Not only is actor Claybourne Elder a SAG Award, Grammy, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel nominee, but he also boasts a long list of descriptives that detail a colorful life. Ex-Mormon, queer, and father all play big parts in his journey and come together for “If The Stars Were Mine,” part stand up, part cabaret featuring his favorite music from the Great American Songbook, Sondheim, Whitney Houston, and beyond. Nothing is off limits as he explores sex, fatherhood, religion, and love.

His theatre credits are many and include a lot of Sondheim, including understudying for Jake Gyllenhaal in the Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George and originating the role of “Hollis Bessemer” in Stephen Sondheim’s last musical, Road Show. He also appeared alongside Patti LuPone for the revival of Company. On-screen, he is enjoying the role of John Adams on HBO’s smash-hit period piece “The Gilded Age,” a show that has become a Who’s Who for Broadway’s theatre actors. He also appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” “This American Life” and “CBS This Morning.”  As much as he is lauded for his acting and singing, more than a few headlines note his muscled frame and handsome face.

Claybourne’s journey to Broadway is a thing out of the movies. In 2007, he was a visiting actor in New York City, standing at a production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A stranger noted his natural enthusiasm for theatre and gave him $200 to go see the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The act of kindness solidified his quest to become an actor on Broadway. Little did he know that he would soon be starring alongside Sweeney Todd’s leads, Patti LuPone (in Company) and Michael Cerveris (in Gilded Age). Elders was inspired to start the nonprofit City of Strangers to encourage artists, supporters, and leaders to build community through acts of kindness by making tickets to performances accessible to all theater lovers regardless of their ability to pay.

We caught up with Claybourne as he prepared to head West for a three-night run of his intimate cabaret evening.

You have a close relationship with Sondheim material, Company, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Do I Hear A Waltz?, Sondheim on Sondheim, Passion, and Road Show. How is performing Sondheim’s material unique? What have you learned most as an artist from exploring his work?

You know, I never really set out to do so much Sondheim in my professional career but it is by far my favorite material to perform. His songs are challenging to sing as a musician and challenging to perform as an actor, which makes them so satisfying to sing. He has said in interviews that when he’s writing, he’s acting. He’s taking on the character and saying what he would say – and it really shows. Every song is trying to effect change, like a great monologue. Songs in the musical theatre aren’t always like that. Especially back when he started writing music and lyrics. In some musical theatre songs, the character is just saying something they already know, sometimes over and over and over again. Steve’s songs are complex. The character is working something out.

Ok, we have to talk…spill the tea. What did you learn most from veteran Patti LuPone from working on Company?

I love you for asking this. Patti is just the best. There was nothing more satisfying in rehearsal to me than when I would try something new and it would make Patti laugh. She and I share a birthday and we got to be friends working on the show and I just adore her. I watched her do “Ladies Who Lunch” every night because we were all on stage and she NEVER did it the same twice. She was always exploring and I loved to see where she was going to take it every night. I had a long scene in the second act just before her big scene and we had a little moment backstage every night between the two. One night when the audience had laughed particularly loud at my scene, Patti walked up to me wearing her costume of fur and sunglasses and said in a dry monotone, “One should never follow Claybourne Elder on stage” and turned and walked away. I’ll never forget it.

You have played some iconic characters that we all know and love – Curly, George, Tony, Cinderella’s Prince – what is your creative process as an actor in making a character your own while paying homage to what audiences expect to see?

It can be hard to get a performance that you love out of your head. The first time I played George in Sunday in the Park with George, I had to get Mandy Patinkin out of my head from wearing out the VHS when I was a kid. But once I started working on the script and asking myself questions, it just became different. I think the trick can be to not try too hard to be different. There are things in the script that are just true and you can’t play against them too hard or the story won’t make sense. But that’s what is wonderful about acting, there is never going to be another you. And for better or worse, no one is going to do it just like you.

You have a list of award nomination accolades –  SAG Award, Grammy, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel – that’s a pretty impressive haul. How does it feel as an artist to be so acknowledged for your work?

Like being rich in Monopoly money? Haha, no no I’m kidding. I feel very honored to have been acknowledged but like most actors, I just like working and want to keep working. And those things can sometimes help you get more work. But most of all I think about something an artist that I really respect told me once: “Just make work that you want to show your friends.” And I really stick by that. I want to make things that I would be excited and proud to show my friends.

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The Gilded Age has become THE show to be on for a theatre actor on TV, much like Law and Order. What are your favorite aspects of working on the show?

Oh everything, working on Gilded Age is so so fun. It’s like a family reunion every time we are on set. And because it’s so full of theatre actors, we all understand the way each other works. I think it’s been easier for us all to do our best work because we come to set to rehearse and play like theatre actors. And the costumes. It’s the ultimate dress-up. And the sets. Sometimes when we’re shooting in one of the mansions in Newport or other grand places I like to just wander around as if I actually am John Adams. We started working on the show in 2019 and so we’ve all been working on it off and on for a very long time. That’s also a lovely aspect, to have years and years together working on a project. That doesn’t happen a lot in the theatre.

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So many of your headlines mention you being buff, hunky, and more! There is a lot of focus on looks and body in entertainment, even more so in the queer community. How have you worked through body image pressures?

