pride month
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You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Kim Petras certainly had a memorable first meeting with her pop idol Madonna.
In the latest episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast posted on Wednesday (June 28), Petras revealed that she first met Madonna while in a bit of an altered state at an afterparty for Saturday Night Live. “She came to the SNL afterparty, and I was so obliterated,” she told Cooper, laughing at herself. “I just kept talking her ear off about Confessions on the Dancefloor, and I was like, ‘That’s one of the best albums ever. It’s a timeless classic, people don’t appreciate it enough!’”
Eventually, as Petras recalls, Madge suggested that the pair pose for a photo together. “She said, ‘Let’s take a picture,’ and I said, ‘Thank you so much for saying that,’” she said, giggling. “Because I would have just talked her f–king ears off for hours … she must think I’m insane.”
There’s good reason why the “Alone” singer felt compelled to gush about Madonna to her face. Earlier in her conversation with Cooper, Petras said that Madonna was always her favorite pop star because of the way she used her platform.
“Madonna is someone who broke a lot of these gender stereotypes, and who can be very masculine in some of her music, and talk about sex very freely and in a very different way,” she said. “[She] was so ahead of her time in liberating people from feeling this shame about their sexuality … I will forever feel inspired and liberated by her just taking the hit for so many people.”
It felt especially important to Petras when Madonna introduced the “Brrr” singer’s performance with Sam Smith at the 2023 Grammy Awards, where the pop icon told the audience at home that the pair were “two incredibly talented artists who have risen above the noise, the doubt, the critics, and all the bulls–t.”
According to Petras, that speech may not have happened had Madonna not specifically asked to introduce them. “She was supposed to [announce] record of the year or something, but she said she wanted to introduce the first trans performer at the Grammys,” Petras revealed. “I was like, ‘You really are the coolest to ever exist.’”
Check out the full episode of Call Her Daddy featuring Kim Petras below:
Back in April, Corook was having a rough day. The singer-songwriter had been hard at work promoting their single “CGI” on TikTok. While it was working — the song was steadily picking up steam heading into its release — the singer noticed that they were getting a lot of hateful comments.
“I already felt like I was in such a vulnerable place in my life,” they tell Billboard over Zoom, sporting their signature frog-shaped bucket hat that smiles into the camera even when they don’t. “I was trying my absolute best to allow my true self to shine through — for that to be timed with all of these hate comments really just like made me feel like, ‘Damn, I don’t have a place in this industry.’”
Yet in the two and a half months since that bad day, Corook’s life couldn’t be more different. Their EP Serious Person (Part 1) was met with acclaim, they’ve plotted out a headlining tour set to take place this fall, and their voice has become practically inescapable in the queerest corners of the internet.
Much of that attention is thanks to “If I Were a Fish” — the acoustic feel-good anthem about loving the parts of yourself that the world doesn’t seem to understand. It’s a song that wasn’t necessarily supposed to exist, until Corook’s girlfriend Olivia Barton asked her to channel her feelings on that fateful bad day into something productive.
“She said, ‘I’m gonna do what you do for me most of the time, and help you make something cool out of this. Let’s go upstairs, play whatever instruments and just make a really weird song,’” Corook recalls. “The weirdest idea that I had at the time was this thought of, ‘Well, if I were a fish, all of the weird things about me would just be super cool.’ And she said, ‘That’s really weird. We should definitely do that.’”
Making “a really weird song” might sound like an odd solution to a problem, but it’s central to what makes Corook stand out. Born Corinne Savage, the singer-songwriter took an early interest in working in the music industry, thanks in part to Linkin Park. “I feel like the very first musical memory I have is seeing this documentary on the band,” they explain with a laugh. “I sat crisscross applesauce in front of the TV and had a notepad and pen in hand, writing down things they were doing. I was coming up with ideas of which of my friends could be in my band.”
Learning how to play bass and guitar when they were still in middle school, Corook quickly showed an aptitude for music — after graduating from high school, Savage attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, eventually graduating with two degrees in songwriting and contemporary writing and production. In the time since their graduation six years ago, Corook has put their diplomas to good use (including a single titled “Degree,” which mostly bemoans what they didn’t learn in school and the “fifty grand in debt” they accrued as a result).
