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Whitney Houston Was Bisexual, Says New Documentary

Whitney Houston is an icon whose songs are still played all over the world. Who hasn’t belted I’m Every Woman to boost self-confidence after a breakup, or shed a tear as someone on America’s Got Talent/American Idol/X Factor sings, I Will Always Love You.

But did you know Houston was queer?

Many people don’t. But a new documentary, Whitney: Can I Be Me, dives in-depth into Houston’s tragic love for her best friend, which blossomed into an affair that continued during Houston’s marriage.

Houston met Robyn Crawford – who today would probably be called a stud – in 1979, when they were both teenagers trying to make it in New Jersey. They formed a fast connection that went deeper than friendship.

Houston’s security personnel, Kevin Ammons, says, “Robyn and Whitney were like twins.”

But then he elaborates, shifting away from the platonic dimension of their relationship.

They were inseparable. They had a bond, and Bobby Brown [Houston’s husband] could never remove Robyn. He wanted to be the man in the relationship.”

In June 2016, Brown admitted that Houston had had an affair with Crawford, confirming rumors that had been swirling about the two women since they’d first met. He went on to say that Houston was bisexual and that after fourteen years of marriage, he knew the ins and outs of her personal life. Although Houston had always denied romantic involvement with Crawford, Brown felt it necessary to come forward.

He also made the heartbreaking statement that Houston’s homophobic mother had kept Crawford and Houston separated, and that if the two women had been allowed to explore their relationship, Houston would be alive today.

Unfortunately, while the documentary provides great insight into the singer’s personal life, these revelations are too little too late. If Brown is to be believed, then Houston’s death is, in part, another tragic casualty of homophobia. One can only wish that she and Crawford had been allowed to be themselves.

Keeana Kee’s ‘Coconut Rum and Coke’ Could Be The Song Of The Summer

It’s summer, so you know what that means: Shaking sand out of bath towels you’re using as beach towels. Popping cold drinks under an umbrella and relishing ocean spray on your face. Turning your crush into a successful summer fling.

But there’s nothing more important than the summer soundtrack. And Keeana Kee may have just released the song of the summer.

If I could, I would drink you all night long,
like coconut rum and coke
I want to make your palm trees move

Coconut Rum and Coke is a laid-back track with reggae vibes about what it’s like to relax with a tall glass of, well, coconut rum and coke, probably sipped straight from a hollowed-out pineapple.

Keeana Kee isn’t the singer you’d expect behind a reggae beat like this. She was born in Latvia. The song’s feature, Maffio, is a popular Latin rapper who’s worked with Maroon 5 and Pitbull.

Kee, who is openly gay, told HuffPost that the music video was inspired by the years of homophobia that she faced when working as a fashion model.

I went through some discrimination working as a fashion model, so I really hope to make a difference by encouraging people to be themselves no matter what, and to stand up for themselves, even if it seems impossible.”

That’s why the video depicts queer love.

In the video, Kee is proudly flaunting her sexuality while being pursued by her butch love interest.

I’m very confident with my sexuality, so I was comfortable to be myself in the video. I want to show the world that there is nothing wrong with being gay.”

Will this song become the internationally recognized Song of the Summer? Drake’s One Dance held that spot in 2016, and Omi’s Cheerleader debatably took the title in 2015.

This year is anyone’s guess because a top contender has yet to emerge. But maybe you’ll be hearing Keeana Kee’s Coconut Rum and Coke from every speaker come June.

OperaRox Makes Queer Opera Edgy

Opera is cool.

Okay, have I lost you? Bear with me. I know it took Hamilton to musicals cool, so until opera gets its own Lin-Mozart Miranda, you’ll probably be a little skeptical.

Pretentious establishments like Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera keep many young people from plugging into “the scene.” Many people see opera as out of touch, unaffordable, and just plain boring.

Queer rocker Kimberly Feltkamp is here to change your mind.

She started OperaRox, an offbeat, edgy opera house that aims to combine artistry, professionalism and punk chill to create unforgettable performances.

Feltkamp is always looking for new ways to push the art form. For example, she infuses new performance blood into the opera scene. She picks people based on how little they have on their resumes, in order to give them room to grow. This way, she discovers exciting new talent that gets overlooked at larger opera houses.

But the most exciting thing is that Feltkamp has dedicated her opera venue to producing LGBT-related operas, which is a supreme rarity in the opera world, due to lack of perceived interest as well as the fact that many operas are hundreds of years old.

While OperaRox has produced traditional operas like Marriage of Figaro (1786) and Alcina (1735), they are also hosting the NYC premiere of Sweets By Kate, a new opera that depicts a young baker named Kate who returns to her small hometown with her partner. The couple faces the town’s disapproval, the death of Kate’s father, and the literal Devil. The show will debut at the LGBT landmark Stonewall Inn.

https://vimeo.com/151868549

Says Feltkamp:

Being LGBT myself, I have a great love for this area, the West Village. That’s why I was super jazzed to do this opera this summer at Stonewall. It was like a dream,” said Feltkamp. “This idea that there are transgender, lesbian, and gay singers that never really get to play themselves, and again that’s why I love ‘Sweets By Kate’ because this is the first time I’m playing a lesbian character and this is a part of me that I’ve never brought to the stage in that same way.

What is Feltkamp’s dream? She hopes that OperaRox will get its own venue one day, so that it can funnel more money into the productions themselves and less into renting space. But overall she just wants opera to become mainstream and reclaim its role in popular culture. There are so many amazing queer stories to tell. And she’s just getting started.

If that sounds cool to you, check out the Chelsea Manning rock opera, and learn more about OperaRox.

What Does Intersex Mean? This New Video Explains It

Gender isn’t always male or female, transgender or cisgender, or even genderqueer or agender. Unfortunately, Intersex people often get left out of the conversation, partly because people just don’t understand it. After all, even if a transgender person transitions, they were still born as “one or the other.” Right?

That’s a common misconception. And Lindsey, with her gender non-conforming Teddy Bear, are here to educate people about the truth.