You know, I was not a sporty kid or a fit young person. I didn’t start going to the gym until my late 20s. Well before that I would go to the gym sometimes, but I didn’t mean it. Haha! In this business, it can be very difficult not to convince yourself that you look wrong. For whatever reason. Maybe there’s safety in thinking you didn’t get a job because you just didn’t look right. That it wasn’t to do with your talent, just how you look. And then you can fall into the trap of trying to make yourself into what you think the perfect-looking person should look like. I fell into that trap at one point. I had played a boxer in a play and so I really wanted to look like a boxer. I needed to look physically imposing because the character was that. So I worked out really hard and at the end of it, a dear mentor of mine said: “Ok, now you need to stop. You’re going to stop looking like a real person.” And he was right. I think it’s very important to take care of your body, you only get one of them. But I also think that I like donuts. And I like having treats with my son. I think people use those words to describe me in headlines or to sell tickets to something (hint, hint buy a ticket to my show) but I don’t really want to be remembered for that. There are so many other things I would rather be remembered for.

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As a queer dad, what are your biggest worries in raising a child in today’s social and political climate?

Oh god, what aren’t my worries right now about the social and political climate? It’s a tough time. But I don’t want my son to be afraid. I want him to stand up for who he is and what he believes in, and what a great f-ing time to learn how to do that.

How do you balance the entertainment and family life, while maintaining your mental health?

It’s challenging to be a parent and a working actor. When you’re in a show, you are away many nights a week so you have to find ways to maximize the time you have together. And a lot of Facetime. I would always Facetime my son goodnight from my dressing room. When I go away to film things, I try to bring my family with me when I can. I used to worry about my son not having the kind of childhood I did, but I have come to realize that just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s not a great childhood. He’s growing up backstage at Broadway theatres and on TV sets and I would have lost my mind with excitement when I was a kid haha.

You bare all in “If The Stars Were Mine,” it is a heartfelt, intimate, and funny look at your life. What do you want audiences to walk away with from seeing your show?

When I set out to write this show, I started with what I wanted to say. I asked myself “What are the things that I would be embarrassed or scared to say in front of people?” And I started there. The show is thematic, I sort of explore the nature of goodness, but like a stand-up show, I also tell a lot of other stories. When people walk away from the show, I hope they have laughed, heard some great music, and maybe – just maybe – feel like doing a good deed. Someone who wrote up a review of the show a few months back said “I left briefly wanting to be a better person.” Haha, and I thought that was fantastic.

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What is your coming out story?

I was lucky. Very lucky, to have supportive parents. My parents are very Mormon, but they also just love me. I have a gay older brother who had sort of come out before me which I’m sure made it easier. It was tough for my parents at first, but ultimately they just want me to be a good person. That’s what is most important to them.

In your show, you talk about being an ex-Mormon. What was your experience dealing with your religion in terms of your sexuality? How has it affected your relationship with spirituality today, also in terms of how you raise your son?

This is a lot of what I talk about in my show! I think that there was a time when I felt like I had to leave all spirituality behind to be a gay person. Because that’s what I was being taught by my church, that it was one or the other. And it wasn’t until my son started getting older and asking me questions that I started to reevaluate my spirituality. And redefine it.

What is your favorite moment on stage for “If The Stars Were Mine?”

Oh, doing this show is my favorite thing. Maybe my favorite thing I’ve ever done on stage. There are so many fun moments for me. I think my favorite moments change based on the audience – sometimes they are more surprised by things or find different things funny and surprise me.

Your initiative City of Strangers, is inspired by your real-life story based on you getting a ticket to see your future co-star LuPone. How are we supposed to provide culture and art to younger generations when prices keep getting higher and higher?

When I first moved to the city, I didn’t have any money to see Broadway shows. And that’s what I was trying to do, but I couldn’t even see the performers at the top of their game that I was trying to be like! That’s what I was thinking of when I first started City of Strangers though we definitely don’t just support young artists. We welcome anyone, of any age. But speaking of the younger generations in particular, we aren’t helping to make theatre fans. If young people can’t afford to fall in love with the theatre, then they won’t.

What kind of legacy do you want to create most for your son and your work?

I would love for my son to see that I do what I love. And that it’s hard. But that I do it because I love it and believe in it. He has no interest in being a performer haha, like none. At least not right now. My husband and I joke that we are relieved that he doesn’t want to be an artist, but obviously, we would support anything he wants to do. I just hope he has a life that he loves, finds a job that he loves, maybe a person he loves – if he wants to. Honesty, I just want for him what my parents want for me. I just want him to be a good person and be happy.

What is your message to your fans?

I love it when people say hello to me! I get messages sometimes from people who say “I saw you on the subway and wanted to say hi but I didn’t want to bother you.” Bother me! I don’t mind. I’m chatty and love talking to people, ha ha!

“If The Stars Were Mine” opens on Thursday Feb. 20th and runs through to the 22nd at the Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.

When Fountain Theatre set out to produce the Los Angeles premiere of Audrey Cefaly’s play
Alabaster, they were hoping that the all-female show about the power of art and the strength
and resilience of women would be a timely celebration of the country’s first female president.

