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.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces LGBTQ+ task force. Gov. Whitmer, who has long been an LGBTQ+ ally, attended and spoke at Motor City Pride this past weekend. She welcomed LGBTQ+ people to move to Michigan and announced a task force that will “focus on improving the lives of LGBTQ+ Michiganders by drawing attention to problems confronting the LGBTQ+ community and recognizing the community’s accomplishments.”
Off-Broadway gets a new gay musical. “Lizard Boy” by Justin Huertas, Kirsten deLohr Helland and William A. Williams, is the fantastical story of gay man named Trevor, who has green lizard-like scales and falls for a man he meets on Grindr. Thinking his scales are part of a costume to celebrate the city’s Monster Fest, the two embark on a wild adventure that includes dragons, prophetic dreams and love—playing now through July 1 at Theatre Three.
“Wham!” documentary gets trailer and release date. Netflix’s doc about longtime friends and bandmates George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley will be available to stream July 5. Directed by Chris Smith, the documentary looks at the lives and friendship of Wham! frontmen Michael and Ridgeley, and includes never before seen interviews and footage.
South Florida Gay News gets a new life as Out South Florida. Late SFGN founder Norm Kent’s legacy lives on in a new incarnation. Justin Wyse and Jason Parsley, who worked with Kent and took over the long-running LGBTQ+ paper after Kent’s death in April, recently announced that SFGN was shutting down. A week later, the duo announced the newly formed Out South Florida. OSF will cover the same areas of Florida as its predecessor.