MSNBC panelists had a lot of laughs insinuating the senator is gay, but that pales in comparison to the serious damage he’s doing to this country.

As well as being a one-of-a-kind drag artist, Cherry Valentine knew exactly how to shut down anti-drag arguments with class.

The drag icon’s family – whose real name was George Ward – tragically passed away last Sunday (18 September) at just 28-years-old.

The genderfluid artist’s family said in a Friday (28 September) statement: “We understand how much he is loved and how many lives he has inspired and touched.”

Since then, tributes from members of the drag community have poured in, with stars including Cheryl Hole describing Ward as “such a talented and beautiful person” while others recalled their work as a mental health advocate since qualifying in 2015.

But Ward also knew best how to handle a discussion with typical anti-drag pundits in a profoundly professional way that eloquently described the plight of the LGBTQ+ community.

On 14 June 2022, Ward participated in a debate on GB News where they expertly outlined why claiming that drag is blanketly inappropriate for children is “really silly.”

Watch in full on the GB News YouTube channel https://t.co/mwS98TT58d

— GB News (@GBNEWS) June 14, 2022

“I’ve just done a tour over the last three months and met thousands of children under 18 and they absolutely loved every second of it,” Ward said. “Their parents were there and they enjoyed every moment and said how much it helped their children feel like they could become themselves a bit more.”

Donning an on-brand red and black drag look that was powerful and classy all at the same time, Ward dismissed claims by author Laura Dodsworth that drag is inherently “evening entertainment” and that drag represents a “sexist view of womanhood.”

“I think drag allows people, and especially children when they’re going up, to really just help them navigate it all,” Ward continued. “Because we are being thrown things like phrases, we’re being thrown new words constantly all the time.

“I’m a qualified mental health nurse, so I wouldn’t classify myself as a sexual person in drag, I just use it for artistic reasons, I use it for self-expression, to play with gender – to question how we should be in a society.”

Throughout the entire debate, Ward kept their composure despite tiring mentions of a so-called “transgender ideology” and further claims that drag “plays into sexist stereotypes.” They simply let the facts speak for themselves and came off incredibly well.

This is just one example of the incredible activism that Ward was involved in. They weren’t just an incredible representative for the drag community, but also a doer that helped marginalised communities through thick and thin.

In 2020, Ward returned to work in the NHS as a mental health nurse midway through filming season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK as the COVID-19 pandemic reached its height in the UK .

Speaking to PinkNews in 2021, they said: “It was madness, absolute madness, but I just feel so privileged to have been able to help however I can.”

They became the first-ever queen of Romany descent to appear in a Drag Race franchise show and would eventually star in the BBC documentary Gypsy Queen and Proud, which they told PinkNews in January aimed to “show people that Travellers are everywhere.”

 

 

The post Cherry Valentine shut down arguments over child-friendly drag shows perfectly and with class appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

The wider world may have met Peppermint back when she slayed the competition on the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. But if there’s one thing Miss Pepp is going to do, it’s remind you that she always has been—and always will be—the moment.

Where to begin? Peppermint’s had acting roles in everything from Pose to SNL to Fire Island. On stage, she’s made herstory as the first trans woman to originate a Broadway role in the Go-Gos musical Head Over Heels. She’s continued to drop bop after bop, including her ambitious R&B trilogy project, Letters To My Lovers. And, somehow, she still makes time to be a vocal trans activist, LGBTQ rights advocate, and veritable meme queen.

Related: Peppermint delivers all the goods in “Broken Home” music video premiere

And this November, she’ll be co-headling a one-of-a-kind tour with Drag Race mainstay Jujubee. As they travel across the country, Pep promises her “Letters Live” show will be “something completely different” with live vocals, a live band, and so much R&B goodness. She sees the tour as an opportunity to show off the breadth of her talent, proving that drag entertainers have so much more to offer than “lip-sync [to] a Whitney Houston or Cher song.”

But, before she hits the road, Peppermint graced Queerty with her presence as the latest celebrity guest of our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our hilarious and enlightening conversation, the star touches on everything from her go-to roadtrip snack, to the Prince-Janet Jackson jukebox musical of her dreams, to the unused Drag Race look that’s still haunting the back of her closet to this day. But is it fashion? Well, depends who you ask…

 

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Is there a piece of pop-culture—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, etc…—that you consider a big part of your coming-out journey? Why does it stand out to you?

Being trans, I had the opportunity to come out for myself—like, big life coming-outs—more than once. The first time was as [someone] who likes boys. The second time was as trans. So, a book that was really useful, helpful, instrumental to me was Transgender History by Susan Stryker. There’s just a lot of great quotes to pull from that book, and for me it really was the book that was like, “Okay, basically, trans people ain’t nothin’ new. We’ve been around for a long time, and even though that history isn’t really recorded that well, here’s some connections for you.” And that was really helpful—it’s very grounding.

 

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In November, you’ll embark on your “Letters Live” tour traveling all across America. What’s your go-to airport/rest stop snack and why?

