Winners: Sandra Oh and Queer Red Carpet Looks

Sandra Oh won a Golden Globe last night for the stunning, brilliant first season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Killing Eve, and Sandra Oh also just won the Golden Globes last night. Her charm and wit an earnestness were the only things that kept the show grounded. During her acceptance speech, the Globes co-host hoisted her trophy in the air and shouted “KILLING EVE!!!” but she also thanked her mother and father, in tears, in Korean. She snagged an Emmy in the Best Supporting Actress category in 2006 for her work on Grey’s Anatomy, but this is the first time she’s won in the Best Actress category, and only the second time an Asian American has taken home the award in the category, full stop. Oh recognized the significance of the moment in her opening monologue, noting nominations not only for her, but for Roma, Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and If Beale Street Could Talk.

“I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here, to look out onto this audience and witness this moment of change,” she said. “I’m not fooling myself. Next year could be different and probably will be. But right now, this moment is real.”

That moment also included a supremely deserved win for Beale Street‘s Regina King, who used her acceptance speech to promise all her movies would include at least 50 percent women moving forward; a rightfully earned win for The Favourite‘s Olivia Colman, who thanked Melissa McCarthy for “the sandwiches” and Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz for being “her bitches”; a frankly shocking win by Glenn Close, who beat out Lady Gaga and “joked” that the reason it took 14 years for her movie to get made was because it’s called The Wife; Carol Burnett holding the audience in the palm of her hand as she accepted the inaugural Carol Burnett Award; and Alfonso Cuarón winning twice for Roma.

Everything else was more of the same: Lots of POC and women presenters and some really important and merited nominations; white people (mostly men) taking home the majority of he trophies.

Oh’s comment that “next year could be different and probably will be” didn’t seem like a direct callback to last year’s Globes, where Hollywood’s most famous actresses stormed the red carpet in all black, talking #MeToo and bringing women activists as their dates, but she could have been. Less than a year after being accused of harassment and abuse by an E! stylist, Ryan Seacrest continued to smarm his way up and down the red carpet sporting a — you guessed it! — Time’s Up bracelet. (Regina King was the only winner to even mention Time’s Up on stage.) Equally problematic and delusional and a slap in the face to their roots: Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody taking home Best Picture honors.

But Oh was right, of course, that the nominations do matter; that the presenters do matter; and that while Hollywood remains a place where Billy Porter could lose to Richard Madden, the oppressive systems that prop up that bullshit are being challenged in small and consistent ways, and opportunities for generational talents like herself are opening up and allowing for long-deserved recognition.

The other real winners of the night were the looks served by the queer folks in attendance.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lena Waithe (@lenawaithe)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsUGwOqHmcO/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsVGrOgH_fy/

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by River Butcher (@rivbutcher)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Billy Porter (@theebillyporter)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Janet Mock (@janetmock)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsU3OeVBpoi/

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dominique T.A.R Jackson (@dominiquet.a.r.jackson)

https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1082144776579772416

I never expected an elevator to be gayer than the one on Grey’s Anatomy. Maybe things really do change.

EXCLUSIVE: Meet the New Gay in “The Fosters” Spin-Off, “Good Trouble”

One of my all-time favorite moments on The Fosters is when Lena tells Mariana, “DNA doesn’t make a family, love does.” At its root, The Fosters was a show about our chosen family — albeit bound together legally through adoption — and its spin-off, Good Trouble, which debuts next week on Freeform, is ultimately about the same thing. Good Trouble picks up where The Fosters left off: with Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) and Callie (Maia Mitchell) headed north, from their sleepy San Diego suburb to the bright lights of Los Angeles, to start their new jobs. Mariana’s fresh out of MIT and excited to start work at a tech startup, while Callie’s balancing her competitive clerkship with a conservative judge and preparations to take the bar exam. They find their home and what may become their chosen family at the Coterie, a communal living space in downtown LA.

GOOD TROUBLE – Freeform’s “Good Trouble” stars Tommy Martinez as Gael, Zuri Adele as Malika, Cierra Ramirez as Mariana Adams Foster, Maia Mitchell as Callie Adams Foster, Emma Hunton as Davia, Roger Bart as Judge Wilson, Sherry Cola as Alice, and Josh Pence as Dennis. (Freeform/Gus&Lo)

The Coterie overflows with compelling personalities, most notably, Alice Kwan (Sherry Cola), the manager of the building and de facto house mother. Rather than having me tell you about it, why not get the scoop on Alice from the actress herself — whom you might remember from her short stint on Claws last summer — thanks to an exclusive clip from our friends at Freeform:

According to GLAAD’s most recent “Where We Are on TV” report, Asian/Pacific Islanders make up 8.5% of the LGBTQ regular and recurring characters on network, cable and streaming television. Though there’s still work to do when it comes to API representation, the numbers reflect the highest levels of representation since GLAAD started tracking the data. What’s particularly exciting about LGBTQ API representation is the different types of stories we’re seeing: from Grace Choi on Black Lightning and Nico Minoru on Marvel’s Runaways to Adena El-Amin on The Bold Type to Leila on The Bisexual. I’m excited to see how Alice adds to the diverse stories we’ve been seeing.

Excited to learn more about Alice? Or seeing what Callie and Mariana are up to? Tune in to the debut of Good Trouble on Freeform on January 8 or visit Hulu or Freeform.com now to get an early look at the first episode.

Pop Culture Fix: You Gays Will Love Stephanie Beatritz’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Season 6 Storyline

Happy early Thanksgiving, pop culture fix-ers! I hope you kick off the holiday season the correct way tomorrow, by rewatching Carol!

