Lev Raphael has done it again. Known as a literary voice who often weaves his Jewish heritage and his LGBTQ+ identity into bestsellers, Raphael has written 27 books to date, ranging in genre from literary [...]
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but when that picture comes from a carefully crafted photo shoot, you can bet the result is a combination of at least a thousand ideas, [...]
Are Alaska Thunderfuck’s filthy jokes about Jeffrey Epstein, “genderfluids,” labia and poop too much for our world on fire? Alaska, even though she has a song called “Anus,” thought maybe they were. She wasn’t sure [...]
For six seasons, queer nonbinary actor, activist and author Nico Tortorella has starred as Josh, the delightfully brooding (straight) tattoo artist, on super-queer TV Land dramedy “Younger.” Created, executive produced and written by openly gay [...]
Last summer, Justice Smith wasn’t coming out but, instead, making a statement in solidarity with the Black trans and queer community. On Instagram, the 25-year-old actor posted a video while attending a protest against white [...]
It’s the early 1970s in the U.S. There is an energy crisis with long lines at gas pumps, fuel rationing and station owners posting signs declaring that they’re “bone dry.” All this at a time [...]
To know dodie is to really know her. Since 2011, the British singer-songwriter’s diary-wide-open authenticity has drawn millions of fans to her YouTube channel doddleoddle and its sister channel, doddlevloggle. Those faithful fans — she [...]
Fortune Feimster’s mouth has been going and going and going. “I talk a lot right now,” says the Southern comedian who hails from North Carolina, coughing and clearing her throat as we – that’s right [...]
Queer books by women have saved my life. They’ve given me language with which to articulate a self, enabled me both to understand history in a way that makes sense to me, and to find [...]
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is going online March 23-28 for its 59th edition showcasing experimental works. But 2021 also marks the 20th anniversary of its LGBTQ-focused program “Out Night," coming to you virtually on [...]
Model and actress Dominique Jackson can’t say a thing about the third and final season of one of the most groundbreaking LGBTQ+ series ever made. It’s mid February when we connect, just weeks before it [...]
On Friday, March 5, Jad Abumrad, the host and creator of “Dolly Parton’s America” and “Radiolab,” a public radio program broadcast on nearly 600 stations across the nation and downloaded more than 12 million times [...]
For Angelica Ross, her short time on “Pose” wasn’t an end — it was a beginning. After famously portraying Candy Ferocity on the FX series, which depicts New York City ball culture, Ross starred in [...]
Whether it's about beauty, relationships, or one of Detroit's up-and-coming entrepreneurs, Miss Mouthy is her name and on her podcast, she'll talk about it all. But as existing fans know, "Miss Mouthy" goes deeper than [...]
On Jan. 6 when the United States Capitol was being attacked by terrorists, Crys Matthews, who calls D.C. home, was in the recording studio in Bethesda, Maryland. Close, but a safe distance from the violence. [...]
Generally, the broad cultural and communicational divides that exist between elders and younger generations are seen as inevitable. And while that may be true to an extent, there are lived experiences that link all people [...]
After years of collaborating on shorts films around the East coast, filmmakers André Phillips and Charles Vuolo shared a gut feeling: they were both ready to make a feature-length production. But they weren’t sure what [...]
A farmer’s wife, the grieving Abigail, and her neighbor, the free-spirited Tallie, can’t quit each other in the queer 19-century romance “The World to Come.” The women, both unhappily married to men, form an intimate [...]
Talk about trans inclusion. A film festival darling, “Lupe,” centers the story of a Cuban immigrant and boxer named Rafael (San Francisco-based Puerto Rican actor Rafael Albarrán) struggling with their transgender identity while searching for [...]
Three years after the Pale Waves’ breakout album “My Mind Makes Noises,” the band is back bolder and gayer than ever with “Who Am I?” On tracks like “She’s My Religion,” “Easy,” and “You Don’t [...]
Latrice Royale is not your typical drag queen. Standing at 6-foot-4–inches tall (seven feet in heels and hair), this “large and in charge, chunky yet funky” diva is the big girl with the even bigger [...]
It’d be easy to assume that Jesi Taylor Cruz's lifelong dream was to be a part of the fashion industry. After all, they’ve modeled for Vogue and been featured in Allure and Glamour. But the [...]
“Where should I be looking? There? Or there?” His face smothering the camera as he wonders where his eyes should be, Leslie Jordan is settling into our video interview like it could be a comic [...]
It's all in the name. "Weirdo Night" is a variety show comprising stand-up, music, performance art and the straight-up bizarre that the Los Angeles community has been returning to night after night since it started [...]
Stanley Tucci has survived the icy death stare of Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly and told Cher to her face that she looks like a drag queen. Aside from starring as the queer second-in-command next to [...]
