Arts & Entertainment
Laverne Cox fires back at comedian who joked about killing trans women
Lil Duval’s remarks started a trending #BoycottBreakfastClub hashtag
(Screenshot via YouTube)
Laverne Cox took to Twitter to condemn stand-up comedian Lil Duval for making transphobic and violent comments while a guest on the radio show “Breakfast Club.”
Host DJ Envy asked Duval how he would feel if he discovered he was sleeping with a transgender woman.
“This might sound messed up and I don’t care. She dying,” Duval responds.
Host Charlamagne Tha God told Duval he couldn’t kill transgender women and Duval replied, “I didn’t say I was gonna kill transgenders. I said, if one did that to me, and they didn’t tell me, I’mma be so mad I’d probably kill them.”
When the hosts urge him to be “politically correct” Duval says that as a comedian he doesn’t have to be.
“That’s the good thing I like about being me,” Duval says. “I can say what I want and do what I want and people understand where I’m coming from. They understand I’m not coming from a place of malice. They know I’m just speaking my mind.”
Cox responded to Duval’s comments by explaining how detrimental they are to the transgender community.
I think what’s also so upsetting for me is @janetmock was on that show last week with so much love brilliance and trans 101 education and
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
A week later this happens. #translivesmatter
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Some folks think it’s ok to joke about wanting to kill us. We have free speech but that speech has consequences and trans folks are
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Experiencing the negative consequences with our lives. It hurts my spirit cause this isn’t funny. Our lives matter. Trans murder isn’t a
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Joke. #Translivesmatter
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Activist April Reign, who started the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2016, started the hashtag #BreakfastClubBoycott after the hosts didn’t reprimand Duval’s statements and laughed along.
A few days before Duval’s interview, Janet Mock was a guest on the show to discuss her book “Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me.”
Duval’s comments start at the 6:28 mark.
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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