Queerty https://www.queerty.com/ Free of an agenda, except for that gay one. LGBTQ life, entertainment, politics and the goods - all for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Sat, 27 Jun 2026 21:00:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Lee Pace can’t keep his clothes on, Frankie Grande’s super origin story & all the best LGBTQ+ releases this week https://www.queerty.com/lee-pace-cant-keep-his-clothes-on-frankie-grandes-super-origin-story-all-the-best-lgbtq-releases-this-week-2-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/lee-pace-cant-keep-his-clothes-on-frankie-grandes-super-origin-story-all-the-best-lgbtq-releases-this-week-2-20260627/#respond Sat, 27 Jun 2026 21:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874382
Image Credits: ‘Practical Magic 2,’ Warner Bros. (left) | Threads, @frankiejgrande (center) | ‘Next Gen: NYC,’ Bravo (right)

Need a boost to get over Hump Day? The Hot Sheet is Queerty’s midweek pop culture catch-up, highlighting the entertainment stories everyone’s talking about, the ones you might’ve missed, and the notable LGBTQ+ film & TV releases in the days ahead. Here’s everything you need to stay in-the-know:

What To Watch This Week

  • Assembly — Now Streaming (PBS): A doc about the creation of artist Rashaad Newsome’s groundbreaking exhibit exploring the evolution of ballroom within Black queer culture.
  • Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour — Now Streaming (Paramount+): Titanic director James Cameron’s concert doc following the queer Gen Z hit-maker on her latest world tour.
  • We Are Pat — Now Available (VOD): In the ’90s, SNL‘s gender-ambiguous character Pat was the butt of the joke. Now trans comics & artists are reclaiming Pat as an unlikely queer icon.
  • Next Gen: NYC, Season 2 — June 25 (Peacock): Bravo’s reality spin-off following the spawn of Housewives features Brooks Mark & Emira D’Spain, the network’s first trans full-time cast member.
  • Camp — June 26 (Select Theaters): Rising trans filmmaker Avalon Fast’s surreal story of a troubled young woman who becomes a camp counselor—and the newest member of a coven!
  • Couture — June 26 (Select Theaters): The fabulous Angelina Jolie plays an American filmmaker who receives some troubling news while working on a project at Paris Fashion Week.
  • Drunken Noodles — June 26 (NYC Theaters): In this arthouse favorite, a gay Argentine art student in NYC begins a summertime odyssey through dates and intimate encounters.
  • Second Nature — June 26 (NYC Theaters): Elliot Page narrates this hilarious & heartwarming nature doc that examines how the animal wold around us is queerer than we realize!
  • The Invite — June 26 (Select Theaters): Olivia Wilde directs & stars in this sharp comedy about a couples’ dinner party gone awry, co-starring Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz & Ed Norton.
  • Strung — June 26 (Peacock): Chloe Bailey leads this thriller about a violinist tutoring the daughter of a mysterious & wealthy family. Plus, it seems like there’s something sapphic going on here…

Culture Catch-Up

GAME, SET, MATCH: Hockey’s not the only sport with heated rivalries! None other than Romeo Beckham—yes, the son of David & Posh Spice—will be making his acting debut in Forty Love, a French gay romantic drama set in the world of tennis about two competitive pros surprised to catch feelings across the net. [Queerty]

NEXT BIG THING: After rave reviews at Cannes, Los Javis‘ sweeping gay period piece epic La Bola Negra—featuring Guitarricadelafuente‘s acting debut—was picked up by Netflix which just announced a Nov. 6 theatrical release followed by a Dec. 4 streaming date, a.k.a. prime awards season time! [Tudum]

THE NEW LILITH FAIR: Amid rave reviews for her third album, Olivia Rodrigo continues her pop ascendency by announcing her very own music festival, Daisy Chain Fields in LA Aug. 29, with an all-women lineup—including queer acts like Chappell Roan, Doechii, Katseye & Eli—and all proceeds going to charity. [People]

TOUCHDOWN: This week marks five years since Carl Nassib made history as the first NFL player to come out while on an active roster. Though the athlete recently celebrated the anniversary by calling it “the best decision I’ve ever made,” it’s notable that no NFL players have come out publicly since. What gives??? [Outsports]

SEASON OF THE WITCH: The Owens sisters return in the long-awaited Practical Magic 2, and the first full trailer gives us a better look at the be-witch-ing story, including an introduction to Lee Pace‘s mysterious & tatted character—wearing nothing it all! This movie knows what the fans want to see!

DIAL-UP D: In YouTube documentary series Finding Fire Island, Billy Porter‘s opens up about his memories from visiting the gay mecca back in the day—and so much more, including that time the Tony/Emmy/Grammy-winner called an escort line when he was ready to learn how to bottom. [Queerty]

HERO’S JOURNEY: Singer, actor, Broadway star, “Gay Jesus,” and now author Frankie Grande has just released his new memoir Supergay!, and during a recent visit to The Kelly Clarkson Show he opened up about why he wanted to rewrite the trials & tribulations of his own life into a superhero origin story.

