On Tuesday, January 21st, in the leadup to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, the GLAAD Media Institute joined The Recording Academy, THE GRAMMY MUSEUM, and The Ally Coalition for an event titled “Music in Action: LGBTQIA+ Voices in Music,” part of the Museum’s GRAMMY Week Community Paneling series.
The day began with a media training session at Blair High School in Pasadena, where Monica Trasandes, GLAAD’s Director of Spanish Language and Latinx Media, spoke to the school’s GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) about utilizing social media and building the students’ brand power as a way to raise awareness for LGBTQ acceptance. GLAAD took on the important task of teaching a future generation of LGBTQ leaders and allies, teaching them about harnessing the power of new media and digital media in an effort to accelerate acceptance for marginalized communities.
Following the training, a broader audience of students came in for a discussion moderated by Justin D. Joseph from the Recording Academy. The panel was chocked full of power players from the music industry about what it means to be a queer artist working in music today.
Present on the panel were a handful of well-known artists including Justin Tranter, Lauren Jauregui, CHIKA, Carlie Hanson, and Carlos Vera, who spoke about their own experiences expressing their queer identities in the industry. Each of the artists spoke about what it’s like to be queer in the entertainment and music industry, how it has affected their respective careers (if at all), and also what it’s been like to make the choice not to label themselves.
Were you the best little kid in the world? Don’t wanna make any waves? Maybe rebelled from an early age and now don’t take any shit? Either way, pacifying or aggressing are two sides of the same defensive coin that stem from our own underlying fear that we’re not really worth caring about.
In a world where we learn both emotional needs and queerness are wrong, trying to find a nondefensive but strong voice to use for ourselves can seem impossible. Watch my new video, “Why Gays Should Be Needy,” to see not only how but why we should speak up when are needs are going unmet.
Trump’s Disinformation Campaign, Razzies, Parasite the TV Series, Roger Stone, Sam Smith, Lori Lightfoot, Garrett Clayton: HOT LINKS
DEATH STAR. The billion-dollar disinformation campaign to reelect Trump: “Both parties will rely on micro-targeted ads this year, but the president is likely to have a distinct advantage. The Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign have reportedly compiled an average of 3,000 data points on every voter in America. They have spent years experimenting with ways to tweak their messages based not just on gender and geography, but on whether the recipient owns a gun or watches the Golf Channel.”
CORRUPT TO THE CORE. DOJ to reduce Roger Stone sentencing recommendation after Trump calls it unfair: ‘In a stunning rebuke of career prosecutors that will surely raise questions about political meddling in the case, a senior Justice Department official said the department “was shocked to see the sentencing recommendation in the Roger Stone case last night.”’
MICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA. Former CNBC anchor to primary freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. ‘According to a filing late Monday, she will run as a Democrat in that party’s primary in the 14th District. Caruso-Cabrera is known to be a skeptic of government and a proponent of free markets. In 2010, she published a book called “You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government.” She has been a registered Democrat for several years.’
IMRAN ALIEV. Anti-Putin blogger found dead, throat slit. ‘French police believe that the killing of a blogger from the disputed Russian region of Chechnya in a French hotel room last week was “politically motivated,” a French police official briefed on the case said.’
TRAILER OF THE DAY. Sean Hayes in Lazy Susan.
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Fab The Duo “No Prince Charming”.
Writes Clayton: “Attention please: I’ve been getting comments on promotional shots for “Brolesque” that concern me and want to address this… I believe there are many types of beauty in this world. And I’m sure most of you would agree. My issues are the concerning comments regarding me in my costumes for “Brolesque.” Sure, they’re more feminine compared to past postings of mine. But I feel just as attractive in this basic, instaboy flexing shot as I do in that corset. My job as an actor is to explore all different types of roles, to explore all different types of life. I’ve been so fortunate so far in my career to play vastly different roles. I will never limit myself in that regard, because I see the value in variations in beauty, and I plan to explore them all. I don’t care if you’re skinny, plus size, feminine, masculine, tall, short, or anything in between or anything outside of that. I think a person is beautiful for all the different sides that make them up… To my point, I will continue to feel the same about myself. I feel just as attractive/beautiful being a sweaty, fit, flexing man as I do being all done up in my corset with a full face of makeup and dripping in pearls. If you’re only here for me to be shirtless, pushing some false, one-sided image of myself all the time on Instagram… you’re going to be sorely disappointed. In the last six months I’ve been everything from Pennywise the Clown, the Huntsman in Snow White, to now being a Tim Curry-type Xtina in “Brolesque.” Whether it’s on stage or in TV/film, in future jobs I hope I get to explore an even wider variety of characters, be it short, tall, wide, thin, masc., or fem… THEY ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL; THEY ARE ALL WORTHY. I will never limit myself, and I hope you don’t either. ”
