Arts & Entertainment
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe become first same-sex couple in ESPN’s Body Issue
Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon is also included in the magazine
WNBA star Sue Bird and professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe made history as the first same-sex couple to be featured in ESPN’s Body Issue.
Rapinoe, 32, is the midfielder/winger for the Seattle Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League and is on the U.S. women’s national team. She served as guest editor of the Washington Blade’s sports issue in 2014. Bird, 37, is a point guard for the Seattle Storm. The couple was a part of 14 other athletes who all posed nude for the 10th annual issue.
“I think neither of us really wants to just do things and be like, ‘We’re the gay couple,’” Rapinoe told ESPN. “But to have this really unique vehicle to actually do that, to celebrate who we are in our sport, but also the fact that we’ll be the first gay couple, is pretty special. It’s pretty amazing to think about, especially in the times we’re in. Just think of how far we’ve come, but also the current climate and defiance in the face of that. Not only are we female athletes, but we’re dating as well. It’s kind of badass.”
Bird added, “Yeah, I think it’ll probably be even more badass later. A year, five years, 10 years, 20 years, to look back and be like, ‘Oh, they were the first openly gay couple to be on the cover, to be in the issue.'”
Figure skater Adam Rippon also posed nude for the shoot and revealed he hopes gay athletes can just be seen as athletes in future Olympics.
“I hope the focus isn’t on them being out but on their incredible stories and all the work it took to be there. It was kind of nuts, but it was funny: Through the course of the Olympics, it was like, ‘Gay Olympian Adam Rippon.'” Then it was just ‘Olympian Adam Rippon,'” Rippon said.
ESPN’s Body Issue goes on sale on newsstands on June 29.
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
