Arts & Entertainment
Andrew Garfield faces criticism for saying he’s gay ‘without the physical act’
the actor explained he prepared for a LGBT role by watching ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
(Screenshot via YouTube.)
Andrew Garfield is facing criticism after making comments about “being gay” while discussing how he prepared to play a gay character on stage.
Garfield is currently starring as Prior Walter, a gay man battling AIDS, in the London stage revival of Tony Kushner’s “Angel in America.” The Gay Times reports that while promoting the play, the 33-year-old explained that he prepared for the role of a gay man by watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race” with friends.
“Every Sunday I would have eight friends over and we would just watch Ru,” Garfield says. “This is my life outside of this play. I am a gay man right now just without the physical act — that’s all.”
The actor continued on that he is open to exploring his sexuality later on in life but doesn’t think he feels an attraction to the same sex right now.
“As far as I know, I am not a gay man,” Garfield says. “Maybe I’ll have an awakening later in my life, which I’m sure will be wonderful and I’ll get to explore that part of the garden, but right now I’m secluded to my area, which is wonderful as well. I adore it.”
Garfield also voiced his concerns about whether as a straight man he had “a right” to play such a “wonderful gay role.”
“I had to trust that it was the right thing and Tony had asked me and maybe if he’d asked me, it was the right thing,” Garfield says. “It was as about doing honor, doing justice and knowing my herstory.”
Some people took to Twitter to slam Garfield’s comments and to explain that being gay is more than just watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Straight tourists who try on oppression for kicks make me so tired. Andrew Garfield and James Franco… guys… you will never understand.
— ? Hamish Steele ? (@hamishsteele) July 5, 2017
I like how Andrew Garfield’s view of being gay is having friends over to watch RuPaul.
— Eric M. (@thefilmviews) July 6, 2017
Andrew Garfield: I’m a gay man without the physical act because I watch Rupaul’s Drag Race pic.twitter.com/5AknYcOXl5
— Chelsea (@zaynscoweyelash) July 6, 2017
Andrew Garfield is “gay without the physical act” because he watches RuPaul.
– Rich Straight White Men Try To Be Interesting Vol. 53
— akili (@broxbeeble) July 6, 2017
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.
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