On her show Queer Kid Stuff, Lindsey easily and queerly explains facets of LGBTQ life; while she technically makes the videos for children/young adults, her simple and easy-to-follow style is helpful for any age group. On a recent episode, “I is for Intersex,” she invites intersex activist and Everyone is Gay writer Claudia Astorino to break down what it means to be intersex.

Astorino says,

Intersex people have bodies that aren’t easily defined as boy bodies or girl bodies. Some parts we expect most boys to have, some body parts we expect girls to have, and sometimes traits that most girls or boys don’t have, all in the same body.”

While the other letters of LGBTQIA are either genders or sexualities, being intersex is technically neither, and has no bearing on how people identify. Some intersex people identify as male, female, a/bigender, genderqueer, or anything, really, and can be of any sexuality.

Growing up as an intersex child can be traumatizing, because children are taught from a very young age that people are either boys or girls. It’s as if the world is full of only apples and bananas, and one day an orange shows up. It’s isolating, lonely, and confusing, and people assume intersex people don’t really exist.

But videos like “I is for Intersex” are a great step in the right direction. The more that people learn about intersex identities, the more they will be able to accept others’ – or their own – intersex identities.

‘Youth, Interrupted’ Goes Behind the Scenes with Trans Teens

Transgender teens today face something that no generation of transgender people has ever faced before them: Visibility.

Of course, transphobia is still an enormous problem, transgender women are being killed at horrifying rates, transgender teens face discrimination and homelessness, and more and more schools are passing laws against transgender students. I am not overlooking that at all.

But transgender Broadly writer Diana Tourjee says,

This generation is the first generation of trans youth who are coming of age during a time of liberation for transgender people.”

In order to bring more visibility to and understanding of transgender people, Tourjee is hosting a miniseries called Youth, Interrupted, about the challenges and triumphs of being a transgender teen today.

She wants to focus on teenagers because, while the LGBT community has much to learn from its elders, she believes that teenagers growing up in the age of transgender liberation are the real leaders.

People should look to them for understanding, rather than rely on outdated preconceptions about what gender means or how the world is supposedly supposed to look.”

While the series touches on legislation and legal battles, such as the infamous “bathroom bills” that are popping up around the country, she does not want to focus on the legal battles. Instead, she’d like to shift the focus to the lived experiences of the transgender teenagers affected by this bill and the discrimination that they face.

The first installment of the series focuses on Trinity Neal, Vinnie Holt and Gavin Grimm. You probably know Gavin from the highly publicized case that was headed for the Supreme Court – whether he wanted to or not, he became the face of the bathroom bill debate. The case was headed to the Supreme Court until Trump struck down Obama-era protections of transgender students’ bathroom rights.

Tourjee says,

This series attempts to capture real American stories, to show the human beings behind and overly politicized debate.”

This series asks the question: What is it like to survive when your very existence is illegal?

Star of ‘Thirteen Reasons Why Releases’ Lesbian Love Song

Ever since the hit show Thirteen Reasons Why debuted on Netflix on March 31, fans have gone crazy speculating about the sexuality of the actors and actresses.

While the show contains several out gay characters, including a barbershop quartet of men (and one semi-closeted woman in denial), the real sexuality of the actors has been hotly debated. It was recently revealed that two actors who play straight men in the show are actually dating in real life.

Katherine Langford, the 21-year-old star who plays the protagonist, the ill-fated Hannah Baker, has also been the subject of similar debate. With her smoky green eyes and thick forest of hair, Langford is striking, and queer fans around the world have been speculating about whether they have a chance.

Their speculations aren’t without merit. After all, Langford took her mother to San Francisco’s 2016 gay pride parade, and after the Orlando Massacre, she wrote on Instagram, “While there was a lot of love and joy – this hammered home just how far we still have to go.”

Granted, Langford has never openly discussed her sexuality. But she’s done the next best thing – written a lesbian love song. No, it’s more like a lesbian power ballad.

“I’ve Got a Crush on Zoe Bosch” details Langford’s crush on the titular (and titillating) fellow schoolmate, who was head girl at Langford’s alma mater, Perth Modern School, several years ago. Langford even rocks the school uniform in the video.

Langford opens the video with a shy smile as she pushes her hair to one side, and glances away from the camera. “Zoe, this one is for you,” she says. “I’ve got a crush on you, girl.”

‘Cause you are amazing, drive me crazy
Oh, yes you do
Love and visual art, hashtag art fag
Living proof you can be cool and smart

Leader of our year,
You’re always full of cheer
It is infectious. You’re so approachable

I’ve never met anyone like you

You are so special
You’re funny and you’re daring
You’re loving and you’re caring
For everyone around you
You’re straight up, damn amazing
You’re so captivating

Girl, I love you
Oh, I love you

Does this mean Langford is necessarily queer? Of course not. But do we hope that she’ll release more cheeky lesbian love songs in the near future? Most definitely.

Check out the video for yourself.

‘Two Sentence Horror Stories’ Web Series Is Creepy, Queer and Wonderful

If the queer San Junipero episode of Black Mirror were expanded into its own series, the results would be Two Sentence Horror Stories.

Two Sentence Horror Stories, a new queer horror web series, has everything – lesbian love, possession, genderqueer identities, supernatural creepiness, racism and evil.

The Creator, Vera Miao, says;

Future episodes grapple with racism more explicitly, the impact of new technologies when taken too far, trolling and online bullying, changing beauty standards and how far it goes, objectification of women (particularly women of color) and the horror of that when taken very far,”

Miao is a young, queer Asian-American filmmaker who has always loved ghost stories – how they’re constructed, how they tap into people’s primordial senses, how they reveal the darker layers of the world. She is especially interested in what happens when classic horror stories meet a high-tech, Internet-driven environment.

She based Two Sentence Horror Stories on the massively popular short fiction section of Reddit. The first sentence sets up a horrifying premise, and the second sentence builds on it but rarely resolves it, leaving the reader with a sick, tingly feeling.

For example, one of the most popular posts says:

I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, “Daddy check for monsters under my bed.” I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, “Daddy there’s somebody on my bed.”

(Check out other posts like that here.)

Miao was inspired by the creepy, open-ended nature of the stories. The first episode, MA, focuses on a mother-daughter relationship turned dangerous:

Like many traditional Chinese families, Mona still lives at home with her stern but loving Ma. When she meets cute Erica, their instant chemistry awakens something dormant inside. But Ma is not going to let her daughter go easily. Because nothing is allowed to come between a mother and daughter.”

Miao masterfully takes a two-sentence story and builds it out into a fifteen-minute episode, the first of many.

One of the most refreshing aspects of Miao’s show is that she doesn’t shy away from diverse representation. In fact, diverse representation forms the backbone for the series. The first episode follows queer women of color, framed within a particular immigrant experience; 60% of the episode is in Mandarin Chinese, because Miao wanted to accurately portray what it would be like for Mona to live with her mother. She feels no desire to water down the experience to make it more palatable to an audience and, conversely, the extreme specificity contributes to the universality of the story.

Watch the trailer, and stay updated on the show at the official website.

This New ‘Michelada’ Music Video Destroys the Gender Binary

Michelada is a bold new music video that pulls gender apart and then smashes it back together in the most miraculous way possible.

The video comes from the Chicago alt-hip-hop duo Bonelang’s debut album, Venn Diagram. It stars genderqueer artist DW McCraven, who dances in three forms: as a “female” self in a black dress, spinning seductively; as a “male” self in baggy clothing who stomps through the space; and as a “nonbinary” self that seems closer to DW’s true presentation, who runs through a field, looking for truth.

The video is so intricate that you have to watch it several times in order to catch the nuances, like the splash of feminine light on DW’s face when dancing as a “woman,” or the tortured shadows that cross DW’s face like a second beard when looking upward as a “man.”

DW dances in a literal Venn diagram: a 25-foot art piece made of soil, sand, stone, sunflowers, cacti, and a skull. This not only symbolizes the overlapping nature of gender, but also “decodes the illusion of safe space for a queer person of color in America,” the video’s director, Samy Language, tells NPR.

The video is much more than a music video. It’s a short film. It’s a queer experience. The viewer is pulled forward into DW’s body as that body shifts and changes, as the body remains in control yet surrenders itself.

It is also an interesting exercise in desire; you may find yourself sexually attracted to one “form,” yet repulsed or confused by others, even though the body itself never changes.

The video took two years to make. Language says, “‘Michelada’ stems from the many masks of DW McCraven that were created as coping mechanisms to navigate the many identities and/or realities that the world imposes upon them.”

Watch the video for yourself, and get Bonelang’s album.

The Official Trailer For ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Season 5 Dropped And It’s Literal A No-Holds-Barred Riot

The first full-length trailer for Orange Is the New Black‘s fifth season has been released, and if you thought Litchfield had gone completely out of control before, well, you were wrong.

Season five will pick up exactly where the previous season left off, with Daya pointing a gun at corrections officer Thomas Humphrey, surrounded by inmates baying for his blood.

Changes in management in season four led to increased hostility between the correctional officers and the inmates, which led to the death of a much beloved character in its devastating penultimate episode.

Now the latest trailer gives us a glimpse into the aftermath. The spotlight falls on the inmates during their revolt, and they band together to put their platform to use.

Season five of Orange is the New Black premieres June 9 on Netflix. Watch the trailer, below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76uwdsgbUxc&t=5s

This Cute Lesbian Murder Mystery Is Perfect for Movie Night

This lesbian historical murder mystery is everything that you need in your life.

It’s unlike any other. If you’re tired of lesbian couples where both girls look like they just walked out of Abercrombie and Fitch catalogs, and if you’re tired of historical movies that drag, and if you’re tired of lesbian characters meeting tragic ends in nearly every movie or TV show – then Mystère á la Tour Eiffel is the movie for you.

Welcome to Paris at the turn of the 20th century. The 1800s are fading fast, and the Eiffel Tower now stands tall over the city, glittering with majesty – and murder.

When a terrible murder occurs at the Eiffel Tower, the daughter of one of its architects, Louise, (Marie Denarnaud) is framed, and no one seems to believe that she’s innocent. She and her girlfriend, Henriette (Aïssa Maïga) adventure across Paris in order to prove Louise’s innocence.

If a murder and a lesbian relationship aren’t scandalous enough, consider that Louise is a divorced woman, which was incredibly taboo at the time. After the divorce, she moves in with her father until another male suitor can be nudged into marrying her. Louise, of course, has no interest in that, and as soon as she meets the dashingly beautiful Henriette – who is a woman of color – their passions for each other build.

It portrays their relationship in a realistic way; there’s no room to say that they’re just friends, but there’s also no voyeuristic hypersexual scene, like the one from Blue is the Warmest Color that dominated a news cycle.

Despite its bold take on 20th-century feminism and racial equality, this film is far from preachy. Instead, it’s a charming romp that manages to entertain and enthrall without taking itself too seriously.

Mystère even touches on mental illness, as one of the protagonists gets locked up in an asylum, where she and the other women face cruel treatment. The film is notable because the protagonist doesn’t protest that she isn’t mentally ill and that her asylum stay is a mistake – she knows that she is mentally ill, but contrary to popular belief at that time, she insists that her mental illness isn’t her homosexuality.

Although the women at the asylum are mistreated, Mystère portrays zero violence against women. As mentioned earlier, many lesbian films have tragic endings: sometimes the pair gets gruesomely torn apart by society, or one or both characters die or endure sexual assault. But this film has none of that. There’s a happy ending, and no woman has to die.

The film is originally in French, but watch the subtitled version here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne3dPR3x1xc

Here’s Why Lesbian Visibility Day Is So Important To Our Community

Being a queer woman – that is, a woman who identifies herself as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, or anything other than heterosexual and is attracted to other women – isn’t always easy.

Finding positive portrayals of queer women in media isn’t easy either. So it’s important that together we keep our representation strong.

