Arts & Entertainment
Lady Gaga calls Italian LGBTQ+ community ‘the bravest’
“You must be protected at all costs, like all human beings here on Earth, and I will continue to write music for you and fight for you”
MILAN — In an appearance on an Italian talk show, Lady Gaga voiced support for the LGBTQ+ community in Italy after a hate crime law was struck down in October.
“I wanted to tell the LGBTQ+ community here in Italy that you are the bravest, the kindest, the most generous,” she said during an interview on Che Tempo Che Fa. “You must be protected at all costs, like all human beings here on Earth, and I will continue to write music for you and fight for you.”
The bill — referred to as the Zan bill, named after Alessandro Zan, a Democratic lawmaker and LGBTQ+ activist who introduced the legislation — would have banned sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability discrimination by amending Italy’s penal code.
It passed the lower house in the Italian parliament in 2020, but disapproval from far-right groups and Catholics contributed to the bill stalling in the Senate.
Over the summer, the Vatican protested the Zan bill, sending a diplomatic note that claimed the anti-homophobia bill “reduce[s] the freedom granted to the Catholic Church.”
Senior Italian lawmakers pushed back against the “interference” from the Vatican.
“All concerns must be heard and all doubts dispelled, but there can be no foreign interference in the prerogatives of a sovereign parliament,” Zan tweeted following the Vatican’s protest, per CNN.
Months later, the Senate voted 154-131 in a secret ballot to stop debate on the legislation.
Zan responded to Lady Gaga’s comments on the show by tweeting: “Yes, Lady Gaga, the Italian LGBTQ+ community is strong and courageous. More than a society still steeped in hatred, more than senators hiding behind a secret vote. We will not give up until this battle is won. Thanks for your support.”
Sì, @ladygaga, la comunità #lgbtq+ italiana è forte e coraggiosa. Più di una società ancora intrisa di odio, più dei senatori che si nascondono dietro a un voto segreto. Non molleremo finché questa battaglia non sarà vinta. Grazie del tuo sostegno ✌🏻🌈#CTCF #BornThisWay
— Alessandro Zan (@ZanAlessandro) November 14, 2021
Lady Gaga, who is bisexual, is promoting her new movie “House of Gucci,” which was shot in Italy. The film is set to be released later this month.
Lady Gaga: “In Italia quando mi sono sentita più bella”
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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