As usual… “The 9” news is curated weekly by Taylor Abbot + the GenZ editorial team. This week, in very conservative Japan, the most famous pop icon Shinjiro Atae came out, and then:
Good Omen, Amazon.
QUEERPOPVERSE. GOOD OMEN. DEVIL AND ANGEL IN LOVE.
After 4 long years, season 2 of Good Omens is finally out on Amazon Prime Video. As expected, Crowley and Aziraphale’s love story continues to blossom. Despite their angel and demon personas, they are ultimately just two men in love. How sweet! We have been devoted fans of the series since the beginning.
AUSTRIA. FIRST QUEER JOURNALISM CAMPUS.
The first training campus for queer journalists will take place in the first week of September in Vienna, organized by GAY45 and supported by Vienna Business Agency. After brief research, we discovered that it is the first time such a training event for queer journalists has been organized globally. It’s surprising, and we are unsure how to process these findings.
USA. ALIENS ARE REAL AND POSSIBLY GAY.
The United States is in possession of a UFO aircraft and remains that appear to be alien (read: “nonhuman”), according to a Congressional hearing this week. Back in April, the U.S. military declassified two UFO videos during a Senate meeting. And if there are extraterrestrial lifeforms out there, let’s be real –– there’s got to be some gays. After all, we’ve already met some pretty iconic queer aliens.
Allan Turing
ALLAN TURING STATUE.
An LGBT+ armed forces charity has backed proposals to erect a statue of Alan Turing on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth – a high-profile platform for contemporary art commissions. Alan Turing was the genius who generated the first ideas of the computer and artificial intelligence and helped WWII to be won by the Allied forces. Another statue of Alan Turing was created in slate by Stephen Kettle in 2007 and is located at Bletchley Park in England. The Trafalgar Square monument would stand in ‘stark contrast’ to the treatment the codebreaker received in his lifetime.
UK. KEVIN SPACEY IS NOT GUILTY. WHAT NOW?
Kevin Spacey was declared not guilty by a tribunal in London. Some individuals, including Elton John, were aware of this. It is now confirmed that Kevin Spacey is not guilty. The concern arises about the aggressive LGBT+ who initiated a MeToo campaign against him without substantial evidence and supported Anthony Rapp’s accusations. Will they face public consequences similar to what Kevin Spacey endured when he was accused?
BALDUR’S GATE
MULTIVERSE. GAME. BALDUR’S GATE.
Baldur’s Gate, made by Steam, which has been in early access for some time now, is due to release this week. It’s a Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying game that, depending on how you want to play it, features some steamy queer romance.
HUNGARY. JUDGED IN FRONT OF EUROPE.
EU Commission has announced it will sue Hungary over its anti-LGBTQ+ law. This is the first time in history that the EU has taken a member state to court over an LGBTQ-related issue. Two weeks ago thousands of Hungarians braved scorching heat for the annual Pride march in Budapest on Saturday, protesting against government controls over public displays by the LGBT community.
Shinjiro Atae
JAPAN. SHINJIRO IS GAY.
Shinjiro Atae, a J-pop idol, has been on a nearly two-year performance hiatus. Standing onstage in a dark auditorium before 2,000 fans in central Tokyo, he revealed something he has kept hidden for most of his life in the extremely conservative Japanese society: He is gay. We have known about his sexual orientation since 2005, but he stated that coming out publicly would help the LGBT+ community in Japan, as it is the only G7 country that has not legalized same-sex unions.
NETFLIX. SERIES. HEARTSTOPPER SESON 2.
Netflix hit is returning this week August 3. The adventures of Nick, 16, and Charlie, 14, continue. In the meanwhile, Nick has huge muscles. We preferred Euphoria as a GenZ representation, but we will watch the second Heartstoper.
Curated every Tuesday by Taylor Abbot & GAY45 editorial staff.
Taylor Abbot is a 23 yo MA student at the University of Oxford after he studied at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is passionate about journalism, contemporary literature, poetry, technology, socio-political involved art forms and queer implications in society. Proud to have no social media connections. Lives and work between Berlin and Oxford.
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AND… WE RECOMMEND OUR LOVELY LONG READINGS
This week we ask if Barbenheimer is Camp, we publish a profile on the mystery around a brilliant musician, we debate the impact on the economy of the equal rights policy and much more at www.gay45.eu
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