Wanting to kickstart their artist project, Corook hired a manager and started writing, recording and producing original songs about practically anything — their fear of snakes, their love of tequila, the unexplained questions of the universe and so on. In talking about anything, Corook found that they could talk about everything through their unique blend of self-deprecating humor mixed with top-tier songwriting.
“It felt like I understood the puzzle pieces and the mathematics behind making a good song, but I didn’t know how to tell my truth,” they say of their early work. “My truth is very sarcastic. My truth is trying to make the room feel good about talking about some awful thing. It’s been such a healing way for me to process my life.”
Creating a private SoundCloud filled with songs that they felt good about releasing, Corook and their manager began sending the work out to “a couple of people” within the industry. Suddenly, the singer-songwriter gained “700 followers out of nowhere” on Instagram, and received DMs from A&R reps at major labels interested in meeting up with them. “I guess my SoundCloud kind of went viral behind the scenes of the music industry,” they explain.
By 2021, Corook had signed a deal with Atlantic Records and rolled out their debut EP Achoo! the following year, finally “getting to be an artist for the first time in my life,” as they put it. Gaining a steady following on TikTok, they also came into their own as a person, changing their pronouns publicly to “they/them” as they began to figure out their gender identity in real time.
With a greater understanding of themselves came a wave of negative comments, which led them to writing their “really weird song” with Barton. “If I Were a Fish” thrives in its simplicity — all of the things that make Corook feel different in a world that craves uniformity only serve to make them that much more special.
It also made them deeply relatable to a legion of listeners online. The song has already been used in nearly 40,000 TikToks and streamed 10 million times on Spotify, with the vast majority of listeners relating deeply to the overtly queer themes of the song, repeating Corook’s refrain asking “Why is everybody on the internet so mean?” The song even earned Corook and Barton their first set of Billboard chart appearances.
The immediate viral success was a mostly welcome surprise for the rising star, though it came with its own set of caveats. “It’s really layered — as much as I love being a musician and a performer, attention still makes me like super uncomfortable,” they say. “It was a little bit weird for me to feel like there were so many eyes on me. I feel like everybody that has a moment on TikTok feels the pressure of ‘What now?’”
But seeing the track earn “wholesome” virality with its impact specifically on queer people quickly helped alleviate that stress. “I couldn’t ignore the insanely beautiful, sensitive, misfit community that this song just naturally created within the algorithm,” they say. “My comments section was full of people telling their stories and supporting each other. The whole reason I like doing this is because it connects people in a really cool way.”
The success of “If I Were a Fish” allowed Corook to look more ambitiously at their career — they released the first part of their project Serious Person early in order to capitalize on the sudden success of the single, while finishing up part two, preparing for a headlining tour, and dreaming up bigger goals for their future.
But “If I Were a Fish” also gave Corook space to step back and figure out what they really want out of a music career. “This song happening showed me it’s so much less about numbers — this community is what feels really important,” they say, their face now matching the chipper frog perched atop their head. “I want to grow that community as much as I possibly can — sensitive, queer people that are healing. I personally need that in my life, and I feel like everybody that is kind of joining in is realizing they need it too.”
The only thing “Upside Down” in Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp‘s latest Instagram post is his frown. On Sunday (June 25), Schnapp shared a series of pics on social media from New York City’s Pride festivities, where the actor could be seen joining in the fun. Writing simply in his caption “First pride❤️,” Schnapp pointed […]
Studying his face in a mirror, Micah Winters is in the middle of a transformation into his other self — an elegant drag queen named Goldie Dee Collins. “I’m applying some foundation to my face, and things seem to be going according to plan so far,” Winters dryly cracks to Billboard over the phone, focused on making sure his beat looks right.
Winters is preparing for his appearance at the Stonewall Inn’s Pride Kick-off Celebration later that day, where he will appear in his capacity as a board member at Friends of George’s, the Memphis-based theater company that came to national attention for successfully suing the state of Tennessee over their “drag ban.”
With such a groundbreaking lawsuit came plenty of attention for Winters and his compatriots at Friends of George’s, a fact he isn’t entirely thrilled about. “We’re not a group that wants to be in the political fray — we’re a comedic, drag-centric theater troupe,” he says. “We would have preferred never to get involved in something like this. But it was an obstacle that we couldn’t get past if we wanted to keep doing what we love to do.”
Protecting the space that Friends of George’s built over the last decade was of the utmost importance for Winters and his fellow board members. With the number of LGBTQ+ bars and event spaces around the country rapidly dwindling over the last two decades, it’s become harder than ever for members of the queer community to find spaces that feel safe from the outside world — especially when that world is openly hostile toward them.
But it’s not stopping purveyors of queer joy from helping the community have a good time. Trey Stewart, the owner of Mr. Misster in Dallas, knows firsthand what it takes to create intentional space for the LGBTQ+ community. Opening the bar in 2019 on Dallas’ famous Cedar Springs strip, Stewart says the aim was to create “your introductory gay bar — a gay bar that you can bring your mom to.”
Then, COVID-19 hit, and six months into its run, Mr. Misster was forced to shut down. Finding himself forced into a corner, Stewart began looking for ways to get the bar safely operating again. The answer? Drag queens.
“We could sell tickets to a drag show and open up for it — that was when we started our Saturday drag brunch,” he says. “A lot of the city started taking in drag queens on a on a regular basis, because they were able to pay these performers and give them some sort of livelihood as well as keep their doors open.”
Post-pandemic, as Mr. Misster’s drag shows grew in popularity, Stewart and his team decided to throw an event last June called “Drag the Kids to Pride” — a family-friendly drag show intended on celebrating the queer community in a safe environment. Yet what it ultimately sparked was outrage — protestors appeared outside of the event, while photos and videos quickly went viral, leading right-wing lawmakers to use them as pseudo-evidence of prurient drag shows taking place in front of children. Suddenly, Stewart’s safe space was a battleground.
It’s understandable why Stewart observes that in 2023, his bar and a number of others on the Cedar Springs strip are playing it safe. “It’s a little more low-key… just because there is so much crazy going on the world. The last thing we want to do is put ourselves in harm’s way,” he says, recalling the intense response in 2022. “We don’t want to see what we saw last year, where we had automatic rifles outside of our front door.”
For Kae Burke, the co-founder of Brooklyn’s iconic nightlife/circus collective House of Yes, welcoming in members of disparate communities was largely the point. While the organization may not advertise itself as explicitly queer, Burke found that sticking to their core principles of “collaboration, creativity and community” made the space inherently more inclusive.
“By really holding space for community to create together and celebrate in a place that feels good, that just inherently made it more welcoming to our queer community,” she says. “Just being welcoming is somehow a radical act.”
On any given night at House of Yes, partygoers can see anything from a DJ set, to burlesque performances, to an aerialist circus act. Costumes and themed outfits are heavily encouraged, and attendees are asked to “turn off your phone, turn on your heart,” according to their website.
In the 15 years since House of Yes was first founded, Burke and co-founder Anya Sapozhnikova have amade it their expressed mission to not only make nightlife more fun, but also more secure. Whether that was accomplished through a well-expressed consent policy, or even the introduction of dance floor monitors called “consenticorns,” House of Yes proves that fun can be had with boundaries intact.
Burke makes it clear that, even with a well-established track record of keeping the vibe positive, pure protection from unwanted attention and prejudice is impossible. “There’s really no such thing as a safe space,” she explains. “I’ve reframed it as ‘healthy hedonism.’ It’s about having this container for celebration that does the least amount of harm possible, whether it’s to yourself or to other people. It’s about asking, ‘How are you holding yourself accountable and bringing your best onto the dance floor?’”
Creating that atmosphere is central to Winters’ approach to creating live shows at Friends of George’s. “I think it is a kindness to tell people what the boundaries are,” he explains. “You explain to them where the boundary begins, and where it definitely stops.”
At Friends of George’s, those boundaries are well established. As a board member and performer, Winters helps write and perform in shows that are “a healthy portion of Saturday Night Live, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Establishing themselves as a community-focused theater troupe since their founding in 2010, Friends of George’s aims to create entertaining performances in a space outside of the nightlife scene. “We’ve made something accessible out of something that used to be a little inaccessible,” he explains.