Today is lesbian visibility day – a day which started in the US almost 10 years ago. It is a day to celebrate lesbian life and culture and all our diversity.

#LesbianAnthem Gives A Voice to Queer Indians

Being queer anywhere is far from easy. For example, in India, despite the increasingly liberal young population, many people still hold relatively conservative views. Arranged marriages are common, the caste system has not completely disappeared, and heterosexuality is the presumed norm.

Queer rights activist Malini Jeevarathnam takes a stand against this homophobia with her film, Ladies and Gentlewomen, which documents the lives, deaths and suicide attempts among lesbians in India. The controversial film is bringing India’s queer community to light.

But Jeevarathnam knows that not everyone will want to watch an entire film. And even if they want to, censorship, Internet access and monetary funds can prevent them. Since she wants to spread her message as far as possible, she commissioned a songwriter to write something that captures the essence of Ladies and Gentlewomen, but which can be shared worldwide: a music video titled #LesbianAnthem.

The song follows two lesbian couples in love. The first couple lives in the city – they’re what you could call liberal or modern. The second couple is much more traditional. They’re confined to the rural region of Tamil Nadu, but their traditional surroundings do not prevent them from getting a happy ending.

Jeevaratham was heartbroken when she found out that many Indian lesbians couldn’t relate to traditional pop or Bollywood songs. #LesbianAnthem finally gives them a song that documents their experiences. She enlisted composer Justin Prabhakaran and Kutti Revati, a love poet. Jeevarthnam had only one direction for Revati: “Keep the lyrics simple, uncomplicated and cheerful.”

You never know what will happen to a song like this after you release it to the general public. Macklemore’s Same Love inspired queer people across the United States to come out, comforted by the fact that a mainstream white rapper was affirming their existence, or something. But a 2016 cover of Same Love in Kenya left the creators terrified, facing death threats and eventually forced to flee the country.

So what will the reaction be in India? Only time will tell. In the meantime, check out the song for yourself.

Ruby Rose Set To Return For Season Five Of ‘Orange Is The New Black’

After taking some time off the Netflix series to focus on her Hollywood career, Ruby Rose is set to make a comeback for the prison drama’s fifth season.

According to the The Daily Telegraph, Rose will appear sometime in the second half of the season.

We last saw Rose on the show in a tiny cameo role in last year’s season four after a major role in 2015’s season three.

A character arc saw her disappear for season four, but it’s understood that Rose will reprise her role on the show in the upcoming season five, which is set to hit screens later this year.

Ruby does not appear in the trailer for the new season, but it’s understood that her character will appear later in the season and is set to cause a major shake-up for the inmates of Litchfield.

In ‘Unicornland’ Polyamory Is Honest, Sexy and Awkward

If you’ve seen one web series, you’ve more or less seen them all. The vast majority of web series, even queer ones, involve a hapless young adult surrounded by a troupe of quirky characters as he or she searches for their one true love. It’s funny. It’s poignant. It’s…done.

In that respect, Unicornland is similar. It’s a love story. Except, instead of one true love, the main character is searching for her multiple true loves.

Meek and mild-mannered Annie dreams of becoming a unicorn – that is, a person of any gender who dates couples. Every episode centers on Annie’s escapades with a new couple. Sometimes it’s hot. Sometimes it’s awkward. Usually, it’s both.

The writer, Lucy Gillespie, drew the story from her own life. She got married young and divorced young, after realizing that she was tired of being afraid of life. She wanted to explore, to cherish all of the things – and people – that life had to offer. Her experiences in the polyamorous and BDSM community made her feel like she was alive.

She hired a primarily female cast and crew to make all of her actors feel more comfortable, especially during the sex scenes. Gillespie is literally replacing the male gaze with the female gaze. She also hired a BDSM consultant to make sure that Unicornland, unlike movies like Fifty Shades of Grey, accurately depicts BDSM culture.

The show is also notable for its diversity. There’s not just one way to be sexual – not just one sexual orientation, body type or race. The show proves that women and men of all types deserve to find pleasure.

Says Gillespie, “I was trying to be as realistic as possible about the journey of this young, naïve woman and the pitfalls she makes and the sanctuary that she finds.”

Check out the show for yourself at the official website.

‘Just Like Us’ Photo Project Highlights Ghana’s LGBT Community

It’s impossible to be both African and queer.

That’s what many conservative African parents tell their children. Being gay is a sinful choice. It’s just not possible. It is, as the Limit(less) project explored, “un-African.”

Through the Limit(less) project, photographer Mikael Owunna set out to talk to queer African expats living abroad in countries like the U.K. and Norway, who were struggling to reconcile being queer with being African in a foreign country.

Through the “Just Like Us” project, photographer Eric Gyamfi stays closer to home. He focuses on Ghanaians living in Ghana, where same-sex activity is still illegal.

The driving idea behind Gyamfi’s photo project is normativity. He wants to prove that queer people aren’t defective. They’re normal. They eat breakfast. They go to school. They shop for groceries. They tell bad jokes. They do all of the painfully boring and awkwardly wonderful things that straight people do.

He says,

People who do not understand queerness have a singular notion of what queer people are supposed to be or supposed to look like. So what I came in to do was to show people that queer people are people first and that they cut across all categories of humanness.”

He aims to truly get to know every subject before photographing him, her or them. Before ever snapping a single photo, he spends days or even weeks living with each person. The aim of his project is to capture queer people in everyday life, and the only way to get truly honest photos is to form honest relationships.

Crucially, despite homosexuality being illegal in Ghana, Gyamfi doesn’t focus on that. There are enough photos of sad Africans in the world. He wants to celebrate the fact that queer Ghanaians are living life and loving it. And loving each other.

Western queer activists may have reservations with the project. Normalization, or homonormativity, isn’t the point of being queer – not every queer person wants to be just like every straight person. Many queer radical activists dedicate themselves to fighting against heterosexual standards, and dedicate themselves to breaking down ideas of what sex and gender should be.

