LGBTQ
2021 Artist of the Year Lil Nas X Is the Star We’ve Been Waiting For
Our 2021 Annual Report kicks off with the announcement as Lil Nas X as our Artist of the Year. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. In the 2017 film Call Me By Your Name, two lovers (Timothée Chalamet’s Elio and Armie Hammer’s Oliver) dance around a pivotal question: “Is it better to speak or to die?” It’s a question that lingers in Elio’s head in particular as he grapples with his sexuality, his acceptance of his blossoming affair with Oliver, and eventual heartbreak. Though Lil Nas X has said his song “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” is more personal than directly linked to the Academy Award-winning film or book of the same name, the connection to a queer coming of age lo...
Kim Petras Drops New Single “Coconuts”: Stream
Kim Petras has finally unveiled her “Coconuts.” Stream the new single below. It may be the beginning of winter, but the rising pop princess is still feeling her hottest summer oats on the delicious bop filled to the brim with winking double entendres. “So juicy and so ripe/ You wouldn’t believe/ I give ’em different names/ Mary-Kate and Ashley/ They ask me what’s my size/ Just give ’em a squeeze/ Strawberry, mango, lime/ Don’t compare to these,” she sings on the bouncing pre-chorus before launching into the disco-infused hook all about her, ahem, coconuts. After premiering the body confidence anthem live at the MTV Europe Music Awards in a delightfully campy medley with as-yet-unreleased bedroom banger “Hit It from the Back,” Petras then spent the next two weeks building buzz around the so...
Marvel’s Eternals Banned from Theaters in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar
On the off-chance that you live in either Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or Qatar, don’t go trying to see Eternals in theaters. Marvel’s latest blockbuster has been pulled from the big screen in those countries, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The apparent ban is believed to have been made over the film’s inclusion of a same-sex couple and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first openly gay superhero. News of the ban emerged after Eternals was quietly removed from various theater websites in each of the aforementioned countries before its intended release on November 11th. (It hits American theaters tomorrow, November 5th.) THR reports that Disney was not willing to acquiesce to “a series of edit requests” made by local censors, resulting in it being pulled from those countrie...
Annie Nightingale Launches Scholarship for Underrepresented Female and Non-Binary DJs
BBC Radio 1 has launched a new scholarship named after their first female DJ and longest-serving presenter, Annie Nightingale. The scholarship will be awarded to three individuals who are women or non-binary DJs, and “aims to celebrate and elevate talented women and non-binary people in the electronic music scene by providing them with a national platform to showcase their taste and expertise,” according to BBC Radio 1. The previous winners of the scholarship are DJ Martha, GODLANDS, and LCY. They will be performing on the station on the evening of Saturday, November 6th. The winners of this year’s scholarship will receive a one-hour slot on BBC Radio 1 on a Saturday night. “I was the first-ever female DJ on radio and am now the longest serving presenter...
Dave Chappelle Calls Controversy Over Transgender Comments “Nonsense”
Dave Chappelle has addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding his latest Netflix special, The Closer. In the special, the veteran comedian makes several jokes about transgendered people, defends J.K. Rowlings’ anti-trans comments, and goes as far to declare himself “Team TERF” (TERF is the acronym for a trans-exclusionary radical feminist). Chappelle’s comments were met with immense criticism and last week, members of Netflix’s LGBTQ+ community staged a walkout in protest of the streamer’s decision to stand behind the comedian. Over the weekend, Chappelle spoke about at the controversy at the end of his standup show in Nashville, and he has now uploaded video of his remarks to Instagram. Advertisement Related Video Chappelle began by disputing the claim that he declined an invitation to...
Boosie Unleashes Disgusting Homophobic Rant on Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X is one of the most compelling and innovative artists to emerge in the last decade. Boosie (aka Lil Boosie aka Boosie BadAzz) is a one-time Southern rap titan whose career hit the skids when he decided to name his 2017 album BooPac and never recovered. Nowadays, you’re much more likely to see Boosie’s name in the headlines for the homophobic comments posted to his Twitter than you are for his music. Over the last several months, Boosie has made a number of derogatory comments about the “Industry Baby” rapper and his sexuality. Lil Nas X has mostly ignored Boosie, but during a recent Instagram chat with fans, he joked that the two had collaborated on a new song (via HNHH). “Shit fire,” Lil Nas X quipped. “I ain’t even gonna lie, for real. Gotdamn song with Lil Boosie gonna come out...
Netflix CEO: Dave Chappelle’s Trans Comments Don’t “Translate to Real-World Harm”
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has issued a new internal memo defending the streamer’s decision to stand behind Dave Chappelle amid the growing controversy over his latest special, The Closer. Sarandos rejected the notion made by LGBTQ+ advocates that that Chappelle’s derogatory comments about transgender people could inspire hate and violence. “While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm,” Sarandos wrote. Advertisement Related Video “The strongest evidence to support this is that violence on screens has grown hugely over the last thirty years, especially with first party shooter games, and yet violent crime has fallen significantly in many countries,” Sarandos added. “Adults can watch violence, assault and abuse ...
Daniel Craig Prefers Gay Bars Because of “Aggressive Dick Swinging at Hetero Bars”
Daniel Craig has said that he prefers to frequent gay bars because that way he can avoid the culture of “aggressive dick swinging at hetero bars.” The James Bond actor dropped this pearl of wisdom during a new appearance on the Lunch with Bruce podcast with his pal Bruce Bozzi. “I’ve been going to gay bars for as long as I can remember,” Craig said. “One of the reasons is because I don’t get into fights in gay bars that often.” When it comes to performative masculinity at straight venues, Craig added, “I just got very sick of as a kid, because it was like: ‘I don’t want to end up in a punch-up.’ And I did. That would happen quite a lot. And it [a gay bar] would just be a good place to go.” Advertisement Related Video In his experience, gay bars are much more welcoming. ...
Trans Netflix Employees Plan Walkout In Protest To Dave Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Mario Tama / Getty Dave Chappelle has once more stoked the fires of outrage from the LGBTQ community by way of his latest Netflix special, The Closer, and the controversy continues to swell. After the streaming giant seemingly sided with Chappelle by suspending a trans employee, other trans staffers are planning a walkout event in protest. As seen on The Verge, the group will embark upon its walkout on October 20 after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos issued a statement via a company email saying that the company will not be removing Chappelle’s The Closer from its lineup. Further, Sarandos added in a memo, “Our hope is that you can be hugely inspired by entertaining the world, while also living with titles you strongly believe have no place on Netflix. This w...
DC’s New Superman Comes Out As Bisexual
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: DC / DC Comics Yesterday (October 11), it was National Coming Out Day and to give their LGTBQ fans something to celebrate, DC Comics revealed that the new Superman, Jon Kent, would be coming out as bisexual. Jon Gruden’s going to blow a gasket over this one. Expect ex-Superman turned woke culture hater, Dean Cain to take issue with this as well. IGN is reporting that DC will be adding an entirely new dynamic to Superman’s upcoming adventures as the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane will be revealing that he’s out loud and proud in the upcoming 5th issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El. In the issue the 17-year-old who’s coming to terms with many things about himself will make peace with the fact that he likes men too and will apparently find his ride-or-die in J...
Dave Chappelle Releases ‘The Closer’ & Twitter Shares Cheers & Jeers
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Stacy Revere / Getty Dave Chappelle signed one of the most lucrative deals with Netflix and has released a handful of comedy specials that have been both praised and blasted for their edgy and controversial content. The Washington, D.C. native released his sixth special, The Closer, to the streamer and fans have showered the standup performance with both cheers and jeers. The Closer was filmed in Detroit, Mich. and, according to Chappelle’s words, it will be his last standup special for an indefinite amount of time. As usual, Chappelle walked the edge as only he can and there was one particular segment that caught the eyes and ears of viewers on Twitter. Related Stories In a joke that referenced DaBaby’s homophobic rant at Rolling Loud in Miami over...
Song of the Week: Kali Uchis and SZA Sizzle with “Fue Mejor”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Kali Uchis turns up the heat with SZA’s Spanish-language debut. Steamy and dreamy: two words that have long applied to SZA’s discography, and that certainly apply to her latest collaboration with Grammy-winning Latin artist Kali Uchis. “Fue Mejor” is sad and sultry, grooving over a throbbing beat that wouldn’t sound out of place in any of SZA’s albums. The airy, whistle-toned background vocals are offset by the sound of a revving engine, grounding the fantastical atmosphere. Notably, SZA sings in Spanish alongside Kali Uchis while...
