The Queen’s Gambit
Across 1 "All's Well That ___ Well" 5 Bitch 9 Cut leaves of grass by the sidewalk 14 Draw a cross over 15 Shape of an office that will soon lose a homophobe 16 Island [...]
Gay Royal Oak Performer Cory Shorter Releases New Single
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 [...]
Michigan LGBTQ Author Couple Teams up to Write Debut Novel
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 [...]
A Quarantine Threesome: ‘Social Distance’ Stars Talk COVID-Era Series, Friendship and Pandemic Dating
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 [...]
Eat, Pray, Love, Direct
Across 1 Klinger portrayer on "M*A*S*H" 5 Roman deity related to Diana 9 Watts in King Kong's hand 14 R.E.M.'s "The ___ Love" 15 Genesis man 16 Conversation filler 17 Relief of Lincoln 18 Pt. [...]
Dolly Parton Talks the Other Pandemic Cure (Rhinestones!) and How Her ‘Love Light’ Is For Everyone
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 [...]
Pay Attention, Be Astonished and ‘Read This for Inspiration’: Ashly Perez Talks Creativity During 2020
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 [...]
Elliot Page Comes out as Transgender, Non-Binary
By Parker Purifoy Oscar-nominated actor and star of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” Elliot Page, came out Tuesday as transgender and non-binary in a message posted to his social media accounts. “I love that I am [...]
Q&A: Kristen Stewart on Gay Bars, Playing Straight and How ‘The Time Calls For’ Her Queer Rom-Com
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,” [...]
‘The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special’ Brings a Drag Queen Christmas Home This Year
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 [...]
Detroit LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce to Hold Dec. 10 Virtual Wine Tasting
The Detroit Regional LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and Wines for Humanity is calling all wine lovers for a tasting event. On Thursday, Dec. 10, everyone from fully fledged sommeliers and wine aficionados to the casual [...]
Life (and Death) Again, Through Alan Ball’s Eyes
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 [...]
Lesbian Author Opa Hysea Wise Releases Self-Help Mystery Novel
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 isn’t Quitting Music, she’s Taking Things to the ‘Next Level’
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 [...]
Miz Cracker Brings the Good News (and Latkes)
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 [...]
Brandy Talks Loyal LGBTQ Fans, Returning to Pride, Mental Health and Gratitude
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 [...]
Gay Detroiter Jonathan Peregrino to Appear on Food Network’s ‘Holiday Baking Championship’
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 [...]
Question for a Dear
Across 1 Drivers get off on it 5 Guitarist Eddie Van ___ 10 Like sex with protection 14 Nevada neighbor 15 Manhandle 16 Opposed to, to Jethrene Bodine 17 Walk-way connector 18 Flashy Chevy, for [...]
In Conversation: Gloria Estefan On Her Struggles With Her Gay Daughter
She admits it took several painful years, but gay icon and Latin pop trailblazer Gloria Estefan is now in a "really good place" with her 25-year-old daughter Emily, who is openly queer. After working on [...]
Midland Center to Virtually Present Playwright Ricardo Perez Gonzalez in Masters Series
Human rights activist and playwright Ricardo Perez Gonzalez will be featured in a special virtual event Wednesday, Oct. 28, presented by the Midland Center for the Arts. Perez Gonzalez will speak about his activism and work [...]
I Am Nobody!
Across 1 "Come Back, Little ___ " 6 Enchanted Disney character 10 Sherman Hemsley religious sitcom 14 Try to bite, doggy-style 15 Electronic synthesizer 16 "Rag and Bone" author 17 "Sands ___ Jima" 18 Lambda [...]
Yuval Sharon is MOT’s New Artistic Director, Pledges to Make it ‘Most Progressive Opera Company’ in US
While the operatic stage has been responsible for sharing some of the world's most famous stories, it's still regarded by many to be an artistic medium that is inaccessible to the general public. For years [...]
Q&A: Jim Parsons on Playing Bitchy Queens and What He Learned About Himself Doing ‘Boys in the Band’
A lot has happened this year, and that’s aside from Jim Parsons dancing around in a bra. That bit, of course, graced screens across the world thanks to Netflix’s "Hollywood," the "Big Bang Theory" actor [...]
Rom-com, All Ye Faithful
Across 1 "I've never done this before," et al. 5 Lorca's room 9 "The Great Masturbator" painter 13 "Be that ___ may..." 14 Small songbird 15 Hot to trot 16 Uncommon, to Nero 17 Melissa [...]
For Shamir, Success During a Pandemic Is True to Form
If you want to know how musical chameleon Shamir is right now, expect the 25-year-old to answer much like he approaches making music. In both cases, he doesn’t like to repeat himself. “I’ve done a [...]
Peppermint Talks New R&B Album, Authenticity and the ‘Dirty Game’ that is Dating
Peppermint has a habit of breaking the mold. Both the first out transgender woman cast on "RuPaul's Drag Race" and the first to originate a principal role on Broadway in "Head Over Heels," this versatile [...]
Reba McEntire Talks 30 Years of Drag Queens Doing ‘Fancy,’ Lil Nas X and Those CBD Rumors
It was 30 years ago when Reba McEntire – music legend, gay icon, the epitome of country glamour – made Bobby Gentry’s “Fancy” her own. A feminist statement about a woman who turns to sex [...]