But before radical queerness became acceptable in the U.S., queerness had to become acceptable. We must acknowledge that homonormativity played a role in that. Before radical LGBT webseries and marriage equality, there were “safe” shows like Modern Family and Will and Grace. These “safe” images that showed the straight world that queer people weren’t monsters.

And that’s where Gyamfi comes in. In a society where some queer people are considered depraved, it’s radical just to prove that they’re not. For the “Just Like Us” project, normalcy is power.

Check out the project here.

13 Things ’13 Reasons Why’ Gets Right About Being Queer

(Spoilers below.)

13 Reasons Why is impossible to watch. And it’s impossible not to watch.

After high school junior Hannah Baker commits suicide, the whole school is baffled as to why she did it. Well, she left behind 13 tapes to explain why. Each tape is dedicated to a different person – people who were once her friends, people who were once her lovers, people who hardly ever said a word to her – and the part they played in her death.

The result is Netflix’s gritty and painful new show. Viewers are forced to watch her parents go broke fighting an unwinnable lawsuit. Viewers are forced to watch teenage boys grope, insult and even rape female students without any consequences. And viewers are forced to watch, in the show’s most painful scene, Hannah Baker kill herself.

But, as Hannah would say, that’s a story for another time.

Right now, I want to look at the show’s queer characters, and what this painful teen drama got right about what it’s like to be LGBT today.

1. No matter how “liberal” society is, it’s still hard to come out.

Everyone always claims that they “don’t care if you’re gay” and pretend to be super tolerant. I mean, gay marriage is legal now, so the battle’s basically won, or whatever. Right?

But Courtney Crimsen, who is popular, intelligent and destined to be the future President of the United States, despises herself for her sexuality. She got a girl killed because she was too scared to admit to her classmates or herself that she was queer. She knows that she’s likely to be rejected. After all, that’s why 2.8 million LGBT teens in the US are homeless; their families and communities threw them out.

2. Gay parents don’t necessarily make it easy for gay kids to come out.

Did I mention that Courtney has two gay dads? So she has nothing to worry about, right? Of course they’ll accept her. But she faces so much guilt because if she comes out as gay, homophobic people will be able to say that her fathers made her that way, lending credence to the believe that gay parents “corrupt” their children.

3. Reclaiming words is powerful.

Ryan, your stereotypical gay man with a perfect manicure and scrotum-hugging skinny jeans, calls himself a faggot. Hannah, aghast, says that people aren’t supposed to say that word. “Well, I can say it,” says Ryan. By claiming that word, he takes power away from the people who’d use it to hurt him.

4. Yes, gay kids still get bullied.

When Ryan tells Hannah he was bullied, she was aghast (again), believing that in the 21st century, people no longer bully gay people. Tragically, the 21st century is not as advanced as we’d like to believe; for starters, look at the “alt-right.”

The sad fact is that gay kids get bullied way too much. In fact, gay kids probably got bullied right in front of Hannah’s eyes. But sometimes people find it easier to tell themselves that something’s not happening than to actually confront that thing.

5. No, that’s my girlfriend, not my sister.

Gay people could be making out while wearing wedding rings and pushing a stroller. A passerby will still say, “Look at those good friends!”

When machoman Tony comes out to clay as gay to the straight protagonist Clay, Clay is confused – wasn’t the guy Tony was spending all of his time with just, y’know, a pal?

6. Sometimes we need alcohol in order to be our true selves.

Courtney Crimsen has known that she’s queer for a while. But the only time she can express it is after a few too many drinks, when she dares Hannah to kiss her as part of a game. Like many of us, she feels the need to hide her true feelings so that she can use the excuse, “I was drunk. I was just kidding.”

7. Gay people can be racist, sexist and heteronormative.

Courtney is Asian. One of Courtney’s gay dads tells her that she should marry the black character, Marcus, because they’d have “beautiful babies.” This assumes Courtney is straight. This also exoticizes biracial characters. And this assumes that Courtney wants to be a mother. Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you’re not problematic.

8. Straight people assume you’re into them.

During a mountain-climbing trip, Clay almost falls to his death. Tony saves his life. Sweaty and barely alive, Clay sits next to Tony on top of the mountain, and they talk.  They talk about sex and pain and grief. They talk about a girl who committed suicide. They talk about a girl who was sexually assaulted. And Clay is fine with all of this.

But as soon as Tony mentions he’s gay, Clay freaks out.

Tony says his boyfriend is jealous because he and Clay have been spending a lot of time together. “But not like that?” Clay asks anxiously, even though Tony has already made it clear he has a boyfriend. Sigh…

9. Gay people can be religious.

Tony is a devout Catholic. He’s freaked out by tarot cards or anything that vaguely goes against his religion. Yes, gay people can be Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, or anything, really. Faith doesn’t always conflict with sexuality.

10. Sometimes LGBT people feel hyper self-conscious.

When Tony comes out to Clay, he assumes that everyone already knows. And when Courtney throws Hannah under the bus, it’s because she worries everyone will be disgusted with her for being gay. When you’re queer, it’s easy to feel like there’s a Scarlet letter branded on your forehead. But sometimes your sexuality isn’t as big a deal to people as you fear.

11. People still have a fetish for lesbians.

Clay is supposed to be the “good guy” in this story. He’s sweet, he’s selfless, and he’s not a rapist, unlike most guys at his school. But when a photo circulates of Hannah and Courtney kissing, he masturbates to it. It doesn’t matter that the photo was obviously taken through a bush by a stalker, or that the girls wouldn’t want random men to jerk off to their private moment. He does it anyway.

12. You have to come out. And then come out. And then come out.

Coming out isn’t a single choice. It’s a lifestyle. No matter how many people you come out to, there will always be more people who assume you’re straight. When Tony comes out to Clay, you can just see the weariness on his face. Like: This, again?

13. Gay doesn’t look like you think it does.

13 Reasons Why is great because it shows all different types of being gay. Courtney, who is a lesbian, isn’t butch, she’s a straight-A student who spends more time studying and campaigning than she does lifting weights or dreaming about Samira Wiley. Ryan is a feminine gay man, but Tony drives muscle cars, wears leather jackets, and looks straight out of a 50s greaser movie.

