Arts & Entertainment
Watch: Ellen Page tearfully asks people to ‘connect the dots’ on LGBT hate crimes
The actress says VP Mike Pence is at blame for Jussie Smollett attack
Ellen Page delivered a passionate and tearful speech on the connection between hateful leadership and LGBT hate crimes during her appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Colbert asked Page, who was promoting her new Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy,” if Hollywood was more LGBT-inclusive since she first publicly came out a few years ago.
“There’s clear evidence that has changed, that there’s some progress. There’s some more representation but I honestly think we need to hurry up. It’s not cutting it. Hollywood, and the film industry
Page then called out the media for not reporting enough on how environmental issues are affecting marginalized communities. Instead Page says “the media that is saying it’s a debate whether what happened to Jussie Smollett” and called out President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
“I’m like, really fired up right now. It feels impossible not to feel this way right now with the president and
Page and her wife Emma Portner, 24, married last year.
“The vice president of America wishes I didn’t have the love with my wife. He wanted to ban that in Indiana, he believes in conversion therapy, he has hurt LGBTQ people so badly as the governor of Indiana. He wanted to ban that in Indiana. He believes in conversion therapy. He has hurt LGBTQ people so badly as the governor of Indiana,” Page says.
“I think the thing we need to know—and I hope my show Gaycation did this, in terms of connecting the dots between what happened with Jussie, I don’t know him personally, I send him all of my love—[is how to] connect the dots. This is what happens. If you are in a position of power and you hate people and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering,” she continued.
Page teared up and concluded: “What do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they’re going to kill themselves. People are going to be beaten on the street. I have traveled the world and I have met the most marginalized people you could meet. I’m lucky to have this time and this privilege to say this. This needs to fucking stop.”
Watch below.
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
