HBO MaxThere is a sequence the fourth episo of HBO Max’s Genera+n that is a verable gay song “Lucky” by Brney Spears begs blastg, a mpy bubblegum ballad om the pop star so unrrated and beloved by her most voted fans that the synthized “thunks” of the tro trigger Pavlovian shrieks of, “Oh my god, ’s ‘Lucky!’” om any gay man wh earshot.Chter, the gay water polo star and rint rabble roer played by Jtice Smh, is gettg ready for school. Lhe and shirtls, his lavenr hair dye glisteng the morng light, he starts admirg himself the mirror. Workg his angl, he begs applyg eyhadow and some sparklg highlighter, offsettg the fuchsia psy-bow bloe, strg of pearls, and striped rdigan he cis to put on. Then ’s time to film the selfie vio for social media, sellg the look for the some olr gay men watchg, ’s a wish-fulfillment fantasy, glterg wh the nfince and openns they uld not have. For about two mut, seems as if Chter’s sk is peeled back to reveal every flamboyance, anti-genr flourish, and quirk—not to mentn the fort of knowg that others thk he’s fly, too. For some queer members of Gen Z, ’s jt the realy of how they live their liv, which is s own, betiful thg. But for others, ’s still not. That’s what Jtice Smh grappled wh, and why he felt himself blossom after actg out the scene.“I remember feelg really secure that day,” Smh says, the 25-year-old actor’s cheekbon threateng to burst through the Zoom screen as he giggl at himself while we talk. There’s already an embarrassg sense of solu when an actor has to shoot a scene like that solo, let alone one that requir them to work their angl and, for lack of a better phrase, “feel themselv” for a selfie ‘Kid 90’ and Punky Brewster Helped Soleil Moon Frye Release the Pa—and Shame—of Her Past“Sometim when I have to be, like, ‘hot’ as a character, I n play the humor of that, where I’m makg a joke of ,” he says. “But Chter genuely is like, ‘I look hot, I look really good. I have my makp done. I’m gonna do my ltle angl.’ So I’m lookg at myself the selfie mera beg like, I hope this works out…” He doubl over lghg. “Bee I don’t have any experience lookg good.”Clockg the eyeroll g om the other end of the Zoom nnectn, he grs sheepishly. Jtice Smh looks very good. “OK, OK, OK…” he says. “But Chter has really tght me about athetics and angl, and fashn and makp and all this kd of stuff.”Born Anaheim, the fifth of ne siblgs, Smh got his biggt break 2016 when he was st as one of the young leads Baz Luhrmann’s amb Netflix seri The Get Down, a mil drama about life the South Bronx the late 1970s. While at the time one of the most expensive TV shows history, s n was short-lived at jt 11 , nnoned him to the top of Young Hollywood stg wishlists, and soon Smh went om sgg and dancg for the director of Moul Rouge! to the dtry’s new -mand actn star, wh lead rol Jurassic World: Fallen Kgdom and the Pokémon film Detective Pikachu. So when Smh ma his but as Chter Genera+n, was treated by crics as somethg of a seri is created by 19-year-old Zelda Barn and her father, Daniel, makg the rare look at growg up Gen Z that is actually ma by a member of Gen Z. It’s a spotlight for the full spectm of genr and sexual inty that the younger generatn has e to embrace. And ’s a batn tn and horror film for those unaware of the nversatns the kids the days are havg, and the sex and partyg that they’re as culture wrer Joseph Longo wrote Mel magaze, uld also be nsired one of the first exampl of “post-‘It Gets Better’ TV,” shakg the mandate for satly portrayals of queer people, or the ia that “visibily is the same as diversy.” Longo wr: “Queer people n be problematic, toxic and flawed, and Genera+n mak that abundantly clear. It’s good we’re fally seeg our ms splayed on screen, not exced.”Smh’s Chter has issu wh boundari and thory. He suffers om anxiety, which n sometim manift as beg a total jackass. He’s popular, and sometim a bully. But he’s also a solar flare of light a trated generatn: om his fashn to his attu, he is the epome of Smh, ’s a personal role, too. Over the summer, he me out as queer—though he rejects the polics of the phrase “g out.”“I’m so happy to be on this show that is gay as fuck,” he says, practilly bellowg those last three words.“All the characters are gay as hell!” he ntu, his energy cracklg off his limbs as he gticulat. “I mean, not all of them, but I like to say that. But to jt like give a show to queers by queers. Like sure, straight people, you n watch , too. But for so long, queer people have had to try to fd their like reprentatn straight material. And, like, now ’s kd of the other way around.”Comg Out, or Fleeg the ‘Hoe of Assumptn’When Smh starts talkg about the rearch he did to play Chter, he starts gigglg aga. He watched every season of Ameri’s Next Top Mol (and is happy to do his bt Tyra Banks “we were all rootg for you!” imprsn), as well as every episo of RuPl’s Drag Race, cludg the recent ternatnal seasons. “I mean… I jt got to s ont of the TV all