Every week, the GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBTQ-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend!
1) On Thursday, Marvel announced the new multi-platform animated franchise Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, a feature length animated film featuring young Marvel characters that fans have grown to love. These heroes include Kamala Khan, Marvel’s first Muslim hero to get her own ongoing series, and America Chavez, the Latina lesbian superhero with super strength, speed and the ability to kick open holes in reality. The Fosters' star Cierra Ramirez (Mariana) will voice America. Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors will debut six digital shorts before the premiere of the film later in 2018.
2) The Writer’s Guild announced the nominations for their television categories of the WGA Awards on Thursday. LGBTQ-inclusive nominees include The Handmaid’s Tale in Drama Series, Master of None and Veep in Comedy Series, and The Deuce and The Handmaid’s Tale in New Series. American Horror Story: Cult, Feud: Bette and Joan, and Godless all received nods in Long Form Original, and two episodes of BoJack Horseman were nominated in Animation. Episodes of The OA, Grace & Frankie, Veep, and Will & Grace all received episodic nominations as well. The WGA Awards will be handed out on February 11th.
3) Mya Taylor, the transgender actress who was the breakout star of Tangerine, has been cast in AMC’s upcoming series Dietland. She will play the role of Barbara, a transgender woman, in the drama that centers on the politics of weight loss. Dietland will premiere in 2018. In other casting news, out writer, director, and actress Lena Waithe has been cast in the upcoming second season of Netlfix’s Dear White People. She will play the hip hop reality show contestant P Ninny, described by out creator Justin Simien as “if Lena was a hot mess. It’s proto-Lena.” Dear White People will return to Netflix in 2018. Season one is streaming now.
4) Netflix series One Day at a Time announced the premiere date for season two with a fun video of the cast recreating the opening credits of the original ‘70s version of the show. The series, which tells the story of a Cuban-American family living in Los Angeles, focused much of last season on the coming out story of daughter Elena. Season two will give us more of her story and the whole family, and will premiere on January 26th. You can watch the announcement video below.
5) Sundance Now has announced that This Close, its first original series, will premiere on the streaming service on Valentine’s Day. This Close tells the story of two deaf best friends, one of them gay, played by co-creators of the show Josh Feldman and Shoshanna Stern. The show explores the relationship between the two as Stern’s character is recently engaged and Feldman’s character tries to get over his ex. The series will be directed by Spa Night filmmaker Andrew Ahn, and showcased at Sundance’s Indie Episodic Showcase at Sundance in January.
6) Lifetime's Glam Masters, a beauty competition series from Kim Kardashian West, recently announced that Laverne Cox will host the series as well as serve as a judge. The show will have beauty blogger contestants participate in a series of challenges to see who can emerge as a winner. Cox will be joined on the judging panel by Mario Dedivanovic, Zanna Roberts Rassi, and Kandee Johnson. Glam Masters will premiere on February 28th.
7) The groundbreaking reality series I am Jazz, documenting the life of transgender teen Jazz Jennings, has announced its season four premiere date for January 4th. The fourth season of the GLAAD Media Award-winning reality series will continue to follow Jennings as she is in her junior year in high school, dealing with dating, body image, and social anxiety. In addition to being a student, Jennings is a prominent transgender advocate, especially for young people.
8) Netflix is rebooting the early 2000s series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy with a new group of queer men. The “Fab 5” of the new series are Karamo Brown (culture), Jonathan Van Ness (grooming), Tan France (fashion), Antoni Porowski (food and wine), and Bobby Berk (design). They will be traveling to "red states" and telling their subjects about their own personal lives to try to spread a message of acceptance around the country.
9) Queer singer Kehlani has released a music video for her single “Honey,” which is out now. The music video shot as retro-style slice-of-life love story showing the singer with another woman, as she sings about falling in love with women. “This song was inspired by an androgynous woman, and I wanted to find someone who fell in line with that,” Kehlani says of the casting process for the video. “Honey” is available to download and stream on major music platforms, and you can watch the video below.
10) Out singer Sam Smith released a video for his song "Palace" live in concert as part of the On The Road: The Thrill of it All Live. "Palace" is another emotional ballad off of The Thrill Of It All, Smith's sophomore album released earlier this autum. Watch the video of him perfoming it live below, and stream and buy the album wherever music is sold. Queer pop star Halsey was also featured in a video, G-Eazy's "Him & I," where she provides the vocals throughout the song. Watch the video for the song here!
11) Out comedians and married couple Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher released their first album as a couple. The album Back to Back was recorded live in Brooklyn during the couple’s tour this fall. The album features six tracks of the two performing together and then three individual tracks each. The album is available for pre-order now, and you can listen to Esposito and Butcher’s individual albums now, both which rose to #1 on the comedy charts.
12) Tomato & Eggs is a film from writer and producer Nicole Tay, a story of Lisa (Celia Au), a queer Chinese-American woman, who plans to marry her long-term girlfriend. As Lisa navigates the trans-generational challenges of telling her father Yun (Fenton Li), other secrets will test the bounds of family and culture. The film as already been completed, but is seeking additional funds for crew compensation and festival submission. Tomato & Eggs was made by an exclusively queer and/or Asian crew, and is a much needed queer POC story. To find out how to support and help, click here
