After The Man I Love debuted at Cannes this week, Rami Malek made comments about his initial hesitation to accept the role of Jimmy George, a gay theater artist in the 1980s diagnosed with AIDS. The character was originally intended for queer actor Ben Whishaw, who had to drop out due to another commitment. Though Malek is a talented actor, it is a shame that director Ira Sachs didn’t prioritize casting another queer actor in Whishaw’s place.
When the film screened at Cannes, Malek told reporters: “When I read the script, I said, ‘I can’t do this,’” noting too many similarities between Jimmy George and Freddie Mercury, the latter of whom Malek portrayed in Bohemian Rhapsody back in 2018, winning him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
“There was a certain sense of fear,” Malek said. “And I started to really think about what I was afraid of. Was it the similarities? Was it the singing? Was it obviously what was going on in the period? And the fear was, I knew I had to address the fear.”
Malek further reflected on his performance as Freddie Mercury, stating, “If there’s anything Freddie taught me, it was ‘address the fear.’ And when I raced into it, I started to discover that these were men that were similar, but they were also worlds apart . . . You have an icon, a legend in Freddie, who really had a destination, whereas Jimmy is just searching for creativity and love and intimacy and joy and pleasure in every moment.”
The film received an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes and initial reactions to the film have mostly been positive. However, this expression of “fear” from Malek comes across as somewhat tone-deaf, given the frequent backlash when straight actors play queer characters.
The majority of roles in Hollywood are already written for straight, cisgender men, so it’s frustrating to see Malek taking this role from a queer actor. It’s even more frustrating to see Malek admit that he was scared to play “another” gay character with AIDS, and how he feels the need to justify the decision, when a queer actor likely wouldn’t feel the need to address it all . . .
Although it is noteworthy that there is more queer representation in Hollywood (and at Cannes) in 2026, queer actors are not getting cast in lead roles. LGBTQ+ actors are out there, but as long as bigger names are prioritized for these roles, it remains extremely difficult for queer actors to break into the industry and make a name for themselves.
Los Angeles Queer Zine Fest, a one-day celebration of queer and trans zine makers, artists, printmakers, publishers, and performers, is taking place this Sunday at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. The event will combine:
(1) 45+ queer and trans-identifying vendors; (2) live drag performances, music, and poetry; and (3) a zine-making workshop.
Per the ONE Archives, zines “have long been a tool for queer and trans people to document our lives, share resources, tell our stories, build community, and create outside of traditional publishing.” Building on this tradition, the L.A. Queer Zine Fest intends to “platform queer voices and encourage participation in the preservation and celebration of queer history.”
During the 2026 Fest, guests are encouraged to visit NEED ME, or, (de)mystifying the myth of the modern primitive, which is billed as “the first ever public exhibition to present the Western history of body piercing and its roots in queer history.” NEED ME will highlight the artwork and ephemera of queer individuals who were essential to modern piercing history, including Catherine Opie, Ron Athey, Bob Flagan & Sheree Rose, Leigh Bowery, Annie Sprinkle, and Efrain Gonzales.
Founded in 1952, the ONE Archives is the largest repository of LGBTQ+ materials in the world, containing millions of items including art, books, films, videos, audio recordings, and periodicals. The Fest is presented by TRANS•FORM, a growing programming series of workshops, performances, and community events which “creates space in the world for trans people through art, resources, and collective care.” The Fest is free of charge and open to the public. RSVP is not required, but encouraged. The Fest will take place in the ONE Archives parking lot. Public transportation (Metro E Line) is encouraged. Aside from street parking, a paid lot is a 2-minute walk from the Fest.
May 17, 2026, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, 909 West Adams Boulevard, L.A., CA 90007
From the James Bond franchise to the Met Gala, it seems there is nothing Jeff Bezos cannot buy, though not without public backlash.
The Met Gala is an annual fundraiser for the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum, relying on donations from attendees and sponsors to preserve fashion and art history. While billionaires and conservatives have sponsored the Met Gala before (e.g., Stephen Schwarzman in 2018), this year not only featured Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, as the official sponsors, but as honorary chairs of the gala itself.
While Schwarzman’s contributions were primarily behind the scenes, and thus easier to ignore, it was impossible to miss Bezos’s involvement, with Sánchez Bezos standing right next to Anna Wintour herself at the opening ceremony, fully centered in this space meant to represent creativity and artistic expression, not corporate greed.
Sánchez Bezos photographed beside Anna Wintour at the 2026 Met Gala
As a result of their prominent role in this year’s gala, calls for a boycott of the event spread online while several New York protesters took it upon themselves to make their voices heard. One group reportedly smuggled hundreds of bottles of fake urine into the museum before the event, in reference to longstanding allegations that Amazon warehouse workers were denied adequate bathroom breaks and forced to relieve themselves in bottles. A group of activists, known as Everyone Hates Elon, put up posters throughout the city and projected interviews with Amazon workers and various critical statements on the Bezoses’ penthouse building.
