Arts & Entertainment
‘Riverdale’ adds first bisexual character to cast
Vanessa Morgan will take on the role of Toni Topaz
(Screenshot via YouTube.)
“Riverdale” has added its first bisexual character to the cast, Toni Topaz.
Toni will be played by Canadian native Vanessa Morgan, according to ET Online. A character from the Archie Comics, Toni sports pink hair and is close with Jughead, frequently battling against him in food eating competitions.
In the comics, Toni is also hinted as being bisexual. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa promises the series will explore Toni’s bisexuality.
In the second season, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) transfers to Southside High and joins a gang. Toni will be a fellow student at the school and also in the same gang. Jughead and Toni will become close friends and possibly cause trouble for Jughead’s relationship with Betty.
Unlike the comics where Jughead is asexual, Jughead identifies as straight in the series. During San Diego Comic Con, Madelaine Petsch, who plays Cheryl Blossom, hinted that her love interest this season wouldn’t be male giving a possible clue it could be Toni.
The show also has a gay male character, Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), who was upgraded from reoccurring role to main cast for the second season.
“Riverdale” season two premieres Oct. 11 on CW.
Celebrity News
More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio
Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday
An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.
The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.
Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s Honório Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.
Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.
“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” said Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on its X account. “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”
The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.
The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian observed International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering Gay Day at the Zoo for @WashBlade . Here at @NationalZooDC pic.twitter.com/LqgGNOOAiM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) May 5, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization
The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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