Oh it’s gummi bears! And not just any brand—I will not just eat gummi bears. I only eat one brand of gummi bear: Haribo. If you bring me something else, I’ll know it immediately, and I’m not interested. [Laughs.]

If I were reincarnated from a previous life, I do believe I was a fruit bat. Because I love fruit! I could just live off of fruit all day, every day. So, obviously, I also like fruit-flavored candy. There’s something about those Haribo gummi bears; they really do taste like the fruits that they’re saying that they are!

And of course this is a joint tour with the one and only Jujubee—what makes Juju an ideal tour-mate? You two have known each other for a few years now—what’s something you can tell us about Jujubee that might surprise her fans?

I haven’t yet toured with Juju, but we have obviously worked together many, many times for many years. We’re both East Coast gals, and that is a very particular vibe. So we hit it off amazingly every single time—so famously. We’re often booked together on the same [shows,] so then we’re in each other’s hotel room, eating together, playing cards, and hanging out. And that part of our relationship is so fierce, so I’m excited to have those tour bus hangs with Juju.

But Juju has such great writing, beautiful music, and her albums are critically acclaimed! The vibe of her music is like pop-R&B, whereas I’m going straight for the R&B jugular, so the music sits really nice next to each other. R&B is as a total vibe, it’s a feeling—you can relax a little bit, you can get into the groove, you can listen to the words, and understand the music; it’s not just about sound effects.

It’s about being able to show people: This is what queer entertainers can be and can do, unapologetically. Yes, it’s wonderful if you want to listen to all the hottest remixes of your—non-queer—icons, but if you want to support queer artists in a way that’s not just seeing us do a number at the gay bar, then come to our show!

You originated the role of Pythio in the Broadway musical Head Over Heels, which was based on the music of The Go-Gos. If you could build a musical around another artist’s catalogue, who would it be and why?

Well, it would be a very, very, very intense tug of war between Prince and Janet Jackson.

Okay, I think we could spin this and like tell both of their stories in one musical, right?

I mean, they are both connected to Minneapolis. Janet obviously isn’t from Minneapolis, but her rebirth as an as a solo artist really came out of the Minneapolis sound—connected by her two most popular producers: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were a part of Morris Day’s band, The Time. And that was a subset group for Prince, who also helped produce for those guys. So Janet and Prince are very connected. And I just really worked that, huh? [Laughs.] There’s a story there for sure.

The latest in your Letters To My Lovers trilogy is called “Moment Of Weakness”—what’s a moment in your career you’d say you maybe felt weak or vulnerable and how did you overcome it?

Once I was helping raise money in an auction for a popular LGBT charity group. They had asked to host, which meant I would have to go and get in front of the audience, speak to the celebrities and all the donors that were in the room. There was lots of money involved—like thousands and thousands of dollars that was going to be generated and moving around.

But I remember not having enough money to even go to the event. I didn’t have enough money for a taxi, I didn’t even have enough money for the bus. And, on top of that, there were these accusations of transphobia going around with this organization. And so it didn’t feel very good to know that I was literally taking my last couple of dollars—I had to dig in the couch to find some actual coins to have enough to take the subway down to the [venue.]

It was the fact that I was using my last dime to help them make more than their last dime—especially for a corporation that was being accused of transphobia… It felt very the opposite of what I needed to be doing. And it certainly didn’t feel like I was taking care of myself. I felt very weak and powerless that moment.

But! I will never do that again. Lesson learned, baby!

 

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You always bring the visuals in your music videos, so—with that in mind—what would you say in an underrated music video that everyone should stop and go watch right now? What makes it so great?

I’d say I’d have to go back to my past for this—just seeing these music videos moved me so much. Actually, I have three…

Certainly Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” which, there’s no reason to explain that. I was a kid during that time, and I was actually afraid of that music video. I liked watching it with my family, but then there was this time when my babysitter [pretended to] turn into a zombie after we watched the video and she was chasing me around the house. I just remember I was so afraid [Laughs.] Now that I think about it, that was really cruel of her! But, no, that video was major.

The next one I would have to say, definitely, is Missy Elliott’s “The Rain.” That was her first big music video with the trash bag thing that she’s wearing where she’s full of all the air. I don’t know what it’s like to be on acid, but I think it’s probably a lot like that.

And then the last one I’m going to say  is more somber, and it’s got some controversy online. But, as a child, seeing the music video for the song “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam really affected me deeply. It’s obviously very violent. But to have that play out in what I believe to be an artful way really rocked me to my core.

Who is a queer artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?

Obviously, Saucy Santana is one. I mean, there’s so many—I’m almost at a loss for words! In terms of indie folks, I love Michael Blume—check them out. I did a guest feature on a remix of one of their songs with Shea Coulée called “R U MAD,” which is fire.

And there’s another person named Be Steadwell—oh my gosh, please go watch a video of theirs. How they create music is so spectacular. A wonderful artist, and they create the sound on their own—they’re almost like a queer, Black version of Klaus Nomi. It’s such a masterpiece, and it’s so rare to see a queer person doing that and, you know, singing about anal sex, or whatever. It’s so cool.

