John Paul King

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Witness to the horrors in Chechnya

In an era when documentaries often seem geared more toward a slick and buzzy “docu-tainment” style than to the unfiltered presentation of real-world facts and experiences, “Welcome to Chechnya” blasts you in the face like a gust of icy wind. A harrowing look at the “underground railroad” that sprung up within Russia to help the victims of the notorious “gay genocide” being perpetrated under Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, it’s a film that makes you want to look away but doesn’t let you do it. It conveys the unthinkable trauma of living in a constant state of terror while making a […]

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Hallmark, Lifetime, Others Embrace LGBTQ Holiday Romance

As we move firmly into November, there’s no escaping the fact that holiday season 2020 is upon us – and with the election result and news of a vaccine breakthrough, it feels like we might feel OK about celebrating this year, after all. Making that easier for us all, of course, is the annual influx of holiday viewing fare that has already begun showing up on our screens, right on cue, to help us get in the mood. For LGBTQ+ audiences, that has traditionally meant having to settle for getting our fix of seasonal spirit vicariously through stories about straight […]

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HBO’s ‘Equal’ Explores LGBTQ Life Before Stonewall

We’re still in October, and that means as we cast our eye on our screens this month, it’s inevitable for us to also be casting our eyes on the past.  The most relevant offering this week is surely the debut of a new HBO Max docuseries, “Equal,” designed to fill in a few gaps in our education about what queer life was like in the days before Stonewall – just in time for LGBTQ History Month. Premiering on Oct. 22, it’s four episodes of slick, smart, and star-powered television that profiles various “leaders and unsung heroes” of the community who […]

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Merriam-Webster Names Pronoun ‘They’ as Word of the Year

Popular English-language dictionary Merriam-Webster has named the singular pronoun “They” as their Word of the Year for 2019. Merriam-Webster has been releasing its Word of the Year list since 2003. The top word, along with the rest of the list, is determined by data, specifically the number of lookups received throughout the year and the percentage of increase over lookups from past years. According to the dictionary’s website: Our Word of the Year for 2019 is they. It reflects a surprising fact: even a basic term—a personal pronoun—can rise to the top of our data. Although our lookups are often […]

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Grindr Rolls Out New Features for Countries where LGBTQ Identity Puts Users at Risk

Grindr has announced a rollout of new features designed to help users in countries where the prevailing culture of homophobia, biophobia, and transphobia puts them at risk. In what it describes as “part of its continued commitment to the safety and security” of its users, the popular dating/hookup app is introducing new features including: 1) the ability for users to “unsend” messages that they want to remove from the conversation; 2) expiring photos that give users the ability to have their personal photos disappear from a conversation as a protective measure; and 3) screenshot blocking for photos, chats, and profiles. […]

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Report Ahead of Trans Day of Remembrance Shows 331 Trans Murders in Last Year

Last week, in advance of today’s International Trans Day of Remembrance, Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide released the annual results from its Trans Murder Monitoring research project, “to join the voices raising awareness of this day regarding hate crimes against trans and gender-diverse people, and to honour the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten.” The TMM project is devoted to the systematic collection, monitoring and analysis of reported killings of gender-diverse/trans people worldwide. It was established by TvT Worldwide in 2009, using data from 2008 onward. This year’s update, which was published on the organization’s website November 11, reported […]

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Excellent Trans Body-building Doc “Man Made” is Now Available

The ground-breaking documentary about trans bodybuilders enjoyed its worldwide on VOD, Thursday, November 7th, 2019 via Journeyman Pictures, the multiple-award-winning “Man Made” follows the extraordinary lives of four transgender men as they prepare to compete at TransFitCon, the only all trans-bodybuilding competition in the world – held in Atlanta, GA. What precedes this triumphant moment are a set of personal and diverse journeys taken on the path to self-identity and empowerment. According to the film’s press release, “’Man Made’” intertwines the nuances of manhood; the drive for social justice; and the competitive desire to forge our own paths and be […]

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Winning Design Announced for Pulse Memorial

The winners have been announced in a global competition to design a memorial set to be built on the site of the Pulse nightclub. The competition was held by the onePULSE Foundation with the purpose of selecting a design team to realize a permanent memorial to honor the victims and survivors of the Pulse shooting, which took place on Sunday June 12, 2016 when a 29-year-old security guard entered the Orlando gay night club with two semi-automatic weapons and opened fire on the crowd. 49 people were killed and 68 wounded. The gunman was shot and killed by police after […]