Queer YA romance, 2 films set in the '80s
Plus, Red, White & Royal Blue sequel, The Mummy is 25 years old
Happy Tuesday! Tara here with the latest in queer entertainment news.
🎧 Latest episode: I Can Love You From a Distance
I got covid again (boooo 👎) and Kris paid keen attention to the NFL draft (hooray!).
This week, Kris recommends a double feature with two films set in the 1980s: Blue Jean and Love Lies Bleeding. Blue Jean (2022) is a drama about a closeted gym teacher in Britain who has to handle a student threatening to expose her sexuality to the community. Love Lies Bleeding (2024) is a thriller about a gym manager who falls in love with a bodybuilder and gets mixed up with her mob father.
I recommend the YA romance The Summer Love Strategy by Rae Stoeve, which is about two teen besties trying to find love for the first time. It has lots of queer and neurodiverse representation, and it’s a great choice for any of the young people in your life.
While we’re at it
If you want another YA romance where the lead already knows she’s queer, you should pick up Queerleaders by M.B. Guel. When a teen girl is rudely outed at school by one of the football players, she declares she’ll get revenge by stealing all the team members’ girlfriends. Hilarious and sweet, this is an all-around excellent romcom.
🗞️ Queer entertainment news roundup
Find out which queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race is your mother. I am thrilled that Jinkx Monsoon is mine! (Autostraddle)
Speaking of Jinkx Monsoon, she’s on the new season of Doctor Who and her performance sounds so brilliant that I might start watching again. (Out)
A Red, White & Royal Blue sequel film has been announced. (INTO)
Queen Latifah and her partner, Eboni Nichols, walked the Met Gala red carpet together and even did a quick interview. No, I don’t care about the Met Gala, but the link explains better than I can why this moment matters. (Autostraddle)
Lady Gaga is releasing a Chromatica concert film. (Them)
Congrats to Nemo, the first nonbinary artist to win Eurovision. (PinkNews)
Lily Gladstone clarifies that they’re nonbinary, not Two Spirit. (Advocate)
The Mummy was released 25 years ago and was responsible for many a bisexual awakening. (Autostraddle)
Until next time,
Tara & Kris