Now is the time of year we all start to look back on what 2021 gave us. From Lil Nas X’s metoric rise to the IKEA bisexual couch, so much has happened that’s worth looking back on.
But amidst all of those year-end lists and roundups (many of which you’ll be able to check out in Xtra in the coming weeks!), new queer pop culture just keeps on happening.
And every week in “The Buzz,” we keep you up to date on everything you missed and more. This week, we have the buzz on the Golden Globe nominations, Anne Rice’s passing and what Laverne Cox thinks of JoJo Siwa.
Here’s what you missed this week in queer and trans pop culture.
→This past weekend, horror author Anne Rice passed away at the age of 80.
While another prominent fantasy author continues to double down on horrific transphobia, Rice will be remembered as a consummate ally to LGBTQ2S+ communities. Her work, including Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned was heralded for exploring complex LGBTQ2S+ themes around alienation, HIV/AIDS and identity.
In a 2016 interview with The Daily Beast, she said she welcomed the warm reception her work received from gay communities.
“I’ve always been very much a champion of gay rights, and art produced by gay people,” Rice said. “People told me Interview with the Vampire was a gay allegory, and I was very honoured by that. I think I have a gay sensibility and I feel like I’m gay, because I’ve always transcended gender, and I’ve always seen love as transcending gender.”
Rice was a devout Christian for many years, but “quit” the religion in 2010, calling it “anti-gay” and “anti-feminist.” Rice’s son Christopher, a novelist in his own right, is gay. He announced the news of her death on social media this weekend.
“The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated,” he wrote. “As my mother, her support for me was unconditional—she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt.”
Rice was also an ally to trans people. In an essay this week, actress Phaylen Fairchild described Rice as the first person she came out to as gay, and then later as trans.
“In typical Anne fashion, she thought it was fabulous. She told me at the time that she believed transgender people were sacred; that we possessed a unique gift of life experience that few ever would, which would allow us to see the world from ‘A view from the greatest height,’” Fairchild wrote.
“Anne Rice was the first person who made me feel that it was okay to be comfortable in my skin, and that my journey as a transgender woman was special—not because I was by any means odd, weird or different—but that I was worthy of celebrating because my very existence was ‘A remark on the magic of the complex human condition.’”
→The Golden Globe nominations are here, and there’s plenty of queer content to celebrate, even if the awards are going ahead without a televised ceremony. MJ Rodriguez is nominated in the TV drama category for her stellar work on Pose, while the Best Actress in a Drama race is as stacked as any queer fan could hope the Oscars will be, with Kristen Stewart, Lady Gaga, Olivia Colman, Nicole Kidman and Jessica Chastain vying for the top prize. Check out the full list of nominations here.
→Sara Ramieriz spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about playing the first openly non-binary character in the Sex and the City universe.
“I think the fact that there are women in their 50s and a non-binary character in their 40s makes [checking in with these lives] worthwhile… typically in the industry, we are conditioned to believe that after a certain age, certain genders and certain types of people are not worth checking into or seeing on screen,” they said. “This show is hoping to inspire people to think beyond that.”
→After a stint away filming the Tiger King movie, Kate McKinnon has returned to wreak her unique lesbian chaos upon Saturday Night Live. But newer cast member Punkie Johnson also brought laughs this week, talking about fears of having a straight daughter.
→Wonder Woman has a girlfriend! In the latest issue of DC Comics’ Dark Knights of Steel, she shares a passionate kiss with girlfriend Zal-El—who happens to be Superman’s sister. Wonder Woman was confirmed to be bisexual back in 2016.
→The Hunger Games’ Amandla Stenberg is set to star in a new Star Wars series from Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, called The Acolyte
→A James Bond producer suggested that Bond could be non-binary in the future, but also may not fully know what that means. Barbara Broccoli, who owns the rights to the Bond character, said in an interview this week that the next Bond won’t be a woman and will always “be a man.”
“I don’t think that we should be making films where women are playing men, I think we should be making more films about women and create female characters. So I think Bond will be a man,” she said.
But then she also left open the idea of Bond being non-binary if they “found the right actor.” I don’t know—if you’re not open to having a woman Bond because “a woman shouldn’t be playing a man’s role” then it’s fair to guess you aren’t open to actually having a trans or non-binary Bond.
→Actress, singer and former child star Zendaya wants to make a love story about two Black girls, and yes we will watch it.
→Luann de Lesseps from The Real Housewives of New York says she’d love to see the franchise cast a trans housewife.
→Laverne Cox said she is “so proud” of JoJo Siwa. The trans trailblazer spoke to Siwa on the red carpet of the People’s Choice Awards last week, calling her an “incredible light.”
“Forty years ago, it was illegal for two women to dance together in public, and two men to dance together,” Cox said of Siwa’s pairing with same-sex partner Jenna on the most recent season of Dancing With the Stars. “So, it’s amazing that it wasn’t a big deal. It was about your talent, it was about your personality. How does it feel being such a groundbreaker?”
“I knew what it would do for little kids at home,” Siwa said, “who maybe felt like they were afraid to love who they wanted to love. And that’s something that I’ve always said is—love who you wanna love, be who you wanna be.”
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