GOING BIG-SCREEN: Queer animation queen Vivienne “VivziePop” Medrano (Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss) will next bring her unique style & world-building to the big screen with feature film Prehistoria, described as a  “fossil fantasy animated musical,” it’s sure to be a feast for the eyes and ears. [Animation Magazine]

SHAKEN & STIRRED: Burlesque met Bond at the annual Broadway Bares fundraiser this weekend where the category was “License To Strip.” The skin & spycraft-themed night was hosted by J. Harrison Ghee and raised a record-breaking $2,534,428 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Check out some hot, hot highlights:

ROCK ON: Heavy metal band GWAR, known for rocking out in full monster drag, are unsurprisingly total LGBTQ+ allies. After recent live show antics had them making a mockery of Tr*mp, members reported receiving intimidating phone calls from the president’s Secret Service—and they’re not backing down! [LGBTQNation]

DIVA ALERT!: Original Queer Eye member Jai Rodriguez is getting his own Fab makeover in the live comedy show Chico’s Angels 2: Love Boat Chicas at LA’s Casita Del Campo June 24-28, going full drag alongside queens Kay Sedia & Frieda Laye for a night of camp chaos. If you’re in the area, don’t miss it! [Tickets]

POWERHOUSE: You might know JHart as one of the talented songwriters behind hits like Justin Bieber’s “Company” & JADE’s “It Girl,” but he’s got quite an incredible set of pipes, too, as heard in the live performance video of his latest single “Memories” which brings his bravura belt to a Bee-Gees style throwback groove.

The Final Hump

In the sweet and sexy comedic short Just Between Us, happily married couple Sam (There’s A Zombie Outside‘s Ben Baur) and Dustin (The Good Doctor‘s Matthew Bridges) have gotten pretty good at the whole open relationship thing—maybe almost too good. After realizing how long its been since just the two of them have had sex, the guys start to spiral and commit to more one-on-one time soon. But when they’re suddenly presented with a private pool and a hunky himbo (Never Have I Ever‘s Eddie Liu), all those best intentions get tossed aside—and so do their swim shorts.

Co-written by Baur and director Zach Hug, the short takes a frank and funny look at modern gay relationships: When hook-ups become habit, how do you make time for real intimacy with your partner? After playing at film festivals last year, Just Between Us—which also features familiar faces like Community‘s Jim Rash & 30 Rock‘s Keith Powell—is now available to watch online for free. And don’t worry: at just over 15 minutes, you can watch and still make time for that special someone in your life. Check it out below!

Related

What in the “girth-check” hell is happening on the straights’ favorite reality show?!
Two men, one villa, and zero shame!

]]> https://www.queerty.com/lee-pace-cant-keep-his-clothes-on-frankie-grandes-super-origin-story-all-the-best-lgbtq-releases-this-week-2-20260627/feed/ 0 Romance & brotherhood in gay San Francisco’s golden moment before the AIDS storm https://www.queerty.com/romance-brotherhood-in-gay-san-franciscos-golden-moment-before-the-aids-2-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/romance-brotherhood-in-gay-san-franciscos-golden-moment-before-the-aids-2-20260627/#respond Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874370

The following is an excerpt from Landscape in Lavender: A Young Man’s Search for His Gay Identity by Brooks Kolb, available now from SparkPress.

In this earnest, hopeful memoir, Kolb explores the conflict between his personal and professional identities as he traces his round trip journey from Seattle to Paris, Philadelphia, London, and San Francisco against the backdrop of the 1970s sexual revolution and the devastating AIDS pandemic that followed.

During his travels, he becomes a landscape architect, comes out of the closet, crosses racial barriers to win lasting love, loses that love, and finds belonging. Along the way he learns that freedom demands that one construct their own morality in the face of social ostracism, that loss is an inherent attribute of love, and that the need to belong can be just as urgent as the need for love.

Heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring, Landscape in Lavender will charm readers across generations—LGBTQ+, cisgender, and straight alike—who struggle, or have struggled, to live a truly authentic life.

How about we take this to the next level?

Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

In those heady days of my new life in San Francisco, all the traffic lights turned green, promising me freedom and gay liberation. I had a brand new, highly evocative city to explore, and its exceptional features—the wind-blown fog on the pastel-colored hills, the cable cars, the landmarks of Coit Tower, Twin Peaks, and the bright red Golden Gate Bridge—were all so much more exciting and cinematic than prosaic, flat, red-brick Philly, where I had recently quit my job as a landscape architect. 

In every neighborhood, gay men could be seen out walking singly or hand-in-hand. In North Beach or Russian Hill, I spotted a few here and there, but larger numbers joined the commercial river on Market Street. Even more flowed through Haight-Ashbury, and in the Castro, our numbers turned into a dense, rejoicing crowd. I felt a brotherhood I had never experienced before, a dim sense of belonging to a giant, multifaceted community of men.

It was January 1982, not even four years after America’s most charismatic gay leader, Harvey Milk, had been assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone in City Hall. Although I had seen highlights of replacement mayor Dianne Feinstein’s press conference about the murders before leaving Philadelphia, the news had seemed like no more than a far-off headline. Still a fresh, agonizing memory for gay men living in San Francisco at the time, the tragic hate crime felt to me like an event from the remote past. 

Meanwhile, I had only the dimmest awareness of the freight train that was even then bearing down upon us, its cyclops-like front light no more than a distant dot on the horizon. I had heard hushed and vague snippets of conversation about a “gay cancer,” but those rumors seemed scarcely more worrying than concerns about a bad flu season. I didn’t realize that I was living in a sunny bubble in time between the violent horror of Dan White’s murderous rampage and the dark killing fields of AIDS to come. All I knew was that, for the moment, gay liberation seemed to be winning the battle against hate, intolerance, and violence. The long, cinematic, candlelit protests marches down Market Street were now over, and a new time to party was at hand.

Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night were for going out. The first place I discovered was the I-Beam, a gay disco on Haight Street, only a block and a half from my apartment. The best time to go to the I-Beam was for Sunday tea dance. The place was rarely jumping on a Friday or Saturday—Sunday evening was its time in the sun.  

Housed in an ordinary-looking wooden building, the I-Beam announced itself with a wide outer stair that led up to the second-floor entrance. Once inside, the club was like a gigantic version of Equus, my favorite club in Philly, except that it was all on one level and there was no dry ice fog on the dance floor. And it had one striking innovation: Two large video screens above the dance floor played snips from the campiest Hollywood films in a continuous loop. Bar videos were a new feature that year, and it was not possible to visit the I-Beam without witnessing Joan Crawford glaring fiercely as Mildred Pierce or grimacing while wielding an axe in Strait Jacket. 

The I-Beam boasted new eighties dance music, with a generous sprinkling of Euro-pop. I tolerated Tony Basil’s “Hey Mickey,” but the DJ played Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” so relentlessly that I soon came to detest it. The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me Baby” was my favorite song until “Tainted Love” debuted on the Top 40, and I never tired of its odd beat that mimicked the double beep of a streetcar. The colorful city, the vivid gay dance scene, and the heavily amped eighties soundtrack—I loved it all.

Related

The unexpected gay power of Soft Cell’s synth-pop classic “Tainted Love”
Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’ was released in 1981.

Having no friends in town yet, I always went to the I-Beam solo. When I heard a song I liked, which was pretty much every number apart from the histrionic “Gloria,” I resumed my practice of trying to find a boyfriend by asking guys to dance. Dancing was an activity, and if a guy said no, technically his “no” referred only to the song, not to me, so it felt less rejecting than when someone brushed me off in a conversation. On the other hand, if he said “yes,” most likely he enjoyed the song as much as I did, generating a tiny thread of common enthusiasm from which to weave a conversation.  

Once the dancing started, I studied the guy’s movements and facial expressions. If he smiled broadly, snapped his fingers, and threw his head back while he bopped, that meant he was having a good time, which was a win. It was even better if he reached over to grasp my waist, and it felt like a score if he grabbed my butt. 

By contrast, sometimes the guy danced too well, which was a bad sign. It wasn’t that I didn’t admire good dancers—I very much did; I could spend hours watching their sexy moves—but I had learned that, if they were too showy, it meant their lives had no discernable meaning outside the nightclub. Never was this truer than when I clocked a guy watching himself dance, not only in the mirror, but via his stealthy habit of gauging the reaction in all the pairs of eyes  tracking him on the floor, while he assiduously ignored me.  

Another unsuitable type was the exact opposite, the guy who appeared so immensely bored by the music that he was only going through the motions. If dancing to the hits made those men yawn, then most likely nothing else interested them either, which was not a good foundation on which to build a relationship. Regardless of whether it was unconscious or strategic, being blasé was an unappealing pose.

One Sunday night at the I-Beam, I met a guy who became my first new friend in San Francisco. Jesse was a husky, African American with a tall flattop that he pulled straight up with the pick comb that lived in the back pocket of his jeans. He smiled and laughed easily, effortlessly expressing the joie de vivre that so appealed to me in men. When I asked him to dance, I was pleased to note that he was just the right type of dancer, the kind who danced enthusiastically but without trying to win a prize on Soul Train. 

After a couple of dances, Jesse and I repaired to the side lounge, with its TV screens displaying the same campy videos that appeared on the dance floor. Once we were far enough away from the speakers to hear ourselves talk, he asked, “Have you ever been out to Sutro Heights?” 

“No,” I said.  

“Come on, I’ll show you,” he continued, grabbing my hand in his large palm, and leading me toward the front stairs. 

“I don’t have a car,” I protested.  

“Don’t worry, I do,” Jesse said, already halfway down the steps. The next thing I knew, we were heading west toward the ocean, headlights beaming under the night sky. When we reached the end of Geary Boulevard, Jesse turned right onto a narrow lane overlooking the Cliff House and Seal Rock. 

“Follow me,” he said.

Jumping out of the car, he led me between a couple of tall bushes to a small, sandy spot on top of a high bluff overlooking the Pacific. The sky was black, the moon was full, and a corkscrew of white moonlight wriggled over the waves crashing below as Jesse began to kiss me. It was the most romantic moment I had ever experienced in my entire life, except for one small problem. I wanted to feel red hearts pouring out of my chest and into Jesse’s face when he kissed me, while matching hearts emanated from his lips and flowed directly into my soul. Was it even possible for male-on-male encounters to rise to that highest standard of romantic love, the standard my grad school housemate, Birgyte, so adored on screen between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton? I very much hoped so, but I didn’t really know. 

Still, no matter how much I craved romance, and crave it I did, I wasn’t feeling it with Jesse. Of course, that was no reason not to go to bed with him. Like the rest of my generation, I came prepared to obey Stephen Still’s anthem urging listeners to love the one you’re with if your true love is nowhere in sight. Plus, it was easy to rationalize. Who knew how many months would go by before I fell in love with someone new or before I could convince Chad to come live with me? I had felt those red hearts Valentine’s Day card emotions with him, but they hadn’t been strong enough to prevent me from moving to San Francisco without him. Nor had we ever discussed our long-term commitment to one another. Were we each expecting the other to be faithful? I wasn’t sure, but either way it seemed irrelevant from twenty-five hundred miles away.