Watch 13 Reasons Why on Netflix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JebwYGn5Z3E

Watch #BKKY, A Lesbian Thai Film That Will Make You Think

It’s been a long time since a lesbian movie made me think.

Thai film #BKKY is and it isn’t like your typical lesbian movie. Many of the stereotypes are here – adolescent heartbreak and confusion, a bittersweet coming-of-age tale, a society that just doesn’t understand – but this film presents those tropes in refreshing ways.

The movie opens beneath a desk. Close-up on the legs of two high school girls flirting nervously with each other. One of the girls offers the other a gift and then nervously asks her out.

“Try playing footsie,” says a man’s voice off screen.

It’s the director.

A clapperboard appears. Take ten. The director demands that the scene start again.

At that moment the viewer is left thinking, “What on earth am I watching?”

#BKKY is less a film about a lesbian coming of age, and more a film about how we make films about lesbians coming of age. It’s thoughtful and meditative, and it forces the viewer to question their preconceived notions about what the “right” way to tell a queer story is.

At its heart, the film (claims that it) is a love story about Jojo, a young Thai girl who explores her sexuality in adolescence and young adulthood. Jojo is the face of interviews the director conducted with 100 queer and/or trans Thai teenagers. The director didn’t have any idea for a story when he started the interviews; it unwound naturally over time. The film’s plot borrows heavily from a diary that one of the interviewees donated.

The interviews themselves play a large part in the story. Hyperallergic says, “Some of the time, the studio interviews appear like context for a documentary, complementing the fictional storyline. At other times, they become background audio. At really magical moments, the two seem to converge and blend, leaving us guessing as to the true parameters of this story: what is fact and what is fiction.”

The film also touches on themes of patriarchy, patriotism and sexual fluidity.

Learn more at the official IMDB page.

Queer Rapper Resse P Makes Emotional Club Songs

Queer female rappers are finally getting their due.

From Young M.A to MicahTron, lesbian rappers are taking center-stage and bringing down the house with their heavy club bangers about dancing, drinking and enjoying their youth. Each rapper looks a little different. Silvana wears her hair long and straight, while Young M.A twists thick black braids and MicahTron favors a bouncy fro. One thing is undeniable, though – they all have swagger.

Resse P is no different. Her waist-length dreads and permanent pout give her an air of aggressive confidence that no other rapper can touch. She wears enormous, nerdy glasses as well as a thick gold chain. You could say that she is a hipster poet who conquers club beats.

Resse P hails from Chicago, home of powerhouses like Kanye West and Chance the Rapper, and proudly represents her city. One of her premiere singles is even called “Chicago.”

She’s released a few loosies via Bandcamp, but her first major single, #MOOD, comes from her upcoming EP, OneVerse. #MOOD epitomizes what Resse P does best: mixing vulnerability and toughness. Right next to rhyming about how difficult life can be but how she’s the greatest, she opens about about love and heartbreak.

#MOOD is a jazzy hip-hop beat that alternates between hard rhymes bragging about how girls send her scandalous selfies and laid-back reflections about her emotions. “I’m in my hashtag mood,” she croons.

Curve says,

With her compelling energy and ability to draw listeners in with her words and her unique delivery, she sets the tone for every song. The effect is lyrical, yet upbeat.”

How does Resse P describe herself? She says she lives a “humbly luxurious life.” She prides herself on “blending a variety of sounds” but is also excited to be an “80s baby all day!” Music, traveling, reading, meditation, and everything healing and organic are important to her.

Check out her official page.

‘Please Like Me’ is a Hilariously Depressing Show (That You Will Love)

Depression. Pastries. Queer sex. Whether you like Sylvia Plath, cooking shows or the gay section of Pornhub, this show will satisfy all of your desires.

Please Like Me. No, it’s not just my yearbook signature, it’s also the name of a transversive Australian show that you show watch immediately.

The queer.

The show follows Josh Thomas, a narcissistic comedian who manages to be adorable yet completely self-absorbed. At age 20, after dating a gorgeous woman for years, he realizes he is gay. (He also realizes that his mother is suicidal, but we’ll come back to that.)

Over the next four years, Josh explores all avenues of sexuality, from hookups to Craigslist dates to monogamy to polyamory to failed threesomes. There is a lot of crying during sex. But he’s usually not the one crying.

His friends, Tom (Thomas Ward), Claire (Caitlin Stasey) and Hannah (Hannah Gadsby) also experiment with their sexuality. Hannah is a wry lesbian who manages to win beautiful women despite her inability to crack a smile or socialize for more than 5 minutes. Tom dates a barely-legal high schooler with a bunny fetish while Claire moves to Germany and back again before settling down with an older man.

The honest.

It’s hard to write a funny story about depression. Writers usually ending up making it either too lighthearted or too, well, depressing – but Please Like Me strikes the perfect balance between humor and pain.

The humor stems from the way the characters handle their mental illnesses, not from the mental illnesses themselves. Somehow, you’ll find yourself laughing at depression, suicide attempts, panic disorders, self-harm, fetishes, cheating and loneliness. Lots of loneliness. Please Like Me taps into the loneliness inside all of us. While watching this show I felt simultaneously close to the characters and more alone and hopeless than I’ve ever been. But hopelessness is okay as long as you’ve got laughter. That’s what Josh believes, anyway.

The hilarious.

Nothing really happens in Please Like Me. Things occur in general – Josh dates a man who could spontaneously die of a brain aneurism, Tom meets a girl while taking LSD, Hannah reconnects with her ex-girlfriend in a trailer while her best friend commits suicide – but, unlike general sitcoms that have a clear driving plotline, there is none.

Characters live. Characters die. In the middle, they just try to figure out life and cook the most delectable pastries they can.

Start bingeing Please Like Me here.

Dark Queer Comedy ‘Suicide Kale’ Is Now Available to Stream

The hottest movie on the festival circuit right now isn’t a slow-moving meditation like Boyhood or a heartbreaking look at masculinity like Moonlight.

