Meet Oklahoma’s Rising Queer Star in the State Senate
At 27, Allison Ikley-Freeman has an impressive resume and she’s bringing it to the front lines in her state.
www.advocate.com/exclusives/2019/7/13/meet-oklahomas-first-lesbian-elected-state-senator
Judith Light’s Eager to Play an Evil Twin in ‘Before You Know It’ Clip
The comedy from queer best friends Jen Tullock and Hannah Pearl Utt also costars Mandy Patinkin, Alec Baldwin, and Mike Colter.
www.advocate.com/film/2019/8/20/judith-lights-eager-play-evil-twin-you-know-it-clip
Health Care Facilities Celebrate Being Leaders in LGBTQ Equality
Health Care Facilities Celebrate Commitment to LGBTQ Equality on Twitter
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EXPOSURE ONLINE posted a photo:
Brighton Pride 2019 – All photo’s taken in Preston Park on the Saturday of Pride.
‘Pose’ star Billy Porter on becoming a leading man: “I read these scripts and I just weep”
For a man on fire, look no further than Billy Porter.
The Tony Award and Grammy winner just made history as the first-ever out-gay African-American man ever nominated for Best Actor in a Drama at the Emmys, courtesy of his magnificent turn as the ballroom emcee on Pose. For Porter, the nomination adds momentum to an already soaring career fueled by television roles on shows like Law & Order: SVU and American Horror Story, as well as a stage career that encompassed parts in Angels In America, and the original Broadway cast of Kinky Boots, for which he won his Tony and Grammy Awards.
Queerty snagged some very precious time with Porter just one day before the Pose Season 2 finale to talk about his rocketing rise, his work on the show, and some of his notorious fashion choices. Pose airs Tuesday night on FX.
QUEERTY: So you’ve hit a new career-high.
PORTER: I know!
What’s the state of your life like now?
You know, it’s very busy. It’s very packed. Every day is scheduled and packed with really amazing, astonishing, creative, moving artistic things that put good energy out into the world. That’s why I’m an artist. That’s what we get to do, that’s what we get to be. It’s exciting. It’s exciting to see your dreams come true.
And you get to live them coming true.
Yeah!
And let it be said, you’ve earned it. You’re doing some amazing work this year with Pose.
Thank you.
Pray has the most dynamic character arc this season.
You think so?
I think so, in that he becomes an activist. He falls in love.
Yes.
He becomes more gender-conscious in the ballroom.
Yes.
And you get to cover Judy Garland.
And I get to cover Judy Garland!
[Laughter]
That’s a dynamic arc. What’s been the most challenging part of this season?
You know…
[Slight pause]
None of it.
None of it?
The challenging part for me is the schedule. The challenging part for me is finding time for my own life. You know what I mean? I have no time for my life. I’m married now, so it’s like the challenge is about scheduling. The biggest challenge for me, if you’re talking about the work, is the love scenes.
Really?
I haven’t done a love scene ever. This is what I’ll say, and this is a very good question: being a leading man. That’s a challenge. I went from entering this process as a character actor to Ryan Murphy and the gang turning me into a leading man and changing the idea of what a leading man can look like. That is challenging for me being a person who has, in my 30-year career ever been that. I’ve never been the object of anyone’s affection in 30 years. The first romantic kiss I ever had was last season in episode eight.
Seriously?
Yes honey!
That’s mind-boggling to me.
You know they cut our d*cks off…
[Laughter]
You know when they first started telling stories about gay people they cut our d*cks off. Then when we started having love stories it was always the white boys. You don’t see black men loving each other.
Not nearly enough.
No. It was a challenge for me getting naked. Getting naked and showing that part of myself was a challenge.
In the literal sense?
Yes. It’s very clinical. The acting comes in trying to make it look natural and sexy. To me, I had been waiting my whole life to be given that kind of material. My. Whole. Life. You know, they exercise every muscle I have. I read these scripts and I just weep. I’m like thank you Lord. Thank you.
Related: We visited the set of ‘Pose,’ the show that might just save the world
Speaking of, here were you when you found out about your Emmy nomination?
I was in P-Town for vacation.
Marvelous.
We were going to have people over, so I was marinating chicken…with the phone beside me going if the phone starts buzzing, that’s good news.
Everyone is so excited that you’re nominated right now: the first out-gay African-American man nominated for Best Actor in a Drama.
Me too.
And everyone’s excited to see what you’re gonna wear to the Emmys. Since Pose has hit, you’ve become a style icon and a style activist, if that’s even a thing.
I made it a thing.
It’s about time somebody did. I read a story this morning about your stylist Sam Ratelle, and how he says the two of you are working to smash the idea of what constitutes male or female fashion. What is so empowering about that for you?