Until that almost perfect moment with Jesse, I hadn’t fully realized what a romantic I was. Sex was just sex, that’s what all the guys implied by constantly switching partners on the dance floor, and even more so by quickly “doing it” with one man in the bushes, only to shove him aside and move on to the next. That was not what I wanted. I wanted chocolate, a dozen red roses, and deep, tender kisses. I wanted to resurrect the memories of Ken’s caresses. I wanted his lips on my neck and the bristles of his goatee tickling my cheek. Most of all, I wanted to hear his soft whisperings again.

Although I didn’t feel romance blossoming with Jesse, the experience of moving so rapidly from the exciting, noisy dance scene at the I-Beam to the serene beauty of moonlight over the Pacific taught me something important about San Francisco that was to reoccur to me many times over the years to come: San Francisco was the City of the Sacred and the Profane. It was a city where you could, in the space of only ten minutes, experience the profoundest beauty that nature has to offer—the sublime spirituality of the sun, the moon, the wind-blown ocean waves, and the lion-like flanks of the golden Marin hillsides—and in the next moment be swept up in the most hedonistic ecstasies of dance, Dionysian parties, and of course, sex.  

As if to underscore that point one day a few weeks later, Jesse and I were tooling around the Richmond District, not far from Seal Rock, when he stopped at a small house to say hi to a white friend whom he had spotted outside washing his car. We got out of Jesse’s Toyota Corolla to talk to him, and within seconds, the conversation turned to gay pickups.  

“How many men have you been to bed with?” Jesse asked the guy, who was deeply tanned and beginning to display fans of tiny wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.  

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, “Thousands . . . it’s been thousands.” 

“Really?” I asked, more to myself than to him. This was a huge eye-opener to me.  People in high school had always said that I was hopelessly naive, and maybe this proved his point. Still, it was hard for me to imagine having sex with that many guys. Truthfully, I could scarcely imagine my count rising to one hundred, let alone a thousand. 

Pondering this in some tiny corner of my brain, I remembered those hushed murmurs, the quiet whispers about a gay cancer spreading like wildfire through Manhattan. I took note, although I wasn’t sure what to make of it. No rule book had been published for what was not yet called AIDS. All I knew was that, in the two years since I had come out of the closet, a whole new secret and beautiful world had opened up for my exclusive pleasure. It was unbearable to think that it might be about to close again.

Excerpt from Landscape in Lavender: A Young Man’s Search for His Gay Identity by Brooks Kolb, available now from SparkPress. Reprinted with permission.

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/romance-brotherhood-in-gay-san-franciscos-golden-moment-before-the-aids-2-20260627/feed/ 0 Teletubbies at Pride, Sam Smith & Laverne Cox’s memoir: 10 things we’re obsessed with this week https://www.queerty.com/teletubbies-at-pride-sam-smith-laverne-coxs-memoir-10-things-were-obsessed-with-this-week-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/teletubbies-at-pride-sam-smith-laverne-coxs-memoir-10-things-were-obsessed-with-this-week-20260627/#respond Sat, 27 Jun 2026 19:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874233 Three-panel image. From left to right: Laverne Cox smirks in black and white on the cover of her memoir; a yellow Teletubbie walks through a Pride party; Sam Smith looks into the camera while smoking in a music video.

The VCR cleaner is almost out, the tank tops are dirtied, and the last float is turning the corner, which can only mean one thing: We’ve nearly survived another Pride Month.

Accordingly, the last week in LGBTQ+ news revolved around the last drops of chaos. First, a father and son had a “print off, JoJo Siwa went cruising, we saw speedos at Miami Swim Week, and Tubi celebrated the gays.

How about we take this to the next level?

Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Plus, a Polaroid-perfect coming out story, Hayley Kiyoko dished on Girls Like Girls, and Matt Pacifici took us out.

On top of that, there’s been pop girl treaties, transcendent memoirs, and Teletubbies at Pride. Yes, you read that correctly.

For the last time during Pride Month, we present the 10 things we’re obsessed with this week…

1. Transcendent: A Memoir by Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox had an instant New York Times bestseller on her hands when she released her memoir Transcendent (on sale for $19.50 on Amazon) this month — and deservingly so! The four-time Emmy-nominated actress, activist, and fashion icon, who got her big break on Orange is the New Black at 40-years-old, has a powerful and inspiring story to share about healing, gender identity, worthiness, and changing the world.

2. The 70’s Are BACK! Swim Briefs

Two-panel image of blue, red, orange, and yellow striped swim briefs. On the left, a male model is pictured wearing them from the back. On the right, he's pictured from the front at an angle.
Image Credit: LGBTQ Outpost

The ’70s are back, according to these vintage Pride-vibed THK Swim Briefs, on sale for $43.99 at LGBTQ Outpost. Let a soft and stretchy blend of polyester and spandex remind of you the simpler pre-social media days… while you snap a selfie of their flattering, leg-hugging cut to post on your Instagram Story.

3. “My Guy” by Sam Smith

After dancing at the club and getting “Unholy,” Sam Smith returns to his sonic roots with “My Guy,” a velvet-voiced, undeniably soulful, relaxed tempo tune gushing about a guy. I’ve only listened to it 10 times today, but I think it’s proof that we’re all going to be OK.

4. Madonna, Charli XCX, and Connor Storrie

Girl World is finally at peace! After mysteriously subtweeting the Brat singer last month, Madonna cleared the air with Charli XCX before smoking in it at Paris Fashion Week. Naturally, Connor Storrie and Debi Mazar were also there.

Considering both queer icons are dropping albums next month, the gays can move into July breathing a huge sigh of relief. And wondering where our invite was!?!

5. Viewer Discretion Advised Sweatshirt

Two-panel image. On the left, a male model poses in a navy sweatshirt that reads "The following content contains scenes of a homosexual nature. Viewer discretion is advised." On the right, the phrase is pictured printed in bubble letters on a white background.
Image Credit: Paper8

In the our favorite LGBTQ+ classic flicks (and fighting censorship), this adorable and film-gay-friendly sweatshirt — $78 online from Paper8 — reads: “The following content features scenes of a homosexual nature. Viewer discretion is advised.”

I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t the summer too early for stocking up on sweaters? But it’s Pride Month for a few more days, so consider it added to cart.

6. Abraham Lincoln comes to the cottage

A promotional sticker for President Lincoln’s cottage evoking Heated Rivalry is a unique brand of gay you could only find at D.C. Pride. And honestly, it’s the crossover I didn’t know I needed.

RIP to the 16th president of the United States, he would’ve loved Hudson Williams.

7. Leviticus

Finally, a horror movie by the gays, for the gays, about the gays! Leviticus – now in theaters — is a suspenseful and unsettling flick about two teens who found solace in each other in their small conservative town. But when their relationship is found out, they’re forced to attend conversion therapy from the local priest, unleashing frightening and demonic consequences.

It’s a smart and spooky addition to the religious-horror sub-genre with a tender heart at its core — and a Mia Wasikowska performance that’s perfectly detestable.

Related

How Leviticus transforms queer longing into one of horror’s most chilling nightmares
“We wanted to create the tension of: Are you in the horror movie now, or are you in the love story?,” shares director Adrian Chiarella.

8. Paris Hilton-approved Pride merch

Three-panel image. From left to right: A. pink shirt reading "Sometimes you have to be the rainbow that you need to see"; a photo of Paris Hilton in a white tank reading, "Stop Being Straight,"; white sneakers bedazzled in rainbow colors from Betsey Johnson.
Image Credit: Paris Hilton Online Store

Paris Hilton loves the gays, money, and giving the gays money. Case in point, she turned her online web store into a Pride Guide for the month of June, in which 100% of proceeds go to her nonprofit, 11:11 Media Impact, to support the LGBTQ+ community. Which is sooo hot.

The queen behind The Simple Life and “Stars Are Blind” called it “my way of uplifting the community by shining a light on queer-owned and queer-supportive brands.” My personal fave selections are the Rainbow Hero Boxy Tee ($99), designed by non-binary artist Amina Mucciolo, the bedazzled Betsey Johnson Reily Bright Sneakers ($109), and, of course, the iconic Stop Being Straight Tank Top ($28.99).

9. Tinky Winky dances to “Toxic”

While a video of the Teletubbies dancing to Britney Spears at a Pride party was not on my June 2026 bingo card, I’m not at all surprised that Tinky Winky served the hardest.

10. Everyone is Gay! Baseball Hat

Two-panel image. On the left, a denim baseball hat reading "Everyone is Gay!" in rainbow letters. On the right, the same hat is pictured at an angle.
Image Credit: A Shop of Things

Snapback, dad hat, ball cap, call it what you want, but I know this Everyone is Gay lid ($36 from A Shop of Things) is my culture. One look at its light denim wash and rainbow embroidering, and I found myself asking, “Is too early to get started on my outfit for next year’s Pride?” Don’t answer that.

Related

Good boys, gay sports & Madonna’s hot collab: 10 things we’re obsessed with this week
Pride Month ain’t over yet, gays!

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/teletubbies-at-pride-sam-smith-laverne-coxs-memoir-10-things-were-obsessed-with-this-week-20260627/feed/ 0 Joel Kim Booster’s briefs, Sandro Farmhouse’s heat, & Paul Wagner’s locker room https://www.queerty.com/joel-kim-boosters-briefs-sandro-farmhouses-heat-paul-wagners-locker-room-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/joel-kim-boosters-briefs-sandro-farmhouses-heat-paul-wagners-locker-room-20260627/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874462

This week Billy Porter hired a bottoming coach, Matteo Lane split from his husband, and Madonna spilled the tea on her stalled biopic. Here’s what happened on Instagram:

Anthony Bowens checked in.

Grant Gibbs required a lifeguard.

Your day is about to get a little hotter

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to get your fix of heartthrobs with a side of the hottest queer news and culture.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Jeff Zwally shared his secrets.

Mike Rizzi left the dock.

Kevin Rios served face.

Michael Vente soaked it in.

Josh Mair stayed in Indonesia.

Paul Wagner rented a locker.

Seth Falk jumped in.

Daniel K. Isaac looked up.

Edwar Espinoza showed pit.

Sandro Farmhouse stood in Paris.

Sawyer Hemsley hit the gym.