Nope, it’s Suicide Kale, a low-budget homemade indie film made by a group of queer unemployed friends, shot in 5 days.

Let’s back up a little. How did a movie with a name like Suicide Kale even come about? Was it the product of someone’s bad experiences with garden vegetables?

A group of queer women watched Tangerine in the summer of 2015. Tangerine is remarkable not only because it’s about trans women, but also because it was shot on an iPhone, proving that expensive movie-making equipment isn’t always necessary. The friends, who were LA-based performers and writers, started asking themselves, “Why haven’t we made a movie yet?”

So they did. Powerhouse Brittani Nichols (of Hamilton the Podcast fame – is there anything this woman can’t do?) came up with the idea, wrote a barebones script and cast all of her friends.

Five days later, the film was entirely shot – with a $0 budget. For reference, Get Out is being hailed for being such an incredible low-budget film, shot for the low, low price of $4.5 million. The last Pirates of the Caribbean movie cost $410 million.

The film follows Jasmine and Penn, two friends whose cheery lunch turns into a tragedy when they “find an anonymous suicide note at the home of the happiest couple that they know.”

Based off that concept and the 30-page script that Brittani sketched, the actors improvised most of the script in order to create something that felt authentic to their queer experiences. They shot so much in 5 days that editing took 6 months. Now Suicide Kale is earning massive buzz on the festival circuit and is finally available for home viewing.

Learn more at the official website, catch it at an upcoming festival or grab it from Amazon.

Watch The New Lesbian Web Series ‘Different For Girls’ Here For Free (And Be Prepared To Get Hooked)

Different For Girls is a really sexy and dramatic web series by Campbell X and based on a hit indie lesbian novel by Jacquie Lawrence.

Set in west London, it’s the perfect soap, with characters you love to love, and characters you love to hate.

There’s Gemma, who’s dating Jude, but who’s also getting married to a guy – to satisfy her parents and his acting career.

Jude though hasn’t really cut ties with her ex, Nicola, which isn’t making things easier with Gemma. Nicola is supposed to have moved on and has a wife, Brooke, and kids. Even so, Nicola has a hard time committing to this supposed domestic bliss, and if having an affair on the side. Brooke may not know that, but she does know her partner is neglecting her home life.

Then there Fran and Cam – and where do we start with them? The two women have just got back together, but Cam’s discovered she’s pregnant. And who’s the father? Fran’s twin brother, Tom! Perhaps not too surprisingly, Fran isn’t too impressed with this development.

The five episodes represent what was originally going to be the first half of Season 1, so the whole thing does end on a cliffhanger. However, it will certainly leave you wanting to know what happens with Fran, Cam and the baby; what’s going with the philandering Nicola; and whether Gemma and Tom’s sham marriage is really a good idea.

Hopefully we will get to find out fairly soon, as currently they’re hoping to shoot Season 2 in September.

Watch all 5 episodes below.

 

20 Years Later And Darlene Finally ‘Comes Out’ In Mini ‘Roseanne’ Reunion

A mini Roseanne reunion delighted the audience of The Talk, with John Goodman and Sara Gilbert reprising their roles as Dan and Darlene Conner some 20 years after the beloved show left the air.

“So, uh, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for awhile now,” Gilbert, as Darlene, says as the pair watch a basketball game.

“What’s that, kiddo?” Goodman, as Dan, asks.

“God, I don’t know how to say this… I’m a talk show host,” she spills.

“Well, wow. As long as you’re happy, me and your mom will support ya,” he responds. “You know, for a minute there I thought you were gonna tell me you were gay.”

“Let’s save something for halftime,” she says.

Goodman & Gilbert in mini Roseanne reunion after 20 years on The Talk.

Gilbert came out as a lesbian in 2010, in the lead up to launching The Talk. She married music producer and musician Linda Perry in 2014, with whom she has a son. Gilbert also has two children with former partner Allison Adler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsSqvCQKmwM

Charlize Theron’s New Kick Ass Movie ‘Atomic Blonde’ Is A Must See

Charlize Theron is the lead in the just-premiered spy action thriller Atomic Blonde.

Theron stars as a sexy undercover MI6 agent (Lorraine Broughton) who is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Broughton must in turn utilize equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery while deploying all of her fierce skills in order to stay alive on an impossible mission.

In the first official trailer for Atomic Blonde, we find Theron’s character kicking ass, donning lingerie, and making out with an equally-beautiful woman (Sofia Boutella).

Interest piqued…

Reviews have praised Theron for her commitment to the role.

“She absolutely kills it,” proclaims Verge, while Variety says she proves that she is more than an equal to ionic male action stars such as Schwarzenegger and Stallone.

The film’s gorgeously stylised visuals and the intense action scenes have also been applauded but most critics say it’s all a bit shallow and one dimensional (then again it is based on a graphic novel).

Theron told Entertainment Tonight about Boutella, her on-screen lover.

Seducing her? It’s very easy, she’s gorgeous! She was just great. She was the only actress that we looked at. She came over, she hung out with me and [director] Dave and there was something about her that was so genuinely innocent and yet incredibly strong, that she was really perfect for the film.”

Theron also talked about being drawn to playing strong female characters in her films, her latest spy thriller being no exception.

I think they’re all very vulnerable too. I think great strength comes from women who can be vulnerable and look at their weaknesses and find their strengths from that. I think you almost have to be incredibly vulnerable and weak in order to find strength, to survive something. So, I think that’s what I love so much about these women.”

Theron has previously played queer characters, including the Oscar winning role of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster.

In 2012, Theron was honoured by America’s largest LGBT rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, for being a vocal ally to the LGBT community. “I will always be your cheerleader and I will always be your friend,” she said at the time.

The actor further showed her support fwhen she promised not to get married until marriage equality became a reality in the USA. She is also a passionate advocate in the battle against HIV and last year powerfully called for an end to “sexism, racism, poverty and homophobia” at the International Aids Conference in Durban.