Another key factor in making more inclusive environments, as Stewart points out, is having staff that understand the mission. “I’m not going to hire a–holes,” Stewart says. “When you start that at the door, we want to have kind people that are checking your ID. We want to have kind bartenders that remember your face, know your name and know your drink.”
Burke agrees, adding that if you want members of the queer community to feel safe, then having a staff that reflects those identities is vital. “If you’re having an event, and you want queer people to feel welcome, hire queer people to work that event,” she says. “Put people in positions of power where they can affect change.”
It boils down to a simple concept that Stewart reminds himself on a regular basis: “You won’t remember what someone said to you, but you’ll always remember the way they made you feel,” he says. “And people want to feel good.”
In protest of the recent influx in anti-LGBTQ bills passed in Tennessee, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker dressed in flamboyant drag queen-inspired looks at their Boygenius concert in Nashville Sunday (June 25) — where they also led the crowd in a “F–k Bill Lee” chant aimed at the state’s polarizing governor.
As the indie rock supergroup kicked off the show — which happened to be held during the city’s Pride Month celebrations — ecstatic screams could be heard throughout the Great Lawn in Centennial Park upon the crowd’s realization that “The Boys” had drastically departed from their usual suit and tie stage uniforms. With each of them wearing colorful, over-the-top makeup, Bridgers took the stage in a spider-webbed leotard and teased-to-the-heavens hair, Dacus in a bejeweled Gogo dress with a red leather harness and Baker in a purple Elvis-esque suit.
Even the band’s crew looked dashing in gender-bending clothing, with both a cameraman and a male stagehand sporting sundresses.
Later, Baker — whose home state is Tennessee — paused the show to take aim at Gov. Lee, who earlier this year signed controversial laws banning minors from receiving gender-affirming care and preventing drag queens from performing in certain public spaces. “Today I’m so grateful for my life, not because I get to stand onstage with my best friends … but because I’m content with the person that I am,” she said. “I have a lot of anger for the people that have made me feel small, and feel erased.”
“And I’ve found it’s a really powerful and humiliating tool to make those people f–k off,” the musician continued. “I would like you to scream so loud that Gov. Lee can hear you.”
“Can we say ‘F–k Bill Lee’ on three?” Bridgers then proposed, before leading a countdown that ended with thousands of voices screaming “F–k Bill Lee!”
Boygenius was formed in 2018 by the three soloists, each of whom identifies as queer. Days before releasing their debut album as a group, The Record, in March, Bridgers, Dacus and Baker spoke out against Tennessee’s discriminatory legislation in an interview with Them.
“The government being actually actively trying to kill the coolest people is something I think about every day,” Bridgers told the publication at the time. “It’s so overwhelming how different the world would be if the AIDS epidemic had never happened. It’s so overwhelming to me, to my exact world, everything that I value. And –”
“All the lost potential,” Dacus added.
“If all of the David Wojnarowiczes and Leslie Feinbergs of the world did all of that suffering for me not to live in a world where I can be so f–king gay on a big stage and have a whole bunch of other gay people here for me and it’d be joy, then it was in vain,” Baker agreed in the interview. “The joy is the living amends that you do for your community as a performer.”
See photos and videos of Boygenius in drag below:
Overlooking the Upper New York bay on a humid evening Sunday (June 25), throngs of sweating concert-goers decked out in a sea of rainbow colors cheered one name: “CHRIS-TI-NA! CHRIS-TI-NA!”
They didn’t have to cheer long before pop superstar Christina Aguilera appeared on the stage at Brooklyn Army Terminal for her headlining set at NYC Pride Island 2023. Striking a formidable pose center stage — dressed in a rainbow rhinestoned jumpsuit and bedazzled wrap around shades with her hair styled in three massive pigtails — Xtina welcomed her adoring crowd. “What the f–k is up, New York Pride?!” she bellowed into her microphone.
What ensued for her cheering fans was a non-stop tour-de-force of the pop phenomenon’s greatest hits. Kicking things off with high-energy renditions of fan-favorites like “Your Body,” “Dirrty” and “Cant Hold Us Down,” the star pranced around the stage with her backup dancers, making sure to stop and give fans a tasty vocal riff every now and then.
Of course, the star made sure to throw it back to some of her oldest hits for her day one fans in the crowd, delivering renditions of “Genie in a Bottle” and “What A Girl Wants” early in her set. “It has been such a long and beautiful journey in my career, and I feel like I’ve come full circle today at this point,” she told the crowd, beaming. “Thank you guys so much for giving me everything a girl could have asked for … I want to give everything back to you at this point — you deserve all of it and more.”
Part of what made the show so intoxicating to watch was the lack of fanfare when it came to the staging — backed up simply by three jumbotrons and set of metal stairs center stage, Xtina and her once-in-a-generation voice remained the focal point of an otherwise sparse stage.
That is, until, she made a concerted effort to shift that focus. In one of the more touching moments of the evening, Aguilera brought out Ian Axel of A Great Big World to help her deliver a tender rendition of their 2013 duet “Say Something.” Speaking to the crowd beforehand, the pop superstar made it clear exactly what she hoped they would take away from their emotive performance.
“There’s times where we’re looking for answers and looking for hope. There’s a lot of bleak things out there right now. We are here tonight and we stand in unison to be free to be ourselves,” she declared, eliciting roaring cheers from the crowd. “Sometimes we have to remember to stay hopeful and wish others well even in the darkest times. So let’s put well wishes into the world. Here’s hoping for a beautiful future.”
Axel was not the only special guest to join Aguilera for the evening’s events — during a raucous rendition of “Lady Marmalade,” the singer brought out pop-rock sensation and American Idol alum Adam Lambert to perform P!nk’s verse. Dressed in a swanky green leopard-print top and sporting bright purple hair, Lambert offered his own flavor on the iconic Moulin Rouge track, much to the audience’s delight.
But Aguilera wasn’t simply in attendance to give a great show — she came prepared to spread a few important messages. In the lead up to a heart-wrenching rendition of her iconic single “Beautiful,” the backdrop of the stage bore a message directly from the singer, calling out social media’s negative impact on the body image for children today.
The set’s most potent moment, though, came in its penultimate number. As news clips covering the outbreak of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the United States flashed around the backdrop of the stage, Xtina’s voice got angry. “One thing about us; we never quit. We never stop raising our voices,” she declared, before launching into a fiery rendition of “Fighter.” As she growled the empowering lyrics, messages flashed across the stage, declaring that “we are fighters,” and that ultimately, “you are not a crime.”
That theme of self-love permeated Aguilera’s set on Sunday night — as she delivered moment after moment of vocal acrobatics to thrill her audience, she also made sure that they felt just as heard as she did. As her song “Let There Be Love” played and a barrage of fireworks exploded overhead, Xtina offered one final message to her throngs of adoring fans; “Always love yourself, and love one another!”
Check out the full setlist from Christina Aguilera’s 2023 Pride Island performance below:
“Your Body”
“Dirrty”
“Cant Hold Us Down”
“Vanity”
“Genie in a Bottle”
“What A Girl Wants”
“Ain’t No Other Man”
“Say Something” feat. Ian Axel
“Show Me How You Burlesque”
“Lady Marmalade” feat. Adam Lambert
“Beautiful”
“Fighter”
“Let There Be Love”
It’s a few weeks in, but Celine Dion made the wait for her 2023 Pride Month playlist well worth it. The singer posted her “Love Is Love” Pride playlist on Wednesday (June 21), a massive 81-track roster that, of course, includes a few of her new songs and some classics, as well as killer selections from Madonna, Tina Turner, Britney Spears, Queen, RuPaul, Lady Gaga and more.
“Only love, only love, only love, only love is the gift! Love is for everyone, no matter who you are, where you’re from and who you want to love! Be yourself and be loud!” read a tweet from the singer about the super-packed list that runs more than five hours.
The party kicks off with a pair of Dion’s tracks from the recent Love Again soundtrack, “The Gift” and “I’ll Be,” followed by a nod to the late rock goddess Turner (“The Best”), Candi Staton’s 1970s disco classic “Young Hearts Run Free,” Madonna’s “Music” and Robyn’s modern dance classic “Dancing on My Own.”
