The Midwestern Spotlight: What Is It Really Like to Be a Queer Musician in Michigan?
With the recent rise of its princess, Chappell Roan, the Midwest's music scene has gained newfound attention. Roan’s journey to the top wasn’t [...]
An Ode to Kim Petras: Why America Needs More Trans Pop Stars Right Now
I was once putting my new sex playlist to the test when my hookup paused to point out that it was exclusively Kim Petras. I clarified that it was Kim Petras' [...]
When Arabic Lyrics Become American Refuge: A Queer Veteran's Relationship with Mashrou' Leila
Recently they’ve returned to my mix for reasons too obvious to state.
Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s ‘Sweat’ Tour Launch in Detroit: A Queer Club on Steroids
If you popped on Grindr at around 8:20 p.m. on Saturday anywhere in Detroit, you saw a grid of faces and torsos that signaled Something Very Gay Is Happening [...]
Chappell Roan, Lollapalooza and a Whole Summer of Queer Celebration
Chicago’s Grant Park has likely never seen as much pink as it did on Aug. 1.That’s because Chappell Roan, self-proclaimed "Midwest princess" and [...]
The Michigan Roots of the Midwest Princess: Chappell Roan’s Interlochen Instructor on the Impact of an Artist Who ‘Knocked Me Out Immediately’
For its princess, Chappell Roan, the roots to the Midwest run deep. At Michigan’s own Interlochen Arts Camp, Roan wrote the song that would help launch [...]
Michigan LGBTQ+ Choruses Sing to the Rafters at National GALA Choruses Fest
The GALA Choruses Festival, held July 10-14 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is something to sing about, and not just because six Michigan-based choruses were in [...]
Muna and the Power of Queer Representation at Pitchfork Music Festival
I saw the indie pop band Muna perform live for the first time on my 22nd birthday. I had been a fan for years, and they were opening for Phoebe Bridgers at The [...]
Detroit’s Baddie Brooks Makes History at NYC Pride March
Detroit’s own Baddie Brooks repped Michigan like the talented boss bitch she is at the annual New York City Pride March on June 30, where she served as a [...]
Her True Colors, Still Shining Through: Cyndi Lauper Talks Reflective New Era, Farewell Tour and Championing LGBTQ+ Causes
At 70, Cyndi Lauper’s special place in pop music history can be seen everywhere you look. Look around at abortion rights rallies and you’ll see [...]
5 Things You Might Not Know About Cavetown
When Robin Skinner, aka Cavetown, brings his latest tour to Sterling Heights on July 12, expect the “bedroom pop” vibes the performer has been [...]
From Small-Town Roots to Big Pride Performances: How Michigan Shaped Wreckno's Musical Queerness
Growing up in the small town of Manistee in northern Michigan, Brandon Wisniski, better known by their stage name Wreckno, didn’t have much of a queer [...]
‘Queer Drunk Punk’ Author Zehava Frieman on How Growing Up in Grosse Pointe Park Inspired Her Debut Novel
When Zehava Frieman finally sat down to write “Queer Drunk Punk” in 2021 on the tail end of decades of what she describes as “creative [...]
Three Years Ago, Detroit Techno Icon DJ Minx Came Out. Now, She's Living a Life She Never Thought She Could.
Jennifer Witcher is better known as DJ Minx at the Spot Lite Detroit nightclub and coffeehouse, where she saunters in one weekday afternoon in late February in [...]
Fern Fest Women's Music Festival Is Moving, But Staying True to Its Inclusive Roots
Change is in the air for Michigan’s Fern Fest, a six-day women’s music festival that has experienced rapid growth since its first ever gathering in [...]
Let’s Try This Again: Meet Cakes da Killa, a Rap ‘Foremother’ Who Just Happens to Be Queer
It’s a sign of the times that a rapper can be Black, openly queer and free from the genre’s deep-seated hypermasculinity, and not just be named Lil [...]
From Movement to Electric Forest and Beyond: Your Queer Guide to Music Festivals
Something about a music festival feels intrinsically and irrevocably queer. Perhaps it’s the fact that they pretty much originated, at least in the United [...]
5 Questions with Queer ‘On Your Feet!’ Cast Member Jake Dylan Ahead of Fox Theatre Performance
Detroiters will have only a brief opportunity to see the Broadway hit musical “On Your Feet! The Story Of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” when the [...]
Why It Matters That Detroit Is Featured in the New Lil Nas X Film
It matters that Lil Nas X’s 2022 tour kicked off in Detroit, where the first third of the new documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero" takes [...]
Several Notable Queer, Ally Performers Announced for Detroit’s Movement Festival, with More to Come
Movement Music Festival, the multi-day electronic music festival that has become an international draw since its inception in 2006, will include a diverse range [...]
What Queer Community Means to Ann Arbor Folk Fest Performer Lizzie No
A good folk song might feel innocent on the surface, especially when it’s a lilting, acoustic-driven ballad, but hardcore folk fans aren’t drawn to [...]
At Her Detroit Show, Madonna Reminded Me What I Once Had Trouble Believing: That Gay Boys Can Survive
When Madonna came home this week, so did I. I came home to a version of myself that had grown up against so many odds, surviving hard-to-be-gay 1990s [...]
Lil Nas X Puts Christianity on Blast. Again. Or Does He?
With a fresh new 2024 stretching out before us with all the hope and promise we can manage to muster while basking in the afterglow of yet another dumpster fire [...]