That didn’t turn out, but in the wake of the fires that devastated Los Angeles last month, the
story – which follows a romance that blossoms when New York photographer Alice, who’s
travelled to the titular Alabama city to capture the portrait of June, a woman whose survival of a tornado has left her with physical and emotional scars – has become even more relevant.

“It’s very much a play about loss and trauma and grieving and how we process and move
forward,” says Casey Stangl, who’s directing the Fountain production. “It has this wonderful sort of straddling the fence of comedy and tragedy in the way that life does.”

And that includes the current political climate.

“On some level, it’s actually even more resonant because we don’t have [a female president]
and that’s yet another loss,” she says.

The LA fires are more than a backdrop for the theatre – they’ve directly affected the production, including delaying its opening to Feb 16. One of the actors was living in the evacuation zone, while another lived in a warning zone. Another had respiratory issues inflamed by the smoke that reached her home.

“Even once we got ourselves back in the room, we’re all still sort of dealing with that. The
physical effects, right? But also just the trauma of it,” Stangl says.
Still, all of that trauma in the room went a long way to building the emotional reality of the play – a literal use of art to process trauma through a play about using art to process trauma.

In the play, June takes up painting to deal with her own trauma, while Alice uses photography to process the trauma of others – and also as an escape from her own tragedies. But the play also explores some of the challenging moral issues around art as a sort of trauma porn.

“There’s a little bit of a dilemma for Alice, because the power dynamic is tricky. There’s an
automatic sort of unequal power dynamic between a photographer and a subject. And then
when things start to change a little bit, it’s a little bit of a thorny place to navigate ethically,” Stangl says.

Since its 2020 world premiere at the Florida Repertory Theatre, Alabaster has been produced
across the country to rave reviews. Fountain Theatre’s production has some secret weapons
that tie it to the play’s history while also invigorating it with new meaning.

Actress Carolyn Messina, who plays Weezy, one of June’s talking goats that narrate the play –
yes, it’s that kind of magical realist theatre – was part of the original production and has been
close with playwright Audrey Cefaly since high school.

And Virginia Newcomb, who plays June, actually grew up in Alabaster, Alabama, and brings a
natural authenticity to the show.

“That town is very much in her body and in her spirit,” Stangl says. “We don’t have a dialect
coach. I mean, we don’t need one. The actresses are kind of amazing. They’re just really talented and good and smart and charismatic and funny. It’s been kind of a feast in the room.”

Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly plays at the Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles,
CA, 90029 open until March 30, Fri-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 2pm. PWYC
Mondays 8pm. Tickets available at https://www.fountaintheatre.com/events/alabaster

Gaymers, unite!

The Gayming Awards, the world’s only LGBTQ video game awards show is back for its fifth year and will be broadcast exclusively on World of Wonder’s WOW Presents on Tuesday, Jul. 8th.

Nominations are now open in 13 categories. Two new categories have been added for this year: LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year and Community Impact Award. These categories are designed
to celebrate the achievements and contributions of LGBTQ+ voice actors and groups or
individuals who have contributed positively to the LGBTQ+ video game community over the past year.

The full 13 categories of the Gayming Awards 2025 are as follows:

● Game of the Year
● Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award
● Gayming Icon Award
● Industry Diversity Award
● Community Impact Award
● Authentic Representation Award
● Best LGBTQ+ Character Award
● Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award
● LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year Award
● LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year Award
● LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class
● Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award
● LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year Award – sponsored by MyNerdLife

Last year, over 1.4 million people watched the Awards, spread out over the live broadcast and social media clips. The move to WOW Presents Plus is huge and ensures visibility for all.

Robin Gray, Gayming Magazine & Gayming Awards Founder, said: “From the very beginning,
we’ve always sought to establish the Gayming Awards as a key cultural moment and with the
Gayming Awards 2025 broadcasting on the biggest and best LGBTQ+ streaming platform, I’m
thrilled to see this journey take its next big step. At a time where LGBTQ+ rights and culture are being erased, the Gayming Awards stand proudly and firmly as a key beacon of hope in uplifting, celebrating and uniting our community through the power of video games. A huge
thank you to World of Wonder for believing in our mission and giving us this awesome platform.”

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Nomination submissions are now OPEN in nine of these 13 categories – to have your say, head
to gaymingawards.com and submit your favorites for consideration.

For more information on everything Gayming Awards, head to gaymingawards.com and follow
Gayming Magazine on all socials @gaymingmag

WorldPride organizers on Tuesday announced two new headliners for the WorldPride Music Festival at RFK Festival Grounds (2400 East Capitol St., N.E.) June 6-7 in Washington, D.C.

Superstar Jennifer Lopez and gay pop artist Troye Sivan are set to headline, while drag trailblazer and TV star RuPaul will also take the stage for a DJ set.

Taking place over two days and nights and across three stages, WorldPride Music Festival will showcase a diverse range of music. Beyond pop stars and drag performances, house, EDM, techno, country, R&B, and a host of other genres will be heard across the weekend.

Featured LGBTQ audience fan favorites include Kim Petras, Rita Ora, Betty Who, and Marina. House and electronic fans will enjoy Zedd, Grimes, Purple Disco Machine, and Sofi Tukker. Other top-billing pop stars include Tinashe, Raye, and Grimes; Paris Hilton is also set to make an appearance.

Other artists that will bring their sounds to one of the stages include Aluna, Anabel Englund, Anne Louise, Coco & Breezy, Crush Club, Dombresky presents Disco Dom, Galantis, Hayla, Kaleena Zanders, Karsten Sollors, Leland + Friends, LP Giobbi, Matt Suave, Patrick Mason, Sasha Colby, Slayyyter, Spencer Brown, Trisha Paytas, and Ty Sunderland.

The music festival came together as a partnership between Capital Pride, Dreamland’s producer Jake Resnicow (who ran WorldPride in New York), and event promoter Club Glow, which has produced several music festivals in the region. Club Glow is set to host a separate festival, Project Glow, also to take place on RFK grounds the weekend prior to WorldPride.

Resnicow, as executive producer, noted that, “WorldPride Music Festival is a moment the world will remember. With legendary artists and our global community coming together, we’re creating an electrifying celebration that unites, uplifts, and amplifies LGBTQ+ voices like never before.”

Given the current political climate and anti-LGBTQ policies sweeping the country, “Hosting this festival in our nation’s capital makes it even more powerful — it’s not just a party, it’s a global movement.” Resnicow added.

Beyond the music, the festival will feature art installations and immersive experiences that celebrate the spectrum of LGBTQ culture, along with food and drink, specialty cocktail lounges, giveaways, and a VIP section. Proceeds from the event will benefit the nonprofit Capital Pride Alliance and other local LGBTQ community organizations, ensuring the festival’s impact extends beyond its two days of programming. WorldPride marks the 50th anniversary of Pride in the capital.

General admission, GA+, and VIP tickets start at $209.

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ+ Entertainment Critics released their nominations for 2024 films and it’s no surprise the year’s campiest film took home the most awards. Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) a fearless, campy and over-the-top 2024 film about Hollywood’s perspective of beauty standards, was awarded Film of the Year. 

An unofficial member of the Brat Pack and star in The Substance, Demi Moore, impressed GALECA film critics so much so, the queer critics bestowed her with the Timeless Star career achievement award which honors “an exemplary career marked by character, wisdom and wit.” Moore joins a list of previous winners such as Jane Fonda, John Waters, Jodie Foster and over a dozen others. 

Her gripping and deeply unsettling, but great, performance in The Substance also earned her the Dorian award for Film Performance of the Year. 

Fargeat took home Director of the Year and her film won the Campiest Flick and Genre Film of the Year. Though the film itself was shocking, it was no surprise that Fargeat’s Mubi release would do so well among the queer critics. 

“In our 16th year, GALECA’s members still have wicked fun toasting their favorites in film both mainstream and LGBTQ-themed,” said Walt Hickey, president of GALECA.

Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s psychological horror drama I Saw the TV Glow (2024) led the Dorian award nominations, ultimately snatching the LGBTQ+ Film of the Year, as well as LGBTQ screenplay honors. 

“I’m certain even some ultra-conservatives who are out to erase all sorts of ‘woke’ words and letters—not to mention history—are secretly taking note of our winners. Everyone appreciates the expert Q+ eye on entertainment.”added vice president Diane Anderson-Minshall.

Ariana Grande claimed the Supporting Film Performance of the Year award for her role in Wicked (2024), while Jonathan Bailey was named Rising Star and Cynthia Erivo – who aced her performance as Elphaba Thropp – won LGBTQ+ Film Trailblazer. Erivo took home the trailblazer award which aims to honor artists who “inspire empathy, truth and equity,” – an absolutely fitting description of Erivo’s character in the box office hit. 

Road-trip documentary starring Will Ferrell and trans comedy writer Harper Steele, Will and Harper (2024) won both Documentary of the Year and LGBTQ+ Documentary of the Year. 

Justin Kuritzkes earned Screenplay of the Year for Challengers (2024), while Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won Film Music of the Year for their Berlin-themed techno score inspired by 90s rave music. 

More wins came for Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker (2023) and Julio Torres’ Problemista (2024), who both won the Unsung Film Dorian award. 

RaMell Ross won Visually Striking Film of the Year for the historical drama, Nickel Boys (2024).

The Dorian Award for Animated Film of the Year went to Flow (2024) – a mystical film about a courageous cat on its journey away from home.

The Best Non-English Language Film award went to Brazil’s factually accurate historical drama I’m Still Here (2024), while Best LGBTQ+ Non-English Language Film award went to the controversial Emilia Peréz, even amid the controversies surrounding Karla Sofía Gascón.

Last year, GLAAD’s Gaming Report shared that one in five active gamers identify as LGBTQ+. Even with such a large demographic of niche gamers, the gaming industry has less than 2% of queer representation in characters or storylines. Still, the gaming industry remains one of the top powerhouse forces in the entertainment industry with global revenue exceeding filmed entertainment and recorded music combined.