Henry Jimenez wore white.

Dyllón Burnside performed live.

Joel Kim Booster flexed.

Justin Sylvester jumped in.

Ross Butler shaped his stache.

Sydney James Harcourt wore leather.

Sevndeep stayed home.

Devin Way snapped a selfie.

Dominick Whelton played pool.

And Chris Salvatore tested the water.

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/joel-kim-boosters-briefs-sandro-farmhouses-heat-paul-wagners-locker-room-20260627/feed/ 1 In their first film together, Cary Grant & Katharine Hepburn experimented with gender and screen chemistry https://www.queerty.com/in-their-first-film-together-cary-grant-katharine-hepburn-experimented-with-gender-and-screen-chemistry-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/in-their-first-film-together-cary-grant-katharine-hepburn-experimented-with-gender-and-screen-chemistry-20260627/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=873902
Image Credit: ‘Sylvia Scarlett,’ Warner Archive Collection

Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time” and the next entry in our annual Pride series “Old Queens Of Hollywood,” in which we talk about stars from the Golden Age of cinema that we now know to have been queer through the lens of a classic film that shaped the public perception of their sexuality.

This week, for the final installment of our “Old Queens” miniseries, we’ll focus not on one, not two, but three major figures that collaborated several times throughout their careers, creating a fascinating mosaic of queerness in that era of Hollywood: actress Katharine Hepburn, actor Cary Grant, and director George Cukor.

Three’s Company

George Cukor, left, directing Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant (and John Howard, center-left) on the set of ‘The Philadelphia Story’ | Photo credit: Getty Images

How about we take this to the next level?

Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Katharine Hepburn is considered to be one of the greatest living actresses of all time—by many, she may be the unrivaled number one. She still holds the record for most acting Oscars won by a single person. Apart from her truly remarkable filmography that covered a staggering six decades, Hepburn became an iconic personality in her own right, known for her blunt approach to the press and her masculine-leaning wardrobe that set her apart from the rest of her contemporaries. But even aside from the gender-bending fashion, she’s long rumored to have been queer, although this has never been officially confirmed.

Cary Grant was an equally prominent Hollywood star, also considered one of the all-time greats. He’s well-known for his many collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock (including Suspicion & North By Northwest), as well as for his robust work in romantic screwball comedies. While never officially confirmed as a queer man, he lived with a male partner, Randolph Scott, for over twelve years. He acted opposite Hepburn four times, and their work is considered some of the strongest in the genre: Bringing Up Baby, Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, and Holiday—the latter three all directed by George Cukor.

Cukor was one of the most renowned and profitable film directors of the time, famous for getting outstanding performances out of his actors, and for the ease with which he moved between comedy and melodrama. He directed some of the most influential movies of the Golden Age, including Gaslight, Adam’s Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, among many others.

But unlike Hepburn and Grant, his homosexuality was a well-recorded open secret. He was known for the extravagant parties he would host in his mansion, all regularly attended by other queer celebrities of the era—and packed with hot young men!

Related

Was director George Cukor fired from ‘Gone With The Wind’ to keep Clark Gable’s gay past a secret?
Cukor’s sexuality was an open secret in Hollywood—but Gable’s alleged rent boy days weren’t!

Sylvester/Sylvia

Among Hepburn, Grant & Cukor’s collaborations, two went on to become defining touchstones on the rom-com genre. However, their first collaboration is perhaps the most fascinating one: although it was undoubtedly a misfire on nearly all fronts, it established the patterns that they would replicate more successfully later on, while playfully hinting at their queerness.

Sylvia Scarlett, based on a 1918 novel by Compton MacKenzie, follows Sylvia (Hepburn), a young girl living in Paris with her father Henry (Edmund Gwenn). Upon her mother’s death, she learns that Henry has gone into unmanageable gambling debt, and must escape the country to England, where he intends to smuggle expensive lace and sell it on the black market. Sylvia refuses to be left behind, and convinces Henry to take her with him. However, because a man traveling with a young girl would draw suspicion, Sylvia cuts her hair off, puts on a pair of trousers, and disguises herself as a young man named Sylvester.

In the voyage to England, they meet a fellow con man named Jimmy (Grant), and after a series of mishaps, the three decide to work together to trick and steal from wealthy people. Eventually, Sylvia’s true female identity is revealed to one of their targets, Michael Fane (Brian Aherne), who of course falls in love with her, kickstarting a love triangle with Jimmy.

Chemistry Test

Image Credit: ‘Sylvia Scarlett,’ Warner Archive Collection

The film is infamous for being one of the most unsuccessful movies of the 1930s; it was so poorly reviewed by both audiences and critics that Hepburn was labeled box office poison for many years after, nearly ending her career. And although the film has some minor merits, it’s not hard to understand why. The plot is a muddled and increasingly convoluted series of screwball vignettes that never quite settles into which couple we should be rooting for, now does it have a clear narrative arc for any character

Hepburn and Grant (both in very early stages of their careers) are inarguably magnetic, both as screen presences who would grow to become mega stars and as romantic partners. For some reason, the movie loses interest in them as a couple towards the end, but it’s clear that Cukor saw their chemistry here and would later employ with with much better results. 

