Table of contents for January/February 2024 in The Advocate

Those seeking divine love do not need to undergo unnecessary “moral analysis” to be worthy of receiving it, according to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known to most as Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church. The Pope released a document in December formally approving priests to bless same-sex couples, so long as the blessing does not resemble a wedding, as reported by multiple media outlets. The document states such requests should not be denied outright and can be permitted if the blessing does not take place as part of regular church activities. The new declaration opens up “the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex” although it leaves the decisions to “the prudent and fatherly discernment of ordained ministers.” The…

FOR COLORADO GOVERNOR Jared Polis and his husband Marlon Reis, family time takes precedence in their lives — and when he can, Polis is happy to include his family in some of his responsibilities. “One of the great things about being governor is that our kids [Caspian, 12, and Cora, 9] can sometimes help with some of my duties,” Polis tells The Advocate. “Thanksgiving comes to mind as an example. The kids helped with the annual turkey pardon at the Governor’s Mansion. The kids named the four turkeys we pardoned: Gus, Maple, Pumpkin, and Matilda. And the turkeys spent the night at the house with our family.” Polis said that after the turkeys were pardoned, they were donated to a nearby animal sanctuary. “Marlon has been a very activist first gentleman,…

POPULAR MENSWEAR BRAND Nasty Pig was founded in 1994, the creation of David Lauterstein and his now husband Frederick Kearney. And while the brand is now heralded as the first to launch the fetish-as-fashion movement that major designers include in runway shows today, Lauterstein recalls the backlash Nasty Pig received when it first opened its doors. “We were wildly unpopular and very misunderstood,” he explains. “We had horrific notes slid under the door of our store. One said, ‘Stop Spreading AIDS.’” While its clothing and name are sexually charged, at its heart, Nasty Pig is a love story. It was built on the intimate connection between David and Frederick, the loyal love they have for the queer community and their shared passion of fetish and fashion. We recently got a…

A SCENE IN Todd Haynes’s May December unfolds in a dressing room where the character Gracie, a tabloid media subject, is reflected in a mirror. Between Gracie and her reflection is Elizabeth, the actress who will play her in a film about the scandal that began decades earlier. The actress begins to mimic Gracie’s mannerisms. Meanwhile, Gracie delivers a backhanded compliment to her teen daughter about her bravery in showing her arms in the graduation dress she’s trying on in the store. The effect of the actress studying and regurgitating Gracie in real-time as the mother imparts harmful cultural mores about women to her daughter while it’s not clear which is the real Gracie and which is the reflection—is thrillingly uncanny. And it’s vintage Haynes. A progenitor of New Queer Cinema…

IN THE NEXT issue of The Advocate, you’ll notice some big changes. Two iconic LGBTQ+ media brands are joining forces! We’re excited to announce that starting with our March/April issue, The Advocate’s print edition will be included in the print edition of Out, our sister publication. This new way of delivering our award-winning content is called a flipbook. What does this mean? • The Advocate will expand its reach, almost doubling its print distribution.• The Advocate’s content will be available to thousands more subscribers.• This will allow our subscribers and newsstand customers to access content from both magazines in one place. The combined Advocate and Out will feature exclusive covers for each publication on either side of the magazine. Inside the pages, you will find the same trailblazing journalism you’ve…

The City of Orlando is formally taking the lead in any future fundraising and initiatives to establish a Pulse memorial. The onePULSE Foundation, a nonprofit that announced its dissolution in November, sent out a final email to supporters officially handing the reins on the project to the city. The Orlando City Council voted a month prior to buy the property housing the former Pulse nightclub, a gay bar where a gunman killed 49 people in 2016 before dying after a shootout with police. “A few weeks ago, the city of Orlando took ownership of the Pulse site, with a goal of creating a permanent memorial for the 49 angels taken on June 12, 2016,” the onePULSE Foundation email reads. “Since then, Mayor [Buddy] Dyer has met with members of the…

LOVE. These days, I think we’re all starting to feel like “It’s the only thing that’s there’s just too little of,” as Jackie Deshannon sang in the 1965 peace anthem What the World Needs Now is Love. The lyrics go on to specify that it’s “not just for some, but for everyone.” In the challenging times we find ourselves living in, love is the silver lining. Or rather, the rainbow lining. It’s what keeps us going in life when the going gets tough. And within the LGBTQ+ community, it’s as abundant as ever — and comes in many wonderful forms. In this special issue, we celebrate the beauty, strength, and diversity of queer love by featuring just a few of our favorite and most inspiring LGBTQ+ couples.…

