Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week.
New book celebrates 365 days of LGBTQ+ icons and notables. “365 Gays of the Year” written by Lewis Laney with illustrations by Charlotte MacMillan-Scott, features LGBTQ+ people in entertainment, science, activism, history and more (plus an extra feature to account for Leap Year). Readers can expect to read about Marsha P Johnson, Freddie Mercury, Sappho and even a section on allies like Elizabeth Taylor. Laney is also the author of 2020’s “The Little Book of Pride.” You can pre-order the book now, which will be released on May 5 by White Lion Publishing.
Drag superstar Jinkx Monsoon to join cast of BBC’s “Doctor Who.” The BBC announced that Monsoon, fresh off their record-breaking turn in “Chicago” on Broadway, will appear in the new season of the sci-fi show in a significant new role. According to “Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T Davies, “In a galaxy of comets and supernovas, here comes the biggest star of all. Jinkx Monsoon is on a collision course with the TARDIS, and Doctor Who will never be the same again!” Monsoon joins a new Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa. Gatwa is the first Black actor cast as the Doctor, and according to cast member Neil Patrick Harris, the character will be queer this time.
D.C. Council likely to honor early queer activist William Dorsey Swann with street designation. At a meeting this week, the D.C. Council voted to move forward on a bill to honor the former enslaved person and country’s first drag queen with a street sign designation near Dupont Circle. It is expected to receive final approval at the next legislative session. Dorsey Swann, born in the 1860s and died in 1925, was a tireless advocate for the queer community when that was unheard of.
Hayley Kiyoko’s “Girls Like Girls” audiobook will feature queer voice talent. Singer/actor Kiyoko’s debut novel audio version will have all-queer talent attached, including MUNA front person Katie Gavin, actor Brandon Flynn (“13 Reasons Why”), Natalie Naudus and Malia Pyles (“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin”). Based on her popular song of the same name, the novel will be available on May 30 along with the audiobook version.
Documentary “Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters” streaming now. Black Public Media (BPM) and GBH’s WORLD Channel, have launched their 15th season of “AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange” this week. Featured is the documentary about award-winning dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones, who created the “D-Man in the Waters” dance work in the late ’80s at the height of the AIDS pandemic, “as a salve to the heartbreaking losses his dance company was taking from the HIV virus.” You can watch the documentary now on WORLDChannel.org and WORLD Channel’s YouTube channel.