day.”It’s a syllab that paid off of the most memorable scen the Genera+n premiere after Chter is sent to the guidance unselor and asked to change his cloth after vlatg the drs ; turns out a rabow-striped, kn crop top secured by overall straps that’s barely long enough to ver your nippl is not school-appropriate. (Let be known that ’s accsorized wh a yellow dog-llar choker, red half-moon sunglass, and tartan harem pants.)To make a show of thgs, he snters to the school’s urtyard, starts shoutg if anyone n sell him a new shirt for a dollar, and strips the crop top off entirely, swivelg his hips and posg as his classmat gawk. Warrick Page/HBO Max “I was jt like, I hope I’m dog Miss J proud,” Smh says, referrg to the legendary Top Mol molg ach. But scen like that tend to feel ls like stttg down the nway and more like teeterg on a tightrope between thartic and trmatizg for the one hand, was impossible not to feel amazg once he put on Chter’s cloth, to the pot that he noticed even his body would move differently.“It’s jt utter, pure self-love,” he says. “And I thk that’s somethg that everyone should experience bee ’s been credible to my own evolutn of self-love and thkg that I look good.” He smirks: “Sometim bleeds to arrogance. I will say that. But that’s not bee of Chter. That’s jt bee I’m a Leo and I am gog to be va.”Even wearg Chter’s nfince, though, he was a ms of nerv shootg the scene. He didn’t breathe, tensg every mcle he had and suckg his stomach as much as possible. Here he was playg a scene which his character uldn’t be more fortable his own sk, yet he was so unrelaxed he uldn’t stop sweatg.“I got a glimpse to how actrs, specifilly, have to do that nstantly,” he says. “Even rol where the pot is not even like, ‘Oh, she’s so hot.’ But bee of this double standard that society has, they’re forced to, like, be hot when they cry. To have their hair done perfectly when they’re emotnal. It’s fucked up. It was a glimpse to that: How do I look attractive and also play my character? So that was really tertg.”While he uldn’t brg himself to say at the time, when he watch the scene back, he n adm, “Damn, Chter looks good.” That’s the kd of revolutnary thg about intifi as queer. In an Instagram post this summer, he exprsed his solidary for Black queer and Black trans liv, wrg his support “as a Black queer man myself” and clarg his love for his boyiend, Nicholas marks the rare ocsn where an actor who publicly intifi as queer is playg a character that isn’t jt also queer, but fierce and nfint. The narrative isn’t rooted his margalizatn or the trma and stggle he experienc. His inty is celebrated, a posive portrayal that queer actors Hollywood still fight for the opportuny to play.“There’s all the amazgly dynamic queer characters, and they go to straight actors. Then those straight actors are lled ‘brave,’ which mak no sense to me,” Smh says. “That’s so sultg. I don’t unrstand how ’s brave to, like, prs your lips agast another human beg’s lips. That is jt somethg that human begs do. It’s not a brave thg to do.” HBO Max The biggt pot for Smh is that he, as a person, is nothg like Chter. He is actg. Playg him is a stretch. They both are queer Black men, but they are not the same person. Not only do he get to play a queer character, but, as an actor, he’s gettg to do real character work—the kd that straight actors are so often ld for when they take on queer , Chter isn’t relegated to beg someone’s bt iend, or the show’s ic relief. “Whenever we’re nonted wh personali that are loud and effervcent and big, society assum that they lack profundy,” he says. “That’s not fair. Extroverted, big personali are jt as plex as the kid the back of the classroom wrg poetry his notebook.”Bee of his feelgs about straight actors playg queer characters, Smh had always planned to, as he lls , “step out of the hoe assumptn” and let people know that he intifi as queer before the show premiered. “Like, I don’t want anyone to ever assume that I’m straight,” he says, sg to say he’s (mostly) kiddg. “That’s so dumb. Don’t assume that. That’s like such an sult.”But he also rejects the ia of “g out,” the ia that dividuals owe the rt of the world an announcement about their sexualy. “When you’re a public figure, the hoe of assumptn is built around you,” he says. “And then everyone cid, you need to tell who you fuck.”It was durg the Black Liv Matter ralli over the summer—”the revolutn,” he lls —that he need to get out of the hoe of assumptn, and he wanted to associate himself wh the msage of protectg Black queerns when he did .Brgg back to Genera+n, he says, “I jt love that this show kd of celebrat all that progrs. The characters are open and fluid and alg wh the nuanc of sexualy, and not jt sexualy self.”It’s about gettg to be “gay as fuck”—but also so much more at The Daily our top stori your box every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Insi go eper on the stori that matter to you. Learn more.
Contents:
- GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- CAMERON MONAGHAN PLAYS AN OPENLY GAY MAN ON 'SHAMELS,' BUT IS HE IRL?
- JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
- THE WCHER WAS SUPER GAY WAY BEFORE SEASON 3
- JTICE SMH FALLY GETS TO BE ‘GAY AS F*CK’ ON ‘GENERA+N’
- ION PEREZ HS BACK AT BASHERS LLG HIM GAY BEE OF HIS INSTAGRAM PHOTO
- ION PEREZ NI MORS THAT HE IS GAY: “HDI PO. SOBRANG STRAIGHT PO AKO”
- ION FURY MAKERS REVERSE CISN TO REMOVE TY UNFUNNY GAY JOKE, BEE APPARENTLY THAT WOULD BE "CENSORSHIP"
- ION FURY DEVELOPER BACKTRACKS, SAYS IT WON'T REMOVE GAY JOKE BEE OF 'CENSORSHIP'
- WAS LLN GAY?
- HOW THE ANAL NCER EPIMIC GAY AND BI HIV-POSIVE MEN N BE PREVENTED
- GAY MAN, IN GAY SLANG CROSSWORD CLUE
- THE REAL REASON SAMI GAYLE LEFT BLUE BLOODS
GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. * ion gay *
In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.
Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.
“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
Is Ian om 'Shamels' gay real life? Actor Cameron Monaghan obtaed unmatched populary wh his portrayal of Ian, who me out Season 1. * ion gay *
Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.
Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help. Many also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry.
CAMERON MONAGHAN PLAYS AN OPENLY GAY MAN ON 'SHAMELS,' BUT IS HE IRL?
Crackl is a misexual gay character om Invtigatn of Object Nucleary. This sectn is need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by edg . Crackl is a yellow geiger unter wh green glass. In his humanized form he is a light skned person wh ey that... * ion gay *
González wh Human Rights Watch noted that 2019, the ernment held a workshop for public employe on the importance of rpectg gay rights, a rare move for a nservative Caribbean natn. Article ntu below advertisementOn 'Shamels, ' Cameron Monaghan plays Ian, a character who me out as gay Season the past seasons, we've watched how Cameron's on-screen character, Ian, and his partner, Mickey, have tried to bat reprsn and societal stigma to build a better relatnship.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
Ion Perez, who's a relatnship wh Vice Ganda, gets riled by izens llg him gay. * ion gay *
Saturday, July 15, 2023In the ty town of Plas, Va., the nservative Christian neighbors of the gay-owned Front Porch Market and Grill have been workg to shut down the rtrant. Before jog Jacksonville’s achg staff, he was a strength ach for the football teams at Baylor and Febary 2022, Maxen reached out to NFL player Carl Nassib, who me out as gay 2021, to seek advice.
THE WCHER WAS SUPER GAY WAY BEFORE SEASON 3
* ion gay *
SiegedSec, a self-scribed group of gay furry hackers, took s skills to state ernments late June, breachg agenci across five stat and releasg a wealth of data.The stat targeted on June 27 were Texas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and South Carola. "Uwu gay furri pwn you~ We'll be back aga soon to ntue our chaos and stctn!"Some news outlets, such as Them, raised ncerns that the group's actns uld expose random people to harm, not jt the targeted ernments.
It also troduced the world to Rickie Vasquez, played by Out ver star Wilson Cz, the first gay character played by a gay actor a leadg role Amerin televisn history. Hulu's genr-swapped adaptatn of the novel by Nick Hornby and the classic John Cack film -- which starred Zoe Kravz as the rerd-store-owng, list-lovg, bad-at-love Rob and featured gay romance storyl via gay ma character Simon (David H. The show starred Sean Hay as secret agent Steve Maryweather, the goln boy of the Amerin Intelligence Agency who was forced to obscury Wt Hollywood after he publicly me out as gay.
JTICE SMH FALLY GETS TO BE ‘GAY AS F*CK’ ON ‘GENERA+N’
Ion Perez hs back at bashers llg him gay bee of his Instagram photo. * ion gay *
The show, which jt premiered on May 31, follows a Black, young, gay, billnaire, geni ventor (played by Tian Richards) who is "thst to a world of sci-fi nspiracy and unexplaed phenomena" after his father disappears. Though was highly-anticipated and featured an ensemble st that clud some of our queer fav like Jse Jam Keel, CG, Dev Way, F Arg, Johnny Sibilly, Ryan O'Connell, Kim Cattrall, and Juliette Lewis, Peack axxed the first and only season of Stephen Dunn's morn, rebooted versn of the beloved gay seri om the 2000s by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, which was based off of Rsell T Davi' 1999 Brish TV seri of the same name. At the time, shownner Lren S Hissrich nied any homoerotic unrton, explag that this was "jt an example of male iendship" be fair, if any bottom was gog to receive pliments om straight men, would be the extremely pert and ed lovely one that belongs to Henry Cavill.
And when they were fally rned after an extend absence, Jaskier got his k off the first chance he uld get, showg off his newly-sculpted abs a bid to imprs Geralt and remd him of what he'd been missg out aga, The Wcher team nied any homoerotic unrton between the pair. After Nightmare of the Wolf tossed a blk-and-you'll-miss- gay character lled La, the Blood Orig prequel wove multiple queer storyl around Meldof's lost love, Gwen, and Nathaniel Curtis' "Fancy Gay J" (as the st liked to ll him). But the cx of all is that homophob n no longer ny Jaskier's queerns, so stead, they argue 's wrong bee 's not fahful to the source, Jaskier isn't queer the books, that's te, but where's the outrage for the many other chang that Netflix has ma to The Wcher then?
Speakg jt recently to Gay Tim, Batey mented on this "very vol negative space wh the fandom, " potg out that 's "actually the mory, " not the majory, who feel this way.
ION PEREZ HS BACK AT BASHERS LLG HIM GAY BEE OF HIS INSTAGRAM PHOTO
Ion Fury's makers have reversed their cisn to remove a ty unfunny gay joke om the game, sayg that would be… * ion gay *
We hope he's right bee do seem absurd to object agast a queer-d character beg revealed as queer a world where basilisks and chernobogs are readily accepted as the Jaskier sgs his new gay banger, their love is "not a want, 's a need".
HBO MaxThere is a sequence the fourth episo of HBO Max’s Genera+n that is a verable gay song “Lucky” by Brney Spears begs blastg, a mpy bubblegum ballad om the pop star so unrrated and beloved by her most voted fans that the synthized “thunks” of the tro trigger Pavlovian shrieks of, “Oh my god, ’s ‘Lucky! Then ’s time to film the selfie vio for social media, sellg the look for the some olr gay men watchg, ’s a wish-fulfillment fantasy, glterg wh the nfince and openns they uld not have. Bea Alonzo, Domic Roque are now engaged: “we cid on forever” Lea Salonga remds fans about ‘boundari’ Ple Amelckx is Miss Supranatnal 2023 1st nner-up Kris Aquo breaks up wh Mark Leviste Mae Mendoza at Arjo Atay ikakasal na sa July “It’s Showtime” breakout star Ion Perez nied reports that he is gay, this me about after he and Vice Ganda announced their romantic relatnship.
ION PEREZ NI MORS THAT HE IS GAY: “HDI PO. SOBRANG STRAIGHT PO AKO”
AdmJuly 19, 2023 Kris Aquo: “buhay ako ngayon dahil kasama ako sa prayers nyo”Actrs and TV host Kris Aquo gave her fans and followers an update of her recent health ndn. After apologisg last week for cludg two small, puerile gay jok Ion Fury, the throwback FPS's makers and publishers have now clared that their voluntary cisn to cut one of those would actually nstute "censorship" and they nnot abi that. Voidpot apologised last week for some shty anti-trans guff om velopers on the game's official Disrd chat server as well as two stupid gay jok they had put Ion Fury.
They said that some of their number "have ma sexist and transphobic ments, and clud homophobic language Ion Fury" and that this was "sensive, unacceptable, and unterproductive to of equaly. The rponse last week om publishers 3D Realms (who are actually Interceptor Entertament wearg the flayed and sold sk of 3D Realms) said that Voidpot "clud homophobic language the game which was not approved by " and that the game would "be patched ASAP to remove all unacceptable language.