+ TVLine is teasing that Stephanie Beatriz is teasing Rosa a girlfriend on next season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Whether or not that will be Gina Rodriguez’s Alicia “remains very much up in the air at this moment in time,” but, according to Beatriz, “I think particularly our LGBTQ audience will be really happy with the developments, and that’s all I can say.” And that’s enough for me!

+ Speaking of Gina Rodriguez, season five of Jane the Virgin is “some of the best stuff ever.”

+ And if you’ve only seen clips of this on YouTube, do yourself a favor and watch the whole thing.

+ Time made a list of best stand-up specials of 2018; they included Tig Notaro, Hannah Gadsby, and Cameron Esposito.

+ The Birds of Prey movie has revealed its title: The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. MAKE IT GAY YOU COWARDS, ETC.

+ 11 black trans entertainers revolutionizing how we see TV and film.

+ Hypable talked to Charmed showrunners Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin about last week’s devastating storyline, and… maybe it’s not final???

According to Amy Rardin, the reverberations from Mel’s spell on Niko are probably going to be felt for the rest of the season. After all, The Charmed Ones asked fate to undo a thread that we now know was connected to other threads — like Mel’s teaching job. Or the fact that Mel remembers a whole relationship with a woman who doesn’t even know she exists anymore. But it’s possible that doesn’t preclude them meeting again in the future. According to IMDB, Ellen Tamaki is in, at least, 13 episodes. That’s not to say she can’t be part of other storylines, but O’Toole did say, “There’s the whole question of can you really erase someone like that? Does true love always find a way? Can you really mess with time?”

+ Did you know a real experiment inspired “San Junipero”?

+ Starring in The Miseducation of Cameron Post and working on set with Desiree Akhaven and having two gay brothers has inspired Chloë Grace Moretz to begin her directing career.  “I’ve made over 60 films now and that was the first time in my career when I felt that energy on set and that amount of respect,” she told IndieWire. “This is a project that gave me the ability to partner my love of my art with my activism and be able to have a socially aware, socially progressive project but in an entertaining, funny, attainable way.” And she wants to do more of that, on both sides of the camera.

+ By now I hope you have taken my advice and binged the entire first season of She-Ra. Now please enjoy this interview with Noelle Stevenson.

+ League of Legends has a lesbian hero! It’s Neeko!

+ And finally: How Rihanna Inspired Tessa Thompson’s Creed II Character

LGBTQ Characters Are Thriving on TV While the World Burns, GLAAD Report Finds

Last year, I built an internal database of every lesbian, bisexual and queer female character to appear on English-language television, which I’ll continue maintaining indefinitely. However, “maintaining the database” and, respectively, keeping our Fall TV Preview current, has turned out to be a bigger job than I anticipated. Sometimes it feels like the opposite of 2016, when updating the list of Dead Lesbian and Bisexual TV Characters eventually became part of my daily routine. We’ve amassed some bodies this year, sure, but we’ve gained a lot of new characters too. After an unprecedented summer for queer characters of color, the fall season has bestowed upon us surprise new lesbian and bi characters on Manifest, The Man in the High Castle, God Friended Me, Law and Order SVU, American Vandal, The First, The Deuce, Shameless, Atypical, The Purge, The Haunting of Hill House and Wanderlust. Those are just the shows that we weren’t aware would feature queer women — there are over a dozen more we knew about ahead of time.

Which is just to say that I wasn’t surprised that for the first time in all the years we’ve been reporting on the GLAAD Where We Are On TV Report, the news is mostly positive. “Where We Are on TV” accounts for and forecasts the presence of LGBTQ characters for the 2018-2019 TV Season (June 1, 2018 – May 31, 2019). This is the 23rd year GLAAD has done this quantifiable tracking.

Here are the major things GLAAD found about representation on broadcast television:

  • Record high percentage of LGBTQ series regulars (8.8%, up from last year’s 6.4%)
  • We have finally reached gender parity amongst LGBTQ characters: men and women are coming in at 49.6% each (last year: 55% men, 44% women)
  • For the first time ever, LGBTQ characters of color (50%) outpace white (49%) characters! Just barely but still!
  • Record-high numbers of Black (22%, vs. 18% last year), Latinx (8%, tied with last year) and API series regulars (8% vs. 7% last year)
  • Lesbians are up slightly from last year (28% vs 25%), but we have yet to re-ascend to the 33% we had in 2015-2016, many of whom proceeded to die in 2016.
  • Bisexual+ characters are up (29%), with 25 bi+ women and eight bi+ men.

The CW takes broadcast honors for the most inclusive network, and came up top in analyses of gender diversity, too, which backs up something we’ve noticed in Autostraddle Teevee HQ: The CW, often guided by Greg Berlanti, is really angling for the queer female audience. As Kayla noted in her piece about Cheryl Blossom’s confirmed bisexuality, “[The CW] should probably at least change their slogan from “dare to defy” to “dare to BE BI.” By our own count, 13 of The CW’s 17 current scripted offerings include LGBTQ women characters. Supergirl now has the first trans superhero on TV and we’re getting closer and closer to the debut of lesbian Batwoman.

GLAAD notes that many of these shows have only one LGBTQ character amongst a group of straight cisgender characters, which should change. As I’m sure many of you know and have experienced firsthand, being the only queer person in an entire town of straight cisgender people can often be a living breathing nightmare that nobody should have to endure in real life and perhaps not so frequently on our television screens either.

