4 queer and trans happenings to wind you up or down beginning Mar. 18

What to watch, read, listen to or look at this week

What to watch

The Runaway Bunny

Credit: Courtesy of HBO

HBO Max is premiering The Runaway Bunny, an animated special based on the classic children’s book by Margaret Wise Brown on Mar. 25. The 1942 book follows the first-time journey of a little bunny who leaves home to explore love and childhood before finding his way back to the comfort of his mother’s love. 

The adaptation, directed by Amy Schatz, has been transformed for an on-screen experience with hand-drawn illustrations, narration by Tracee Ellis Ross, and songs performed by Mariah Carey, Kelly Rowland, Rosanne Cash and gay American-Canadian singer and composer Rufus Wainwright, alongside others. 

The animated special, The Runaway Bunny, premieres on HBO Max on Mar. 25. 

What to read

Red Rock Baby Candy by Shira Spector 

Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Jewish-Canadian lesbian cartoonist Shira Spector is releasing her debut graphic memoir Red Rock Baby Candy on Mar. 23. Set in Montreal and Toronto, the memoir begins with Spector’s black ink illustrations before slowly introducing colour as she begins to bloom and live life fully. The book is a portrait of the most eventful 10 years of her life, recalling Spector’s struggles with pregnancy, the emotional trauma of her father’s fatal cancer, her past relationships with her parents and partner and finding her way through all of it. 

The graphic memoir Red Rock Baby Candy by Shira Spector will be available for purchase on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada on Mar. 23. 

What to listen to

“Queen of the North” by Brooke Lynn Hytes 

Priyanka and Brooke Lynn Hytes.

Credit: Aleksandar Antonijevic

RuPaul’s Drag Race star and host of Canada’s Drag Race Brooke Lynn Hytes is releasing her first single, “Queen of the North,” on Mar. 25. The upbeat dance track features accompanying vocals from Canada’s Drag Race-winner Priyanka. The esteemed queen hopes the song has fans laughing and dancing, and reminds them to always address Canadian royalty as “your majesty.” 

 

“Queen of the North” by Brooke Lynn Hytes featuring Priyanka will be streaming on LiveNation on Mar. 24 at 6 p.m. EDT and will be available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify on Mar. 25. 

What to look at

My Trans Experience: Transition Journeys

Credit: Courtesy of The Wall-Las Memorias Project

The Wall-Las Memorias Project, a Los Angeles-based community health and wellness organization dedicated to serving LGBTQ2S+ and other under-served populations, is offering monthly and weekly special virtual events on a variety of topics. On Mar. 24, the organization is hosting a virtual event called My Trans Experience: Transition Journeys. Three trans women are lead a panel discussion about their different experiences and share their personal stories. 

My Trans Experience: Transition Journeys panel discussion hosted by The Wall-Las

Memorias Project will be held over Zoom on Mar. 24 at 9 p.m. EDT. Registration for the event is available here

Sarah Taher

Sarah Taher is a Toronto-based multimedia journalist. She is an associate producer at CBC News: The National. Her freelance work can be seen in Xtra and The Pigeon, where she typically covers LGBTQ2S+ arts and culture, intersectional identities, and religion. Sarah has a BA in Journalism from Humber College. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahftaher

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