When a single queer character can generate 1.5 million Instagram posts, it sends a powerful message to developers and publishers that authentic LGBTQ+ representation drives engagement, builds community, and creates lasting cultural impact. Social media data doesn’t lie. These queer characters are not just being tolerated, they are being celebrated as figureheads, creating queer fellowship through fan art, message boards, and posts. The gaming industry can no longer ignore the need of including queer characters in their products. It isn’t just about diversity, it is about spending dollars and social media popularity. The data can’t be ignored.

Despite the lack of representation, the younger generation of queer gamers are forging a strong voice. The Gen Z generation continues to engage in more time gaming than watching traditional television. Gen Z’ers are also becoming the voice of social media and LGBTQ+ gamers are responsible for millions of social media interactions when it comes to video games.

90% of Gen Z engage with video games in some form and 22.3% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+. Mobile Premier League, a leading gaming platform in the US, just completed an analysis using Instagram hashtag data to determine the fifteen LGBTQ+ gaming characters who have made the most significant impact on players and the industry.

Here are the leading queer characters on Instagram and their social impact:

1. Athena (Borderlands)

Identity: Lesbian

With approximately 1.5 million Instagram posts, Athena serves as one of gaming’s most celebrated LGBTQ+ characters. Fans consider her relationship with Janey Springs to represent an authentic lesbian experience that is complex and has a place in the action-packed narrative. Her sexuality is just a natural part of who she is, and not done with pomp and circumstance. Her character is deemed as transcending stereotypes.

2. Tracer (Overwatch)

Identity: Lesbian

Garnering over 800,000 Instagram posts, Tracer’s sexuality was revealed in the franchise’s holiday comic. Her relationship with Emily proved that heroes can come from all identities. Tracer’s storyline was been integrated naturally into the overall story. She has become a symbol of inclusion in the competitive world of gaming.

3. Ellie Williams (The Last of Us)

Identity: Lesbian

With nearly 400,000 Instagram posts, Ellie’s relationship with Dina won gamers over with the positivity and energy of young love amid difficult situations. Their storyline resonates with gamers and again, her sexuality is a natural part of the story.

4. Ciri (The Witcher)

Identity: Bisexual

Approaching 350,000 Instagram posts, the character of Ciri shows how fantasy can easily incorporate queer representation. Gamers are attracted to her strong character and find themselves reflected in her journey.

5. Soldier 76 (Overwatch)

Identity: Gay

With over 330,000 Instagram posts, Soldier 76 breaks down stereotypes regarding older gay male characters in the gaming world. The backstory of his relationship humanizes this hero and challenges the norm as to what a strong leader in the military can be.

6. Alphys (Undertale)

Identity: Bisexual

Generating over 267,000 Instagram posts, Alphys deals with themes of anxiety and self-discovery. She is the nervous, cool geek that gamers can associate with. Her character has also led celebrations of body diversity in the gaming world.

7. Max Caulfield (Life is Strange)

Identity: Bisexual

With more than 170,000 Instagram posts, Max has become a major figurehead regarding bisexual representation. Sexual fluidity is explored and reflects the lack of labels that Gen Z’ers adhere to. Players have the choice to explore Max’s identity and, in turn, can explore their own self-discovery.

8. Eivor (Assassin’s Creed)

Identity: Bisexual

With over 116,000 Instagram posts, the character of Eivor has made significant progress in representation in major blockbuster games. Gender roles in historical situations are explored and players can choose romance options. This sends a signal to other major game titles that sexuality can be explored.

9. Bridget (Guilty Gear-Strive-)

Identity: Transgender

With approximately 115,000 Instagram posts, Bridget’s journey as a transgender character has incited major conversations regarding gender identity. Her character has had an evolution over multiple games, ultimately coming out as trans.

10. Leliana (Dragon Age: Origins)

Identity: Bisexual

Generating nearly 48,000 Instagram posts, Leliana’s character in Dragon Age explores themes of religion and queer identity. With so many of the queer community negatively affected by religion, this game explores the idea that spirituality and queer identity can both exist.

11. Tiny Tina (Borderlands 2)

Identity: Lesbian

With over 41,000 Instagram posts, Tiny Tina represents youthful LGBTQ+ representation. Her coming out was matter-of-fact, and not made sensational. This natural integration of sexuality in the game is a step towards normalizing queer identity in the gaming world.

12. Zagreus (Hades)

Identity: Bisexual Polyamorous

With around 34,000 Instagram posts, Zagreus celebrates bisexuality and polyamory. The younger generation is ready for more diverse portrayals and open exploration of love and sex.

13. Dorian Pavus (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Identity: Gay

With 18,000 Instagram posts, Dorian’s story resonates with queer folk who have been rejected by their family. It addresses the reality that many queer people face and the fear that many have in coming out for fear of losing their family.

14. Alex Chen (Life is Strange: True Colors)

Identity: Bisexual

Generating nearly 12,000 Instagram posts, Alex Chen celebrates both Asian culture and bisexuality. Her empathic powers reflect her sexual fluidity in being emotionally intelligent. This also shows the power of intersectionality.

15. FL4K (Borderlands 3)

Identity: Nonbinary

With over 10,000 Instagram posts, FL4K has become an AI patron saint to the nonbinary community. This character has sparked a lot of conversation about identity and expression. The popularity of FL4K has encouraged other game makers to include non-binary representation in their products.