Findings from Cable:

  • Lesbians (53 characters, 26% of the total) are up in number but down in percentage and bisexual women are down three percentage points (19% characters, representing 40 characters). The number of bi+ men on cable has increased for the first time in three years.
  • The number of LGBTQ regulars on scripted primetime cable is up to 120, from 103 in the previous year. Recurring characters are up to 88 from 70, for a total of 208 characters.
  • Gay men are still the majority of LGBTQ regular and recurring characters, at 43%.
  • 3.9% of these characters are transgender: seven trans women, one non-binary person.

GLAAD notes that FX, with its hearty roster of Ryan Murphy programming, has overtaken Freeform as the most inclusive cable network. However, it’s worth noting that FX’s inclusive programming, while often featuring queer women, seems to always feature queer men; and Freeform was essentially the reverse — often featuring queer men, always featuring queer women.

Pose alone is responsible for more than half the trans representation on all of cable. GLAAD writes, “There has never been a scripted show with several ongoing trans characters who interact as chosen family in the same ways that lesbians and gay men were able to see and relate to on The L Word and Queer as Folk respectively.”

The fine print: 31 characters included in this year’s cable report won’t be returning for next year, and 27% of all LGBTQ representation on cable is on eight series that have six or more queer characters each. If any of those series were cancelled, there’d be a notable decrease in inclusion across cable generally — but this has also always been the case with these reports. See, for example, the few years lesbian numbers spiked but almost all of those characters were on The L Word.

Findings from Streaming:

  • Streaming networks boast 112 regular & recurring LGBTQ characters, 42 more than last year
  • 48% are people of color, up from last year’s 23%.
  • Streaming is the only place where Latinx characters are significantly represented, at 24% (Cable has 9%, Broadcast has 12%, and Latinx people are 17% of the U.S. population.) Fifteen of those 27 characters are from foreign Netflix series. (I’m assuming this is Elite, House of Flowers & Cable Girls.)
  • Gay men are at 35%, Lesbians at  33%, Bisexual women at 17%, and Bisexual men at 8%
  • Streaming has the highest number and percentage of trans characters.

Netflix was awarded ‘most inclusive network’ honors, but they also have the largest number of shows, period, so it’s not really a fair fight. They also found 14 of Hulu’s 16 LGBT characters are women — Harlots and The Handmaid’s Tale both got even queerer this year, Desiree Akhavan’s The Bisexual premieres next month, and Marvel’s Runaways is returning in December. Hulu’s queer women abundance might be related to the fact that 62% of Hulu’s subscribers are women.

The “highest number and percentage of trans characters” is a little tricky too, as they include next year’s 2-hour musical finale of Transparent (I’m serious, that’s the plan) and Orange is the New Black, which’s also airing its final season next year. I’m not sure if Sense8‘s finale movie was part of that count, either, but that’s over too.

Cross-platform findings:

  • Significant increases in LGBTQ characters of color
  • Trans characters are up with 26 across all platforms — 17 trans women, five trans men and four non-binary characters.

There’s still plenty of room for improvement, which is a topic we touch on just about every day. We need more trans characters across all shows, and a lot more trans men, and more QPOC characters and more characters with disabilities and women and men should be even and wow there’s just a lot still to be done!

Last year, armed with our new database, I did an enormous piece on the year in queer TV, and I’ll be doing that again this year, too, so I don’t want to get too much into what we’ve observed on the topics GLAAD’s report covers or our theories about why it’s happening aside from the obvious — showrunners are listening to GLAAD, they’re listening to fans, and they’re increasingly aware of how specifically passionate queer women are about our stories. But I do wonder if maybe just maybe in general, the people of this devolving country are more open than ever to stories about women generally, and stories about women who date women instead of men specifically. Just saying.

Anna Akana Is Queer: “Stitchers” Actress Comes Out During Her Streamys Acceptance Speech

Yesterday, actress Anna Akana came out in an acceptance speech during the Streamy Awards. Cue the rainbow streamers!

Anna won her Acting in a Drama Streamy for her work on a YouTube show called Youth & Consequences. Unfortunately, I can’t speak to her role on that show, or how queer the show is in general, though there is an episode called Gender Fluidity that addresses trans issues in an interesting way. At first I thought it was hella problematic but I think it ended up being okay in the end? I would have to watch more episodes to see the character’s arc before passing too much judgement. At the very least, Anna’s character seems pretty cool, and they included the Trevor Project information at the end of the episode.

Anyway, what I CAN tell you that Anna played queer badass on the show Stitchers, where she played Amanda, patient, brilliant girlfriend to Allison Scagliotti’s bisexual character Camille. (RIP Stitchers, gone too soon.)

When Anna was accepting her award, she had two ‘thank yous’ to impart. The first was for the writers of the show, “An actress is only as good as the words she’s given.”

Her second was pre-emptive, thanking the audience, viewers, and fans for voting. She stressed the importance of voting in the upcoming midterms and added that it’s important to her not only because she’s a woman of color, but also because she’s a queer woman.

Based on her follow-up tweet, where she said, “I guess I came out on the Streamys,” I’m not sure she originally planned that moment to come out. But I think she’s only one of many people who’ve been feeling like they need to state their truth as loudly as possible lately. The oppressive political noise is louder than ever, and marginalized people are using their platforms to get their message out to as many people as they can. And I think things like this help; putting a familiar friendly face to the word “queer” in mainstream places so it’s not an ambiguous adjective. The more knowledge people have about it, the less fear they’ll have, the less likely they’ll be to believe the lies told about us. I think Anna’s speech is especially important because she was accepting an award for a show aimed at a younger audience.

