‘Boys in the Band’ writer Mart Crowley dead at 84

Groundbreaking queer playwright Mart Crowley, who penned the seminal The Boys in the Band has died. Crowley passed as a result of complications from heart surgery. He was 84 years old.

Writer Michael Musto posted to Twitter: “RIP, Mart Crowley, author of the groundbreaking gay play The Boys in the Band. He was Natalie Wood’s assistant and told me she encouraged him to write the play. He nabbed a Tony when the all-star version came to Bway in ’18 and the movie version of that will come out this year.”

Originally from Vicksburg, Mississippi, Crowley wrote The Boys in the Band, the first major American work of drama about gay men, while working as Natalie Wood’s assistant. It debuted off-Broadway in 1968, and foreshadowed the queer rights movement that would begin the following year with the Stonewall Uprising.

Despite its groundbreaking nature, The Boys in the Band would receive harsh criticism for homophobia, particularly after the opening of the 1970 film version. Crowley defended the play over the years, notably in The Celluloid Closet, as accurate to the time that it portrays. A 2018 Broadway revival starring Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and Zachary Quinto earned wide acclaim, and will get the movie treatment from Netflix later this year.

www.queerty.com/boys-band-writer-mart-crowley-dead-84-20200309?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Why Taylor Swift’s LGBTQ Advocacy Matters

Spencer Harvey reflects on the queer impact of the pop superstar on the eve of her honor at the GLAAD Media Awards.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2020/3/09/why-taylor-swifts-lgbtq-advocacy-matters

Dad who divorced husband to be with daughter’s ex-boyfriend says they’re now expecting triplets

British multimillionaire Barrie Drewitt-Barlow made headlines last fall when he announced he was splitting up with his partner of 32 years, Tony Drewitt-Barlow, to be with his personal assistant, Scott Hutchinson, who also happened to be his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.

www.queerty.com/dad-divorced-husband-daughters-ex-boyfriend-says-theyre-now-expecting-triplets-20200309?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

‘I Am Jonas,’ ‘Last Ferry,’ ‘Foxfire’ and Everything Else Streaming This Month on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO

Looking for something to stream while you Netflix and chill? Check out our picks for new films streaming this month below, including I Am Jonas, Last Ferry and more.

Foxfire (1996), available March 1 on Hulu

This little ’90s indie flick features performances from young Angelina Jolie, model Jenny Shimizu and Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis. There’s also a fantastic alt-rock soundtrack, feminist revenge storyline and a will they/won’t they queer romance.

I Am Jonas (2018), available March 6 on Netflix

Follow young Jonas across two timelines in this French feature. Learn how a whirlwind relationship with Nathan in his youth changed his life forever.

Last Ferry (2019), available March 11 on Netflix

This Fire Island-based, indie thriller puts a shy lawyer at the wrong place at the wrong time when he witnesses a murder in the gay summer hotspot.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), available March 14 on HBO

Does this movie have explicit LGBTQ themes? No. Does it have both Jason Statham and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? Yes. If you need to turn your brain off, there are certainly worse things to stare at.

What are you streaming this month?

All films coming to Netflix
Available March 1
Always a Bridesmaid
Beyond the Mat
Cop Out
Corpse Bride
Donnie Brasco
Freedom Writers
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
GoodFellas
Haywire
He’s Just Not That Into You
Hook
Hugo
Kung Fu Panda 2
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Life as We Know It
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Outbreak
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Extinction
Richie Rich
Semi-Pro
Sleepover
Space Jam
The Gift
The Interview
The Shawshank Redemption
There Will Be Blood
Tootsie
Valentine’s Day
Velvet Colección: Grand Finale
ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas

Available March 4
Lil Peep: Everybody’s Everything

Available March 6
Guilty – Netflix Film
I Am Jonas – Netflix Film
Spenser Confidential – Netflix Film
Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City – Netflix Film

Available March 8
Sitara: Let Girls Dream – Netflix Film

Available March 11
Last Ferry
Summer Night

Available March 13
Go Karts – Netflix Film
Lost Girls – Netflix Film

Available March 15
Aftermath

Available March 16
Search Party
Silver Linings Playbook
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Young Messiah

Available March 18
Lu Over the Wall

Available March 20
A Life of Speed: The Juan Manuel Fangio Story – Netflix Documentary
The Platform – Netflix Film
Ultras – Netflix Film
Tiger King – Netflix Documentary

Available March 25
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution – Netflix Documentary
Curtiz – Netflix Film
The Occupant (Hogar) – Netflix Film

Available March 26
Blood Father

Available March 27
The Decline – Netflix Film
Killing Them Softly
There’s Something in the Water
Uncorked – Netflix Film

All films coming to Hulu
Available March 1
50/50
Abduction
Blue City
Cantinflas
Charlotte’s Web
The Cooler
Danny Roane: First Time Director
Deck the Halls
The Descent
The Descent: Part 2
Destiny Turn on the Radio
Eyes of an Angel
Foxfire
Free Willy
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
Free Willy 3: The Rescue
Friends with Kids
Furry Vengeance
Good Morning, Killer
Good Will Hunting
Hide
Hornet’s Nest
Innocent
The Interview
Lady in a Cage
Leap Year
Major League II
Man on a Ledge
Natural Born Killers
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection
Richard the Lionheart
Ricochet
Righteous Kill
Silent Tongue
Silent Witness
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Swingers
Tenderness
The Skull
Up in the Air

