Chris Azzopardi
This Gay Author’s Book on ‘Why Mariah Carey Matters’ Speaks to the Power of Pop Star Idolization
A book about Mariah is also about a love that sometimes we only find in the music.
Look What You Made Her Do: How Christian Drag Queen Flamy Grant Turned Gay Hate Into a Hit Song
This ‘Bible Belt baby’ became the first drag queen to top the iTunes Christian music charts.
May 2, 2013: Amy Grant In Her First Gay Press Interview
Ten years later, I’m still grateful that what Amy said keeps reaching people who need to hear what I needed to hear as a gay teen.
Why ‘My So-Called Life’ Actor Wilson Cruz Continues to Help Improve Life for LGBTQ+ Youth
Wilson Cruz doesn’t love thinking too much about his childhood in Michigan, but he won’t deny his years growing up in Holland either. The Tulip Time Parades. The Windmill Island Gardens. The report he wrote on then President Gerald Ford. [...]
Pink’s Other Brave Summer Act: Modern Pro-Queer Protest Singer
I watched in gasping awe on Aug. 16 as Pink spun through the cool Detroit air, a soaring trapeze artist with a soaring voice to match. Take, for instance, the way she zipped to all corners of Comerica Park during her Summer Carnival Tour, her [...]
Deep Inside ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’—the Sex Scenes, Its ‘Harry Potter’ Inspiration and Why It Wasn’t a TV Show
Pro-queer viewers have spoken, and they’re royally head over heels for “Red, White & Royal Blue.” The film’s widespread success is a win for director and co-writer Matthew López, for Amazon Prime Video and, most [...]
Gay in the Ring: Pro Wrestler Anthony Bowens Gets Candid About Making History as AEW’s First Out LGBTQ+ Champion
Queer people everywhere are experiencing heightened discrimination, but if there’s hope to be found, it might just be in, of all places, the wrestling ring. That’s where Anthony Bowens recently experienced a tremendously heartening show [...]
Just How Gay Is "Barbie"? It Depends on Who You Ask.
Let's face it: "Barbie" was going to be gay. Maybe not gay enough, according to some gays. Maybe too gay, according to anti-gays.The fact is, this is a movie about Barbie, and wherever Barbie goes, some inherent queerness will go, too. As a kid, I [...]
Brandon Scott Jones Just Wants to Help Queer Youth Feel Seen
This year, Brandon Scott Jones is showing up in the most random of places. There’s his series regular role in “Ghosts,” portraying the spirit of American Revolutionary officer Captain Isaac Higgintoot, who is gay. There’s his [...]
Taylor Swift Makes Strong Case for Gay Icon Status During Eras Stop in Detroit
On my way to Ford Field in downtown Detroit for the first night of Taylor Swift’s brilliant and breathtaking Eras Tour, I joked with my concert mate that he’d have to remember the show for me, even though that was my job. That is if, of [...]
Gov. Whitmer Talks Pride, Violence Against Trans Women and Her Latest Reaction to Running for President
It’s Pride Month, but this one feels different. There’s both a sense of joy (because the Democratic majority in the Michigan legislature is still working to protect its queer population) and dread (because, nationally, anti-LGBTQ+ laws [...]
Letter from the Editor: Pride Marches On
As LGBTQ+ people across Michigan continue to celebrate our community out on the streets of big cities and small towns alike, another trans woman has been killed in Michigan. The loss of Ashia “Charm” Davis, just 34, is heart-wrenching. [...]