In an interview with Variety’s Marc Malkin, “9-1-1: Lone Star” actor Ronen Rubinstein officially comes out as bisexual and explains just how playing the character of T.K. Strand helped him come to the realization.
Rubinstein called his awakening “a journey” that was enabled by his work as an actor. T.K. and his relationship with police officer Carlos Reyes, played by openly gay actor Rafael L. Silva, has certainly been embraced by fans of the show who have dubbed the couple “Tarlos.”
One of my favorite showbiz stories to take place during the pandemic has been Emmy winner Leslie Jordan’s skyrocketing fame thanks to Instagram. Of course, he’s been working steadily on television, in movies, and on stage for decades and won an Emmy in 2006 for his recurring role on Will & Grace. But with 5.7 million Instagram followers, he’s experiencing the kind of fame that Hearts Afire, Sordid Lives, Southern Baptist Sissies, The Cool Kids, The Help, and American Horror Story combined had not brought.
He talks about that and more in a new interview with NME. Here’s an excerpt:
“People think I’m an overnight success, but I’ve been doing this for 40 years now. In the past I’ve had certain levels of fame – especially with Will & Grace – but it’s nothing compared to how it’s been lately. I used to love sitting in Starbucks with my tea and four different newspapers, but I can’t do that now. People come by and ask for a picture, and I’m so gracious that I’m not gonna say no. Everywhere I go now, it’s like a tiny little public appearance, but it’s what I’ve wanted my entire life. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I remember thinking: ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to walk into a gay club and have everyone know who you are?’ Well, I couldn’t go near a gay club now – it would be a nightmare!”
At the 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards a few nights ago, Nyle DiMarco presented the award for Outstanding Drama Series to Star Trek: Discovery and the award was accepted by the show’s very LGBTQ cast: Wilson Cruz, Anthony Rapp, Ian Alexander, and Blu del Barrio!
It was nice to see the cast of Glee present the award for Outstanding Comedy Series to Schitt’s Creek and Dan Levy at the 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards last night.
There’s a really good wide-ranging interview with Queer as Folk alum Randy Harrison in the new Instinct Magazine.
He, of course, played Justin for five seasons on the US version. He’s asked about possible reboots of the series and shares his thoughts on that. We also learn how he’s spent his pandemic year and why he’s been so committed to his stage career over the past 20 years.
I wanted to highlight here the openly-gay Randy’s thoughts about gay actors playing gay roles:
I love all the actors of Queer as Folk and I thought they all did an awesome job, but as an audience member, I would rather watch gay people play gay roles. I was just reading an interview with Ryan Spahn, and he was talking about how there has only been one gay actor ever nominated for an Oscar for playing a gay role. Ian McKellen for Gods and Monsters. However there has been like 65 plus straight actors nominated for playing gay and trans roles. As a gay actor, I am well aware of the difficulty in finding work as a queer performer. I am well aware of facing homophobia in the casting process. I am well aware of how limited we are perceived as artists by heterosexual communities.
I am anxious for more opportunities. I want to see gay, trans, queer, nonbinary people all over the media, especially playing themselves. It is not the straight actor’s fault. It is the culture as a whole that raises their work above that of queer people. It can be very frustrating when a queer person is denied the opportunity to play a queer role, especially because it means something different. It is just a shame they are denied those opportunities.
Sterling K. Brown spoke out for Black trans lives and presented the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary to Disclosure, accepted by Laverne Cox and director Sam Feder.
When presenting the award, Brown said: “Friends, I’m so proud to stand with the LGBTQ community tonight, just as the LGBTQ community stands with Black and diverse communities. Black Lives Matter, Black Trans Lives Matter, and I know we’re going to keep spreading that message of unity and justice until every one of us is safe to live the lives we love.”
When accepting the award, Laverne Cox said: “We are looking for people to move beyond acceptance to radical acceptance, to radical self-love. To the trans youth watching right now, we want you to know that you’re anointed, that despite all of the attacks that might be happening against you, you are divine. You deserve to be. You are here for a reason. You must survive to fulfill that divine purpose. I love you!”
At last night’s virtual GLAAD Media Awards, 9-1-1 Lone Star’sRonen Rubinstein shared his gratitude he’s received since coming out publicly as a bisexual man earlier this week. He presented the award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release to The Boys in the Band with openly gay co-star Rafael Silva and transgender co-star Brian Michael Smith. They award was accepted by Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, and Robin de Jesús.