I also think there’s a trend (though I haven’t crunched the numbers…yet) of actors who play queer coming out as queer eventually. Whether they just weren’t out yet but took the role knowing they were queer, or playing queer helped them discover more about themselves is anyone’s guess. Fine by us! The more people who come out the better.

Congrats, Anna! Happy to have you on our team!

2018 Emmys Liveblog and Open Thread

Hello, and welcome to your 2018 Emmys Liveblog and Open Thread! Before we get started, here’s two things you already probably know but they’re worth repeating: 1) We held our own Gay Emmys this year and they were awesome. 2) As always, Riese has put together (and is constantly maintaining) a fall TV preview for all the queer characters.

It’s a big night for queer people and straight people who play queer people. Samira Wiley already snagged her Emmy for Handmaid’s Tale this year. Also: Evan Rachel Wood for lead actress in a drama series for Westworld; Lily Tomlin for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for Grace and Frankie; Kate McKinnon for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for SNL; Jane Lynch and Wanda Sykes for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and black-ish, respectively; Jane Lynch also fro Host for Reality/Reality Competition Program for Hollywood Game Night; Ellen DeGeneres for Host for Reality/Reality Competition Program for Ellen’s Game of Games. Sarah Paulson for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie for American Horror Story: Cult; Cherry Jones for outstanding guest actress in a drama series for Handmaid’s Tale; Carrie Brownstein for Variety Sketch Series for Portlandia.

8:00 p.m. Hello and welcome! Tonight you’ve got Valerie, Carmen, Natalie, and Heather. You can also follow our whole Autostraddle TV Team on Twitter right here!

8:05 p.m.

Valerie: I wish literally any combination of the people who sang this opening number was hosting instead.
Natalie: Same.
Carmen: I know it’s all tongue in cheek… but I didn’t love that… because ain’t shit solved. And I don’t appreciate Colin Jost and Michael Che of all people pretending that we did
Natalie: No applause for them. None.
Carmen: A bad #MeToo joke! I won the bet! I want my money!

8:10 p.m.

Carmen: Oh!

https://twitter.com/JackieFernTV/status/1041825414732120064

8:15 p.m.

Heather This is too boring to stay awake for! HERE WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

8:15 p.m. // Henry Winkler wins for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Carmen: Best supporting actor in a comedy! Let’s see if they finally give Titus the honor he deserves! (Spoiler: They won’t)
Valerie: Titus! Titus! Titus!
Carmen: Three black men nominated and the old white man wins? Sounds like the Emmys to me
Natalie: What if we all die of boredom during this Emmy broadcast? What then, Heather?
Valerie: Sorry no more TV coverage we tried to do an Emmys liveblog but our misandry overwhelmed us.

8:25 p.m. // Alex Borstein wins for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Marvelous Mrs Maisel

Carmen: OMG OMG
SHE WON FOR PLAYING THE BUTCH
FUCK YES TEAM GAY
Riese: is her character explicitly gay now??
Carmen: She’s very gay and very much in love with the main character!
Riese: oh wow
Carmen: That’s the ending arc
Riese: that’s so great!
Carmen: Also I would like everyone to officially tell everyone that Riese is the person who told me to watch The Marvelous Ms. Maisel and she was 100% right and I hope you all watch it. Alex Bornstein as Susie Myerson in Ms. Maisel fills all of my Janeane Garofalo gone butch dreams. So if that has ever been a dream of yours as well, I recommend it.

8:28 p.m. // Amy Sherman-Palladino wins for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy and Outstanding Directing in a Comedy

Heather: Holy cats, she is so Lorelai Gilmore it’s unreal.
Carmen: This is #JusticeForGilmoreGirls (Natalie I also agree, Atlanta is getting robbed though) I’m so excited for all of our readers who are going to get addicted to Ms. Maisel now!
Natalie: I’m just saying, ASP: DO SOMETHING WITH SOME POC IN IT

8:40 p.m. // Rachel Brosnahan wins best actress in a comedy. 

Heather: Maaan. This is the same thing as last year: so many POC presenters, all white winners.
Carmen: THAT’S WHY THE SKETCH SUCKED, COLIN.
Natalie: I’m gonna need some of your wine, Valerie.
Valerie: Seriously.
Carmen: For the second year in a row the Emmys broke their own record for most diverse nominations, for the second year in a row they send all those poc’s home with no gold
No. More. Participation. Trophies.
Riese: Also like that show is good but it’s not THAT good

8:49 p.m.

Carmen: Samira Wiley is such a celebrity that she’s doing ad campaigns in her instagram now like some kind of Khardasian!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Samira Wiley (@whododatlikedat)

8:50 p.m. // Merritt Wever wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Godless.

Heather: Much better than when she played a lesbian who was SHOT THROUGH THE EYEBALL on The Walking Dead.
Carmen: ANOTHER PLAY GAY FOR THE WINNNNNNNNNNNN
Riese: butchy gay too
old-fashioned butch
Valerie: okay okay i’ll allow it. let it be known though, where my heart is. :shuri-emoji:

9:00 p.m. 

Heather: CONSTANCE
WU
Carmen: WOW SHE LOOKS AMAZING
Valerie: what if constance wu somehow won that emmy
Natalie: Good Lord. Constance.
Carmen: What if Constance Wu even got nominated for an emmy???
What if the Emmy’s weren’t racist? what then?
Riese: i feel bored
Heather: yeah, this is boring as hell.
Riese: there are so many cool interesting shows happening and these are like, not those

9:05 p.m.

Carmen: While we are at commercial, I would like to let you know that my one straight husband is a supportive bae.

Carmen: THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, STERLING! FIX HER DRESS!
She will shine or neither of you will shine!

9:10 p.m. 

Valerie: betty white is the only white i want at these awards next year
Carmen: Hahahahahaaaaha! VALERIE!
Heather: amen!
Natalie: Yes!

9:10 p.m. // Ryan Murphy wins for Directing, Limited Series/Movie/Dramatic Special

9:13 p.m. // REGINA KING! REGINA KING wins for Best Lead Actress, Limited Series/Movie

Heather: WHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Valerie: fucking finally
Carmen: FINALLY YES OMG
Heather: I SCREAMED
LORD I SCREAMED
Valerie: leslie’s joy!!!
Heather: LESLIE!!!!!!
Carmen: I Just went hoarse!
Riese: Leslie Jones is going to be a meme now
i’m here for it
Natalie: YES!!!!
Carmen: You can hear leslie screaming without the mic! I love how we love on each other
Natalie: I have loved her since 227 and will never stop
Carmen: Listen I stan one queen now.

9:30 p.m. Some straight people got married. 

https://twitter.com/theheatherhogan/status/1041862715164307456

9:45 p.m. Well, we’ve reached the point of this boring-as-all-hec telecast where we’re just talking about posts we’re going to write this week, like a roundtable called MAKE IT GAY YOU COWARDS and Riese is showing us Getty images of Ellen and Mariska Hargitay.

9:50 p.m. It’s time for — what Riese has named — the White Men in Period Costumes Awards. Instead, please enjoy this gift from Carmen.

9:54 p.m. Thandie Newton wins for for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Westworld

Valerie: I HAD DARED NOT HOPE
Carmen: THANDIE YOU DID THAT BABY
Valerie: BUT SHE EARNED THAT TWO SEASONS OVER
Natalie: Yes!
Carmen: “I don’t even believe in God, but I’m going to thank HER tonight”
Riese: just get up there and swear and say you are an athiest yes

10:00 p.m. 

Riese: russia rigged this election
Valerie: i just keep shouting WRONG at my tv at this point
Carmen: I said it in our gay emmys and I will say it again, the only reason that Jane the Virgin and One Day At A Time aren’t Emmy winners is racism.
Flat out.
Natalie: Fucking Russians.
Heather: 100% racism

10:07 p.m. Blah blah blah blah more white men. 

https://twitter.com/JennKaytin/status/1041871227021688832

https://twitter.com/jennyyangtv/status/1041870476975333376

10:11 Claire Foy wins Best Actress for The Crown, Shouts out Sandra Oh, Sarah Paulson was also there. 

10:20 p.m. Valerie has a growing pile of stuff she’s throwing on her floor in outrage. 

10:30 p.m. RuPaul wins for Outstanding Reality Competition

10:48 Ryan Murphy wins again! 

10:52 Marvelous Mrs. Maisel wins Best Comedy

10:58 Game of Thrones wins Best Drama

Well, thank you for joining us

Pop Culture Fix: Sarah Paulson Will Never Say No to Ryan Murphy and Other Fascinating Facts

Welcome to your weekly pop culture fix, the only news on the internet that won’t push you close to the edge of a panic attack!

+ Melissa McCarthy is playing lesbian biographer Lee Israel in the upcoming biopic Can You Ever Forgive Me? It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend to solid reviews. I’m attending a screening in a few weeks and will report back!

+ Is anyone watching Netflix’s Atypical? Brigette Lundy-Paine, who plays Casey, told the Advocate that she identifies as queer and also that her character has a storyline around her sexuality this season.

+ The Oscars have put a pin in their stupid “Popular Oscar” plan.

+ Mia Kirshner read something she really liked about Jenny Schecter.

+ Dearest, here comes a Dusty Springfield biopic written and directed by the screenwriter of Carol

+ Grey’s is adding a gay dude for the first time.

+ Here’s your day made.

https://twitter.com/LenaWaithe/status/1038964570411347968

+ NBC upped Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s order to 18 eps for the upcoming season!

+ This sure is Sarah Paulson in a suit talking about the new season of American Horror Story. She also talks about how she’ll never say no to Ryan Murphy, and that makes one of us!

+ Also Polygon made a murder board of all the ways all the seasons and characters on AHS intersect.

+ Look who’s playing Bessie Coleman on the new season of Drunk History!

+ Rafiki director Wanuri Kahiu is suing the Kenyan government for banning her (gay) film so she can submit it to the Oscars.

+ Here’s Joan Jett’s first track in five years.

+ The first teaser for Noelle Stevenson’s She-Ra reboot has got me HYPED!

+ I’m still confused about whether or not A Simple Favor is gay but I’m going to keep pretending it is until someone tells me otherwise, even if it’s just so I can tell you Anna Kendrick’s never seen Gossip Girl.

+  One Day at a Time‘s creative team is making a whole new show. (Related: Latina speaking characters on TV reach historic high… of 7 percent.)

+ The Supergirl season four trailer is wild.

Pop Culture Fix: Kristen Stewart’s Screenwriting Debut Includes Line “Her Hand In My Wide-Open Cunt” and Other Stories

Welcome to your weekly pop culture fix, a crucial rundown of everybody’s favorite flavors of soda pop and also a bunch of news relevant to our people.