Have you held onto any keepsakes from your time on Drag Race—a specific garment you wore, something from the Werk Room, etc…— why is it sentimental to you?

Surprisingly, I still have probably half of the garments that I wore on the show even though most of them do not fit anymore.

But the thing that I probably should get rid of is a dress that I actually never wore! It’s a dress that was supposed to be like the one that Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala when she was pregnant. And I’m not a fashion girl, but, honey, this was not something I would recommend. [Laughs.] And so I had that dress made, but I didn’t even wear it. Instead, Shea Coulée wore it on our season when we did a skit where she had to be a pregnant person.

And the other thing I still have that I should probably get rid of—because it’s not even really a dress—is my promo outfit. That was like a long turquoise thing. It’s actually not a dress because there’s no opening. And you can’t put it on unless you’ve got a team of people sewing you into it. So I should probably get rid of it. [Laughs.] But I love it; it’s so special to me.

 

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Check out Peppermint’s latest visuals for “Broken Home”—off the Moment Of Weakness: Letters To My Lovers album—below. And you can head to her site for tickets and more info on the “Letters Live” tour.

Fall TV is back, baby! We’ve got updates on Monarch, House of the Dragon, Vampire Academy, New Amsterdam, Queen Sugar, and more!

The post Boobs on Your Tube: NCIS: Hawai’i Delights in its Queer Honeymoon Phase appeared first on Autostraddle.

By Bob Brigham Authorities from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department responded to an anti-LGBTQ protest outside a Texas church on Saturday. “First Christian Church Katy is hosting a drag bingo fundraiser benefiting the ministry’s Transparent Closet, a free boutique aimed at helping young people in the LGBTQ community in the largely conservative west Houston suburb,” Jay R. Jordan reported for Axios on Friday. “Protect Texas Kids, led by North Texas’ self-described “Christian fascist” Kelly Neidert, plans to protest outside the church, according to a …

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A group of Proud Boys, fascists, and anti-LGBTQ+ protestors attempted to disrupt a Drag bingo fundraiser in a tense altercation.

A group of people reportedly affiliated with various far-right groups, including the Proud Boys, protested at the First Christian Church in Katy, Texas on Saturday (24 September), as a sponsored family drag bingo charity event was taking place.

The sold-out show aimed to raise money for LGBTQ+ nonprofit Transparent Closet, which aims to provide clothing for “trans and exploring teens, youth, and young adults” but was quickly overwhelmed by anti-LGBTQ+ protestors.

The protests were reportedly planned by self-described “Christian fascist” Kelly Neidert, who was working with a group dubbed “Protect Texas Kids” according to Axios on Friday (23 September).

It further reported that anti-fascist counter-protestors had planned to blockade the neo-Nazi disruptors, who were reportedly wearing Nazi regalia and far-right paraphernalia.

Anti-fascists blared music from the trailer of the upcoming Little Mermaid film, which has been attacked by racists and far-right pundits for casting Black actor Halle Bailey as Ariel.

Authorities from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department responded to the rising tensions by attempting to separate the two groups.

A video from journalist Jay R. Jordan shows a brief altercation in which the two groups spray what appears to be pepper spray at each other while armed police attempt to keep them separated on either side of the road where the church is located.

Proud Boys and Kelly Neidert’s Protect Texas Kids are in Katy, Texas, protesting a drag bingo fundraiser at First Christian Church. PB and Houston antifascists just clashed. Heavy police presence dividing the two groups now pic.twitter.com/5p4EgD88mT

— Jay R. Jordan (@jayrjordan) September 24, 2022

Further pictures revealed the disgusting signs brought by the Proud Boys, with one claiming that “LGBT is Talmud Jew s**t” while another reads “homosexuality is an abomination to mankind.”

This isn’t the first time that the First Christian Church has experienced homophobic harassment. As an LGBTQ-inclusive space, the organisation has seen three separate incidents of theft and vandalism charges in 2022 alone.

Its Facebook page is filled with cruel and homophobic messages insulting its members, with one saying it is “another false church leading people to hell instead of heaven.”

“This congregation has always been a place where what they value most about the teachings of Christianity is an openness and willingness for all people and the idea that Jesus came to love all,” reverend Heather Tolleson said to the Houston Chronicle. “We’re a representation of that love.”

When asked about the threat of anti-LGBTQ+ protestors prior to the event’s proceedings, she said: “Our first and foremost line of concern is everyone’s safety. All we want is for a safe and peaceful night to happen.

“We value diversity, and we know not everyone agrees with us,” Tolleson continued. “With that at heart, we have done what we needed to do to take care of and provide a safe environment.”

Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Thomas Gilliland said that “it really is sad to see this kind of thing happening in Katy.

“Katy is such a diverse and welcoming community, and there are a lot of churches here. To know that this is happening to one of them is upsetting.”

The post Nazis and Proud Boys stage chilling anti-LGBTQ+ protest outside church’s drag bingo fundraiser appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.