Available March 4
The Men Who Stare at Goats

Available March 6
Knives and Skin

Available March 9
Warrior

Available March 15
4 Lovers
Always Shine
Hello I Must Be Going

Available March 19
Pet Sematary

Available March 20
Big Time Adolescence

Available March 23
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Available March 26
Brown Girl Begins

Available March 29
Santee

Available March 31
Pawparazzi

All films coming to Amazon
Available March 1
Abduction
Cantinflas
Chilly Dogs
Danny Roane: First Time Director
Deck The Halls
Destiny Turns On The Radio
Eyes Of An Angel
Going The Distance
Good Morning, Killer
Henry’s Crime
Hide
Hornets Nest
Innocent
Kung Fu Panda
Lady In A Cage
Man On A Ledge
Night Of The Living Dead
Night Of The Living Dead: Resurrection
Richard The Lionheart
Ricochet
Route 9
Silent Tongue
Silent Witness
Spinning Into Butter
Standing In The Shadows Of Motown
Tenderness
The Cooler
The Crazies
The Descent
The Descent: Part 2
The Skull
Wayne’s World 2

Available March 8
Show Dogs

Available March 13
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Available March 19
Pet Sematary

Available March 20
Blow the Man Down (2020) – Amazon Original movie

Available March 21
I See You

Available March 23
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Available March 30
Santee

All films coming to HBO
Available March 1
The Adjustment Bureau
Along Came Polly
Alpha and Omega: Journey to Bear Kingdom
Alpha and Omega: The Big Fureeze
Alpha and Omega: The Great Wolf Games
Armageddon
Babe
Babe: Pig in the City
Battle for Terra (AKA Terra)
Bedazzled
Big Momma’s House 2
The Bridges of Madison County
Child’s Play 2
Child’s Play 3
Crimson Peak, 2015
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Extended Version)
Enemy at the Gates
Fight Club
Gamer
The Getaway
Hall Pass (Extended Version)
Happy Feet Two
Hunter Killer
In a Valley of Violence
Johnny English
Johnny English Strikes Again
LOL
Match Point
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Director’s Cut)
My Left Foot
Pups United
Rapture-Palooza
Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists
They Came Together
Wings: Sky Force Heroes
The Zookeeper’s Wife

Available March 7
Yesterday

Available March 14
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Available March 21
X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Available March 22
Blinded by the Light

Available March 28
The Kitchen

The post ‘I Am Jonas,’ ‘Last Ferry,’ ‘Foxfire’ and Everything Else Streaming This Month on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

‘I Am Jonas,’ ‘Last Ferry,’ ‘Foxfire’ and Everything Else Streaming This Month on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO

Disney+ to make Beauty & The Beast sequel about Gaston and “gay” sidekick LeFou

New streaming service Disney+ is developing a six-part prequel series on Beauty And The Beast characters Gaston and his sidekick, LeFou.

The two characters, as played by actors Luke Evans and Josh Gad, featured in the hugely successful 2017 movie reboot, which starred Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stephens and the Beast. The movie took more than $1billion at the global box office.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney+ is working on the project with Once Upon a Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Gad will act as a co-writer, showrunner and executive producer. Evans will also serve as an executive producer.

The as-yet-untitled series will take place well before the events featured in the Beauty & The Beast movie, in which Gaston played the villain. Songs for the new show will come from veteran composer, Alan Menken.

Related: “Beauty and the Beast” will feature Disney’s first-ever “exclusively gay moment”

It remains to be seen how LeFou’s sexuality will be portrayed. For the 2017 movie, director Bill Condon prompted headlines with an interview he gave to Attitude magazine in which he said the movie would feature an, “exclusively gay moment.”

This turned out – spoiler alert! – to be visual hints that LeFou had a crush on Gaston, and LeFou dancing briefly with a man during a dance sequence in the movie’s finale. The two-second dance clip prompted countries such as Kuwait and Malaysia to refuse to screen the movie.

However, primed for some gay action, the non-event left most LGBTQ audiences loudly expressing, “Is that it?!”

Here’s hoping the new series delves a little deeper into LeFou’s sexuality and his feelings for Gaston. That said, given the involvement of Disney+, it’s perhaps best not to hold your breath.

The streaming service recently developed a sequel series to the movie Love, Simon, entitled Love, Victor. Due to premiere during Pride month this June, Disney+  recently announced it was switching the series to Hulu (which it owns) because of its “adult” themes, including the lead character’s exploration of his sexuality.

Related: ‘Love, Simon’ sequel set to debut on TV in June for Pride Month 

www.queerty.com/disney-make-beauty-beast-sequel-gaston-gay-sidekick-lefou-20200309?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Monmouth University Investigating Homophobic Grindr Taunts Aimed at Rival Basketball Player

Patrick Leahy, the president of New Jersey’s Monmouth University, vowed to investigate after a student cheering section at the Monmouth-Siena basketball game targeted a rival player with homophobic taunts. A photo of the incident emerged on social media.

USA Today reports: “According to reports on social media, members of the student section were displaying copies of one of the Siena player’s profiles on the dating application Tinder, as the visiting team was returning to the floor for the second half. At the back of the group, someone is seen in the photo holding a large whiteboard over his head with the message “Stick to GRINDR.’”

Wrote one commenter on social media: “As someone that played football at Monmouth and takes pride in being a Hawk – this is unnecessary and disgusting behavior- So disappointing that some students have to be idiots and represent the University in such a negative light – they should be banned from future sports events.”

The post Monmouth University Investigating Homophobic Grindr Taunts Aimed at Rival Basketball Player appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Monmouth University Investigating Homophobic Grindr Taunts Aimed at Rival Basketball Player