ANNA PHYLACTIC: is arguably one of Manchester’s most flamboyant characters and one of the LGBT communities most familiar faces, is drag queen and actor Dan Wallace, aka Anna Phylactic – often described as ‘a shock in a frock’. Anna’s face is immortalised at the top of the giant 40m mural on the side of the Molly House in the heart of the Gay Village. Her Mad Hatter character looks out above Manchester gay icons from history: Alan Turing, Emmilene Pankhurst, Foo Foo Lammar and Quentin Crisp.
GREATER MANCUNIANS is a Manchester College student led landmark photography project (supported by Manchester City Council). It features those people born, bred, or who have made their home within the current Greater Manchester boundary and who have in some way culturally shaped the city and its surrounding boroughs.
The project will be published and exhibited in a major city centre exhibition in 2021/22.
Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, appears to have suggested a trans character will feature in an upcoming Marvel movie.
Feige took the stage at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) for an interview. During the audience Q&A section, one of those attending asked him: “Are there any current plans on bringing more LGBT+ characters into the MCU, specifically the T – the trans characters?”
Feige replied: “Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Very soon. In a movie we’re shooting right now.”
Feige appeared at NYFA on October 23, 2019. However, video of the conversation only went online on Saturday (Dec. 28), and his comments have only since gained traction in the media, with some outlets mistakingly stating he appeared there last weekend.
You can see the exchange at the 23.15 mark below.
Marvel has several projects on the go, so it’s uncertain which movie Feige might have been referring to.
Black Widow completed filming in October and is due in theaters in May. Also being filmed are TheEternals (due out in November) and Shang-Chi (due February 2021), which will feature Marvel’s first Asian-American superhero.
Shooting has not yet commenced on Black Panther 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Earlier last year, Feige confirmed that TheEternals would have Marvel’s first gay character. Talking of the character’s sexuality at the D23 Expo, he revealed, “He’s married. He’s got a family. And that is just part of who he is.” He did not reveal the name of the character.
It’s also known that the next Thor movie will feature an openly LGBTQ character: Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie. Although the character appeared in Thor 3, her sexuality was not mentioned. However, Thompson told fans at San Diego Comic-Con last summer the next movie will show her “looking for her queen.”
Thor: Love and Thunder will commence filming next March, with a 2021 release date.
Last July, GeeksWorldwide said it hard heard from industry sources that Marvel was seeking a transwoman actress for a role in a forthcoming movie, but there was no official confirmation of the rumor by anyone at Marvel.
Other well-known franchises in the Marvel Universe include Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and Avengers.
Avengers: End Game did include a gay character, but it was a cameo role by the movie’s co-director, Joe Russo, who played an unnamed manattending a support group in a brief scene.
Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race.
It’s with profound gratitude to all of our supporters that I suspend my campaign for president today.
I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished together. I’m going to keep fighting for an America where everyone counts—I hope you’ll join me in that fight. pic.twitter.com/jXQLJa3AdC
Said Castro: “I’ve determined that it simply isn’t our time. Today it’s with a heavy heart, and profound gratitude, that I will suspend my campaign for president. I’m not done fighting. I’ll keep working towards a nation where everyone counts, a nation where everyone can get a good job, good health care and a decent place to live.”