Well, you know, from the minute that I could comprehend thought—so like five years old—my masculinity was in question. We, as queer people, go through our whole lives trying to live up to or being held up to a masculinity standard that our society places on us. I was in those chains until about seven years ago when Kinky Boots happened. And when I finally let myself go and do the very thing I was put on Earth to do and put on that dress and those pumps and that make-up to show the world what a human being looks like, it changed everything. I was always told that side of me was unproducable, was unmarketable and my liability.
Wow.
And I chose myself even when everyone else said I was wrong. Now here I am on the other side, and the world has cracked open to me because actually did choose myself and my authenticity. I can’t now go hide. I have to show up and do something with that platform. I had no idea that I wanted to play with gender fashion. It just kind of evolved. After Kinky Boots I was comfortable doing it and I had no shame about it anymore. I was going on a recording artist tour and trying to find a new look. I came across Rick Owens. I went in the store and it was all gender-fluid. There were dresses and thick rock & roll platform boots, and I was like this is where I want to be. So that’s where it started. It’s really about a cisgender gay man choosing to wear a dress. I don’t identify as “she.” I don’t identify as “they/them.” I am a “he/him,” and as a man, I am choosing to wear a dress, just like women choose to put on pants.
Sure. So when you started doing this, did you have people saying “Dude, tone it down”?
No. Not really. There were fashion designers and fashion houses that won’t dip into this side of the conversation. They’ve made themselves very clear when we would request male and female things they just wouldn’t answer, or they’d send over two pieces of boy sh*t. It was like we don’t think he should be wearing that. That’s called silencing, and I have seen this before. I’m almost 50, so it’s all good. I’m going to go with the people that get me. I’m going to go with my vision. I’m going to do what I want to do. It’s my life. I knew it was a good choice because it’s a freeing choice for me, know what I mean?
Well when it comes to the masculinity issue, you’ve spoken quite candidly about the double standard of straight men playing gay characters and winning all this praise for their “courage…”
Yes.
Whereas gay men who can’t get cast as straight men.
Or in gay parts.
Or in gay parts, because everyone now wants the “brave” praise.
Right.
I’m curious. In your experience, where is that attitude rooted? I’ve spoken to so many actors, directors, writers, even studio executives that don’t see the problem of casting a gay man. So is it the agents? Managers? Lawyers?
I don’t know, and quite frankly I don’t give a f*ck. I don’t care where it comes from anymore. The only conversation I’m having is it’s over, we’re done with that. That’s the conversation I’m interested in having. I know what it used to be. To hear you say directors and writers and executives don’t have a problem with it, that’s encouraging. That’s good news to me. I just think the conversation is new. We’ve cracked it open, and now it’s up to us as artists that live in that world to make sure the conversation never quells.
Absolutely.
Ok, last question. I talked to your friend Jerry Mitchell recently. He hinted at some possibilities of a Kinky Boots movie. He said he wanted to do it with you.
Yeah.
Would you be open to doing it?
Yes. Of course I want to do it.
Are there serious talks?
I haven’t been in any talks with anybody. So they have to call. I’ve finally gotten to the place where I’m famous enough that I can play my part. They won’t go and cast Bruno Mars or Will Smith.
Lord save us. Will Smith in drag?
Well you know they like to do that. They need a movie star, but now I’m on my way to being a movie star, Praise Him!
Damn right.
I’m excited. I’m excited whenever it comes around to do it, and I think it would be an awesome musical movie.
The Season 2 finale of Pose airs on FX August 20.
Mrs. Maisel, Jeffrey Epstein, Ellen DeGeneres, Game of Thrones, Starman, Alligator, Clean Bandit: HOT LINKS
SEPTEMBER DEBATE. 10 2020 Democratic candidates have qualified so far: Biden, Sanders, Harris, Warren, Buttigieg, O’Rourke, Booker, Klobuchar, Yang, and Castro.
HE’S BACK. Paul Ryan moves family from Wisconsin to Washington: “Now in the private sector, Paul and his family are temporarily renting a house in Maryland, and he’ll be spending time there as well as their family home in Janesville.”
PRIVATE JETS. Ellen DeGeneres and P!nk come to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s defense over use of private jet to visit Elton John.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN. Sexual predator signed new will two days before death: “Jeffrey Epstein wrote a will just two days before his suicide, placing $578 million in assets in a trust, a move which could complicate efforts to collect damages by women who say he sexually abused them.”
SOUTH CAROLINA. Columbia Methodist Church is only one in state to join national push for gay marriage rights: “Washington Street has been living out her welcome and affirmation of all people for over a decade,” Pastor Patricia Parrish said in a statement on the church’s website. “This affiliation with Reconciling Ministries Network does not change who we are, but is a public declaration of our deep desire for change … and our commitment to seek the change we desire.”
GEORGE RR MARTIN. The ending of the Game of Thrones TV show doesn’t change anything.
FOLDERS AND BOXES. Sam Smith gives an update on his mental health. “Looking back on a year and a half of therapy and what has been probably the most challenging time of my short 27 years here. I’ve watched and read so much over the last 6 months to try and make sense of all the mess in my head. Tried to find ways to organise all of my problems so that they are bound and organised into folders and boxes, so that they will never haunt me or effect me again.”