Niecy Nash hosts the 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards with appearances by JoJo Siwa, Katy Perry, Laverne Cox, Sterling K. Brown, Nyle DiMarco, Bob the Drag Queen, Dan Levy and more! Performances by CHIKA, Rebecca Black, and Jessica Betts. The cast of Glee reunites for a special tribute to the legacy of the late Naya Rivera’s character Santana Lopez.
The GLAAD Media Awards celebrate the LGBTQ images and stories in media that change hearts and minds and accelerate acceptance for the LGBTQ community.
Yesterday, the cast of Glee reunited during the virtual ceremony for the 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards for a special tribute to the legacy of the late Naya Rivera’s character Santana Lopez. The tribute honors the ten-year anniversary of Santana’s coming out on the GLAAD Media Award-winning series and spotlights the character’s impact on LGBTQ teens and Latinx LGBTQ representation on television.
Demi Lovato, who played Santana’s girlfriend on Glee, introduced the special tribute, featuring Glee cast members Jacob Artist, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Jessalyn Gilsig, Dot-Marie Jones, Vanessa Lengies, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Alex Newell, Lauren Potter, Amber Riley, Harry Shum Jr., Becca Tobin, and Jenna Ushkowitz.
Cynthia Nixon is reprising her role of Miranda Hobbes in a new Sex and the City series featuring the women in their 50s.
Love, love, love Miranda who so often has been the voice of reason in this franchise which has included six seasons on HBO and two feature films.
Miss Nixon won an Emmy for her portrayal of Miranda, another Emmy for Law & Order: SVU as well as two Tonys for her work on Broadway. She also won a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for An Inconvenient Truth and has had roles in many TV projects including last year’s Ratched as well as the TV films Warm Springs and Killing Reagan. In 2016, she played Emily Dickinson in A Quiet Passion.
For all her many roles on stage and screen, she will forever be beloved as Miranda. Below are a series of clips of this most marvelous character.
Finally, at the age of 65, Leslie Jordan has arrived.
He was asked by The Guardian in a recent interview if he feels he broke barriers for gay actors.
Jordan said: “When you’re in the midst of it, you don’t see it that way – but in retrospect, I think: I was so brave to be so gay so early on.”
He would sometimes be told to “take it down a notch, butch it up a little”, but he always stayed true to himself. “I think that’s the way the barriers were broken. You know, it’s funny; what I wanted was fame. I remember when I got off the bus all those years ago, I thought to myself: I want to be able to walk in and all the heads turn and people are going: ‘Look, there he is.’”
In this scene from a season six episode of Sex and the City, Kristen Johnston guest stars as one of Carrie’s old party buddies from the 80s who never stopped partying.
She’s 40 and still snorting cocaine and making a scene.
He plays Rob Lowe’s gay son on the hit FOX drama 9-1-1: Lone Star and now actor Ronen Rubinstein has come out in real life.
“I fully identify as bisexual,” Rubinstein says in an interview with Variety. “I literally just got goosebumps saying that. It feels so good to talk about it, it feels so good to finally be comfortable with it.”
Rubinstein called his awakening “a journey” that was enabled by his work as an actor.
“The biggest thing for me is where I come from, it’s like people like me and people who have identified as bisexual or gay or as any part of the community, you’re just not welcomed. It’s as brutally honest as that,” he says. “It’s either you faced insane amounts of profanity, like the F-word was thrown around all the time or you would get your ass kicked if you were gay. So there was definitely a fear of sort of embracing how I felt. I was definitely more aware of it in high school. I was aware of my feelings and how I started looking at men, but I couldn’t talk to anybody about it.”
The actor has a girlfriend and says he decided to go public because “I want people to know that this is a hopeful and a happy story. I want people to know that they’re not alone and it’s definitely okay. Trust me, I know that it is not easy. My path has not been easy at all, but it’s just one more thing that I can share with people to help them and let them know that I’m here for them.”
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In an interview with Variety’s Marc Malkin, “9-1-1: Lone Star” actor Ronen Rubinstein officially comes out as bisexual and explains just how playing the character of T.K. Strand helped him come to the realization. 
In this scene from a season six episode of Sex and the City, Kristen Johnston guest stars as one of Carrie’s old party buddies from the 80s who never stopped partying.
Where have I been that I had not been aware of Gavin Stenhouse until yesterday?
