TransTainment 6/6/22

Samuel Mariño

Samuel Mariño was born in Venezuela and didn’t lose his boyish voice at puberty; it only “partially broke,” he said. Life as a teenager with a high voice, who was also gay, was difficult. “Everyone was making jokes, bullying me,” he said. Mariño has the last laugh because now at the age of 28 he is living in Berlin and is recognized as a true male classical soprano vocalist. He has had a career performing in castrati roles on stage, while aspiring to do roles assigned to  female sopranos. He has a record deal with Decca and his album Sopranista was released last Friday. Mariño is also a devotee of feminine fashion. While eschewing wigs and makeup he has dozens of dresses which he wears for any occasion, and thousands of high heels. On the cover of his album he is wearing an outfit designed by Vivienne Westwood. Learn more about Samuel Mariño from an interview in The New York Times. Samples of his album tracks are included and you can hear the whole album on Spotify.

Euphoria actress Hunter Schaffer and her crew were barred from entering a nightclub in Germany when the bouncer detected that Hunter’s assistant was trans. Ironic that the bouncer remained unaware that Ms. Schaffer is trans. Hunter took it to Instagram and the club responded saying “Electronic music is love and not hate. Anyone who does not respect the principles of electronic music has no place in our colorful world,” the message reads. “We apologize at this point to Hunter Schafer and your company for the misunderstanding at our door in the night from Saturday to Sunday.” Hunter was satisfied with the apology although some felt the club was just doing damage control. If you happen to be in Dusseldorf stop by club Silq and let us know if they treat you with respect.

Samantha Hudson

Spanish artist and performer Samantha Hudson (Born in León, September 11, 1999) is a Spanish artist, singer, actress, internet celebrity and LGBT activist. She has been called Spain’s John Waters due to the trashy nature of her performance projects. Hudson was at one time, around the age of ten, a devotee of Catholicism but became upset with the Church’s anti-LGBT stance. Around the age of 13 she felt that she was a trans woman but as she grew older she changed her identity to what would be closer to that of a nonbinary gender fluid individual. She came to that after much experimentation with various gender roles and didn’t find just one gender that expressed her true self. Here is her video for Dulce y Bautizada. (Sweet and Baptized)

Learn more about Samantha Hudson from Wikipedia.

Lenny Zenith

New Orleans rocker Lenny Zenith, has just released an album that he calls personal. It contains an autobiographical single titled Where is Safe? which focuses on Zenith’s experience of growing up as a trans teen. He’s created the song to support trans teens who are undergoing increasing pressure from conservative state legislators. After a nightmare in which he was a kid whose family could find no state where they would be safe, with exception of California, Zenith was inspired to write Where is Safe? He said in a recent interview, “I feel so deeply, deeply sad, fearful and angry for trans kids and the families that love them who are trapped in states where they are being targeted not only with such harmful laws, but the hateful rhetoric they enable.” Learn more about Lenny Zenith and his music from his website.

Nate Ethan Watson

British rapper Nate Ethan Watson started out in the music business in their 20s as a female. They always heard from record labels that they were too masculine and needed to femme things up a bit more. They were too masculine because at the time they were struggling with their gender identity. Watson came to realize that transitioning was the proper path but was afraid that becoming a man would be the end of their music career. Finally he found the courage to begin his transition from female to male in July 2018, while studying Public Health at the University of Wolverhampton. And his music career is far from over. He’s the first trans man to be a “grime” music artist. Though slowed down by the pandemic and still going through transition Watson is looking to move past grime and explore new musical ground. Check out an interview with him in Thiiird magazine.

Jordan Gray

During 10 years in the music biz under the stage name Tall Dark Friend, trans woman Jordan Gray recorded and released 7 albums, touring Europe several times and racking up numerous awards for her work. In 2022 Gray has suddenly become one of the UK’s most exciting and celebrated rising comics. Her show Is it a Bird? will take the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from August 3 – 28. If you happen to be in Scotland then do not miss her mixture of babies, boobies, bigots and Batman. Learn more about her from The Guardian.

SNL alumni and movie star Maya Rudolph has new sitcom called Loot coming to Apple TV+ on June 24. Rudolph plays Molly, a woman who has gotten billions of dollars in a divorce settlement and has no idea of what to spend it on. She decides to check in with a charitable foundation she started and then lost track of. But, decades of living in a billionaire bubble has made her way out of touch with the people the foundation was created for. Mj Rodriquez plays the director of the foundation and wants to get her hands on as much loot as possible, while ignoring any well meant input from Molly. Will a workplace comedy about mega rich people catch on? With Maya Rudolph and Mj Rodriguez on board is might be the next Ted Lasso. Give the trailer a look.

Another Pose star has dropped a new single titled Only You. Angelica Ross is the artist she’s hoping to have a summer hit. Ross said, “Only You is really about understanding that Only You must be the love you’re seeking before you can truly love anyone else.” Get more about the song and the video from them. Check out the video right here.

True Colors: LGBTQ+ Our Stories, Our Songs, offers a unique look at the history of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States. Peppermint, Alexis Michelle, Jujubee, and trans opera singer Breanna Sinclairé all appear in the show which premiered on PBS on Saturday but is now available streaming on PBS.org.

Tags: featured, news, Transgender

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment