Arts & Entertainment
Samira Wiley, Gloria Carter, ‘CMBYN,’ honored at GLAAD Media Awards
Halsey, Ava DuVernay also received recognition
Samira Wiley accepting the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards (Screenshot via YouTube)
The 29th annual GLAAD Media Awards continued in New York City on Saturday hosted by Ross Matthews.
D.C. native Samira Wiley was presented the Vito Russo Award by her “The Handmaid’s Tale” co-star Alexis Bledel. Wiley recounted when she first came out to her parents in 2008 while accepting the speech.
“I heard the words, ‘I like girls’ come out of my mouth,” Wiley says. “When I was finished I looked up and I said, ‘OK, I’m done.’ I waited, and my father looked at me and said, ‘Cool.’”
Jay-Z was honored with the Special Recognition Award for the track “Smile,” included on his latest album “4:44,” which features his mother Gloria Carter coming out. Carter accepted the award on her son’s behalf.
“‘Smile’ became a reality, because I shared with my son who I am. Not that people didn’t know. It was someone that they didn’t talk about but they loved me anyway.” Carter explained in her speech. “But to me, this was the first time that I spoke to anyone about who I really am.”
“Call Me By Your Name” won Outstanding Film which was accepted by screenwriter James Ivory and producer Peter Spears. Outstanding Music Artist was awarded to Halsey for her album, “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.”
Ava DuVernay was also presented the Excellence in Media Award by Sen. Cory Booker.
“We were never meant to survive,” DuVernay says in her speech.“I thank my LGBTQ comrades for your fight, for your resilience, for your daring, for your dignity, for your declaration of self, and I dedicate this award tonight to those of every pronoun.”
Read the complete list of winners below.
Outstanding Documentary: “Gender Revolution: A Journey With Katie Couric” (National Geographic)
Outstanding Music Artist: Halsey, “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom”
Outstanding Talk Show Episode: “Australian Marriage Equality,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)
Outstanding TV Journalism — Newsmagazine: “The Pulse of Orlando: Terror at the Nightclub,” “Anderson Cooper 360” (CNN)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Murders Raise Alarm for Transgender Community,” “NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt” (NBC)
Outstanding Newspaper Article: “The Silent Epidemic: Black Gay Men and HIV” by Gracie Bonds Staples (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Outstanding Magazine Article: “Forbidden Lives: The Gay Men Who Fled Chechnya’s Purge” by Masha Gessen (The New Yorker)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Billboard
Outstanding Digital Journalism — Multimedia: This Is How We Win’: Inside Danica Roem’s Historic Victory,” by Diana Tourjée (Broadly.Vice.com)
Outstanding TV Journalism — Newsmagazine (Spanish Language): “Pulse, Huellas de la Masacre,” “Docufilms” (CNN en Español)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment (Spanish Language): “Comunidad LGBTQ Vulnerable Bajo Nuevo Gobierno,” “Perspectiva Nacional” (Entravision)
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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Comings & Goings
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
