Arts & Entertainment
GLAAD Media Awards honor Mariah Carey, Robert De Niro
Jennifer Lawrence made a surprise appearance to present
(Screenshot via YouTube)
The 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honored Mariah Carey, Robert De Niro and the best in LGBT media in New York City on Saturday. Laverne Cox hosted the festivities.
Jennifer Lawrence gave a surprise appearance when she presented Robert De Niro with the Excellence in Media Award for his HBO documentary “Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro Sr.” The documentary focused on De Niro Sr.’s struggle to hide his sexuality before coming out later in life.
“Robert De Niro Sr. was a gay man who struggled with self-acceptance at a time when organizations like GLAAD were not around,” Lawrence told the audience in the Waldorf Astoria.
“Around the time this film premiered, Bob said something that really resonated with me. He voiced the hope that this documentary would allow his children to fully understand the urgency of the present,” Lawrence continued. “He said, ‘I want them to stop and take a moment and realize that you sometimes have to do things now, instead of later, because later may be twenty years from now and that’s too late.'”
Director Lee Daniels presented Mariah Carey with the Ally Award. Carey told the crowd she wanted to understand what “LGBTQ” stands for before attending the award show.
“I had to learn a whole new alphabet to introduce and not un-include people,” Carey said. “I don’t want to do it wrong. I decided that if I have to memorize it, I might as well elaborate on it. So we have L: legendary. G: gorgeous. B: beautiful — all of you beautiful people. T: tantalizing, and even Q for quality.”
“Thank you for the unconditional love. I thank you, and I wish all of you love, peace and harmony,” Carey continued.
Comedian Aziz Ansari also honored “Anderson Cooper 360” for its segment on U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell.
Other winners included Caitlyn Jenner and Diane Sawyer’s “Bruce Jenner: The Interview” on “20/20” for Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine, “Tangerine” for Outstanding Film – Limited Release and Cosmopolitan for Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Gay D.C. police lieutenant arrested on child porn charges
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
HIV/AIDS group NMAC is ‘destabilized’ and in financial crisis: sources
Madonna announces release date for new album
Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Comings & Goings
Trump budget targets ‘gender extremism’
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
