Summer is here and summer is queer, bringing with it a pile of new releases, Pride month happenings and celebrity news.
Every week in “The Buzz,” we keep you in the know on the latest happenings of queer and trans celebrity, entertainment and internet affairs. This week we’ve got everything from queer relationship news to corporate Pride releases.
Here’s what you missed this week in queer and trans pop culture.
→ Laverne Cox will be the inspiration for Barbie’s first trans doll. Last week, the company announced that it will be producing a doll in Cox’s image to celebrate her 50th birthday.
Designed by Carlyle Nuera, the Cox Barbie features “a triple-threat original design, featuring a deep red tulle gown gracefully draped over a dazzling, silver metallic bodysuit.”
It’s the first Barbie ever fashioned in the likeness of a trans woman.
“What excites me most about her being out in the world is that trans young people can see her and maybe get to purchase her and play with her, and know that there’s a Barbie made by Mattel, for the first time, in the likeness of a trans person,” Cox said an interview about the release for People.
She specifically mentioned the impact of positive releases like this for trans kids in the wake of a wave of anti-trans hate targeting kids.
“In this environment where trans kids are being attacked … this can also be a celebration of transness, and also a space for them to dream, understand and be reminded that trans is beautiful,’ she said. “There’s hope and possibility for them to be themselves.”
Mattel, Barbie’s parent company, also announced that the company will make a donation in Cox’s name to the nonprofit TransFamilySOS.
The Laverne Cox Barbie is available online for $40 USD.
→ Speaking of other corporate Pride schmoozing from popular doll companies, Bratz said “gay rights” by selling its first queer couple of dolls. Roxxi and Nevra are available to purchase as a Pride couple alongside their Pride parade attire (including a “I can’t even think straight!” sign). The pair first came out as queer for Pride 2020.
“We are so excited to introduce this collection because so many of the fans who made Bratz what it is are part of the LGBTQ+ community and this is a way to honour them,” a Bratz representative said in a release.
→ Also, there’s a new Oreo package for Pride that celebrates kind messages from allies, but to be honest, some of them are a little weird.
→ Ellen DeGeneres used her final show to remind people she wasn’t allowed to say “gay.”
“When we started this show, I couldn’t say ‘gay’ on the show,” she said. “I couldn’t say ‘we,’ because that implied that I was with someone. Sure couldn’t say wife; that’s because it wasn’t legal for gay people to get married. And now I say ‘wife’ all the time.”
→ Modern Family starJesse Tyler Ferguson and actor/producer Justin Mikita are expecting another baby!
→ Hayley Kiyoko has confirmed her relationship with Bachelor alum Becca Tilley, who appeared in the singer’s Bachelorette inspired music video. The pair have been dating for four years.
“Hard to say if this is a hard or soft launch, but it’s a launch,” the “Girls Like Girls” singer wrote in an Instagram post sharing highlights from their four years of dating.
But apparently Taylor Swift knew about the relationship long before the rest of us.
→ Roku’s streaming service has released its new makeover series, Butch Pal for the Straight Gal, where a group of five lesbians work to help straight women find their true potential.
→ Grey’s Anatomy actor Jake Borelli has spoken out about why the show’s storyline in its season finale around blood bans targeting men who have sex with men hit so close to home.
“To think of that [ban], as you have this poison blood, which is just not, it’s not scientifically accurate. And we have come so far in terms of blood safety tests.… There’s no reason for it,” he said.
“I was able to bring my own queerness into this finale, and I chose to have that opinion leak in a little bit to the character, because it’s not all wonderful [that] these rules have changed [to 90 days]. I think it’s good to see Levi angry a little bit. And I’m hoping that that shows in the finale.”
→ The jewellery company Bulgari has released a bizarre and yet very horny branded video starring Anne Hathaway and Zendaya romantically galavanting in Rome while wearing fancy jewels. I don’t know why it exists, but I’m a fan!
→ Them profiled Fire Island director Andrew Ahn, who spoke about his continuing desire to explore and tell queer Asian stories.
“I’m constantly looking for more things, and in some ways each individual queer Asian American person is an embodiment of that. Every time I encounter a queer Asian American person, I’m like, ‘Hi, what’s your story? What’s your deal?’” Ahn said.
→ Jodie Foster is set to star in and executive produce a new season of True Detective!
→ Kristen Stewart is really pushing to produce her directorial debut by the end of the year. Stewart has been attached to adapting Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir The Chronology of Water since 2018, but has yet to secure financing.
“If I don’t make this movie before the end of the year, I’ll die,” Stewart said while promoting her latest acting turn in Crimes of the Future at Cannes.
→ In case you missed it, Drag Race star Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo is set to star in a new dating show on VH1. On Vanjie: 24 Hours of Love, 18 contestants will vie to win Vanjie over in just 24 hours.
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