While the gala itself proceeded as usual with strong attendance, a handful of celebrities and public figures were absent.
Zendaya, who has attended the event seven times and even co-chaired it in 2024, notably declined her invitation to the gala, potentially a quiet statement in itself, though she has made no official statement on the matter.
In a New York Times interview with Cynthia Nixon, she applauded Zohran Mamdani’s absence from the gala, stating: “My hat is off to the mayor for not attending… The Met Gala is now giving Bezos exactly the kind of reputation laundering and cultural rocket fuel he needs to keep destroying America.”
Actress and comedian, Lisa Ann Walter, joined the Labor Is Art protest against the Gala, asking: “How did an event that’s supposed to celebrate creativity, artistry, and fabulousness, in all genders, end up revolving around this Temu Lex Luthor? Who profits off of pushing working people to their very brink.”
According to insiders, all of this backlash reportedly came as a surprise to Anna Wintour. One source claimed that “Anna is genuinely shocked by how hostile this has become… [She] quickly enlisted the help of her top advisers from Vogue and her inner circle for what was described as a ‘crisis-level’ strategy session.”
But the backlash should not have been surprising. The Met Gala is marketed as a celebration of fashion, artistry, and cultural preservation. By placing one of the world’s most controversial billionaires at the center of that celebration, the event exposed a larger issue: cultural institutions should not have to sacrifice their credibility in exchange for financial support. This year’s negative reception reflects that the public is becoming less willing to accept this compromise of values. Hopefully, the backlash will serve as a necessary wake-up call for the events’ organizers and similar institutions that public trust can vanish just as quickly as their donor list grows.
There is no shortage of negative news surrounding the LGBTQ+ community as of late in the United States, with the community being targeted with healthcare and history rollbacks. Fortunately, amidst all the negative news we may be overwhelmed with, there are still some positive developments to highlight, a lot of which are in a continent not often featured or discussed when it comes to LGBTQ+ issues: Asia.
Nepal elects its first transgender woman lawmaker.
Nepal’s first transgender lawmaker, Bhumika Shrestha.
Nepal has been heralded as one of South Asia’s most progressive countries in terms of LGBTQ+ rights and protections. Over 900,000 Nepalese identify as being sexual minorities, and earlier this March, Bhumika Shrestha was elected as the country’s first transgender woman lawmaker.
Nepal’s Election Commission confirmed the 37-year-old LGBTQ rights advocate’s victory following the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) landslide victory in the March 5 general election. The RSP won 182 seats out of the 275 available in the Nepalese House of Representatives.
“I am very excited but also feel the responsibility on my shoulders,” Shrestha said. “Our constitution has provisions for our community, but they have not translated to laws and policies. Our community expects me to raise our issues [in parliament].”
Blue Diamond Society, one of Nepal’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organizations in Nepal, established in 2001, hailed Shrestha’s election. Blue Diamond Society’s president, Umisha Pandey, said this was “historic.”
“Our pains, our sufferings, our feelings, our stories, and our every problem is only understood by us, not by others,” Pandey said.
Despite its progressive laws for LGBTQ+ individuals, an openly queer lawmaker hasn’t been elected to public office since 2008.
India elects its first openly queer lawmaker ever
Just south of Nepal, India has had a more contentious history with LGBTQ+ rights and protections. However, during the March 16 election, Menaka Guruswamy was elected as a Member of Parliament, making her the first openly queer woman to be elected in such a role.
India’s first openly queer member of parliament, Menaka Guruswamy
A constitutional lawyer educated at the University of Oxford, Harvard Law School, and the National Law School of India University, Guruswamy has been one of the leading voices of democratic and civil liberties in India. She is a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), a political party that has long focused on improving women’s political representation.
Malavika Rajkotia, a fellow Indian attorney, said that Guruswamy’s victory signaled a new wave for leaders who are “fearless, intelligent, and inspiration.”
“They stand against toxic crude masculinity that defines present-day politics,” Rajkotia said.
While other openly queer politicians have been elected to roles at more local or regional levels, this is the first instance in which an LGBTQ+ voice has been added at a national level.
Guruswamy and her partner, fellow attorney Arundhati Katju, were instrumental in having the Supreme Court strike down India’s 158-year colonial law criminalizing same-sex relationships in 2018.
Taiwan gears up to host the 2026 Kaohsiung Asia Pride Games.
This April 30-May 4, Kaohsiung, Taiwan is set to host Asia’s largest queer multi-sports event. Taiwan’s second-largest city after Taipei, Kaohsiung, has hosted these games since 2023 and includes sports for queer athletes such as volleyball, tennis, swimming, bowling, and basketball. The Games will be jointly hosted by the Kaohsiung City Government to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion alongside athleticism. There are planned to be over 1,000 athletes participating in these sporting events.
