TransTainment 10/30/23
Miles McKenna
If you were a young person in the early ‘90s and liked the horror genre you’re probably familiar with Goosebumps. Now we’re living in 2023 and Goosebumps is a television show on Disney+ and Hulu. That’s of interest to us because the actor playing the character James, Miles McKenna, is a trans man. He originally got attention by documenting his transition on YouTube. He started acting in 2017, and in 2020 he published a book titled Out!: How To Be Your Authentic Self, and released his debut single, Boys Will Be Boys on Spotify. His first acting job was on Guilty Party, an AT&T show, and he has since gone on to perform in a total of seven on-screen roles. His Goosebumps character is a student at Port Lawrence High School where he is the class clown. James is not, as far as we know, a trans man. That would mean that McKenna may be one of the first trans actors to play a cis role.
If you enjoyed Kevin Sorbo’s TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and the SF series Andromeda be prepared to rip up his posters, crush his Hercules lunch box, and melt down his action figures. Kev has come out as anti-trans and he’s written a book titled The Test of Lionhood which he claims doesn’t bash LGBTQ+ people and is just about a young lion who has to man up and save his sister. But, while promoting the book Sorbo has made it extremely clear that one of the major messages of his book is to “let boys be boys and let girls be girls”. So farewell Hercules, say so long to Captain Dylan Hunt and good riddance.
Venus DeMars
Venus DeMars is a musician who first came to the attention of TGForum readers in Pam DeGroff’s Perpetual Change column in 2008. DeMars formed a band called All The Pretty Horses and set about conquering the music scene in Minneapolis. They were called punk, glam rock, and drag punk. DeMars wore black leather corsets and high heeled boots on stage and the show featured her using a power grinder to shoot sparks off of her steel codpiece. None of the labels applied to the band were an exact fit but there was no doubt that DeMars’ stage presence owned the show. In a recent interview she said, “I developed this whole domme fetish persona that was pretty aggressive on stage, physically. And that was on purpose to prove that I wasn’t pretending.” Now, 30 years after the debut All The Pretty Horses album came out she comes out as a trans woman in an interview with MPRnews.
Queen of New York premiered at NewFest, New York’s premiere LGBTQ+ film festival. The film documents drag performer Marti Gould Cummings 2019 historic campaign to become the first openly nonbinary drag queen New York City Council member. Take a look at the film’s trailer.
The City of West Hollywood is co-sponsoring The Trans Diaries 2023, produced by the National Organization for Women Hollywood Chapter on Saturday November 11, and Sunday, November 12, at 7:30pm, in the City of West Hollywood City Council Chambers at 625 N. San Vicente. Boulevard, in West Hollywood. The performances are free and open to the public, but RSVP is required. For reservations, go to transdiaries2023.eventbrite.com. The show invites you to “Immerse yourself in the rich stories, experiences, and talents of transgender and non-binary individuals from all walks of life.”
Hulu’s new show Living for the Dead boasts a spectacular all LGBTQ + cast and executive producer (Oscar nominee Kirsten Stewart). Living for the Dead is premiered Wednesday, October 18th, on Hulu. The story is about a LGBTQ ghost hunting team that consists of a medium, a witch, a paranormal researcher, and a tarot card reader. Every week, they have to figure out and find some resolution for an entity that might be on the other side — and the person that’s with us still here on earth. Take a look at the show’s trailer.
Even though travel to Florida is a no-no you may want to know about the 12th Annual Key West Film Festival. It’s happening November 15-19 and the theme is stellar cinema and strong women. Of interest to us are the films Big Easy Queens which features Florida drag performers who do shows in Key West venues, and Queendom, a portrait of a young Russian transgender street performer and activist. Learn more about the festival from the Key West Film Festival website.
Star of stage, screen, music and more, the gender fluid Billy Porter is set to release his fifth album titled Black Mona Lisa. It drops on November 17 and it deviates from Porter’s past musical genres, moving away from show tunes and into dance/pop. See if you can dance to this.
While Miss Porter sashays away from Broadway musical scores The Trans Voices Cabaret (TVC) will return to New York November 25 at the Caveat. The participants in the program are transgender and nonbinary musical theatre performers. Featured will be Caco, Blanca Del Loco, Patrick Falk, Jules Geiss, Malea Kimberly, Alex Martins, Teagan Rabuano, and Lisa Tricarico. TVC creator Donnie Cianciotto will serve as emcee for the evening. Learn more and buy tickets on the Caveat website.
Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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