The demographics of gamers are changing and the queer contingent has gained an instrumental voice in making major changes in a previously historically heteronormative genre.

Sometimes, life changes overnight, and there’s nothing to do but be swept away by it, trying to navigate its currents with nothing to help you but sheer instinct and the will to survive.

Sound familiar? It should; most lives are at some point met with the challenge of facing a new personal reality when the old one unexpectedly ceases to exist. Losing a job, a home, a relationship: any of these experiences require us to adapt, often on the fly; well-laid plans fall by the wayside and the only thing that matters is surviving to meet a new challenge tomorrow.

When such catastrophes are communal, national, or even global, the stability of existence can be erased so completely that adaptation feels nearly impossible; the “hits” just keep on coming, and we’re left reeling in a constant state of panicked uncertainty. That might sound familiar, too.

If so, you likely realize that there’s little comfort to be found in most of the entertainments we seek for distraction, outside of the temporary respite provided by thinking about something else for a while — but there are some entertainments that can work on us in a deeper way, too, and perhaps provide us with something that feels like hope, even when we know there is no chance of returning to the world we once knew.

“Flow” is just such an entertainment.

Directed by Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis from a screenplay co-written with Matīss Kaža, this independently-produced, five-and-a-half-year-in-the-making animated fantasy adventure has become one of the most acclaimed films of 2024; debuting at Cannes in the non-competitive “Un Certain Regard” section, it won raves from international reviewers and went on to claim yearly “best of” honors from numerous critics’ organizations and film award bodies, including the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review. Now nominated not only for the Academy’s Best Animated Feature award but as Best International Feature (only the third animated movie to accomplish that feat) as well, it stands as the odds-on favorite to take home at least one of those Oscars, and possibly even both — and once seen, it’s hard to dissent from that assessment.

Set in an unspecified time and an unknown, richly forested place, it centers its narrative — which begins with breathtaking quickness, almost from the opening frames of the film — on a small-ish charcoal grey cat, who wakes from its slumber to find its home rapidly disappearing under a rising tide of water. Trying to stay ahead of the flood, it finds a lifeline when it discovers an abandoned sailboat, adrift on the waves, and seeks safety on board; but the cat is not the only refugee here, and with an unlikely group of other animals — a dog, a capybara, a lemur, and a secretary bird — sharing the ride, the plucky feline must forge alliances with (and between) each of its shipmates if any of them are to avoid a seemingly apocalyptic fate. Faced with setbacks and challenges at every turn, the crew of unlikely comrades learns to cooperate out of shared necessity — but will it be enough to keep the uncontrollable waters that surround them from becoming their final oblivion?

With no human presence in the movie — though the implication that it once existed, accompanied by the inevitable suspicion that climate change is behind the mysterious flood, is ominously delivered through the monumental ruined structures and broken relics it has seemingly left behind — the story unfolds without a word of dialogue, a narrative chain of events that keeps us ever-focused on the “now.” The non-verbal vocalizations of its characters (each provided by authentic animal sounds rather than human impersonation) help to convey their relationships with clarity, but it’s the visual evocation of their sensory experiences — of being trapped and at the mercy of the elements, of making an unexpected connection with another being, of enjoying a simple pleasure like a soft place to sleep — that fuels this remarkable exploration of physical existence at its most raw and vulnerable. We have no way of knowing what has happened, no way of imagining what is yet to come, but such questions fade quickly into irrelevance as the story carries our attention from the immediacy of one moment into the next.

Accentuating this in-the-moment flow of “Flow”— for if ever a film title could be said to summarize its style, it is surely this one — is its eye-absorbing visual beauty, rendered via the open-sourced software Blender to provide an aesthetic which matches the material. These realistically-drawn animals come vividly to life against a backdrop that captures a deep connection to nature, accented with the surreal intrusions of human influence and a certain appreciation for the colorful beauty of the world around us, even at its most untamed, which hints at an indefinable mysticism; and when the story begins to transcend the expected borders of its meticulously-crafted realism, the animation takes us there so easily that we scarcely notice it has happened.

Yet transcend it does, and in so doing becomes something greater than a humble adventure tale. As the animal companions progress in their journey toward hoped-for safety, the remnants of human existence become more weathered, more ancient, and less recognizable; the natural landscape through which they are carried begins to be transformed, rendered in a more mythic light by the clash of elemental forces swirling around them and the strange encounters with other creatures that occur along their way. Whatever world this may have been, it seems rapidly to be dissolving into a cosmos where the forms of the past are being reconfigured into something new — and the band of travelers, both witness to and participants in this process, cannot help but be reconfigured, too.
We can’t explain that further without spoilers, but we can tell you that it includes the cat’s ability to ignore its solitary instincts and natural mistrust of its comrades in order to form a diverse (yes, we said it) and cooperative team. It also involves learning to let go of things that can no longer help, to be open to new possibilities that might, and perhaps most importantly, to surrender without fear to the “flow” and trust that it will eventually take you where you need to go, as long as you can manage to stay afloat until you get there.