Pre-Code Gender Play

Image Credit: ‘Sylvia Scarlett,’ Warner Archive Collection

And then there’s the queer elements present in the text of the film itself. Similarl to what we discussed last week with Greta Garbo in Queen Christina, the lead character is inherently fighting against gender norms by disguising herself as a man. Katherine Hepburn looks surprisingly convincing as a boy (thanks largely to the hair and makeup team), leaning not just into the more traditional masculine traits, but also the boyish naiveté of a young con artist. 

In one of the film’s most memorable sequences, a young maid paints a mustache on her face and then kisses her rather passionately on the lips (in a clear sign of pre-Code standards that would soon disappear entirely), and she continues to wear her male clothes throughout, even after her identity is revealed. There’s a fluidity to her character that Cukor and Hepburn integrate rather seamlessly into the story, and even though Sylvia’s not gay, there’s a definite queerness to her mannerisms.

While the film doesn’t entirely work, Sylvia Scarlett served as a great testing ground for three major figures of the time that would go on to create together some of the most memorable films of the time. It’s also a bit of a skeleton key to understand why we still consider each of them queer icons of the era; traits that may have been dormant alone, but together paint a portrait of what we’ve been lovingly calling the Old Queens of Hollywood.

Sylvia Scarlett is available for digital rental or purchase via Amazon Prime Video & Apple TV.

You can keep track of all LGBTQ+ films covered in our A Gay Old Time column via writer Jorge Molina’s handy Letterboxd List.

Related

Rock Hudson’s secret gay life makes the subtext of ’66 sci-fi thriller Seconds all the more powerful
As a man given a new identity from a shady company, Hudson’s performance is potent—and downright chilling.

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/in-their-first-film-together-cary-grant-katharine-hepburn-experimented-with-gender-and-screen-chemistry-20260627/feed/ 1 These gays are showing their Bottom Pride & butting into your social media feed https://www.queerty.com/these-gays-are-showing-their-bottom-pride-butting-into-your-social-media-feed-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/these-gays-are-showing-their-bottom-pride-butting-into-your-social-media-feed-20260627/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874366

National Play Catch Week has nothing to do with bottoming—the observance, on the third full week of June, is literally about playing catch—but we’ll take any chance to celebrate the “catchers” among us.

And you hardly have to scrape the bottom of the social media barrel to find out-and-proud gay bottoms.

Related

Billy Porter: “I had to hire a professional to teach me how to bottom”
Billy Porter says he hired escorts to teach him how to bottom.

“Being a bottom is wonderful,” one Reddit user said in a thread about the joys of being on the receiving end. “It’s not just about sex or fetishization, like how [others see] it. Bottoming is a gift. It’s a gift to appreciate the love [and] emotion a man can give to another man.”

Your day is about to get a little hotter

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to get your fix of heartthrobs with a side of the hottest queer news and culture.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Others enjoy the power exchange. “Being a bottom allows me to carry my own comfort zone to sex,” another commenter said. “Sex is what my man decides to do with me, and I am in it for one hell of a ride but don’t hold the steering wheel. Whether I am being menaced or caressed, all I need to and can do is follow, obey, and please.”

A third user wrote the best part of bottoming is “the look in his eyes as he enters me, and knowing at that moment it is I who has control. I can use my body to provide divine pleasure and use his lust to please me. While it can be submissive to bottom, I don’t feel it’s just that. I can adjust my body to bring him to the brink of climax and then ease it off to have him beg for more, just as easily as he could for me. It’s a dance of equals for me; penetrating someone does not necessarily make one dominate.”

Meanwhile, over on Instagram, gay bottoms are outing themselves with their hashtags. Check out some of the top #gaybottom posts below.

Related

Start slow, find a rhythm & NEVER while camping: Bottoms give tops pieces of advice they need to hear
It’s time for the bottoms to have the floor…

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/these-gays-are-showing-their-bottom-pride-butting-into-your-social-media-feed-20260627/feed/ 1 Qween Jean’s costume design and activism go hand in hand https://www.queerty.com/qween-jeans-costume-design-and-activism-go-hand-in-hand-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/qween-jeans-costume-design-and-activism-go-hand-in-hand-20260627/#respond Sat, 27 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=873440

Long before Qween Jean brought ballroom to Broadway designing the costumes for Cats: The Jellicle Ball, she had the spirit of the art form inside of her.

Jean was born in Haiti, moving to Florida as a child before heading to New York City for her masters degree. There, she encountered the local ballroom scene, which she has said “changed her life.”

How about we take this to the next level?

Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

“I had not really seen queer people or trans folks, completely liberated, unbound by societal expectations, untethered from binary foolishness. It was like utopia,” the costume designer told Playbill.

Ballroom, she added, “has been home for an entire generation of folks. It is now a global revolution. So, ballroom is not only here to stay—it is also guiding us towards our future.”

Now, at just 26 years old, Jean is a Tony winner for her work on Cats: The Jellice Ball. The reimagined take on the classic musical transforms its titular felines into ferocious ballroom competitors, and Jean designed more than 500 showstopping looks for the occasion.

Jean was also nominated for a Tony this year for her costumes for Liberation, which took home the Tony for Best Play. Earlier this year, she also snatched a Lucille Lortel Award for her work on new musical Saturday Church.

“We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people. We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space,” Jean said on the Tonys stage. “We have to shift the paradigm.”

When she’s not making history on Broadway stages, Jean is a prolific activist. She founded Black Trans Liberation, an organization aiming to end homelessness and food insecurity among trans people, including feeding the community in New York City with weekly meals via the Black Trans Liberation Kitchen.