Taipei will also host the country’s largest LGBT+ Pride event in October, which brings in over 150,000 attendees and is the largest Pride event in all of Asia. Taiwan has also been named one of the 26 best travel destinations for LGBTQ+ people by TravelPulse.
Progress, But More to Be Done
What we are seeing in Asia is a greater championing of LGBTQ+ voices and greater visibility in all levels of government and culture. But there are still tremendous obstacles ahead. Japan, for instance, recently elected its first female Prime Minister, but Sanae Takaichi is staunchly conservative. Though she has said she is “fine” with same-sex partnerships and that “there should be no prejudice against sexual orientation or gender identity,” she has also said she would not support legalizing same-sex marriage. Japan remains the only G7 country not to offer same-sex marriage.
Additionally, 21 Asian countries still have laws barring same-sex relationships, and 14 have laws in which same-sex relationships can be punishable with imprisonment. Seven Asian countries still have the death penalty for same-sex relationships. All this is to say, progress is being made in often incremental steps, but it is occurring.
In countries large and small, progress, acceptance, and openness can be achieved as colonial laws and attitudes are addressed, activities such as sports events and Pride rallies gain greater prominence, and individuals from the LGBTQ+ community are elected into office.
Rupaul’s Drag Race season 18 contestant, Darlene Mitchell, married her partner of 10 years, Branden Marcus, on March 29th, 2026. Announcing the news on Instagram, Darlene wrote:
“Anyways… it’s WEDDING DAY… TOP 4 AS A WEDDING GIFT WELL YES OF COURSE I DO THINK!”
The couple celebrated with several of Darlene’s fellow drag race contestants attending the ceremony, such as Nini Coco, Juicy Love Dion, Jane Don’t, Mia Starr, Vita VonTesse Starr, and Briar Blush.
Darlene’s strong sense of humor was ever-present at the ceremony, the couple performing their first dance to “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper while an image of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy (a scene from Muppets Take Manhattan) was projected behind them.
Photographer and artist Thomas Knights, creator of the Red Hot movement–a celebration of red-haired men through photography and film–has a passionate mission to embrace and showcase redheads in visual media while bringing visibility to the queer community.
Hoping to change public perception of redheads and queer sexuality, Knights has taken his movement across the globe. Now, the exhibition is arriving in Hollywood with a brand-new debut at CULTUREEDIT, a queer retail store on Santa Monica Blvd.
Upon entering the gallery, visitors are greeted by a hallway lined with photographs of nude Red Hot models, pictured in New York and California by Knights himself. Spanning from the entrance walls to the main showroom, these photographs capture a playfulness and warmth, portraying these red-haired men as confident and empowered. With many group scenes, Knights depicts a strong sense of community and sexual freedom.
The exhibition runs through November, so be sure to stop by CULTUREEDIT to experience this celebration of queer sexuality and redhead pride! You’ll also find Red Hot merchandise, including jockstraps, mugs, sandals, photography books, and calendars.
Visit the exhibition at 6757 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90038.
When it came to my high school sex education, LGBTQ+ issues got a single slide in a powerpoint presentation and here’s what I learned: there is no cure for HIV, wear a condom if you have anal sex, and transgender people exist. That was it. As high school continued, I learned about sexual injuries not from the curriculum, but from two different queer classmates, one of whom ended up in the emergency room. Both young adults, like me, were unaware of the crucial safety measures specific to anal sex. These injuries could have easily been prevented if we had been properly educated. However, despite its failure, my high school sex education was still better than most. I have met several individuals who received no mention about the queer community in their sex-ed classes at all. This needs to change. No student should have to learn about such avoidable dangers through traumatic experiences.
The current standard for sex education in America heavily prioritizes heterosexual, cisgender students. It overlooks the needs and dangers specific to the queer community. According to the CDC, in 2020 alone, 20% of HIV diagnoses were people aged from 13 to 24. Despite the preventable nature of this issue, only 6% of high school students have been tested for HIV. And while it varies from state to state, data from School Health Profiles: Characteristics of Health Programs Among Secondary Schools shows that 39.3% of lead health education teachers from high schools across the nation received professional development on how to support LGBT students. That means that in most cases, queer students are left to their own devices, which can lead to increased spreading of STIs as well as sexual injuries.
Conversations about testing, PrEP (an HIV preventative medication), and being undetectable make all the difference, not only in making sex less scary for queer youth, but making it safer. And while the LGBTQ+ community is the most at risk, HIV affects everyone.
It’s important to recognize there is a disproportionate awareness between heteronormative and queer sex in society at large. Traditional “straight sex” is prominently represented in nearly all forms of media: TV shows, movies, books, songs, etc. Consequently, most people grow up and learn about that version of sex, even if it’s not explicitly taught. This is not to imply that heteronormative sex needs less coverage, rather, emphasize the importance of giving equal weight to queer sex education.
Sexual education is a powerful resource and it should be accessible to everyone. The next generations deserve an education that is more inclusive, one that helps them navigate the world, regardless of their gender and sexual identities.
The Queerest 