But, shortly after, players disvered homophobic ntent the game, and some began to circulate screenshots of transphobic and sexist ments ma by the game’s s velopers on Disrd.
ION FURY MAKERS REVERSE CISN TO REMOVE TY UNFUNNY GAY JOKE, BEE APPARENTLY THAT WOULD BE "CENSORSHIP"
”“We will absolutely NOT be censorg Ion Fury or any of our other gam, now or the future, cludg but not limed to by removg gags such as gamg’s most ntroversial facial wash, ” the statement -game ntent, which Voidpot had emed “homophobic” a statement to Eurogamer last week, clud shampoo bottl wh the word “OGAY” on them, as well as a secret area ntag the word “fagbag.
ION FURY DEVELOPER BACKTRACKS, SAYS IT WON'T REMOVE GAY JOKE BEE OF 'CENSORSHIP'
3D Realms issued a separate statement to Kotaku which exprsed support for Voidpot’s cisn to vociferoly fend s joke about how Olay, a shampoo brand that had a tchy mercial the 90s, is gay. ”Ion Fury is now receivg negative reviews over s creators’ cisn to backtrack on removg homophobia—albe so far ls overwhelmg volume than the review bombs last week. Lbian | Gay | Bisexual | Transgenr | LGBT | LGBTQIA | Phoenix | | Whout Rervatns | Not That You Asked | Intense 'Indtry' openg | Kchen basics om a profsnal chef | Mutual aid efforts strengthen relatnship muni | Leon Polk Smh: Hidg Pla Sight at Heard Mm.
But on Generatn, they n be out, fabulo and n the new HBO Max origal explor the plexi of genr and sexualy among Gen Zs through the story of a high school gay-straight alliance club. Mark your lendar for the annual Arizona Gay Roo, Pri Run Phoenix, Phoenix Pri and Rabows Ftival — which take place near Tempe — as well as performanc, parti, shows and events, cludg AIDS Walk Arizona, that take place right Tempe.
WAS LLN GAY?
Tripp is not the first to argue that Lln was homosexual -- earlier wrers have parsed his iendship wh Joshua Speed, the young store owner he lived wh after movg to Sprgfield, Ill. Tripp argu that a cultural nocence -- the word "homosexual" had not yet been ed -- allowed acts of physil closens between men that had no eper meang, as well as acts that did but uld pe scty. The term “homosexualy, ” while sometim nsired anachronistic the current era, is the most applible and easily translatable term to e when askg this qutn across societi and languag and has been ed other cross-natnal studi, cludg the World Valu Survey.
HOW THE ANAL NCER EPIMIC GAY AND BI HIV-POSIVE MEN N BE PREVENTED
Dpe major chang laws and norms surroundg the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people around the world, public opn on the acceptance of homosexualy society remas sharply divid by untry, regn and enomic velopment.
GAY MAN, IN GAY SLANG CROSSWORD CLUE
In many of the untri surveyed, there also are differenc on acceptance of homosexualy by age, tn, e and, some stanc, genr – and several s, the differenc are substantial.
For example, some untri, those who are affiliated wh a relig group tend to be ls acceptg of homosexualy than those who are unaffiliated (a group sometim referred to as relig “non”). For example, Swen, the Netherlands and Germany, all of which have a per-pa gross domtic product over $50, 000, acceptance of homosexualy is among the hight measured across the 34 untri surveyed. The study is a follow-up to a 2013 report that found many of the same patterns as seen today, although there has been an crease acceptance of homosexualy across many of the untri surveyed both years.
THE REAL REASON SAMI GAYLE LEFT BLUE BLOODS
But sub-Saharan Ai, the Middle East, Rsia and Ukrae, few say that society should accept homosexualy; only South Ai (54%) and Israel (47%) do more than a quarter hold this view. However, while took nearly 15 years for acceptance to rise 13 pots om 2000 to jt before the feral legalizatn of gay marriage June 2015, there was a near equal rise acceptance jt the four years sce legalizatn.
This difference was most pronounced South Korea, where 79% of 18- to 29-year-olds say homosexualy should be accepted by society, pared wh only 23% of those 50 and olr. This staggerg 56-pot difference exceeds the next largt difference Japan by 20 pots, where 92% and 56% of those ag 18 to 29 and 50 and olr, rpectively, say homosexualy should be accepted by society.