There’s fellow Canadian Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” Britney’s “Stronger,” and Sam Smith’s cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” as well as Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” (featuring Ariana Grande), ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” and Lady Gaga’s ultimate pride paean, “Born This Way.”
The list also includes tracks from Harry Styles (“Late Night Talking”), Sia (“Unstoppable”), Queen (“Don’t Stop Me Now”), Cher (“Believe”), Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl”) and a few from RuPaul (“Sissy That Walk,” “Supermodel (You Better Work).”
Dion was recently forced to cancel all of her 2023-2024 European tour dates due to her ongoing battle with a rare neurological disease. The affected dates included 2023 shows in Amsterdam, Paris, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki that were slated to take place from late August to early October, as well as 23 European shows booked for March 6-April 22.
The singer performed the first 52 dates of the Courage tour in North America before the pandemic paused it in March 2020. She was then diagnosed with a rare condition called Stiff Person Syndrome, which her team said causes severe and persistent muscle spasms that have prevented her from performing. In December 2022, Dion pushed all her 2023 dates into 2024, and canceled them entirely before initially vowing to reboot the European portion of the tour this summer.
See Dion’s tweet and the playlist below.
Only love, only love, only love, only love is the gift!Love is for everyone, no matter who you are, where you’re from and who you want to love! Be yourself and be loud!Here it is, as a tradition, Celine’s 2023 Pride playlist! https://t.co/ZECPUKSN6SHappy Pride everyone!🏳️🌈-TC pic.twitter.com/vlLHRMEmzR— Celine Dion (@celinedion) June 21, 2023
For Brooklynites looking to start celebrating New York Pride early this year, LGBTQ non-profit organization Queer Capita has just the event. On Thursday (June 15), the organization announced the official lineup for its annual Pride party Queer & Now. Taking place on Tuesday, June 20, in Brooklyn, the event will feature performances from rising LGBTQ […]
It’s been two years since Demi Lovato publicly came out as nonbinary, and the star is ready to break their silence on a recent change they made to their pronouns. In a new interview with GQ Hype Spain, Lovato broke down the reason why she changed her pronouns to she/her and they/them back in August […]
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Source: Activision / Call of Duty / Nickmercs
FaZe Clan member Nickmercs learned swiftly that spewing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric will cost you.
Spotted on PC Gamer, Nickmercs got his Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone skin pulled by Activision after he posted a headass anti-LGBTQ+ tweet.
In response to a tweet from CharlieIntel, a Call of Duty-focused website, which speculated that that was why Nickmerc’s skin was suddenly missing because of his comments, the Call of Duty Twitter account did confirm his skin is no longer available.
“Due to recent events, we have removed the ‘NICKMERCS Operator’ bundle from the Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone store,” the tweet begins.
The tweet in question from the FaZe Clan member, who has 6.7 million followers on Twitch and 2 million on Twitter, was a reply to a tweet from eSports broadcaster Chris Puckett highlighting a clash between anti and pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators at a school that was voting to decide if it should recognize June as Pride Month.
“They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue,” Nickmercs said in his problematic tweet.
Outrage quickly followed after Nickmerc’s tweet, with Puckett himself responding, “Who is this ‘they’ and what terrible act is everyone afraid of?” he inquired. “I think/hope the goal of most of ‘them’ is to reduce child suicides. This is done through acceptance and removing the stigma of feeling/being different.”
Per the website, Nickmercs said he would not delete the tweet or apologize in a stream, claiming he does not resent the LGBTQ+ community.
Riiiiggghhht.
Bigots Are Big Mad
As expected, Actvision’s decision garnered plenty of reactions from gamers. You got the usual suspects who claim they will now be boycotting the company and popular video for taking the right stance.
Welp, it looks like they will have to stay mad because Nickmercs skin is no longer available, and there are no signs it is coming back.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Activision / Call of Duty
1. LOL, you won’t be missed on the COD battlefield
2. Another hater
3. Another loser who claims to be an ally
6. Y’all know what he meant
7. The lack of comprehension
9. Are y’all okay?