TransTainment 8/7/23
Here’s one from the “how did that happen” file. A drag performer made an album recognizing LGBTQ people who have been shut out by their church because of who they are. One of the song that has been made into a video is titled Boys Will Be Girls and it features Christian musician Derrick Webb getting a makeover while he sings. Then he is joined on camera by the song’s writer Flamy Grant. The two sing these lyrics together; “I heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those who / were abandoned by proud and fearful men / So if a church won’t celebrate and love you / they’re believing lies that can’t save you or them / ’cause you’re so beautiful by any name.” What you might foresee is immediate attacks from conservative evangelicals and that happened. What no one saw coming was Flamy Grant’s album Bible Belt Baby featuring Boys Will Be Girls hitting the top of the iTunes Christian albums chart. Get more info on the song and the performers from Yahoo and watch the video right here.
There is an LGBTQIA+ production of The Wizard of Oz, coming to Rochester, New York August 30 to October 1. The roles of Aunt Em and Glinda will be performed by RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Rosé (aka Ross McCorkell). You don’t have to follow the yellow brick road to get tickets. You can find them on the Geva Theatre website.
Meanwhile, across the pond, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe — the biggest arts festival in the world, with nearly 3,500 shows — features six drag performers from, you guessed it, RuPaul’s Drag Race around the world. Among the performers will be Monet X Change, Baga Chipz, and Anita Wigl’it. Learn more about all six shows from Playbill.
Monet X Change
Alex Newell, the first nonbinary Broadway performer to win a Tony Award, has a message for everyone: Be unabashedly yourself. In an interview on The View Newell said, “”I’ve heard that I was too fat, I was too sassy, I was too Black, I was too much, I was too loud, I was too flamboyant—and those are my things that make me special. You have to be 100% unabashedly yourself and have the gall to do that,” they said. Currently appearing in the musical Shucked Newell treated The View audience to a song from the show.
Alok Vaid-Menon
Nonbinary activist, writer and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon has a message for the world as well. In a recent interview they said, “I’m fighting for trans ordinariness.” Anti-trans people go on about LGBTQ people having “special rights” or “more rights, when all we want is to be a part of the world. Able to walk down the street wearing what we like and not causing a scene. Get more on Vaid-Menon’s philosophy from The New York Times.
Gabbi Tuft is a former wrestler who worked for the W.W.E. From 2008 to 2012, Ms. Tuft did battle in the ring under the name Tyler Reks. After she left wrestling and transitioned she became an online personal fitness and nutrition coach and a TikTok personality with nearly 800,000 followers. Ms. Tuft had not attended a W.W.E. match since her retirement over a decade ago. The World Wrestling Entertainment’s Smackdown at Madison Square Garden was set for July 7 and she decided to attend. She felt that officials with the W.W.E. would be happy to provide comped tickets and backstage passes. Till she was told there were no spare tickets and backstage was not going to happen. She decided to buy her ticket and accept what the W.W.E. officials gave as the reason for not comping her. You know it could be discomfort over the return of the wrestling world’s first wrestler to transition. . . Learn more about Gabbi Tuft and her visit to Smackdown from The New York Times.
Adore DeLano
Surprise! Adore Delano, best known for her appearances on RuPaul’s Drag Race and American Idol, came out as transgender near the end of July to her 2 million Instagram followers. In a video on Instagram Delano told her fans that she had been privately transitioning for about three months. The transition was not sudden. She had admitted to her mother at the age of 12 that she was a girl. Get more info from Metro Weekly.
In 1974 Elektra records started a big publicity push for an unknown rocker they hoped to make into a star. Jobriath was meant to be the American David Bowie. His album cover featured what looks like a naked from the waist Jobriath making odd signs with his hands. Is he standing? In repose? Hard to tell in the dark, sensual photo. While ’74 was the right time for glam rock Jobriath went beyond glam. He called himself the “true fairy of rock ‘n’ roll.” Despite the money spent to promote him people weren’t ready for a rocker who proudly admitted he was a fairy. Jobriath did not become the next big thing. So, he reinvented himself as a New York City cabaret pianist under the name Cole Berlin. He passed away in 1983. Another victim of AIDS. In the 2000s his music was rediscovered and became available again. Current performers from the LGBT spectrum paid homage to Jobriath by recording his songs. Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott became his champion.You can read a long article on Jobriath in yahoo!entertainment.
The life and work of Indian transgender activist Shreegauri Sawant will be brought to the big screen in Taali. The film features renowned cisgender actress Sushmita Sen in the lead role as Sawant. In 2014, Sawant made history by becoming the first transgender activist to petition the Supreme Court for adoption rights for transgender people. Learn more from MSN.com.
Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju
Also in India Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju is making her television debut. She will play a transgender wedding planner on season two of the series Made in Heaven. Dr. Gummaraju is perfect for the role as she is a transgender woman. Get more info on her from The Free Press Journal.
Cartoonist Julia Kaye lives in Los Angeles, where she works for Disney TVA and is a transgender woman who, like most people who have transitioned, had to face her fears and the prejudice of others in order to become her true self. As a cartoonist who has gone through gender transition you know she is going to draw her story in 3-panel comics. She publishes them on Instagram. You can see several examples of her work on the Bored Panda website.
Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment
