A San Diego school teacher has won a major settlement in a lawsuit that accused her superiors of labeling her a lesbian witch.Rose Tagnesi was head of her school districts Special Education Department for over a decade when she was suddenly demoted to a class teaching role at the direction of what she described as an anti-LGBTQ+ majority on the school board. Related Cherished teacher fired for calling student by preferred name. The community is rallying for her. Her demotion followed an unrelated sex-trafficking case at the school that Tagnesi wasnt named in, and a subsequent investigation targeting her.The hostile climate created by the earlier inquiry set the stage for a broader discriminatory campaign by the board majority, she alleged in her suit, which included her demotion, LGBTQ+ book bans, and cutting ties with an LGBTQ+ mental health care provider previously contracted by the district. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Ms. Tagnesi, a proud member of the LGBTQ community who served GUHSD [Grossmont Union High School District] for over 28 years in exemplary fashion, was one of the many victims of the anti-LGBTQ majority boards discriminatory campaign, her lawsuit said.Tagnesi also alleged that the investigations lead attorney wrote in reference to her, one down, one to go, in a text message.Ive never been told what I did. Ive never been told what I was accused of doing. Ive never been even asked a question, Tagnesi told ABC affiliateKGTV last year about the investigation and her lawsuit.Tagnesi alleged that her supervisor advised her to keep a low profile about her sexuality, citing hostility among board members for gay people.Tagnesi accused one board trustee of referring to her and another female staffer as witches who were part of an LGBTQ coven. The board member also claimed that the same second female staffer was only hired because Tagnesi thought, she is hot. The Grossmont Union High School District will pay Tagnesi $700,000 over the next 20 years under terms of the settlement, theSan Diego Union Tribunereported on Tuesday. Theyll also cover nearly $500,000 in attorneys fees as part of the deal. A spokesperson for the district made clear that Tagnesis employers didnt admit wrongdoing in relation to her claims. The district said it agreed to settle to allow all parties to move forward in the most productive way possible.In the future, Im hopeful the district will take decisive action toward creating the culture of inclusivity its students and teachers deserve, Tagnesi said in a statement following the settlement.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

I'm no stranger to earworms. I have a musically inclined eight-year-old daughter who belts out songs regularly, owing to whatever she hears in school, around friends, or during her latest streaming binge.Once she hears it, it's only a matter of time before she starts humming it, and then it's seared in my brain on an endless loop for hours, sometimes even longer. For that reason, I didn't give it much thought when songs from the television series Electric Bloom entered the queue a few months ago. What surprised me was how quickly "One Little Spark," a song from the show, stayed with me, playing on repeat in my mind for days. Just when I thought she had moved on and another earworm would take its place, it came roaring back.On its face, the song was catchy, but I couldn't figure out why the lyrics kept sticking in my head. I was drawn, in particular, to the songs lyric, all it takes is one little spark to start a fire that can light the whole world. There are specific musical characteristics that make songs more likely to become earworms, and one of them is whether the song triggers some emotional charge, consciously or not, for the listener.I initially thought this earworm was the result of fatigue and the daily barrage of the news cycle, which was triggering anxiety about everything from the increased presence of ICE to the latest kerfuffle over the Supreme Court arguments. And yet, the more I listened to the words, the more I realized it wasn't trauma that was causing this particular earworm, but the search for some joy in these trying times.I run an initiative that provides legal services to unhoused and at-risk LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in New York City. Many of our clients have lived their lives in a near-constant state of trauma and injustice. Some traveled thousands of miles seeking the chance to live a life free from gender-based violence. Others found themselves rejected from their families, more susceptible to adverse health outcomes, and overly presented in child welfare and juvenile justice systems. I spend a lot of time working with young people navigating fear and crisis. And the heavy toll they bear is made infinitely more complex by the current administration's zealous attacks on their existence.And yet, each of them represents a story of hope and the search for something more.Each of these clients is rewriting their own story when they come through our doors. I think of the seventeen-year-old transgender girl who survived the death of a parent while walking from Venezuela to the United States. Or the queer young man whose family disowned him, leaving him on the streets for years, and yet came through our door with a warm smile on his face and excitement over the start of a new school year. Each of them is a testament to the value that comes when we prioritize change for one person.A colleague once remarked that one of the most valuable things we can do when faced with adversity is to realize that we're not as powerless as we often think. He said, "If you can find a way to help one person, help one person."This past summer, one of our clients, a transgender woman from Central America, was detained by ICE. During the nearly two months that she was detained, I agonized over every choice we made in her case and the potential consequences if we failed to secure her release. When she was ultimately released from custody, I felt an overwhelming rush of breath as I let out months of anxiety and was finally able to breathe. In that moment, I thought about the song and the impact that comes from that one spark, that one heart that's strong enough to keep moving forward. I didn't know it then, but when I heard the song, I realized I had been trying to find my own spark of light. I was looking for the joy, resonance, or meaning that comes from changing one person's life.For our clients, it's often as simple as believing in them and showing up with compassion and kindness. They bring light into our lives by reminding us why we do this work.What started as just another earworm has now been the mantra getting me through these difficult times. On frustrating days marked by bureaucracy, intolerance, and an ever-shifting legal landscape, I am reminded that, collectively, we can all be that spark. Each person can help transform the lives of queer and trans youth from fear and instability to stability and possibility. - YouTube www.youtube.com Amy Leipziger is the Project Director of the Free to Be Youth Project at the Urban Justice Center, which works to interrupt the cycles of poverty and criminalization that prevent homeless and street-involved LGBTQ+ young people from living fulfilling lives free from discrimination, abuse, and oppression.Perspectives is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Pride.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of our stories. Email us at voices@equalpride.com. Views expressed in Perspectives stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of Pride or our parent company, equalpride.

Spoilers for Heated Rivalry, season 1 episode 3, follow, so proceed accordingly. Everyone is dying to see Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov on our screens again after the heartbreaking way episode two ended the internet may never get over we didnt even kiss and get to the infamous tuna melt scene, but fans are going to have to wait because Heated Rivalry took a Game Changer detour this week.Bisexual actor Franois Arnaud has shown up a few times on the show so far, playing veteran hockey star Scott Hunter, who keeps clocking the heat between Shane and Ilya, but episode three takes viewers away from their rivals-to-lovers story and throws us right into the plot of Rachel Reids first book in the gay hockey romance series, Game Changers.The third episode attempts to speed-run through the entire book, only leaving the ending for later in the season. The episode starts with Scott being visibly shaken at the Sochi Olympics when his teammate brings up that gay athletes who came to Russia are brave and have balls of steel before the show backtracks to New York four months earlier.Scott stops for a smoothie while on a run and ends up meeting his dream man instead. Kip Grady, played by Robbie G.K., makes him an off-menu smoothie, and then Scott keeps coming back after the new routine helps him win his next game, but really, it's so he can continue flirting with Kip and keep overtipping him.Kip, who is working at the smoothie shop while he applies to grad school to study art history, is instantly smitten too, and while his friends tease him about a star hockey player having a crush on him, the two start dating in secret after they run into each other literally at a charity event.Just like the first two episodes felt like an extremely faithful adaptation of the Heated Rivalry book, episode 3 may have changed a few things for the sake of fitting it into a 45-minute episode, but it is truly a condensed version of Game Changers brought to life. Sadly, this means that there are fewer opportunities for hot gay sex since there is so much plot to get through. But dont worry, this is still Heated Rivalry after all, so instead of heading to a diner for their first date like in the book, Scott and Kip decide to order in at Scotts apartment, where the only thing on the menu is Kip.Their chemistry isnt as palpable as Ilya and Shanes, but that level of intensity between actors is a rare thing; its just too bad that theyre all part of the same show, so that the comparison is unavoidable. Skip, as they are affectionately called by fans, still have a few hot sex scenes, and their love is playful and affectionate right off the bat. Wow, you are so beautiful, Scott says to Skip when he sees him naked for the first time.Shane and Ilya may be too scared to tell each other how they feel or ever spend the night together, but Scott wears his heart on his sleeve. After their first night together, Kip tries to sneak out, but Scott coaxes him back to bed. When he finds Kip making him his signature smoothie in just his underwear, Scott picks him up and asks if he can f*ck him? And then after they finally manage to drink their smoothies, Scott admits that hes never brought a guy home before, and he cant come out yet, but hes falling hard and doesnt want Kip to ever leave at all. I really, really like you and I want you to stay, Scott says. So Im asking for what I want. I want you to be here when I get back from practice later, and I want you to be here when I come home from my game tonight. I want you more than Ive wanted anything in a long time.Where Ilya and Shane burn for each other over the course of years as rivals become lovers, Scott and Kips story is about insta-love. They fall fast and commit to each other even faster, and its only Scotts deep fear of being outed that causes the inevitable third-act breakup.But before that, we get more sex scenes and a hint that the two men are vers when there is a call back to an earlier moment and Kip asks Can I f*ck you? as well as a cute moment pulled directly from the book where Kip gifts Scott a pair of blue socks with bananas on them so that hell have his lucky blueberry banana smoothies even at away games.After months of hiding and lying to his friends and family Scott even has a panic attack when they go to an art gallery together they attend another charity event, Scott on his own, and Kip as the date of his close friend Elena (Nadine Bhabha). We learn that Scotts deep love of hockey and reluctance to jeopardize his place in the sport are because his parents died in a drunk driving accident when he was 12 years old, and a hockey scholarship saved him and gave him a sense of family again.Elena, being the queen that she is, dances with Scott at the fundraiser so she can explain that Kip loves Scott enough to stay with him even though hes miserable. Nobody wants to be kept a secrethes so in love with you that hell put up with it, but its killing him, she says. Later that night, the deception and isolation that come with being forced back in the closet finally become too much for Kip when he realizes Scott wont even attend his birthday party as a friend, so he leaves and goes home to his dad.Much like the heartbreaking conclusion to episode 2, the episode closes with the two men no longer together. For people who havent read Game Changers, this episode may seem out of place, especially because it ends fairly abruptly with the couple you spent 45 minutes rooting for breaking up, but if youve read the series, you would know exactly how it ties into Shane and Ilyas love story and why director Jacob Tierney thought it was important to include.Shane and Ilya are sadly absent from this episode, except for a handful of cameo moments like Ilya chirping at Scott and Shane and Scott getting into a brawl on the ice after Scott insinuates Shane and Ilya know each other a little too well. Now the question is, when will we get to see Scott and Kip reunite? Not only are we just about guaranteed to get a satisfying conclusion to Scott and Skips episode before the season is over, but the trailer for the show also gave us a sneak peak into a handful of scenes were still waiting to see, including Shanes relationship with Rose, steamy shower blowjobs, and the infamous tuna melt scene, so we still have a lot to look forward to!

An elderly Christian nationalist televangelist has said there will be no more rainbow flags now that Donald Trump has won re-election. In a recording of his Sunday sermon following Election Day, 87-year-old Kenneth Copeland said, I believe its here right now, the [Christian spiritual] awakening weve been waiting for. Now the atmosphere has been cleansed. No more rainbow flags. No more. An audience member can be heard exclaiming, Thank you, Jesus! in response. Related To understand JD Vance, you need to meet the TheoBros Copeland continues, And the spirit of Margaret Sanger is gone. Sanger is an American birth control activist and sex educator who opened the first birth control clinic in the nation, and established other organizations that evolved into Planned Parenthood, local clinics that offer reproductive and womens health, especially to low-income individuals. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Televangelist Kenneth Copeland used his Sunday service to declare that Trump's election will unleash a "spiritual awakening" in America because "the atmosphere has been cleansed": "No more rainbow flags. No more. And the spirit of Margaret Sanger is gone." pic.twitter.com/W6vTbzdlsT Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) November 12, 2024The televangelists comments arent surprising. He wasa member of former Trumps Faith Advisory Council. Before Trumps election, he led a prayer asking God to break the power of the homosexual lesbian spirits that are trying to ruin our children and ruin this nation.Copelands prayer made during a broadcast of the Rescue America Tour hosted by FlashPoint Live, a Christian evangelical political program began by asking the Christian God to oversee in school board elections, judges, sheriffs, mayors, city managers [and] college presidents.Those that refuse to hold to your will and do it, remove them and put someone in there that will, Copeland said, before continuing, We pray that your will