Atomic Blonde is set for release this summer. Watch the trailer below.

Hayley Kiyoko’s ‘Sleepover’ Music Video Shows The Pain Of Having A Crush On Your Best Friend

We’ve all had a crush on someone we couldn’t have.

Maybe it was the most popular girl in school, the cheerleader who didn’t know you existed. Maybe it was a celebrity or someone who lived on the other side of the world.

Or, most painfully of all, maybe it was on your best friend.

Falling in love with your best friend is a uniquely excruciating pain. On one hand, you can spend all of your time together while you bask in her beauty and peach shampoo. On the other hand, you can never truly have her, so you’ll have to keep your mouth shut about the revolving door of guys or girls who catch her eye. (What do they have that you don’t?)

L.A. singer Hayley Kiyoko captures the agony of an unrequited best friend crush in the video for her song Sleepover.

The song chronicles the imaginary slumber party Kiyoko wishes she could have with her best friend. The slumber party starts with sensual cuddling and ends with both women naked in a bathtub. The camera lingers on her best friend as she gets undressed and pulls Kiyoko into a deep kiss.

Of course, this is just a fantasy. At the end of the video, we see Kiyoko sitting silently on her bed, fully dressed and alone.

Even without the video, the song’s lyrics tug on the heartstrings. She sings,

I’m just feeling low, feeling low. Even when you’re next to me, it’s not the way I’m picturing,” and, “Come on, sleep in my bed. Can I just be in my head with you?”

Kiyoko has always been vocal about her queer sexuality. She wrote an op-ed for Paper and her first hit single was even called Girls Like Girls. Hey, we never said she was subtle.

Listen to the song here and learn more about Hayley’s views on sexuality and music on her Tumblr.

‘Love Has No Labels’ Kiss Cam Video Will Bring A Tear To Your Eye

Kiss Cams have been a popular part of sports culture for years and the Advertising Council, an American non-profit organisation and the brains behind Public Service Announcements, have put a new spin on them for their ‘Love Has No Labels’ campaign.

The campaign started two years ago, and is aimed at opening people’s eyes to bias and overcoming it. Love is love, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, disability or the colour of our skin.

The new kiss cam clip filmed at NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando two weeks ago shows love in all its diversity and this kiss cam definitely doesn’t discriminate.

Various couples from all walks of life share kisses as the heart lands on them. But this time the kisses comes from couples, including a gay couple and a lesbian couple. When the heart landed on one guy, he tenderly leaned over and kissed his partner, as the crowds cheered. Following them are other diverse couples but it’s the lesbian couple that really tugs at the heart strings. One of the women is wearing a shirt proclaiming she’s a survivor of the Pulse shooting which left 49 dead and 53 injured. As the cam lands on her she kisses her girlfriend and the love between them is so apparent.

The love has no labels campaign is supported by many big companies such as Southern Poverty Law Center, Pepsico, Google and Coca-Cola.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-xScLIevw0

Straight Women Get Frank About Having Lesbian Fantasies

YouTube vlogger Arielle Scarcella has brought together a group of straight women to discuss their relationship with lesbian fantasy and the spectrum of human sexuality.

If we didn’t have all of this external bullshit making us think that we have to be a certain way… [people] would not be afraid to explore things like that.”

Ellen DeGeneres and Lady Gaga Bring The Love In New Campaign

In a time of division and partisan bitterness, love is what we need right now.

That was the overarching message in new a new campaign from The Love Project which has enlisted Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres and ally Pharrell Williams to share what love means.

The spot – a collaboration with makeup giant Revlon – was created to benefit charities like The Born This Way Foundation, The Trevor Project, From One Hand to AnOTHER and The Women’s Heart Alliance.

Gaga co-founded the nonprofit Born This Way Foundation in 2011 along with her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, with a stated mission of “empowering youth” and “inspiring bravery” through kindness, sharing resources on mental wellness and creating a positive climate in schools.

The goal of the Theloveproject2017 is to spread the message that

the more love we put out there, the more the benefits multiply for all of us… It’s why The Love Project’s mission is to grow more love in the world by asking you to share you #Lovein3Words.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHPLOEvU1bA

Discover Queer San Francisco in New Adventure Game ‘Read Only Memories’

In Neo-San Francisco, you can be whatever you want, from a queer bartender to a lesbian robot hybrid.

In the near dystopic future, complete human customization is possible. Groups of people called “hybrids” have begun experimenting with cybernetic augmentation and gene splicing. And in a world with sentient robots, hybrids feel right at home pushing the boundaries of what it means to be human.

This cyberpunk noir game Read Only Memories takes place in the very LGBT city of Neo-San Francisco, where you play as a young journalist. A robot named Turing (named after the real-life gay scientist whose Turing Test is used to determine levels of artificial intelligence) comes to visit you. Turing needs your help to track down his creator.

Throughout the traditional point-and-click adventure game, you will interact with all of Neo-San Francisco’s queerest locals, some of whom are hybrids and some of whom are just proud queer people. You’ll build alliances, solve puzzles, and learn the dark truth about the future. The 10+ hours of gameplay will lead you to one of many endings based on your narrative choices, so Read Only Memories offers plenty of room for playthroughs.

The game’s main draw is the complete control you have over your character’s sexual orientation or gender identity. You can choose with personal pronouns the game will refer to your character as – he, her, they, xe, ze or even a custom pronoun of your choosing.

The game was developed by MidBoss, a groundbreaking LGBT gaming company that produces the annual LGBT GaymerX Convention, and which produced the documentary Gaming in Color about the growing community of LGBT gamers. This is MidBoss’ first foray into developing their own games.

Founder Matt Conn said,

Instead of waiting for Sony and other big companies to include gay characters in their games as more than just tokens, we should just do it ourselves.”

And Read Only Memories was born.

Read Only Memories is available on Playstation 4, Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Xbox One, Playstation Vita, Android and iOS versions are coming soon.

Visit the official website to learn more, or preview the game by watching a playthrough here.

Trailer: