Every week in The Buzz here at Xtra, we break down the latest buzz on what famous queer and trans people are up to that you need to know about. Some weeks it’s important casting announcements, engay-gements or groundbreaking movies and TV shows. Other weeks it’s a famous singer’s $43,000 diamond cock ring.
And some weeks, it’s both. This is one of those weeks, where the world got everything from queer love to the return of The L Word: Generation Q to, yes, a certain diamond-encrusted luxury item.
Here’s what you missed this week in queer and trans pop culture.
→ Everyone’s favourite dyke drama is getting a blast of star power.
On Monday, news broke that non-binary singer-songwriter Kehlani is set to join The L Word: Generation Q for its upcoming third season. They will play Ivy, “a makeup artist and young parent who heads up Alice’s glam team and falls for the wrong person.”
Nominated for a Grammy in 2016, Kehlani has developed a following of devoted fans, with over 14 million followers on Instagram.
The show will also add Margaret Cho as herself, and Joanna Cassidy and Joey Lauren Adams in supporting roles. The upcoming season premieres Nov. 20.
Also, get ready for more Tess! Jamie Clayton has been upgraded to a series regular for Season 3. Clayton plays Tess, the bar manager and business partner (and love interest) of Katherine Moennig’s Shane.
And if you need to catch up on everything Seasons 1 and 2 before Season 3 drops, check out Xtra’s Off the Chart podcast for all of your recap needs.
→ Demi Lovato has adjusted her pronouns to be both they/them and she/her, after exclusively using they/them for the past year. The singer spoke about the shift in a recent podcast appearance, saying that she’s felt more of a connection to her feminine side lately, hence to the embracing of she/her.
“Last year, my energy was balanced in my masculine and feminine energy,” Lovato said.
“I just felt like a human, and that’s what they/them is about for me. It’s about, like, feeling human at your core … [recently] I’ve been feeling more feminine, and so I’ve adopted she/her again.”
→ A League of Their Own and Broad City star Abbi Jacobson is engaged to South African actress Jodi Balfour. The pair sported engagement rings on the red carpet for ALOTO’s Los Angeles premiere this week.
→ More than 200 Gentleman Jack fans staged a flash mob set to the show’s theme song outside Shibden Hall (aka the home of Anne Lister) to bring attention to the show and push for its renewal.
→ Pose star Angelica Ross is set to be the first trans woman to lead a Broadway production of Chicago when she takes on the role of Roxie Hart for an upcoming eight-week run of the show starting Sept. 12.
→ An upcoming production of Cats is looking to move the musical from the street to the queer ballroom. New York’s Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center has put out a casting call for the unique production, which looks like it won’t feature any tails or whiskers.
“This is a workshop of the musical Cats reimagined within the context of the ballroom scene,” the casting call reads. “The reimagination will take place at a Ball: a competition that, through multiple categories, invites an unapologetic celebration of the self. Please note that all characters in this production are human, not literal ‘cats.’”
→ Theo Germaine is the defiant non-binary heart of the slasher film They/Them. In an interview with Them, they spoke about how the film tackles the horrors of conversion therapy.
“I think saying that just goes to show that conversion therapy—and attempting to change who somebody is in that way—is abuse, plain and simple. Not to be biblical about it, but it’s a sin to do that,” they said.
→ Speaking of They/Them, the film itself has garnered mixed reviews, including for this scene that feels like a spiritual successor to Glee and is certainly in the running for the cringiest movie scene of the year.
→ RuPaul’s Drag Race star Shea Couleé is joining Marvel, with a role in the upcoming streaming series Ironheart.
→ The recently shelved Batgirl film was supposed to feature DC’s first trans movie character, played by Ivory Aquino.
Aquino reacted to the cancellation on Twitter, sharing support for star Leslie Grace.
→ Country artist Brian Falduto (whom you may remember as the sassy kid in the 2003 film School of Rock) has released the first single, “Same Old Country Love Song,” from his upcoming EP, Gay Country, which is, unsurprisingly, pretty gay and pretty country.
→ Frank Ocean is releasing a luxury cock ring through his brand Homer called the “XXXL H-Bone Ring.” The 18K yellow-gold ring features 60 diamonds and costs a cool $43,000 CAD. That’s a lot of stones.
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