Queer Vulturing
October 12, 2026
Troye Sivan nurses his lonely heart with a hot fantasy. What William Shatner learned from Pillion. Dan Levy calls Shane Gillis out for SNL monologue. And is it over for American Horror Story?
Troye Sivan turns gay longing into a shower and beach romance in FF
GCN | October 12
Troye Sivan and actor Felix Mayr share tender embraces, a steamy shower and beachside kisses in the video for FF, from She’s the Best. Sivan describes the song as a wish for a lover who has yet to arrive: even the gayest pop fantasy has a lonely heart.
Jean Smart pronounces Mark Indelicato and David Watson husband and husband
Page Six | October 12
The Hacks family reunited for Mark Indelicato’s wedding to David Watson, with Jean Smart officiating. Deborah Vance may charge for a personal appearance; this one came with vows.
William Shatner discovers gay relationship dynamics through Pillion
PinkNews | October 12
The Star Trek veteran praised Harry Lighton’s BDSM romance with Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling, saying it opened his eyes to intimacy between men. Captain Kirk has encountered strange new worlds before, but this particular voyage prompted an enthusiastic podcast endorsement.
Good Time Charlie earns praise for its gay uncle and chosen family
TheaterMania | Review | October 9
Zachary Stewart finds Ryan J. Haddad’s Public Theater memory play charming, occasionally shaggy and ultimately a lovely evening. Jonathan Raviv’s uncle, Beth Malone’s lesbian aunt and a wider circle of older gay men help turn a personal tribute into an affectionate, self-questioning portrait of queer inheritance.
Dan Levy calls out Shane Gillis’s misogynistic SNL gym routine
Page Six | October 12
Levy condemned Gillis’s monologue for calling women in revealing gym clothes whores, urging more men to challenge the objectification of women. He also pointed out the abundance of male nipples at the gym: apparently the dress code depends on who is doing the looking.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s courtside treatment serves an unexpected view
Outsports | October 12
A physiotherapy moment during the Spanish player’s Shanghai Masters win over Jenson Brooksby exposed part of his backside and prompted a wave of gay social-media attention. The tennis was competitive; the accidental courtside cake developed an audience of its own.
Kal Penn wins praise as Anna Nicole Smith’s closeted doctor
Bay Area Reporter | Review | October 12
The Bay Area Reporter praises Penn’s performance as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor in Trust Me I’m a Doctor, adapted from Kapoor’s memoir and opening October 16. The review also singles out Linda Hamilton’s forceful attorney and Abbie Cornish’s ability to give Smith vulnerability beyond the tabloid caricature.
Avatar Seven Havens gives airbender Jae a boyfriend and an on-screen kiss
PinkNews | October 12
The new Paramount+ series introduces Jae and Datu as a couple, with an embrace and goodbye kiss in its early episodes. The Avatar universe’s queer family is expanding, while the show has also secured renewals for seasons three and four.
American Horror Story 13 gets a one-star plea for a mercy killing
Metro Weekly | Review | October 11
Warren Rogers awards the season one star, finding an incoherent recycling of past glories despite flashes of pleasure from Jessica Lange and Evan Peters. His verdict is that Ryan Murphy’s anthology should finally be allowed to rest; even this cast cannot keep the corpse dancing.
Sandi Toksvig says coming out sent her family into hiding
PinkNews | October 12
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, Toksvig recalled immediate death threats after she came out in 1994 and said the hostility forced her family into hiding. She also reported continuing threats decades later, a sobering reminder that visibility’s costs do not neatly belong to the past.
When did you come out can open a conversation across generations
The Advocate | Opinion | October 11
John Casey argues that the familiar getting-to-know-you question carries histories of fear, acceptance and social change. Asking it thoughtfully can connect generations of gay men whose experiences of the closet were shaped by very different worlds.
co-star in Todd Haynes’ De Noche
Todd Haynes expects De Noche to land an R rather than NC-17
The Playlist | October 12
Haynes says his completed 1938-set romance starring Pedro Pascal and Danny Ramirez will most likely be R-rated, emphasizing the men’s vulnerability and complicated love story. That is his expectation, rather than an announced final classification; no release date has been set.
Brandi Carlile says parenthood helped her feel secure as a queer woman
LGBTQ Nation | October 11
Carlile says having children eased old fears and confusion about her queer identity, linking that steadiness to the importance of marriage equality. Her remarks, made at a September 30 Stonewall visitor-center fundraiser, defend queer families’ right to contribute their own gloriously eccentric households to the culture.
Growlr joins the Scruff family and loses its live streams
Metro Weekly | October 11
Scruff and Jack’d owner Perry Street Software has bought the bear dating app and plans a makeover and expanded bear-event sponsorship. Ending live streaming has angered users who relied on it for friendships and regular broadcasts: a bigger bear den does not automatically mean happier bears.
Queer Latino pioneers helped give punk its bite
LGBTQ Nation | October 11
Arturo Vega, Alice Bag and Vaginal Davis get their due in a history of the queer Latino artists who shaped punk’s look, sound and unruly spirit. From the Ramones’ visual identity to the Bags and Davis’s performance art, the movement’s family tree is considerably queerer than the stock white-boy-with-a-mohawk image.
Jersey City gay bar fires trivia host over rape-case team name
PinkNews | October 12
Pint fired its trivia host after the host awarded best team name to Cornell 7 Inches, a sexual pun referencing seven students accused of gang rape. The owners apologized and pledged the night’s proceeds to sexual-violence prevention programs; the accusations remain allegations.
Chris Gallant makes public service his pitch in Republican Long Island
Washington Blade | October 12
The Blade profiles the gay Democrat’s bid to unseat Republican Nick LaLota in New York’s 1st Congressional District, emphasizing his military, firefighting and union background. It offers a fuller view of the candidate beyond the fetish-modeling headlines: the electoral argument is about his record of service.
Alito’s collected speeches cast marriage equality as a religious-liberty turning point
Metro Weekly | October 11
Samuel Alito’s new collection, So Ordered, reprints his argument that Obergefell marked a decisive turn against religious liberty. The marriage-equality comments come from a 2018 speech, rather than a new ruling or a newly delivered speech.
Fewer younger teens identify as LGB but the reasons remain unclear
Metro Weekly | October 11
An analysis of CDC survey data finds a decline concentrated among younger girls, with ninth-graders’ LGB identification falling to 11 percent in 2025 from nearly 17 percent in 2021 and 2023. The figures describe reported identity, and the analysis does not establish why it changed; claims that politics alone explains the shift outrun the evidence.
Enes Freedom claims widespread NBA locker-room homophobia
Basketball Network | October 12
The former NBA player told Clay Travis that most players would be uncomfortable with a gay teammate and estimated that 70 to 80 percent of locker rooms are homophobic. That percentage is Freedom’s personal assertion, not a reported league-wide survey.
Gay umpire turns an interrupted MLB dream into a full-time baseball career
Outsports | October 12
After a concussion disrupted Patrick Faerber’s professional umpiring ambitions, he built an online training operation and became an assistant editor at Referee Magazine. His husband helped improve his video production, and Faerber says being openly gay has strengthened his working relationships.