“At the very beginning of my work as a human rights leader, I was trying to separate the two,” Jean recalled in an interview with The Queer Review. “There were people who only knew me as an activist and people who only knew me as a designer. Now, it’s just me and I can’t leave one part of myself outside and I would not ever try to do that.”

Referencing her work with Cats, Jean said she’s proud to be “uplifting humanity in the most original, brave and necessary way.”

We would certainly agree.

Related

Luke Evans shows how to lead on Broadway as a “happy gay man”
The actor is owning the kind of visibility Hollywood once made feel impossible

Cats: The Jellicle Ball brings the runway to Broadway in radical fashion
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” has been nominated for nine Tony Awards.

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/qween-jeans-costume-design-and-activism-go-hand-in-hand-20260627/feed/ 0 Queerty Crossword: June 27, 2026 https://www.queerty.com/queerty-crossword-june-27-2026-20260627/ https://www.queerty.com/queerty-crossword-june-27-2026-20260627/#respond Sat, 27 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874368 ]]> https://www.queerty.com/queerty-crossword-june-27-2026-20260627/feed/ 0 Queerty’s crossword master Korey Kuhl on The Amazing Race, hot gay summer & life after viral stardom https://www.queerty.com/queertys-crossword-master-korey-kuhl-on-the-amazing-race-hot-gay-summer-life-after-viral-stardom-20260626/ Sat, 27 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874384

This article is offered exclusively to members, those who contribute monthly or annually to Queerty.

View this article on Queerty to learn more or log in to continue reading.

]]> A judge just cleared the way for the unredacted Epstein files surrounding Tr*mp’s 13-year-old accuser https://www.queerty.com/a-judge-just-cleared-the-way-for-the-unredacted-epstein-files-surrounding-trmps-13-year-old-accuser-20260626/ https://www.queerty.com/a-judge-just-cleared-the-way-for-the-unredacted-epstein-files-surrounding-trmps-13-year-old-accuser-20260626/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.queerty.com/?p=874398

When the Epstein files were released in December and January, the many mystifying redactions made certain journalists instantly smell a rat.

One such journalist, lawyer and MSNBC commentator Katie Phang, took the problem to court and won as of this week. The decision could have far-reaching implications for Tr*mp’s DOJ, including Todd Blanche, who’s now being told by a lawyer to offer up the unredacted files or face the legal consequences.

@aaronparnas1

6/25

♬ original sound – Aaron Parnas

Yesterday afternoon, a DC judge ordered the removal of redactions on several Epstein files, including the names of several co-conspirators and “at least eight email exchanges with Mr. Epstein regarding a ‘torture video’ and sexual activity with young women, including minors.” We don’t know why these redactions were initially made, but we can venture a guess.

Politics, but make it gay!

Stay woke with our briefing while staying informed on all things LGBTQ+ entertainment, life, and more!
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

But the most interesting part of the case has less to do with Epstein, and more to do with Tr*mp.

Remember that extremely disturbing allegation from a witness deemed credible by the FBI in the 1980s concerning a girl between 13 and 15 years old getting SA’ed by Tr*mp?

And remember how the DOJ tried to hide the file only to initiate a Streisand Effect that saw the same account getting splashed across multiple major cities in billboard form?

Well, apparently the judge has also ordered that the full FBI notes from that sordid episode be turned over.

Phang made a compelling case, and now Blanche must either comply with the release demand, or show legitimate cause as why he is unable to release the unredacted documents. He has until July 2 to do this.

Sadly, I think we all know which path he’s going to take, even if it gets him in even deeper trouble. If there’s one thing Tr*mp goons know how to do, it’s get away with breaking the law in ever more egregious ways.

Blanche and the DOJ first disobeyed the instructions to release the files in full on December 19th, 30 days after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law. That day, the DOJ only made a fraction of the files available in heavily-redacted form. A month later, in late January, they released another tranche, totaling 3 million of what is conjectured to be around 6 million files.

But there were more problems. Not only were the files redacted to protect the names of powerful figures while leaving many underage victims’ faces, bodies, and identifying details viewable, certain pages concerning allegations about Tr*mp’s treatment of victims mysteriously disappeared shortly afterward, only to be reuploaded after netizens discovered the sneaky change.

Despite Tr*mp’s best attempts at protecting himself from the fallout, the redactions have caused far more problems for him that he might have anticipated. Since the January release, there have been projections on prominent public buildings linking Tr*mp to Epstein’s SA empire, a Times Square billboard calling attention to their special friendship, and a Donald J. Tr*mp and Jeffrey Epstein memorial library, where anyone can read thousands of binders of printed-out Epstein files in Washington.

Unfortunately, despite many of the allegations about Tr*mp in the files, the DOJ has been able to shift focus away from the scandal and toward Tr*mp’s many high profile distraction fumbles, including the Iran War. Now, however, as the midterms inch closer and the war comes to a definitive close, the public attention could finally be exactly where Democrats need it to be.

Related

Rumors about Tr*mp’s experimental drug trial could reveal a deadly truth
The “compassionate use” detail has people wondering

Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.

]]> https://www.queerty.com/a-judge-just-cleared-the-way-for-the-unredacted-epstein-files-surrounding-trmps-13-year-old-accuser-20260626/feed/ 3