+ Kristen Stewart talked to Paris-based Mastermind Magazine about sexuality, including her own:

“Yeah, ambiguity is my favorite thing ever. In terms of sexuality? For sure. And also in making films, if you perfectly answer every question, you don’t allow for people to have their own experience and really indulge a thought. I feel the same way about how we f— each other. You don’t want to know everything all the time.”

She also talked about her upcoming film, “The Chronology of Water” (an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir, which includes bisexual storylines and will be her directorial debut) and the importance of showing the development of young women’s sexuality onscreen, which she says is lacking:

“My favorite line in this movie I’m currently writing is, ‘I thought about Sienna Torres and her shoving her hand into my wide-open cunt about as wide as a mouth saying motherfucker.’ That’s not something people would be comfortable hearing, up until right now, but I think it’s the perfect time. There’s nothing dirty about it, but I’m definitely going to be vulgar, and I’m definitely going to be completely unabashedly open about the fact that we’re entirely sexual beings.”

Sounds great!!!

+ I tuned in to the premiere of “The Purge” last night to see if the assassin played by AZMarie is an explicitly queer character or if that’s just gonna be a thing that happens in my head, and boi was I surprised to find that two lead female characters have some sexual fluidity going on as well! So far, reviews of the series have been mixed.

+ Speaking of Fall TV Premieres, have you read our extensive and brilliant Fall 2018 TV Preview? Just so you know, it’ll be updated & accessible all season long in the top menu bar under the “television” header, see:

+ In other news, we started our own Autostraddle Gay Emmys and you’ll probably want to cast a vote!

+ Hayley Kiyoko is the latest cool queer to pop up as a ModCloth ambassador.

+ Lauren Jauregui is Nylon Magazine’s September Cover star, shot by Lindsey Byrnes:

“I’ve learned so much, even about the gender binary since I came out as bisexual, and I’m sure that I could fall in love with anyone as long as their soul was genuine. That’s all that really matters to me. I don’t care about the physical,” she jokes. “I care about your trauma and shit, and if you’re projecting that shit on to me.” Jauregui adds: “But that’s really it, because, at the end of the day, we’re all just humans and if we’re attracted to each other, we’re just attracted to each other. So, I just explore that fluidity all the time.”

+ Well, this will be a journey:

“Law & Order: Hate Crimes” is set in New York City, where crimes motivated by discrimination are vigorously investigated by an elite, specially trained team of investigators. Going behind the headlines and viral videos, these diverse, dedicated and passionate detectives will stop at nothing to bring these criminals to justice…”

+ In Lily Allen’s upcoming memoir, she discusses the fact that she “slept with female escorts when I was on tour, cause I was lost and lonely and looking for something.” She continues, “I’m not proud, but I’m not ashamed. I don’t do it anymore.” I was really confused about why this is even a thing that she would consider being ashamed about, but I guess it’s ’cause she was married at the time.

+ Issa Rae on her project Him and Her: “[Being queer] is the experience of lots of black men, and it’s like, ‘Why would you try to prevent that story from being told? Who are you to tell him that his story isn’t valid?’”

+ Anna and the Apocalypse: Your New Favorite Zombie Christmas Musical, about which it was written: “well, this is even a good example of a film managing to include a major queer character without making her a token or without reducing her sexuality to a single, back-patting reference.”

+ Why the gay conversion therapy drama is having a moment.

+ Younger Is Moving to the Paramount Network for Season 6

+ Black Lightning Season 2 Casts Supergirl Foil as DC Comics’ Looker

+ Wanda Sykes Sets Netflix Stand-Up Special

+ ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Protestors Fight Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Nomination: ‘He Will Take Away Women’s Basic Rights’

+ Cynthia Nixon is Not Miranda:

https://youtu.be/W4QmX0s5Msw

San Diego Comic-Con: All the Gay News You Need to Know About Every Gay TV Show

This post was written and sourced by Heather, Carmen, Valerie, and Natalie

San Diego Comic-Con aka The Super Bowl of Geekdom happened this weekend and, keeping in line with the mandate of 20GayTeen, so much queer news and shenanigans broke and went down! Too many newses and shenanigans, in fact, to wait for our weekly Pop Culture Fix — so some of our TV team has compiled a list of everything we could find about all the stuff you love. Maybe some of it will be news to you! Maybe some of it will just be fun to talk about with your pals! Maybe you just want to celebrate silently in your cubicle or office!

If you want a super quick overview, The Hollywood Reporter declared that while there’s still more work to do, the main lesson of SDCC 2018 is INCLUSION REIGNS!

Charmed

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by meloniediaz (@meloniediaz)

Charmed aired a screener of their first episode as part of their Comic-Con panel. Even though we weren’t lucky enough to attend San Diego Comic-Con this year, Carmen happened to also have a press screener of the exact same episode! So, she brings you this brief, spoiler-light review:

Our new Charmed sisters are Mel, Maggie, and Macy. Mel, played by Melonie Diaz, is our lesbian to watch out for! She’s shown in bed with another woman of color in the first five minutes of the pilot! I don’t have to tell you, but in a television landscape where queer love (particularly between women of color) is so often on the back burner, this is already a promising development. Mel’s an army boot wearing, spending her spare time warning sorority girls against rape culture, flyering campus with “Time’s Up” posters, Gender Studies grad student, so on the nose that it almost feels like stereotype kind of feminist — and I say that super lovingly. Mel will feel comfortable to you, because on some level we all know her. Hell, we’ve probably dated her. Maybe we are her. Even in the first episode, she radiates tenderness and strength. Mel’s over-eager, a genuine do-gooder, and wants the best for the women in her life. I can see myself getting addicted to her on my screen already.

The show has a light gothic horror aesthetic, and attention paid to the loving bond of sisters, that reminds me a lot of the OG Charmed. There’s still a whitelighter, and a Book of Shadows, and most importantly — THE POWER OF THREE!!! Wooot! Woot! While it plays with the sensibilities of the original show, this Charmed also has a refreshing voice of its own. It’s funny, so freaking funny. It’s witty and smart and firmly rooted in women’s point of view. The warmth of the feminist voice presented here somehow echoes Jane The Virgin, even though the tone of two shows couldn’t be more different. That should be expected; they come from the same creators. I know for a lot of Charmed faithfuls, this remake is controversial at best (and bordering on sacrilegious for some). I loved the first Charmed. The new version makes a strong, delightful argument that it should be judged on its own terms. I’m giving it a high priority in my fall viewing schedule!

Also:

Some notes on Charmed‘s queerness. 

Melonie Diaz will play the lesbian sister.

And there are going to be plenty of “juicy love stories.”

Doctor Who

I put the first Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who teaser in last week’s Pop Culture Fix, but the first real trailer with real footage is here and WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY, Y’ALL.

Also:

Everyone had a lot of questions for Jodie, mostly variations on, like, “You’re a woman, huh?” Here she is talking about the responsibility and how diversity larger than cis white women. She then crashed the Her Universe fashion show.

Here’s the new showrunner saying everyone who’s happy about this diversity inside the TARDIS needs to bring a friend along, and that the new season is a perfect jumping on point. (Implied: Angry white dudes are not going to watch.)

New team photo!

Thirteen and her WIFE.

Wynonna Earp

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kat Barrell (@katbarrell)

The biggest news out of SDCC for Earpers is that the show has already been renewed for a fourth season! It was also news to a lot of non-Earpers that Earper fandom is so damn nice. New York Magazine wrote a whole thing about it.

Also:

Wynonna Earp Funkos are coming.

GLAAD did a WayHaught Facebook live.

And here’s a rundown of the show’s full panel.

“EXCUSE ME THIS IS AN ATTACK.” – Valerie Anne

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stephanie Beatriz (@stephaniebeatriz)

The cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine made a big impression at their first SDCC, and of course they did. Cons are all about fandom and fandom is what saved this show! The main thing you want to know is that showrunner Dan Goor is “definitely hopeful” Gina Rodriguez will be back after she turned Rosa into a pile of smitten goop in that season finale! And Steph Beatriz is confident the exploration of Rosa’s bisexuality will continue when the show moves to NBC.

Also:

Steph Beatriz said more really cool things about being bi.

You’re gonna tear up watching this video of a fan thinking Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero for queer and Latina representation.

Terry Crews made the whole room teary when a fan thanked him for participating in #MeToo by sharing his own story of sexual assault and abuse.

Vulture’s favorite moments of the B99 panel.

Star Trek Discovery

Tig Notaro, baby!

Also:

Tig moderated the panel, which included news that Wilson Cruz will be back and be an unburied gay.

The show will be back in early 2019.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse

Is the new season gay? I don’t know! Will it be gay because it’s the hotly anticipated crossover season between AHS: Murder House and AHS: Coven? I still don’t know! In its original form, AHS: Coven and exactly ZERO QUEER WOMEN, despite being about mother-effing witches!! That is Ryan Murphy’s biggest career mistake, and will he use the sequel to fix it? I. DON’T. KNOW.

Also and most importantly: 

Sarah Paulson will be in this thing, obviously.

Black Lightning

https://www.instagram.com/p/BllY8rgjhwy/?hl=en&taken-by=nafessawilliams

Trying to figure out whether or not Black Lightning is going to be a part of the Arrowverse crossover this year has been so confusing and frustrating, mostly because I keep coming to the conclusion that no it’s not and also that means Nafessa and Kate Kane aren’t going to get to share a screen immediately and that is A TRAVESTY.

Here’s Nafessa Williams talking about the importance of black lesbian representation.

Carmen would like you to know that she is “SALTY THAT JENNIFER’S BOYFRIEND IS GETTING A PROMOTION AND WE STILL HAVEN’T SEEN GRACE CHOI IN TEN EPISODES.”

You know how Anissa’s nickname on the show is Harriet Tubman? Well, Nafessa Williams keeps a photo of Harriet Tubman in her dressing room! Also: “We gotta be who we are unapologetically.”

Legends of Tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoSjI3N3_rA

Also: 

That sure is a lot of AvaLance! And here’s Jes MacAllan on that. And here she is some more.

Ramona Young is joining the season four cast.

Maisie Sellers-Richards is back too.

Wonder Woman 1984

The new surprise footage from the Wonder Woman sequel sent the internet into glorious hysterics. I kept thinking it was going to show up on YouTube, but it never did! Here’s a description, though, from Vulture:

A fun action sequence that featured Gadot’s Wonder Woman fending off gunmen in a very 80’s-looking mall food court. (If you’ve been paying attention, it’s the same one we saw a confused Pine wandering around in his first still from the film.) As she strides toward the evildoers, Wonder Woman catches the attention of a grinning little girl, and her priority immediately becomes protection. “Hold tight,” says our heroine as she picks up the girl and super-hurls her away, sliding the kid across the food-court floor. Don’t worry: The girl giggles the entire time, loving the ride, and crashes safely into some plush teddy bears.

After that, Wonder Woman focuses her attention on the bad guys and quickly disarms them, crushing their guns with her super-strength. As a final flourish, she whips out her lasso and entangles both men with it, then pulls a move straight out of Atomic Blonde by using their weight as ballast to leap off the top floor of the mall and land three stories down below. It’s a sequence with pep and pop that feels like something Lynda Carter would love, and it was followed by an unrelated shot of Wonder Woman running at super-speed through a city street, so fast that the passersby might as well be standing in place.

Also: 

Patty Jenkins chatting about why she chose the ’80s for the new Wonder Woman.

Supergirl

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CAITY LOTZ (@caitylotz)

Also: 

Alex’s journey this season will be about balance. From Chyler Leigh: “She’s stepping in and trying to find her footing [at the DEO]… Motherhood, that side of it, will be part of the journey.”

Nicole Maines is joining the cast as the first trans superhero on teevee! (Maines was the plaintiff in the case Doe v. Clenchy which set a precedent for trans students in Maine being allowed to use the bathroom that corresponded with their gender identity.) Her character is described as “a soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.”

April Parker Jones is joining the cast as Colonel Haley.

A promise from the showrunner that feels very good: “Kara Danvers the reporter is going to be as big of a hero this season as Supergirl.”

Steven Universe

A REAL MOVIE!

Also:

Dove also is partnering with Steven Universe to release “a series of films addressing children’s biggest barriers to self-esteem set in the Steven Universe world.” The first one is very adorable. Ruby and Sapphire and Stevonnie!

Riverdale

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q8a4iucRJJs

Also:

POTENTIAL QUEER LOVE TRIANGLE ALERT! Showrunner/ EP Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa teased that Toni might find herself in a rivalry with Josie this season. Why? Because Cheryl had a crush on Josie first.

Kevin’s for sure gonna be dating Moose next season.

Another musical episode is in the works.

The young cast is gonna play their own parents in a flashback episode, ha!

Lesbian Batwoman Is Coming to TV, Will Be Played by a Real Live Lesbian!

When the CW announced back in May that Batwoman would be joining their next Arrowverse crossover event in 2018, I was glad, but not really excited, because those teeveepaloozas barely have enough storytelling room for their respective shows’ main characters — but holy sapphic scoops, queeros! Batwoman’s getting her own TV show! Probably! Most likely! It’s in the early stages of production, at least, by former Vampire Diaries executive producer/Smallville writer Caroline Dries and the established CW superhero production team of Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Geoff Johns. Here’s the pitch:

Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

But wait! There’s more! According to TVLine, “the casting call for the would-be Arrowverse addition seeks an out lesbian actress, open ethnicity, to play age 25 to 29.”

Lesbian. Actress.

Open. Ethnicity.

20GAYTEEN, YOU STRIKE AGAIN!

Obviously Kate Kane will not be CW’s first queer woman. We’ve got lesbian Anissa Pierce/Thunder on Black Lightning (which continues to suspiciously be left out of the Arrowverse), lesbian Alex Danvers and her former fiancee Maggie Sawyer (who is, funnily enough, Kate Kane’s former fiancee in the comic books) on Supergirl, and bisexual badass Sara Lance on Legends of Tomorrow (and her girlfriend Ava Sharpe and her former lady-lovers). But it’s still a huge addition! Firstly because Kate Kane is the most famous lesbian in comic book history, and secondly because it has to mean we’re getting Renee Montoya on our TVs again! (Renee is Kate’s first love and DC hasn’t forgotten it; they most recently canoodled in Bombshells and and the animated TV movie Batman: Bad Blood.)

If the series goes to pilot after the crossover, we’ll see the first episodes in 2019.

In the very near future I will craft an essential Batwoman reading list to get you ready for this show. In the meantime, here are nine queer humans our TV team thinks would make an excellent Kate Kane. (I know the casting call is for a lesbian and some of these humans identify as other things on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but we still think they’d make great Batwomen!)

Alia Shawkat

If we’ve learned one thing about Alia Shawkat this year it’s that she has had enough of these straight white men talking over her and making Jessica Walter cry and also ruining the country. She has two of those three things in common with Kate Kane, and probably it’d be three if Kate Kane knew Jessica Walter.

Sasha Lane

If you’ve seen her in Hearts Beat Loud, you already know what a great choice this is. (If you haven’t seen Hearts Beat Loud, what are you doing with your life, buddy??) Once you see her in The Miseducation of Cameron Post, you’re going to be rioting in the streets for her!

Amandla Stenberg

The ultimate Justice For Rue would be joining The Justice League, would it not?

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

In case you didn’t know, our TV critic Kayla is a fashion icon who just happened to get her hairs turned red yesterday. Coincidence or destiny?

Brianna Hildebrand

She’s already played queer once, in Deadpool 2. Let’s make it two for two on gay superheroes!

Bex Taylor-Klaus

They won us over in The Killing and even more on Scream and now we’re ready to see them take on a leading TV role where they can really shine!

Emily Rios

You might know her from Breaking Bad, or you might know her as lesbian detective Adriana Mendez from The Bridge. Either way you know she’d make one badass Kate Kane.

Shannon Purser

She’s busy with her new Netflix show but is she too busy to play a lesbian superhero she kind of already looks like? No, I don’t think she is. Also, I distinctly remember seeing a photo of her on Instagram sitting inside the 1966 Batmobile so she knows what’s up.

Ariela Barer

Yes, yes, she’s probably contracted to Marvel for life due to her role on The Runaways — but what if she were not?

We want to her your casting choices in the comments, and look, feel free to throw in your hopes and dreams for Kate and Renee too.

Read ad-free: join AF MEDIA