“Rage: On Being Queer, Black, Brilliant… and Completely Over It”
By Lester Fabian Brathwaite
c.2024, Tiny Reparations Books
$28/288 pages

Somewhere up in the clouds.

That’s where your blood pressure is, right there as high as it’s ever been. Hoo, boy, are you angry. Your teeth are clenched, your eyes are slits, and you can’t trust yourself to speak in more than a growl. You’re plenty steamed and, as in the new book “Rage” by Lester Fabian Brathwaite, it shouldn’t have to be this way.

When he came with his family to America from Guyana at just four years old, Brathwaite couldn’t believe what his new home country offered. Malls, new kinds of food, cable television? Shirtless white men on TV and in magazines? Yes, please!

He’s always had crushes on white men, but he loves being a gay Black man – even though racism, overt and subtle, can be an aggravation. When Brathwaite is on a dating app, white men sometimes dismiss him with a racial comment. He’s heard and seen the “n-word” more than once and he doesn’t tolerate it. Wouldn’t a greeting and a no thanks be less rude?

He is bothered by unnecessary meanness.

He is bothered in a different way by bodybuilding. Hot, muscular bodies, to be exact and he’s sure that whoever created the sport was a genius. Brathwaite participates in bodybuilding himself sometimes – it’s expensive and he does it for himself, not for other men – though he believes that gay men are bodybuilding’s biggest subset. For sure, he’s payed homage to his share of bodybuilders, superheroes in movies, and hot shirtless boys on TV.

There were many times, years ago, that Brathwaite ended up drunk and in a stranger’s bed or looking for an old hook-up, and he was arrested once. Nearing 30, though, he realized that that life wasn’t what he wanted anymore. His knees couldn’t take it. Besides, he liked who he was and he liked his blackness. He realized that he didn’t need anyone else to be a hero of his tale. He could do it better himself.

One thing’s for certain: “Rage” lives up to its title.

At times, author Lester Fabian Brathwaite rails against so many things: racism and desire, club society, being a writer and editor, the generational differences between gay men, politics, and loss. At other times, he’s outRAGEous and hilarious, writing to readers as though he’s holding court in a cafe somewhere and you’d better listen up.

You should know that that means honesty – poking in the corners, calling things out for what they are, chastising people who need schooling on how to behave in a way that doesn’t leave room for nonsense. This arrives unabashed and raw, accompanied by plenty of profanity.

You’ve been warned.

And yet, Brathwaite’s candor and his blunt talk is fresh and different. This gay man doesn’t pussy-foot around, and getting his opinions without fluff feels good and right. Readers will appreciate that, and they might come away educated.

Generally speaking, this ain’t your Grandma’s book, unless Grandma likes real talk laced with profanity. If that’s so, then get “Rage.” You’ll both be mad for it.

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At the Creative Arts Emmy awards last weekend, actor/LGBTQ activist Alan Cumming won the award for Outstanding Host of a Reality Series for the much-loved Peacock series, “The Traitors.” While at the Primetime Emmys on Sunday night, the series also won for Outstanding Competition Series.

Thanking the audience, Cumming said: “We are so grateful because we are a new show, and you guys, when you like something, you tend to stick to it, which is a good quality, so we appreciate it all the more.” 

During Emmys night, Cumming wore a Trans Pride pin on the lapel of his jacket, which featured the colors of the transgender Pride flag–blue, pink and white. Attached to the ribbon was a medal, which read, “For Military Merit.”

Speaking to him Saturday at the GBK Brand Bar event, Cumming said he was “very happy” the Emmys were so very LGBTQ-friendly this year.

“There are lots and lots of queer people being celebrated, and that is a very positive thing,”  Cumming told the Los Angeles Blade. “Especially because we are at a time in America’s history where queer people are under threat and there is a lot of violence around. So I think it’s very beautiful that the entertainment industry is showing their love and support for us.”

There were many stylish LGBTQ couples on the Emmys red carpet. Caroline Joyner, who is the director and co-head of inclusion at William Morris, was with Brittani Nichols, a writer and producer for “Abbott Elementary,” which was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series this year. Looking lovely as well was Sarah Paulson, who was right by Emmy nominee Holland Taylor’s side. Singer Jessica Betts accompanied her wife, Niecy Nash-Betts, who was part of a fun segment about television cops. 

Other well dressed celebrities were queer actor Devery Jacobs, who stars in “Reservation Dogs,” which was up for Best Comedy; Ayo Edebiri, nominated for “The Bear,” Kirsten Kish was nominated for “Top Chef” and Kali Reis, who was nominated for acting in “True Detective: Night Country.” 

LGBTQ “Baby Reindeer” stars Jessica Gunning — nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series — and Richard Gadd, who also wrote/created the series, both received accolades for their fascinating Netflix series, which won four Emmys. 

“This is the stuff of dreams,” Gadd said after winning his first Emmy in writing, as well as outstanding limited or anthology series and lead actor. 

In the pressroom, Gunning complimented Gadd’s writing, saying that her character was “so unique and unusual” in the dialogue she read. “It was all really there in the script for me and I just connected with her. I never saw her as a villain. I saw her as a kind of a complicated, lonely character, as was Richard’s character Donny. It was all there in the work. I was just very lucky to be able to play the part.” 

Gunning said that she was unable to put the script down once she received it.