Zilbalodis’s film is an immersive ride, full of visceral and frequently harrowing moments that may produce some anxiety (especially for those who hate seeing animals in peril) and conceptual shifts that may challenge your expectations — but it is a ride well worth taking. More than merely a fantastical “Noah’s Ark” fable reimagined for an environmentally conscious age, it just might offer the timely catharsis many of us need to confront our unknowable future with a renewed sense of possibility.
“Flow” begins streaming on Max on Feb. 14.

How does one even attempt to give an honest review of a new TV show executive-produced by the late Norman Lear – a pioneer in entertainment – also starring Laverne Cox, a trailblazer for trans representation? Given the current political climate towards the queer community, approaching Clean Slate should be done with kid gloves. Still, the show struggles to find its footing and generally misfires.

The show, now streaming on Prime, was originally pitched to Lear by comedian and co-star of Clean Slate, George Wallace as a Sanford & Sons reboot. Lear told him to go back to the drawing board and come back with something new. Ultimately, Wallace, together with Laverne Cox and Dan Ewen, created a show that is a throwback to the family sitcom era and to Lear’s earlier shows like All in the Family and The Jeffersons.

What’s missing here is a live audience and a stage.

The writing doesn’t seem to get that. One-liners fall flat, and preachy character orations clunk away with their heavy-handedness. Some of the actors are able to make something of a dated and unimaginative script, and some do not. Some of the jokes and situations are very stale, we’ve heard and seen them before. Though new to the scene, this show does not seem fresh, which is odd for a Lear project. We wish Clean Slate was as fast-paced and fun as the show’s trailer.

Always one to push the envelope, Lear’s projects have addressed class, racism, abortion, women’s rights and queer issues, many times way before mainstream audiences were prepared to discuss them. In Clean Slate, trans and gay issues are in the spotlight.

Laverne Cox’s Desiree returns to her small hometown in Alabama and surprises her father, Wallace’s Henry Slate, after being gone for 17 years. Not only does she surprise her father by coming back, but she also surprises him by showing uo as his daughter and not the son he knew.

Having lost her money running an art gallery in New York, she moves back in with her father to figure out her next steps. The show centers on the bond she creates with her father and the friendships she builds in small-town living, including the family that works for Henry’s car wash, her best friend Louis who is dealing with being in the closet, Louis’ mother, and the local church community.

Ultimately, she also connects with the local queer contingent. The usual themes and situations you would expect unfold. Henry must also now get used to using different pronouns with his daughter and having to put money into a pronoun jar each time he makes a mistake. He helps Desiree deal with her relationship to church and spirituality, when the local pastor shuns her new identity and she falls in love with the town’s hot guy.

Even with these storylines, the proceedings seem unimaginative and dated. At times, it seems like the show is an after-school special and not a progressive comedy. Henry and almost all of the small town embrace Desiree’s new identity with vigor and understanding which – although optimistic and hopeful – seems improbable in small town living in the South. The whole affair just comes across as saccharin in its sweetness.

Wallace as Henry Slate is charming and a great choice to help lead this story. He handles many of the cheezy lines with sincerity that makes it almost work. He is a gentle giant as a character, and quickly becomes lovable, even with his many missteps of grappling with the queer community. He loves his child unconditionally and would do anything for her, which is very believable from the get-go. D.K. Uzoukwu as the closeted Louis plays his role with sincerity and is a very welcome fresh face to big-time TV.

He plays the balance of presentational comedy and character honesty very well. Jay Wilkison as Mack – the town’s bad boy turned loving single father – really handles the material deftly and adds some much-needed craft to make the script and situations seem plausible. He’s also not hard on the eyes. Stealing practically every scene she is in is TV veteran Telma Hopkins, most known for her role in Family Matters, as Louis’ mom. She understands the nuance of sitcoms, single-camera closeups, and just the right amount of presentational acting to make it work. She is a delight to watch. We just want to hang out with her and gossip on the porch.  

We know Laverne Cox is a talented actor. She made history as the first trans actor to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy for her role in Orange Is the New Black. Oddly and we feel guilty by even writing it, but she misses the mark the most in Clean Slate.

She doesn’t seem to understand the material and comedic moments are overdone. Her emotional moments just don’t ring true. She seems to be overacting which, along with a weak script, doesn’t anchor the show properly. But, she is a consummate actor. What was it? The direction? The writing? Her performance just doesn’t cut it.

Here’s the thing.

All that being said, the show does have a lot of heart. But it seems lost, trying to find its footing, as to what it wants to be. A sitcom? A dra-medy? It does not succeed in any of those genres, but as a queer person watching the show, it is touching just because of its existence.

A comedy show led by trans and queer storylines is so much needed right now and just knowing this show is part of the Lear legacy, makes it that much more important.

Should we blindly support queer content just because it is out there? No.

Should we support the efforts and mission of a show? Yes.

And we also love the fact that this is a show the whole family can watch and discuss, which holds a lot of weight. There is a lot to explore if the show gets a season 2 and we do hope it is renewed so it has a chance to find its footing with stronger direction and writing.

Clean Slate season 1 is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

‘Frighten the Horses: A Memoir’
By Oliver Radclyffe
c.2024, Roxane Books/Grove Atlantic
$28/352 pages

Finding your own way.