be done on this Earth as it is in Heaven. We pray for the people that devils are fighting in and trying to ruin their lives with perverted ideas and perverted ways. Copeland, who has been twice divorced despite the Bibles prohibitions on divorce, continued, The people that are addicted to pornography and addicted to the things of the flesh in this world, and we break the power we break the power of the homosexual lesbian spirits that are trying to ruin our children and ruin this nation. Get down from there! We sit by the throne. You are under our feet.Copeland has previously made headlines for advocating for in-person worship services during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. He claimed thatJesus made Trump immune from COVID-19(even though Trump conducted the deadly virus during his presidency). He also told his followers thathe could cure them of COVID-19 through the TV.Copeland and his wife have earned millions throughout their careers and living in a $6.3 million mansion paid for by the church and using its$20 million private jet for vacations. In 2015, they were criticized by comedian John Oliver onLast Week Tonightfor their luxurious, tax-exempt lifestyle.In 2021, Copeland was also one of several mega-pastorsaccused of sexual abuseby former adult film actor Madyson Marquette.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has instructed inspectors to stop evaluating prison standards for stopping sexual violence against transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people, NPR reported.A newly unveiled DOJ memo revises the standards of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in light of the presidents January executive order denying any federal recognition of non-cisgender identities. During this revision, the memo says, PREA audits will no longer evaluate jail, prison, and detention center standards to protect LGBTQ+ and intersex people. Related Donald Trump orders trans women inmates to be housed with men: There will be rapes As a result, auditors will no longer review whether trans inmates get housed according to their gender identity nor will they consider whether instances of sexual violence were motivated by victims LGBTQ+ identities.The PREA audits are some of the only federal tools for ensuring that detention facilities follow laws meant to stop rape, harassment, and retaliation, NPR reported. Such audits involve a review of current procedures, a tour of the facilities, and interviews with prison staff and inmates. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Usually, revisions to federal legislation must go through a formal rule-making process to enact changes, and until that process is completed, federal agents must comply with current federal law. However, the DOJ memo instructs PREA auditors to mark trans-related standards as not applicable during the revision process (possibly violating federal law).However, in a statement, the National Association of PREA Coordinators said that staff at detention centers can continue following the [trans-inclusive] regulation[s] or, if they choose, to ignore [them]. Whether a system adopts a binary sex approach or one that recognizes a spectrum of gender, we cannot forsake our primary responsibility to keep the most vulnerable individuals in our care safe from those who present a threat of sexual abuse or sexual harassment, the association said in a statement.Linda McFarlane, executive director of Just Detention International, said the revised policy will immediately put peoplein danger.Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ and non-cisgender people experience higher rates of sexual violence in prisons, jails, and detention centers. Near the start of his second term, the president ended federal policies allowing trans female inmatesto be housed in facilities matching their gender identity. The ending of these policies increases the risk of sexual violence against trans female inmates. Earlier this year, the Trump administration ended funding for the National PREA Resource Center, a federally funded training and technical assistance to states and localities which serves as a single-stop resource for research and tools for all those in the field working to come into compliance with the federal standards, according to the centers website.The National PREA Resource Center also tracks the outcomes of investigations and provides rape-prevention resources to victims and inspectors.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

After just six episodes, Heated Rivalry has the internet buzzing. The series leans into queer romance with tension-packed stares, locker-room rivalries, and stolen hotel-room moments.The Crave show dropped November 28 on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the U.S. and Australia to much excitement. Its presence online has been massive, with fans turning the series into a full social-media takeover.The Story That Hooked PeopleThe series follows rival hockey stars Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), whose tense competition on the ice masks a long-running, secret romance.Creator Jacob Tierney familiar to anyone who loves Letterkenny and Shoresy didnt initially set out to make a gay hockey romance. But after stumbling across a Washington Post article about hockey romance