Arts & Entertainment
New Hulu series ‘The Bisexual’ is smart, sexy and funny
‘Cameron Post’ filmmaker finds inspiration in tale of lesbian ready to explore
Maxine Peake (left) as Sadie and Desiree Akhavan as Leila in ‘The Bisexual.’ (Photo by Tereza Cervenova; courtesy Hulu)
After she’s slept with a man for the first time, Leila ruefully observes, “I thought sex with a man would be different, but it’s not.” Then she adds, “but with guys, there’s clean-up.”
This exchange is just one of the highlights of “The Bisexual,” a great new six-episode series premiering today on Hulu. The series is an insightful comedy of sexual manners that is smart, sexy and quite funny.
Leila is played by gifted filmmaker Desiree Akhavan (“The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” “Appropriate Behavior”) who also co-wrote (with Cecilia Frugiuele) and directed the series. Leila is a native New Yorker who’s living in London with Sadie (Maxine Peake), her long-term business and romantic partner.
As the series opens, it’s clear their relationship is starting to fray. Sadie’s thinking about marriage and children; Leila is not. Leila decides they should take a break in their personal relationship even though they will still work together. As Leila says when she awkwardly tries to reassure their staff that everything will be all right, “Mommy and Daddy still love you.”
With the help of her best friend Daniz (the delightfully deadpan Saskia Chana), Leila moves in with Gabe (Brian Gleeson), a neurotic author and professor with problems of his own. His sort-of girlfriend Francesca (Michélle Guillot) is also one of his students and she’s rather ambivalent about their relationship, noting “you don’t fuck the way you write.”
When Leila tells Gabe that she’s interested in sleeping with men (something she could never admit to her lesbian friends), the two form an awkward partnership. Leila introduces Gabe to London’s queer scene and reluctantly tries to help him decipher his complicated relationship with Francesca. Gabe becomes Leila’s wingman and takes her to straight bars while helping her keep her new sexual adventures a secret from Sadie and their circle of friends.
The scripts by Akhavan and Frugiuele are simply superb. The writing sparkles effortlessly; the dialogue is crisp, lively and witty while always feeling very naturalistic. They create a cast of fascinating well-rounded characters with interesting quirks and flaws. Each character is presented with deep compassion and complex emotional issues are handled with an appealingly light touch.
Akhavan’s work as a director is also assured and nuanced. The pacing is brisk and the sex scenes are well-choreographed. She has a playful touch with the material and a solid collaboration with camera operator Ilana Garrard and music supervisor Amy Ashworth.
That sense of fun also extends Akhavan’s partnership with title designer Charlotte Retief. In each episode, the words “The Bisexual” show up in a different place. Spotting the title becomes a fun game like spotting one of Alfred Hitchcock’s cameos or one of the “Ninas” in an Al Hirschfeld illustration.
Writer/director/actor Akhavan proves she’s a legitimate triple threat with her sensitive portrayal of Leila. Akhavan boldly embaces every aspect of Leila’s changing and often prickly personality. She deftly captures the character’s vulnerability as well as her frequent insensitivity. When she brutally dumps one of the men she’s been seeing, he calls her “an emotional intimacy whore;” his assessment is not entirely off-base, even if it doesn’t describe the entirety of Leila’s big heart.
The rest of the cast is equally strong. Peake brings a steely sense of elegance to Sadie and Gleeson imbues Gabe with a level of dysfunction that is frequntly appealing and occasionally annoying. The supporting cast create vivid characters with quick brushstrokes.
“The Bisexual” does an outstanding job of representing a segment of the LGBT community that is too often ignored. Akhavan and company capture Leila’s second coming-out process with great finesse. They sensitively track her journey from a woman who rejects bisexuality and sexual fluidity to a woman who begins to express her authentic self. Her journey is both moving and amusing.
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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