Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis almost became ‘bad attorney’
If not for a key mentor in her life, Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis says she might just have turned out to be “someone’s bad attorney.” (March 18)
AP
Aunjanue Ellis, Elliot Page, Janelle Monáe and more celebrities are kicking off the first day of 2022 Pride Month with discussions about sexuality and embracing your truest self.
Ellis reflected on her sexuality, saying that being bisexual was never a secret, it was just that “nobody asked.”
This is not a coming out for the “King Richard” and “Lovecraft Country” actress, who told Variety that nobody asked about her personal life when she had rhinestones reading “Queer” that lined the sleeve of her outfit for the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards.
“I was like, they probably thought it said ‘Queen,’ she told the magazine in an interview published Wednesday. “It wasn’t that I was expecting any sort of major reaction or anything like that. One of my family members noticed, but nobody else did.”
Ellis, 53, said she remembers noticing she was queer as a child, often questioning misogynistic themes discussed in the Bible and spending time trying to “talk my body into correct behavior” as a teen, calling it a “lonely” and “violent” experience.
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“It’s violent because you literally have to tuck and place so many parts of you to be acceptable, so people won’t run from you and don’t want to be around you. It was exhausting,” she said adding that now she is “public about it.”
But it never came up in her press tour around Academy Awards season.
“My job was to talk about ‘King Richard,’ the Williams family, these wonderful young women I worked with, Will Smith’s incredible work in that movie,” Ellis said. “I wasn’t going to be like, ‘And by the way, in case you ain’t heard yet…’ Because that’s artificial.”
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The Oscar-nominated actress guessed that maybe because of her Mississippi background and age there might be a “presumption” about who she is as a person.
“I don’t know what the mechanics are that goes into (people) not processing, or them not just being able to believe that in the same way: I am Black. I am queer. This is who I am,” she said.
Elliot Page discusses the ‘euphoria’ of transitioning
Page graced the cover of Esquire Wednesday and opened up about his transition and the public response. He came out as transgender in December 2020.
“I can’t overstate the biggest joy, which is really seeing yourself. I know I look different to others, but to me I’m just starting to look like myself. It’s indescribable, because I’m just like, there I am,” he shared. “To go out in a group of new people and be able to engage in a way where I didn’t feel this constant sensation to flee from my body, this never-ending sensation of anxiety and nervousness and wanting out.”
Page used the word “euphoria” repeatedly in his interview to describe the bliss of walking in a shirt that fits him without “constant feelings of shame and self-hatred” and being able to relax and read a book without thinking of “discomfort and struggle” that prohibited him of enjoying the mundane things in life.
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The “Umbrella Academy” actor previously came out as gay in 2014. In the feature he explained that the reaction to his coming out as trans was exactly what he expected: “love and support from many people and hatred and cruelty and vitriol from so many others.”
“I came out as gay in 2014, and it’s different. Transphobia is just so, so, so extreme. The hatred and the cruelty is so much more incessant,” he added.
Page went on to describe an instance where he was harassed by a man who screamed transphobic slurs at him while also threatening to kill him. “I ran — I was alone — I ran into a convenience store, and as I was opening the door he yelled, ‘This is why I need a gun!’ Yeah, I don’t think people really get it.”
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Janelle Monáe on the complexities of coming out
Monáe came out as nonbinary in an episode of “Red Table Talk” in April. The “Antebellum” star is also pansexual, something she revealed in 2018.
The singer discussed the nuances of coming out in the “LGBTQ&A” podcast episode released Tuesday.
“Nobody tells me what to do. I mean, I knew that this was the time for me. I’d already talked to the necessary folks and I was at peace,” she said candidly. “I have no interest in releasing who I’m dating or not dating, that’s not important. But what I did feel was important that that representation of what it meant to live in your truth, regardless of friends or family supporting it, regardless of people having opinions, it was really more so for me, it was like, I need to say this out loud.”
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Monáe added that although she didn’t formally come out before 2018, she’s always had anecdotes in her music. Her 2018 album “Dirty Computer” had a lot of vulnerability, which is what propelled her to discuss her sexuality.
“I just didn’t feel a need to go do an interview,” she said.
“I just felt more comfortable with diving deeper into what it meant to be queer, what it meant to also have community that you wanted to feel seen and be heard,” she said. “I always talked about my attraction to whatever I’m attracted to. I’ve always done it. I think this though, this project was more declarative.”
Sara Ramírez talks playing nonbinary character on ‘And Just Like That’
Sara Ramírez‘s character Che Diaz on “And Just Like That” caused a stir in the “Sex and the City” reboot. Che, a nonbinary podcaster and standup comedian, was at the center of drama when it came to Miranda Hobbes’ (Cynthia Nixon) marriage crumbling. Aside from their relationship with Miranda, Che’s queerness wasn’t popular with people of all sexualities.
Ramírez, who is nonbinary and bisexual, opened up about Che’s flaws and why the character is important for the LGBTQ community in a Variety cover story Wednesday.
“What I love about Che is that Che is complicated and messy and human. Che is a great reminder that even when we don’t like someone in our community, they still deserve love, safety and joy, like everyone else,” they told Variety. “But the movement for liberation includes everyone, even people we don’t like. This movement, this fight, this party of pride, isn’t just for the people who make us feel cozy and cute — it’s for everyone.”
The comedian also discussed the importance of focusing on real-life issues such as anti-trans laws in Texas and Florida from politicians “trying to legislate trans and nonbinary people out of existence.”
“If you’re going to get caught up in this character at least learn about how people like Che Diaz are currently trying to survive escalating attacks on our community,” Ramírez said.
Billy Porter sings, reminds ‘Pride was a riot!’
Billy Porter brought in Pride Month on Instagram Wednesday with a song.
The “Pose” star belted Aretha Franklin’s “A Deeper Love” while swaying and snapping on camera in an all-black outfit accessorized with a black straw hat.
“Happy #Pride y’all! And never forget that pride was a riot,” Porter wrote, referring to the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots in which the celebratory month originates.
Gabrielle Union’s ’10 toes down’ with love for daughter Zaya
Gabrielle Union celebrated pride by putting the spotlight on her stepdaughter, Zaya Wade, who is trans.
The actress posted a clip of the 15-year-old fashion icon smiling and modeling a Loewe dress in partnership with LogoTV for Pride Month.
In the reposted clip Union wrote: “Our PRIDE never wavers. Our LOVE is unconditional. Our ACTIONS match our intentions. Our BELIEF knows no limits. 10 toes down ’til the wheels fall off. We love you @zayawade always and forever. Happy Pride.”
Lynda Carter calls Wonder Woman a ‘queer, trans icon’
Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the 1970s TV series, is emphasizing her superhero’s impact on the LGBTQ community.
Wednesday she shared art from a DC comic of Wonder Woman surrounded by a rainbow on Twitter and wished everyone a “Happy Pride,” adding that she’s “so excited to celebrate with all my LGBTQIA+ friends and fans.”
In a follow-up tweet she recognized her character’s impact on queer communities.
“I didn’t write Wonder Woman, but if you want to argue that she is somehow not a queer or trans icon, then you’re not paying attention,” Carter wrote. “Every time someone comes up to me and says that WW helped them while they were closeted, it reminds me how special the role is.”
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