A Head of the Game
Across 1 Climax, e.g. 6 Antigay prejudice, e.g. 10 Queens stadium name 14 Pound poem part 15 Fairy tale start 16 David Hyde Pierce and peers 17 Place to become wife and wife 18 Star [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood Sept. 16
Star Trek’s first trans and non-binary characters The CBS All Access series "Star Trek: Discovery" will continue to fulfill the franchise’s progressive ideals and for the upcoming third season include the show’s first transgender and [...]
Historical Corktown Workers Rowhouse Showcases Both Detroit History and Modern Art
From The Guardian Building to the GM Renaissance Center, Detroit has its fair share of grand buildings that have made architectural history over the years, but even some of the city's most unassuming structures contain [...]
Unhung Heroes of the Metropolitan Art Zoom Tour Sept. 12
Calling all art lovers and size queens. Have you ever wondered why when you go to the art museum the guys without clothes are distinctly below average real-life size? Are you curious to know if [...]
Sharon Stone Talks Queerness in New Series, LGBTQ Activism & What Her Dad Meant to Her Gay Friends
That scene. You know the one: the one in "Basic Instinct" where Sharon Stone’s legs are open. It’s been talked about and talked about, and talked about some more. It’s been talked about so much [...]
Out Musician Bright Light Bright Light Centers LGBTQ Culture With Disco-Laden Third LP
The name Rod Thomas might not be instantly recognizable, but it’s likely you’ve come across the one he uses on stage. As Bright Light Bright Light, Thomas has been a staple of the international LGBTQ [...]
Lesbian Detroit Rapper Miz Korona Riffs on COVID-19 with her ‘The Virus’ EP
Developing, writing and recording an album is no easy feat, but sometimes, when the environment is just right, one new idea can set off a creative chain reaction — one strong enough to pull a [...]
‘Platonic’ Web Series Explores Queer Dating World and the Friendships that Last Through it All
When the topic of relationships comes around, particularly in film and TV, it's common for the focus to turn romantic. But in writer and director Erin C. Buckley's brand-new web series "Platonic," that tendency is [...]
Photographer, Director Mark Leibowitz Challenges Stereotypes with Virtual Exhibit
As Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom puts it, stereotypes are a part of our daily experience. We make split-second decisions not to trust a child to give accurate directions or an elderly person to carry [...]
Billy Porter Talks Hollywood (‘I Crashed the Party’), His Black Gay Experience & Upcoming Memoir
“Now that I have a massive platform, and now that the people want to listen to the Black sissy, I’m gonna talk,” Billy Porter says, fired up, leaning into the camera. On Zoom, Porter commands [...]
Ash Christian, Prolific Gay Filmmaker and Founder of Cranium Entertainment, Dies at 35
Dallas native, Ash Christian was an Emmy Award-winning producer, actor, filmmaker and LGBTQ activist. He died his sleep on Friday, Aug. 13, 2020, while vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He was 35 years old. Christian [...]
Murder, She Kind of Wrote: ‘SNL’ Writer Paula Pell Puts a Goofy Queer Spin on Jessica Fletcher in ‘Mapleworth Murders’
Writer-actress Paula Pell knows it’s ridiculous: a dowdy, out-of-touch suburban broad with an accent that is somehow a little British – or Irish, or something – who solves murders in her quaint town. But the [...]
2020 Outfest LA LGBTQ Film Festival Goes Virtual
For decades now, Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival, has been one of the world's premier destinations for LGBTQ media. This year, however, the festival's hundreds of films will be accessible worldwide for the [...]
Michigan Opera Theatre Reconfigures Seating, Gears Up to Host Live Shows
As novel coronavirus pandemic restrictions are becoming something of a new normal around the state, venues like Michigan Opera Theatre are having to make do with virtual performances and online outreach to fans. But due [...]
Jessie Ware Declares That Yes, Gays, She’s at Your Mercy
Jessie Ware sees all the fan-sent rainbow emojis on her Twitter feed, and “definitely a lot of Spanish writing and I don’t know what they’re saying to me but I love it,” gushes the British [...]
The Chicks’ Natalie Maines Talks Queer Creators Behind Trio’s Comeback LP, LGBTQ Activism & Advice For Lady A
Sitting somewhere with an abstract-art background obscuring her precise location, (Dixie) Chicks frontwoman Natalie Maines erupts into an explosive maybe-I-shouldn’t cackle during our Zoom call as she talks about how she’s about to get in [...]
R&B, Dance Diva Sybil to Perform on July 25 at Hotter Than July Virtual Picnic
R&B and Dance Diva Sybil is set to perform at The Hotter Than July Virtual Picnic on Saturday, July 25. LGBT Detroit organizes the event annually and is the producer of HTJ, which has become [...]
COVID-19 Redraws 2020 LGBTQ Travel Roadmap
By Scott Stiffler When Dorothy returned from Oz and declared, “There’s no place like home,” that tribute to domesticity made sense, coming from a Kansas farm girl recently abducted by flying monkeys and repeatedly threatened [...]