novels, Tierney tracked down Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid on Instagram. And the rest is history. So Season 2? A Real Possibility.Crave hasnt confirmed anything. Technically, the series was marketed as limited. But the language coming from Tierney suggests it might not be limited after all.Talking with Evan Ross Katz, Tierney admitted the response caught everyone off guard:Well take it! The Best Part: Theres More Story WaitingShane and Ilyas story didnt end with the original book. Reid continued their relationship in The Long Game, the sixth entry in her interconnected Game Changers universe meaning Season 2 wouldnt need to invent new material at all.In a blog post reflecting on the TV adaptation, Reid wrote:So the author is enthusiastic. Fans are enthusiastic. And Tierney confirmed that the enthusiasm from behind the curtain is real.Tierney acknowledged that industry eyes are on Heated Rivalry, saying:Which makes sense, considering the frenzy happening online.Final CallTheres no renewal announcement yet. But the passion from fans, the availability of a sequel, and Tierneys very pointed hints make one thing clear: Season 2 isnt a long shot its a real contender.Source

Comedian, actor and queer icon Tig Notaro is developing a new film with director Zack Snyder, and the premise is already turning heads. During a recent appearance on the podcast On With Kara Swisher, Notaro revealed that she and Snyder are co-writing a movie that she describes, with complete sincerity, as hot lesbian action. Notaro, who appeared in Snyders 2021 zombie-heist blockbuster Army of the Dead, said the project was born out of the unexpectedly thirsty response to her performance in that film. After replacing comedian Chris DElia and digitally being inserted into the movie, Notaro didnt expect the internet to react the way it did.I go viral for being sexy in this film, she said. It was so unexpected. My phones exploding. Im not walking around going, Oh my God check me out. I was so confused.Notaro said she reached out to Snyder to make sense of it. I called Zack, and I said, Im hearing it from straight men, gay men, gay women and straight women that they think Im hot in this movie. The reaction surprised both of them but it also sparked inspiration.According to Notaro, the idea for their next collaboration surfaced during a Zoom call. What if we just went for it and everyones a hot lesbian? she remembers suggesting. He was like, Oh my God, yes, lets make that movie.The concept quickly escalated from joke to Hollywood project. Notaro said she pitched Snyder on a poster that simply features the title and the words Hot Lesbian Action and he agreed immediately. Thats how I sold him on the Zoom, she said.While the project is still in early development, Notaro shared a few details. As of now, the movie is called Deviants, and takes place back in some old-timey days, like some closeted deviants, she said. The film, she hinted, will blend historical setting with queer transgression, all filtered through her and Snyders shared sense of humor.The pairing may seem unexpected, but Notaro and Snyder already proved their chemistry in Army of the Dead. Her performance as helicopter pilot Marianne Peters became one of the films most celebrated, and, unexpectedly, most thirsted-after elements. The attention, Notaro acknowledged, came from every corner of the sexuality spectrum, which makes a queer-fronted action film feel like a natural next step.Outside her work with Snyder, Notaro has a full slate. She voices a bear in Disneys box office hit Zootopia 2 and is set to reprise her fan-favorite role as engineer Jett Reno in the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series. Her stand-up career, podcast appearances and acting projects continue to cement her as one of the most versatile queer comedic voices working today.As for Deviants, Notaro made it clear the film is still taking shape, but the vision is bold, unapologetic and undeniably queer. Whether it becomes a swords-and-sapphics action romp, a historical gay romp or something entirely different, one thing is certain: Tig Notaro and Zack Snyder are aiming to make the kind of lesbian action movie Hollywood has truly never seen.And honestly? Its about time.Source

Fox Business hostKatrina Campinssuggested that any women who want to be hotter should join the Republican Party.Speaking on the Wednesday installment of the Fox News programJesse Watters Primetime, Campins said of celebrity Sydney Sweeney (who is a registered Republican voter), Shes getting hotter, and [Democrats are] so jealous, right? Theyre like, Shes so Republican, she gets hotter by the minute, right? And so my advice to all the ladies: Our side is better, and you get hotter, right? All Republican women are hot! Tell me thats not true. Related Republicans introduce Womens Bill of Rights that includes only one right for women It is true, replied Watters. When you register Republican, you just get hotter.Campins made her comment in response to criticisms against Sweeney made by MSNBC host Krystal Ball on a recent installment of the Ive Had Itpodcast. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today [Sweeney] knows what shes doing, Ball said. She wants to appeal to these, like, right-wing, ethno-centric white nationalists, effectively. She thought this would be great for her career. Turns out, they dont want to see an artsy movie about, like, a female boxer whos a lesbian, like Christy this movie she just put out thattotally bombedat the box office. The 2025 movieChristywas a box office bomb,earning only $1.3 million in its opening weekenddespite having a $15 million production budget and a release in over 2,000 theaters. Sweeney was widely criticized for appearing in an American Eagle advertisement earlier this year, which declared that she has good jeans.Critics noted that the ads mention of jeans (which is a homophone of genes) reinforced eugenist, white supremacist views of white peoples genes being superior and preferable to those of other races. Fears of white supremacy have increased during the presidents very racist second term.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers longtime friends, comedy partners and co-hosts of the hit queer podcast Las Culturistas are officially reteaming for a new feature film at Searchlight Pictures. The duo, who charmed audiences with their roles in the modern queer rom-com Fire Island, will write and star in the untitled comedy, marking another major milestone for two of LGBTQ+ comedys most influential voices.The film is inspired by an episode of the popular Search Engine podcast titled Why Didnt Chris and Dan Get Into Berghain?, which chronicles two Americans increasingly desperate attempts to enter the notoriously exclusive Berlin nightclub. The Searchlight adaptation follows a similar premise, sending Yang and Rogers characters across the Atlantic on a chaotic mission to breach Berghains infamously selective door, known globally as one of nightlifes toughest thresholds.The project brings together an impressive roster of queer and queer-adjacent creatives. Olivia Gerke and Oly Obst will produce for 3 Arts Entertainment, while Search Engine co-creators PJ Vogt and Sruthi Pinnamaneni are set to serve as co-producers. Searchlight executives Richard Ruiz and Daniel Yu are overseeing the film on behalf of the studio. UTA, which represents Yang, Rogers, Vogt and Pinnamaneni, brokered the deal.The announcement caps off a standout year for Yang and Rogers, a year that has highlighted the ways their partnership continues to shape contemporary queer comedy. The pair were recently featured on Varietys 2025 Comedy Impact Report, a recognition rooted in the cultural reach of Las Culturistas. Since launching the podcast in 2016 as NYU graduates, Yang and Rogers have welcomed A-list guests including Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Lady Gaga. The show was named Podcast of the Year at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards in both 2023 and 2025.Their annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards, an irreverent, hyper-gay celebration of pop culture, made its televised debut this past August on Bravo and Peacock. The spectacle will return in 2026, further expanding the duos growing multimedia universe.For Yang, the Searchlight film joins an already stacked slate. The five-time Emmy nominee remains a standout on Saturday Night Live, where he is now seven seasons into defining some of the shows most memorable characters. He also stars in the blockbuster musical film Wicked: For Good, reprising his role as Pfanee, and will next lend his voice to Warner Bros. Animations upcoming adaptation of The Cat in the Hat.Rogers has been equally busy. He is currently touring his beloved holiday show Christmas in December, and his recent screen work includes Aziz Ansaris Good Fortune, Showtimes I Love That For You, Apple TV+s Palm Royale and the Netflix series No Good Deed. Behind the camera, he has written for fan-favorite queer and queer-adjacent comedies such as The Other Two and Netflixs animated LGBTQ+ spy series Q-Force.The new movie will mark Yang and Rogers first return to a Searchlight feature since 2022s Fire Island, their critically acclaimed collaboration with writer-star Joel Kim Booster and director Andrew Ahn. That film, which reimagined Pride and Prejudice through a queer Asian American lens, became an instant touchstone in LGBTQ+ cinema.With their comedic chemistry, shared cultural fluency and a premise rooted in queer nightlife lore, Yang and Rogers latest project is poised to deliver the kind of sharp, chaotic and deeply specific humor fans have come to love. And if Berghains reputation holds true, the door drama alone could be worth the price of admission.Source

Over the last school year, 6,870 book bans affected nearly 4,000 unique titles, with Florida, Texas, and Tennessee topping the list of states with the most book bans. While a majority of those books were targeted for their LGBTQ+ content, some were enduring queer titles that have been banned over and over again through the years, only to continually find their way back to library shelves.More modern titles like Gender Queer, Flamer, and All Boys Arent Blue have recently topped the lists of most banned books, becoming obvious quarry for book-banning scolds fortheir intersecting themes of sexual identity, gender, and race. But many books taken off shelves are classics of LGBTQ+ literature that have been challenged before (some, even over centuries). Related Democrats are taking back school boards as voters tire of Republican