“I read all the seven episodes in one go and I just kind of fell in love with the story and the writing and the character of Martha,” she noted. “When we were filming, I just was so proud of Richard and this story. And so when we made it, I think we just all thought it was gonna be this kind of indie slow-burning hit that people might watch.”

Trans Latina “Baby Reindeer” actress Nava Mau was also nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category, making her the fourth trans person nominated at the award show and the first in the category.

“I think that what we’ve been fighting for as a community is to be able to tell stories that come from the heart and that are based from a human foundation,” Mau told “Live from E!” host Laverne Cox, who was the first trans actress to be nominated for an Emmy. “Because that’s who we are as trans people, we are humans first and foremost.”

Among the numerous other LGBTQ talent present during television’s biggest night were queer and Indigenous nominees Lily Gladstone and Reis, both of whom were nominated for “Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.” This was the first time Native women have ever been nominated.

Around town

Publicist Tad Hamilton handles both the GBK Brand Bar and Affinity Nightlife’s “Dream in Gold” Post Awards Gala.

“As a publicist working in the entertainment industry with some of the industry’s top talent and events, we are always excited to include, and work with, the LGBTQIA+ community. Diversity and Inclusion is a core principle of Mosaic PR and this year’s GBK & MEND Television Awards Luxury Lounge and Affinity Nightlife’s ‘Dream in Gold’ Post Awards Gala is no exception. Both events had some of the most recognizable LGBTQIA+ stars in attendance.”

Hollywood hairstylist Erick Orellana loved seeing classic Hollywood glam all over the red carpet this year, with hairstyles ranging from “soft Veronica Lake waves to the side” to “vixen starlet looks” with blowouts that complement almost anyone with long hair. 

“It was nice to see a beautiful homage to old Hollywood glamor and beauty as we are transitioning out of beach waves or to done up hairstyles,” he noted.

It was a banner night for queer performers and television creators at the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, with Jodie Foster, Richard Gadd, and Greg Berlanti among the night’s big winners.

Lesbian icon Jodie Foster took home her first Emmy in the category Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in “True Detective: Night Country.” Foster thanked her wife and kids in her acceptance speech, telling her kids to remember that “Love and work equals art.” Foster has previously been nominated for her work behind the camera, directing “Orange is the New Black,” and producing “The Baby Dance” and “AMC: Film Preservation Classics.” 

The Netflix drama “Baby Reindeer,” Richard Gadd’s autobiographical miniseries about his experiences with sexual assault and a stalker, was a big winner at this year’s ceremony. The show took home the award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, while Gadd took home awards for writing and lead actor, and his co-star Jessica Gunning took home the award for supporting actress in the category. The show also took home honors for casting and picture editing at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier in the week.

Peacock’s “The Traitors” won in the Outstanding Reality Competition category, earning an Emmy for producer and host Alan Cumming. Cumming also won Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Show at the Creative Arts Emmys, ending an 8-year streak of wins by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” host RuPaul. Cumming, who is openly bisexual, has been nominated four times before – three times for his role on “The Good Wife” and once as the host of the Tony Awards broadcast. He has also been nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his work on “Arthur: Show Off.”

Longtime writer and producer Greg Berlanti was honored with the Governor’s Award in recognition for his work depicting underrepresented communities on screen across his nearly 25-year-long career. Berlanti’s career has written, directed, and produced dozens of television shows, including such milestones as the first on-screen kiss between two gay characters on his first show, “Dawson’s Creek.” 

He later achieved acclaim creating and producing shows like “Everwood,” “The Flight Attendant,” and the CW’s various “Arrowverse” shows, and set a record with producing 18 shows that were on air during the same television season in 2019-2020. His shows frequently broke ground in LGBTQ representation, including the first transgender recurring character on “Dirty Sexy Money” and shows that put gay characters in leading and title roles, like “Batwoman,” “Brilliant Minds,” and “Freedom Fighters: The Ray.”

In his acceptance speech, the 52-year-old Berlanti spoke of the impact of the lack of LGBTQ representation in television when he was a kid.

“There wasn’t a lot of gay characters on television back then, and I was a closeted gay kid, and it’s hard to describe how lonely that was at the time,” Berlanti continued. “There was no Internet to connect with other queer kids, no LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in schools. Back then, the only way to tell if another kid might be gay was if he also watched ’Dynasty,’ ‘Dallas’ and could name all four of the Golden Girls.”

He said it wasn’t until the AIDS crisis in the 1980s that he saw gay men on television “holding hands with other men, marching and fighting for their rights.”

“They gave me hope that I might one day have their courage to come out and share my truth with the world,” Berlanti said.

A queer creator also made history at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend.

Benj Pasek, who is openly gay, together with his songwriting partner Justin Paul, who is straight, became the 20^th and 21^st people to achieve EGOT status – winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony – with their win for Best Original Song for “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It” from the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building.” The pair have previously won the Grammy and Tony Awards for their musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” and the Oscar for writing the song “City of Stars” from the movie “La La Land.” 

With only seven years between their first and most recent awards, the pair set a new record for shortest time span for competitive EGOT winners, beating previous record holder Robert Lopez’s 10-year span.

Several other queer-themed shows took home honors at this year’s Emmys. 

Max’s “Hacks” took home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for star Jean Smart. 

Netflix’s “Ripley” series took home the awards for directing, cinematography, and special visual effects in a single episode in the limited or anthology series category. 

“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” took home the award for period costumes in a limited or anthology series.