On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, meaning abortion access is now up to the states, and effectively criminalizing the procedure in many places across America. It was a dark day for bodily rights, and ends Pride Month 2022 on a sour note.
Every week in “The Buzz” we catch you up on the most important happenings of queer and trans pop culture. This week we’re looking at how the world is reacting to this monumental decision, along with the continuing joy and resilience on display in Pride Month.
Here’s what you missed this week in LGBTQ2S+ culture.
→ Queer and trans people are rightfully fired up about the Supreme Court ruling and what it means. At this weekend’s BET Awards, Janelle Monáe took her time as a presenter to call out the ruling and flip the bird to the Supreme Court.
“I’d like to give a special, special shoutout to Black women, to Black queer artists, to Black non-binary artists,” Monáe said. “These artists making art on our own terms, owning our truths and expressing ourselves freely and unapologetically in a world that tries to control and police our bodies, my body; and our decisions, my decision.
“Fuck you, Supreme Court. I know we are celebrating us right now, as we should—we absolutely deserve to celebrate—especially now. We must celebrate our art by protecting our rights and our truths.”
On Friday, during her performance at the Glastonbury music festival, Phoebe Bridgers (who opened up last month about getting an abortion last year) also had some choice words for the court.
Monáe and Bridgers were part of a chorus of LGBTQ2S+ celebs who called out the ruling over the weekend. Lizzo also made a pledge to donate $500,000 from her tour (matched by LiveNation) to Planned Parenthood and other abortion funds.
Others also took to social media to share their outrage at the ruling.
And if you want a touch of levity in the bad news, Drag Race queens Monet X Change and Bob The Drag Queen shared some hilariously true reads of so-called “pro-lifers.”
→ Country music star T.J. Osborne was the grand marshal for Nashville Pride this weekend, and appeared alongside boyfriend Abi Ventura.
→ Dove Cameron spoke to Them about how all of her Disney characters were actually queer, and why she loves to be bad.
“Babe, I always play the villain,” she said. “It’s my queer camp destiny to always play the villain.”
→ Don your silk chiffon: the self-titled MUNA album is finally here. The queer indie rockers dropped their epnoymous release Friday, and it’s already full of all of your new favourite queer bops.
→ Fire Island breakout actor Tomás Matos spoke to NBC about how living authentically has helped their career.
“Something happened in my career … as soon as I (stepped) into my authenticity and just started expressing myself without the barriers to try and fit myself into boxes that have been created systematically, I flourished … and it’s because I was unapologetically being myself,” they said.
→ During an appearance on Andy Cohen’s radio show this week, Anderson Cooper said seeing shirtless Richard Gere after a performance of the play Bent in 1977 is what helped him realize he was gay.
“We go backstage and Richard Gere is shirtless in his dressing room,” Cooper said. “And I couldn’t speak … and I had my Playbill and I wanted to get him to autograph it, but I was too—I just couldn’t stop staring at his chest. And so, fast forward to 10 years ago, I was interviewing Richard Gere and I took out the Playbill … and I told him the whole story and I had him sign it. Yeah. He was very tickled with it.”
→ Beanie Feldstein is engaged! The Funny Girl star shared the news on Instagram, including some truly adorable photos of Bonnie Chance Roberts popping the question. The pair have been together since 2019.
→ After winning Top Chef a decade ago, everyone’s favourite queer kitchen icon Kristen Kish is back on Netflix’s new Iron Chef show and she is bringing some impeccable queer suits.
“Gay chefs are everywhere and we’re not in some other category,” she told Autostraddle. “It takes just a few people coming out, and then more and more chefs feel comfortable, and then we get to where we are today. Queer chefs are the norm.”
→ All American: Homecoming’s Rhoyle Ivy King has been promoted to a series regular for Season 2.
→ The Umbrella Academy Season 3 is finally here, along with Elliot Page’s reinvention of his character Viktor. There’s been plenty of coverage around how the show made Page’s transition a part of the story, including from Page himself.
Writer Thomas Page McBee has also spoken about how he was involved in crafting Viktor’s storyline.
→ As June comes to a close, if you need a catch-up, here are all of the queer and trans celebrities who came out during this year’s Pride Month.
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