It’s a rite of passage for every young person, a necessity on the path to adulthood. You might have had help with it. You might have listened to your heart alone on the quest to find your own way. And sometimes, as in the new memoir, “Frighten the Horses” by Oliver Radclyffe, you may have to find yourself first.

If you had observed Oliver Radclyffe in a random diner a few years ago, you’d have seen a blonde, bubbly, but harried mother with four active children under age seven and a distracted husband. You probably wouldn’t have seen trouble, but it was there.

“Nicky,” as Radclyffe was known then, was simmering with something that was just coming to the forefront.

As a young child, Nicky’d been raised in comfort in a family steeped in genteel British wealth, attended a private all-girl’s school, and never wanted for anything. She left all that behind as a young adult, and embraced the biker lifestyle and everything it entailed. The problem now wasn’t that she missed her old ways; it was that she hated life as a wife and mother. Her dreams were filled with fantasies of “exactly who I was: a man on a motorbike, in love with a woman.”

But being a man? No, that wasn’t quite right.

It took every bit of courage she had to say she was gay, that she thought constantly about women, that she hated sex with men. When she told her husband, he was hurt but mostly unbothered, insisting that she tell absolutely no one. They could remain married and just go forward. Nothing had to change.

But everything had already changed for Nicky.

Once she decided finally to come out, she learned that friends had already suspected. Family was supportive. It would be OK. But as Nicky began to experiment with a newfound freedom to be with women, one thing became clear: having sex with a woman was better when she imagined doing it as a man.

In his opening chapter, author Oliver Radclyffe shares an anecdote about the confusion the father of Radclyffe’s son’s friend had when picking up the friend. Readers may feel the same sentiment.

Fortunately, “Frighten the Horses” gets better — and it gets worse. Radclyffe’s story is riveting, told with a voice that’s distinct, sometimes poker-faced, but compelling; you’ll find yourself agreeing with every bit of his outrage and befuddlement with coming out in a way that feels right. When everything falls into place, it’s a relief for both author and reader.

And yet, it’s hard to get to this point because this memoir is just too long. It lags where you’ll wish it didn’t. It feels like being burrito-wrapped in a heavy-weighted blanket: You don’t necessarily want out, but you might get tired of being in it.

Still, it remains that this peek at transitioning, however painful, is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand how someone figures things out. If that’s you, then consider “Frighten the Horses” and find it.

The latest in the scandal involving Emilia Peréz’s trans star and Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón is Netflix deciding to part ways with her even after her public apology and statement regarding not withdrawing from the nomination. 

“I have been labeled a racist and I need to be clear that I am not. I feel like I’ve been judged, sentenced, crucified and stoned without a fair trial and without an option to defend myself,” said Gascón in an interview with CNN en español. 

According to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has cut Gascón out of the campaign for the Oscars. This move comes even after Gascón issued an apology through a statement on her social media and in an interview with CNN en español. On Thursday she was set to be seated with co-star Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and the film’s writer-director, Jacques Audiard for the AFI Awards luncheon – a gathering at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. On Friday, she was set to attend the Critics Choice Awards. On Saturday, she was set to serve as presenter at the Producers Guild Awards – which happen to be going on at the same time as The Directors Guild Awards. According to THR, she will not be attending the events. 

The Spaniard actress found herself at the center of controversy surrounding the Netflix original being nominated for 13 Oscars after freelance culture writer Sarah Hagi uncovered the actress’s stream of consciousness on display on X, formerly Twitter. Hagi found tweets from as far back as 2020, revealing Gascón’s views on Muslims, George Floyd, China and vaccines.

In her hour-long interview with CNN en español, she defended her position on the issue stating that she feels that she was unfairly targeted, while not being given the opportunity to defend the position she stood behind while writing those tweets. 

She goes on to say that she “supports the Black Lives Matter movement obviously” and that the tweets about George Floyd “were taken out of context.” In the interview, she goes on to say she was highlighting the hypocrisy of humanity in that moment in history. According to Gascón, what she noticed during that time was that only after Floyd’s death did people care about him, but prior to his death, they did not help him or care about his struggles. 

“I do not identify with any political party and I have my own opinions about issues that might have been one thing in the past, but have now shifted because I have learned many things about respect, love and with the spiritual practice of Buddhism,” said Gascón. 

In the interview, she also pulls the “I have a friend who’s Black, so I’m not racist,” card by saying she has a very close family friend who is Muslim, in response to the line of questioning about her being Islamophobic and only through very heavy discussions with her, has Gascón truly come to understand the implications of her words against the culture and religion, as well as the  differences between the cultures. 

Emilia Peréz was already facing an upward battle to gain popularity, as it was a French production about México. Audiences criticized the film for various reasons and yet, it was still nominated for Best Picture, Critics Choice Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Directing, and many others. 

Gascón deleted her X account shortly after the tweets were discovered and is now facing the cold shoulder from Netflix. Variety and THR, reported that the streaming giant is no longer directly communicating with Gascón – only through representatives. 

Whether or not this is a witch hunt for a trans actress at the height of her career, Gascón now has first-hand experience in dealing with what it means to misuse a platform by sharing her views on issues she said herself, she did not understand.