A congratulations is in order to one of our favorite celebrity couples: Zeke Smith, best known as the first trans man to compete on Survivor, and Nico Santos, who’s displayed his comedic and acting chops on shows like Superstore and films like Crazy Rich Asians, wed in November in Palm Springs, California. We feel a special connection to the happy hubbies since much of The Advocate’s editorial team was in the same room when the two got engaged. After delivering speeches about LGBTQ+ representation at the 2022 GLAAD Media Awards, Smith suddenly dropped down on one knee and proposed to Santos. Moved to tears, Santos quickly and happily accepted. “For us, we’ve been together for almost six years,” Smith recently told People in an exclusive feature on their wedding. “We…

Walking into a room with Jodie Foster and Annette Bening is intimidating to say the least, especially when you have to awkwardly climb onto an extra tall and delicate folding chair in front of them. But both acting icons wore warm smiles during their recent press day for Nyad, the Netflix biopic they star in that depicts the Herculean Cuba-to-Key West swim of lesbian legend Diana Nyad at age 64. Bening perfectly captures the prickly, damaged protagonist, while Foster gives life to Nyad’s exhausted former lover and current best friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll. Bening and Foster received Golden Globe nominations for their portrayals and both are expected to receive Oscar noms from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science as well. (As of press time, final outcomes were…

Gen Z has become known as the generation with the most out LGBTQ+ individuals, but recent research reveals that it is also the generation most likely to embrace nonspecific labels. Among 18- to 26-year-olds, 26 percent said they identify as something “other than straight,” according to a recent poll from Business Insider and YouGov. This compares to 15 percent of millennials, 11 percent of Gen X, and 7 percent of baby boomers. Gen Z is more likely to identify under the umbrella term of “queer” rather than a specific label. Five percent self-identify as queer, compared to just 1 percent of millennials and Gen X, and less than 1 percent of Boomers. Gen Z is also more likely to embrace the labels like “bisexual” and “pansexual,” as opposed to more…

THOUGH SHE WAS no stranger to occasional media attention after dating and eventually marrying one of the WNBA’s biggest stars, Cherelle Grinner was thrust into the spotlight in a way she’d never dreamed of. And it was more of a nightmare. Cherelle’s wife, Brittney Griner, was arrested in Russia in February 2022 for having a vape cartridge in her luggage with less than one gram of cannabis-derived oil, which is illegal in Russia. She was tried on drug charges, convicted, and sentenced to nine years in prison. Fortunately, 10 months after her arrest, Brittney was released on December 8, 2022, after intense negotiations by the Biden administration. “Moments ago, standing together with her wife, Cherelle, in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittney Griner,” Biden announced to the world that…

In 1985, the Steven Spielberg-directed drama The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name, premiered to critical acclaim and enormous box office success. On a budget of $15 million, the film ended up grossing nearly $100 million. It also received 11 Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Actress for Whoopi Goldberg’s brilliant breakout performance, and two Best Supporting Actress noms for Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery. However, it did not win a single one. Despite all its commercial and critical success, the original film was not without controversy. In addition to outcries of racism due to the many Oscar snubs, there was also backlash for its negative depictions of Black men, especially in light of the fact that it was directed by…

Movies That Made Us Gay From Mildred Pierce to Muriel’s Wedding to Auntie Mame, Peter Lozano and husband Scott Youngbauer discuss the films that left an indelible impact on their lives, particularly ones first viewed when they were young, blossoming, gay adolescents. In addition to beloved queer classics like the aforementioned titles, the weekly podcast also gives you the couple’s wonderfully gay takes on action, sci-fi, and horror genres (including noting the lasting effect certain male action stars’ nude scenes had on them). That Aged Well Movie lovers Erika Villalba and Paul Caiola met in theater school in 1998 while costarring in the same production (“The critics loved us!” exclaims Erika) and the quips haven’t stopped since. Now in their early 40s, the delightful duo uses their weekly podcast to…