Empire 's Gay Son Is the Show's Greatt Asset

Contents:

• EMPIRE'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET
• ‘EMPIRE’ ACTOR JSIE SMOLLETT REVEALS HE’S GAY ON ‘ELLEN’: ‘THERE IS NO CLOSET’
• EMPIRE 'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

EMPIRE'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

Rather than jt flailg agast his father's homophobia and retreatg to the fort of his keyboard, Jamal summoned his anger to a missn statement: He pledged to take over his father's pany. First, and I fear we've unrsold this our last two reps, how spectacular is that a work TV show picts not only a gay man of lor, but a gay man of lor the hetero-domated world of hip-hop? Lee Daniels and his team may have unrled Luc's homophobia too hard so far, havg him nsistently refer to Jamal as female and sist homosexualy is a choice egregly bluntly, but 's probably (and sadly) realistic—and mak Jamal's assertn that he is a gay man, emphasis on both of those scriptors, all the more valuable.

"The 31-year-old "Empire" star me out on "The Ellen DeGener Show" after his character om the h Fox seri revealed he's gay. "WITH A JUICY BLEND OF MUSIC, DRAMA AND OUTRAGEOUSNESS, 'EMPIRE' HAS BECOME THE BREAKOUT HIT OF 2015Jsie Smollett discs his role on ‘Empire’ and how he had to dn seven tim before landg the role of Jamal Lyon, who me out as gay a recent episo. Smollett also revealed he's gay real life.

"Followg the episo when his character me out, Smollett received hate onle, but didn't ter him om movg forward wh the storyle or revealg he's also gay real life. Throughout the history of cema, there have been grippg and groundbreakg LGBTQ+ films – stori takg the liv, history, and experienc of people who intify as gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, pansexual and beyond. A key shkicker the early '90s New Queer Cema movement, Araki took a baseball bat to hetero-normative culture and explored gay life on the margs durg Bh's admistratn films by turns funny, ank and anguished.

‘EMPIRE’ ACTOR JSIE SMOLLETT REVEALS HE’S GAY ON ‘ELLEN’: ‘THERE IS NO CLOSET’

The Livg End is his bt picture, a so-lled 'gay Thelma & Louise', as film cric Jon (Craig Gilmore) and drifter Le (Mike Dytri), both diagnosed as HIV-posive ("the Neo-Nazi Republin fal solutn, " says Jon about AIDS), kill a homophobic p and go on the lam, offg any bigot who stand their way. It's a rare early '90s gay film which no-one di or trmatilly out. Buy on Amazon UK3 of 5048) Beach Rats (2017)Eliza Htman's send film is an timate portra of ternalised homophobia and toxic masculy, the bed force of which sends Frankie (a brilliant breakout om future star Harris Dickson) to a tailsp.

Pched very much as an antihero, Woodroof is shown as toxilly homophobic before his illns, velopg empathy for fellow gay and trans patients across the film. All that, and am Dive as a pneer who preced the trends of punk, dis and techno before they h big, and reveals the very human vulnerabily behd the sndalo on Amazon UK7 of 5044) The Mistn Of Cameron Post (2018)Conversn therapy isn't new ground for LGBTQ+ cema, but Diree Akhavan's take on one of the most sid forms of homophobia blends drama, edy, and an timate die sensibily a film that wtily rais a cked eyebrow at their ridiculo practic, whout unrmg the pa and harm they e to those forced to enter them. They don't know she's gay.

It's the b, fact, that is the Priscilla of the tle – a vehicle which needs regular repatg (most strikgly an all-pk makeover) to ver up the homophobic abe scrawled on s si, as the gang enunter iendly Aborigals and some ls-iendly townsfolk as they travel om Sydney to Alice Sprgs. If you wouldn't st Terence Stamp as trans woman Bernatte today, Priscilla boasts great performanc om Stamp, Hugo Weavg and Guy Pearce – the tr absolutely turng out their inic lip sync performance of CeCe Peniston's 'Fally', and htg all the dramatic beats as the story unvers revelatns about their personal liv and on Amazon UK10 of 5041) Stranger By The Lake (2013)The wner of the Queer Palm award 2014, Ala Guirdie's elegant, credibly watchable film is a provotive batn of Hchck thriller, doomed love story, and perhaps the bt-acted gay porn flick ever ma.

EMPIRE 'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

Directed by William Friedk, who later directed a more qutnable pictn of gay life Cisg, the film's place history is ensured as the first major stud picture to tackle homosexualy head on.

If subsequently divid the muny for s characters' sense of self-loathg and reprsn, sails by on top flight bchery, fluid filmmakg and serv as an important time psule pturg what meant to be gay late '60s Ameri. It's an even more powerful statement nsirg homosexualy is still currently illegal Kenya, and Rafiki was banned there due to s "clear tent to promote lbianism". Tom Hanks livers an Osr-wng turn as Andrew Beckett, a high-flyg gay lawyer who's abptly disrd om his law firm when the senr partners disver he has AIDS.

He teams up wh Denzel Washgton's homophobic attorney Joe Miller to fight back, takg the firm to urt over his dismissal.