Trans actress Josie Totah lands star role in ‘Saved by the Bell’ reboot

Hollywood’s love of reanimated franchises continues, though at least this time they have added some bold casting. Actress Josie Totah, known for her roles in Other People and the TV series Jessie has just landed a role in a revival of Saved by the Bell.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Totah will join the cast as Lexi, a witty cheerleader and the “most popular girl” in school. Totah joins original series stars Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley who will reprise their respective roles as AC Slater and Jessie Spano for the new show.

Related: Josie Totah risked her career by coming out as trans and being true to herself

Totah’s casting marks what could become a watershed moment in casting. It remains unknown if her character will also identify as transgender.

Totah came out in 2018 in a passionate letter written to Time. In it, she detailed her coming to terms with her gender identity, and the pressure she felt to remain in the closet for fear of hurting her career. Since then, she’s also scored roles in No Good Nick and Magic Camp.

The revival of Saved by the Bell will debut on NBC’s streaming service Peacock, though a release date and other cast members have yet to be announced.

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Pete Buttigieg to do FOX News Town Hall One Week Before Iowa Caucuses

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg will appear on a FOX News town hall moderated by FOX News Sunday’s Chris Wallace on January 26, a week before the Iowa caucuses, The Hill reports.

Said Jay Wallace, president and executive editor of Fox News Media, in a statement: “We are pleased to host Mayor Buttigieg for the second time this election cycle for a timely town hall in the influential state of Iowa. Once again, we are looking forward to providing our millions of viewers with an insightful discussion ahead of the first major contest of the primary season.”

Deadline notes that this is Mayor Pete’s second town hall at the network, and the sixth with a Democratic candidate: “Its top rated town hall was with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in April, drawing 2.5 million viewers, and the news channel also has hosted events with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Julian Castro, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The network also hosted a town hall with Howard Schultz, who was considering an independent presidential bid but ultimately decided against it.”

The post Pete Buttigieg to do FOX News Town Hall One Week Before Iowa Caucuses appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Pete Buttigieg to do FOX News Town Hall One Week Before Iowa Caucuses

Gay couple says they were spat on and called antigay slurs while staying at luxury resort

A man and his partner are speaking out after they say they suffered homophobic abuse while staying at a luxury resort in Turkey last year.

David and his partner tell PinkNews that they were booked at TUI Sensatori Resort Barut Fethiye, Turkey last October when they had an altercation with the straight couple staying in the room next to theirs.

The incident happened on October 15, 2019. David says the couple next door kept having “very loud sex” night after night. When his partner finally asked them to keep it down, they lashed out at him. To make matters worse, hotel staff did nothing to intervene.

“Bloke walked up to my partner as we were eating breakfast in the restaurant, shoved table into him, then spat in my partner’s face and said: ‘You two are an abomination against the Bible.’”

When David complained to a staff member about this, the person told him “guests were allowed ‘one strike’ before action is taken.” When he called the police to see about filing a report against the man, he was told law enforcement didn’t “count spitting in someone’s face as assault.”

That’s when David and his partner packed their things and checked into a different hotel.

TUI says it has reviewed the reports as well as surveillance footage of the spitting incident and that the “correct procedures had taken place in resort with our guidelines for situations like this.”

“The guests in question were given a warning and should anything have escalated any further, then the staff would have taken the next step,” a representative tells Pink News, adding that the company is “very sorry” that David and his partner didn’t have an enjoyable time on their vacation.

But this isn’t the first time TUI has been accused of not taking the needs of their LGBTQ guests seriously.

Last month, a young gay couple tweeted that they were on a TUI cruise in South East Asia for their Honeymoon when they suffered homophobic abuse from TUI staff members, including being ignored by waitstaff and laughed at when they danced together.

Related: Newlyweds stuck on cruise ship desperate to escape homophobic staff, say their honeymoon is “ruined”

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