LOUISIANA. Lawyer Evan Bergeron could become first LGBTQ legislator in the state: “Currently there are no out LGBTQ elected officials at any level of Louisiana’s government. It is one of just five states to have never elected an out LGBTQ state legislator and one of only four states to have no current serving out LGBTQ elected officials.”
FENCE CLIMBER OF THE DAY. This Florida alligator.
STARMAN UPDATE. Elon Musk’s Tesla roadster has made a full trip around the Sun: ‘Somewhere in space, a mannequin wearing a SpaceX spacesuit and driving a cherry red original Tesla Roadster that once belonged to Elon Musk is celebrating its first trip around the sun. The absurd ‘Starman’ and Roadster combo was launched last year aboard the first Falcon Heavy test flight from Kennedy Space Center, and has now completed a full orbit of the Sun, baed on tracking info monitored by the site whereisroadster.com (via Space.com).’
TV TRAILER OF THE DAY. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3.
SILLY PET VIDEO OF THE DAY. Dog vs. face scrubber.
REMIX OF THE DAY. “You Need to Calm Down” Taylor Swift (Clean Bandit remix).
TOO HOT FOR TUESDAY. Michael Newhaus.
The post Mrs. Maisel, Jeffrey Epstein, Ellen DeGeneres, Game of Thrones, Starman, Alligator, Clean Bandit: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Raising Awareness and Creating Inclusive Spaces for LGBTQ Muslims
As one of only five openly gay imams in the world, Imam Daayiee Abdullah is using his visibility to raise awareness and build a culture of acceptance for LGBTQ Muslims.
“I think that visibility is always important for those who have not considered or have not thought of the possibilities of a Muslim who is both religious and gay,” Abdullah, the executive director of the MECCA Institute, told HRC. “It is important for people to see people like themselves within their religious context. It gives them a point of reference and someone they can talk to because a lot of questions frequently go unanswered by the traditionalist system.”
Abdullah, who has been working with HRC Foundation’s faith and religion team for nearly 20 years, is leading a workshop hosted by HRC and the MECCA Institute on “Sexuality, Gender, and Family in the Muslim Community” in Houston, Texas on August 31. The workshop will take place near ISNACON, a national convention for Muslim Americans working toward social change.
The workshop will provide an overview of sexuality within the Muslim community, emphasizing Muslim families and their relationships with LGBTQ children. It will also delve into aspects of sexuality, family structure and building relationships.
“I’m encouraging Muslim parents to seek and develop a better relationship with their children,” he said. “My goal is to help educate and inform, thereby, each individual can filter the information through their own experiences and find a place where they’re comfortable to start a dialogue with their children and community.”
Abdullah says he hopes the workshop changes hearts and minds and helps build connections.
“As with anything, we have to find those particular points of reference that we’re connected and through those processes of connecting we see that our differences are not so unique and they should not keep us separated from accepting each other versus a demand of people that agree on everything,” Abdullah said.
Whether you’re an LGBTQ Muslim, a family member looking to support an LGBTQ Muslim or somebody who’s willing to learn about the LGBTQ Muslim community, this workshop aims to unite and help others understand the intersection of the LGBTQ and Muslim communities.
“The importance is that the visibility offers an opportunity to potentially raise questions and get a reasonable thought from someone who is on the outside looking in and be able to convey to them the necessary comfort for one to feel whole in spirituality of themselves, their religious and faith and their person,” Abdullah said.
If you’re attending ISNACON, join HRC and the MECCA Institute’s Abdullah for this workshop nearby about sexuality, gender and family in the Muslim community. hrc.im/LGBTQMuslimWorkshop
Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 – Luke Turner, Kate Charlesworth and Val McDermid 05
byronv2 posted a photo:
Another great evening at the world’s largest literary festival. This time I was there to listen to my friend Kate Charlesworth, on stage with Luke Turner and the great Val McDermid, discussing her just-published graphic memoir/LGBT history Sensible Footwear: a Girl’s Guide (my review is here www.woolamaloo.org.uk/?p=6820 )
Kate has worked years on this book and I was delighted to see such a big turnout last night, and pleased at the great reviews she is getting in the press (including a best graphic novel of the month in the weekend’s Observer).
How This Plenty of Fish Couple Knew They Had Found “The One”
Joey was working three jobs and Donia had just started her busy career in television. Both didn’t have much time to date, but made the effort to each post profiles on Plenty of Fish! This is their story… What was it about each other’s profiles that drew you in? Donia’s profile picture definitely caught my […]
The post How This Plenty of Fish Couple Knew They Had Found “The One” appeared first on PlentyOfFish Blog.
How This Plenty of Fish Couple Knew They Had Found “The One”
Ian Alexander Honored with HRC Visibility Award in Salt Lake City
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