culture wars Thankfully, last months elections signaled good news for free speech advocates, queer authors, and parents fed up with the book-banning frenzy that has overtaken so many small towns and local school districts over the last few years. Slates of book-banning fanatics backed by Moms for Liberty and other right-wing groups on local school boards went down to defeat, in a reprieve for free expression.So, to celebrate free expression against anti-LGBTQ+ censorship, consider gifting your loved ones some of these influential classics: Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Symposium, Plato (c.385 370 BCE)Symposium by PlatoThe granddaddy of gay breakdowns is Symposium, Platos Greek classic featuring notable Athenian men like the philosopher Socrates and the comic playwright Aristophanes speaking at a banquet with dialogues in praise of Eros, the god of love and sex. Many of the personalities featured in this collection of competing extemporaneous speeches explore male love, revered in ancient Greece.Fast forward to the early 20th century, and Platos dialogue played an important role in gay writer E.M. Forsters coming-of-age novel Maurice. Symposiums inclusion in Forsters book was suggested by influential and idiosyncratic out English writer Edward Carpenter, who promoted the ideal spiritual, uranian homoerotic love mentioned in Symposium. Corydon, Andr Gide (1924)Corydon by Andr GideFrench author Gide strips the platonic veneer off male-male relationships layered for centuries over the work of writers and artists like Homer, Virgil, Titian, Shakespeare (and even Plato in his Symposium) to celebrate homosexuality as it was intended.Gide builds an argument, over four dialogues reminiscent of Plato, to say that homosexuality is a more fundamental and natural force than exclusive heterosexuality, which he depicts as a controlling imposition created by society. Orlando, Virginia Woolf (1928)Orlando by Virginia WoolfOrlando is an early and rare exploration of gender from well-known bisexual author and novelist Virgina Woolf. inspired by the wild family history of her own aristocratic lover, Vita Sackville-West, the gender-bending feminist classic follows the poet Orlando from life as a pretty teenage boy in the court of Elizabeth I through the following centuries among key figures of English literary history. At about age 100, Orlando magically changes sexes, leading to many eye-opening revelations and thrills. As such, Orlando has become a mainstay of transgender studies and scholarship. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein (1933)The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude SteinModern defined the lives of lovers Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein, who lived in Paris together among artists and writers like Picasso and Hemingway in the years between the world wars. Stein decided to tell the story of their relationship and the times through an autobiography that she penned in the name of Toklas, who served as her confidante, friend, and lover (but who had no claim to being an artist like Stein and others in their circle). The books modernist form has earned it praise as one of the greatest English-language nonfiction works of the 20th century. Giovannis Room, James Baldwin (1956)Giovannis Room by James BaldwinBaldwins Giovannis Room holds a special place in the hearts of gay men in particular who read it at a young age.While Baldwin is Black, and wrote about race in his semi-autobiographical novel Go Tell It on the Mountain three years earlier, Giovannis Room concerns a closeted young white American man living in Paris and his feelings for other men, in particular an Italian bartender named Giovanni whom he meets at a Parisian bar.The story surfaces self-loathing, internalized homophobia, and social alienation for the protagonist and readers alike, as well as the joys of erotic love and longing. The Front Runner, Patricia Nell Warren (1974)The Front Runner by Patricia Nell WarrenThis novel, published five years after the 1969 Stonewall uprising, is notable for being the first contemporary gay novel to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success.The soapy and page-turning love story chronicles an affair between a running coach and his star athlete,told with flashbacks to the coachs time as a closeted Marine, an unfaithful husband, a Greenwich Village hustler, and (ultimately) a living-out-loud gay man living with his gold medal-winning Olympic athlete lover and partner. Like its straight contemporary inspiration, Love Story, it ends in tragedy, but it endures as a modern gay classic. A Boys Own Story, Edmund White (1982)A Boys Own Story by Edmund WhiteThis autobiographical novel comes from the towering gay literary figure Edmund White, who died earlier this year, documenting a boys coming of age in the American Midwest during the 1950s. It was the first in a trilogy of books exploring the authors relationship to his sexuality, and it reigns as a classic among gay coming-of-age novels.White was probably the best known among a group of authors in the literary group the Violet Quill, a collection of gay writers in New York in the late 1970s and 80s who were instrumental in the development of contemporary LGBTQ+ literature.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.