American films about queerness, Islam and Arab identity are relatively rare. Rarer still are ones that don’t treat these two identities’ overlap as a social or personal problem to be solved: an implicit tension fraught [...]
When Michigan native Lauren Lyon sat down at a Colorado drag queen bingo event just over two years ago, she was eager to get to know the local LGBTQ community a little better. She started [...]
Virtual screenings and collaborative showings with partner organizations across the country allowed home audiences to enjoy Sundance Film Festival’s elevated and celebrated independent films – for $15 a pop streaming via Sundance’s online portal - [...]
While everyone's upbringing is different, we can all think back to our most formative moments. More likely than not, those memories come from our adolescence, when we experienced a heightened version of reality — like [...]
Sundance’s slate of queer films has grown steadily over the years, as has the scale of the increasingly star-studded festival itself. At its founding in 1985, it wasn’t the first festival to heavily feature queer-focused [...]
Without dispute, the '70s were an iconic fashion decade. Tie-dye, floral, bell-bottoms, mini (and maxi) dresses. It's not hard to pick out a seminal trend whose influence can be seen even in modern-day wear. But [...]
Russell Tovey steamed up screens as Jonathan Groff’s hunky boss on the HBO series "Looking," about an intimate group of gay and queer friends living in contemporary San Francisco. Impassioned thoughts on the Richie-Kevin-Patrick love [...]
While there hasn't been a shortage of music to listen to during the pandemic, there's not been much in the way of new performances. And while it's not safe enough to go back out to [...]
It all started with Rufus Wainwright in his bathrobe. The crooner, at the forefront of virtual pandemic performances in March 2020, performed a song a day at his home piano in the Hollywood Hills during [...]
Without any positive trans role models, Brian Michael Smith grew up in 1980s Michigan thinking a Black transman couldn’t be an actor. He wasn’t seeing himself on TV, or anywhere. But now and then, things [...]
Sitcoms have been classic American TV fare since the 1940s, but it's arguable that they didn't really hit their stride until the '80s and '90s when previously held records for viewership shattered and reached the [...]
LGBT Detroit’s winter Pride celebration, Cold As Hell, is the sister event to Hotter Than July. With the birth of this event in 2020, Cold As Hell advocates for and celebrate queer sexuality, attraction, education [...]
A New Start During Crisis The novel coronavirus pandemic might have wreaked havoc on actor and singer Cory Shorter’s theatrical career this year, but with shows canceled left and right, the time off actually allowed [...]
Whether starting means picking up the pen or sitting down at a laptop, even if one's passionate about a project, writing a novel is no easy feat. And as many writers can relate, spouses Kelly [...]
File this under 2020’s “Content We Lived” category: "Social Distance," Netflix’s anthology series completely conceived, cast and shot in quarantine. Tucked into the show’s eight episodes is “Zero Feet Away,” which follows a gay couple [...]
Dolly Parton’s been everywhere this year, and everywhere she’s gone – virtually, that is – she’s brought good, gay tidings to all. Dolly’s contributions to both science and Christmas amidst our collective existential pandemic [...]
As 2020 comes to an end, it's safe to say that it's been one of the most stressful years on record in recent history. In fact, the American Psychological Association has found that 67% of [...]
Kristen Stewart is waving around what appears to be a joint. Even her "Happiest Season" co-star Mackenzie Davis, who’s seen on Zoom with Stewart, doesn’t quite know exactly what Stewart has lit. “Oh my god,” [...]
With all the classic elements of a televised Christmas show — spirit-possessed eggnog, chainsaws and an all-out battle for creative control — fans can expect that "The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special" will be making [...]
Few know their way around a funeral scene like master of mortality Alan Ball. The writer-director-producer had his fair share of time to get it just right while his crowning jewel of a series, "Six [...]
Filled with many a guide for revolutionizing one's life, career or relationships, the self-help section is unmistakable in any bookstore. And while many of the books within that category contain valuable life lessons, it can [...]
Lady Ace Boogie has been a fixture in Michigan's hip-hop scene for years now, but for the longtime musician, 2020 has been a year of significant change. In addition to the unprecedented novel coronavirus pandemic [...]
If 2020 embodied a physical vessel, it's not unlikely that it would be a dumpster fire. At least, that's certainly how it's felt for most of the year. But for drag queen Miz Cracker, she's [...]
The light falling on R&B queen Brandy is casting tiny rainbows that dance above her head. She’s looking up at them, telling me what she sees. Little rainbows everywhere. On an ordinary day, sure, this [...]
As a child, Southeast Michigan native Jonathan Peregrino looked out the window a lot wishing he could play with the other children, but his athletically induced asthma kept him home. Still, it was at home [...]
