Queer Vulturing
October 19, 2026
Anthony Bowens recalls his coming out as a punch line. Sebastian Croft remembers how a bf outed him in high school. Javier Ambrossi defends hiring a straight actor for queer role. Orville Peck on queering up Street Fighter.
Anthony Bowens wanted his gay wrestling moment to come with a punch line
Wrestling Inc. | October 17
Bowens says QT Marshall pitched the 2023 segment in which he rebuffed Harley Cameron by announcing he was gay. He welcomed the lighthearted approach, though he says the broadcast edit trimmed some of the crowd’s exuberant response.
Sebastian Croft says the boy he was seeing outed him at school
PinkNews | October 19
The Heartstopper actor and Celebrity Traitors contestant says being outed at boarding school left him isolated and contributed to his leaving education at 16. He declines to blame the other boy, who was also navigating homophobia—a painful account with more generosity than the schoolyard afforded him.
Javier Ambrossi defends casting a straight actor in La Bola Negra
Attitude | October 19
Ambrossi is defending the casting of Miguel Bernardeau in a gay role in the Spanish historical epic. Netflix’s accompanying cast interview records his support for straight performers portraying gay characters: another round in a casting debate that shows no signs of taking its final bow.
Horror gave queer outsiders a mirror—and sometimes made them the monster
NPR | October 18 | Transcript also available through Texas Public Radio
NPR’s Mallory Yu and Ryan Benk trace horror’s queer inheritance from Frankenstein to Camp Miasma, weighing identification and reclamation against depictions that made gender difference a threat. Freddy’s Revenge supplies the subtext that practically arrives carrying its own Pride flag.
Fortune Feimster finds laughs after a breakup and her mother’s cancer diagnosis
Los Angeles Blade | October 19 | Interview
Feimster’s Takin’ Care of Biscuits tour draws on the end of a ten-year relationship and her mother’s illness without surrendering her feel-good comic approach. Ahead of a November 7 Los Angeles date, she credits the queer comedy community with giving her an early platform.
Orville Peck and Cody Rhodes put a little awakening into Street Fighter
GO Magazine | October 16 | Interview and critical response
Peck says Rhodes improvised Guile’s attraction to his masked Vega, and he happily played along. Rachel Shatto finds the movie’s camp and flirtations so pervasive that its world seems to hover around the bisexual midpoint of the Kinsey scale.
Male Aesthetic makes room for tenderness beside the muscle
Los Angeles Blade | October 17
Nickerson-Rossi Dance’s November 4 Palm Springs Art Museum program brings contemporary, street and classical dance into an exploration of male vulnerability and expression. The performance will also help local boys access free dance training: a useful expansion of what counts as strength.
Glasgow’s queer film festival opens with punk rebels and trans power
SQIFF | October 19 opening | Official program
The Scottish Queer International Film Festival begins its October 19–24 run with local shorts about queer friendships, disability, refugees and an LGBTQ weightlifting club. Opening-night access includes descriptive subtitles, audio description and a pay-what-you-can ticket scale.
Ian McKellen and Roger Allam find romance at the end of the dog lead
Instinct | October 17
The Frank and Percy trailer pairs McKellen’s flamboyant bachelor with Allam’s widower for a late-life romance beginning on Hampstead Heath. Sean Mathias reunites the stars of Ben Weatherill’s stage play, with Martin Sherman adapting it for the screen.
Iceman’s rumored movie return raises hopes for an openly gay Bobby Drake
The Direct | October 17 | Casting report
Industry scoopers expect Iceman to join Marvel’s X-Men reboot, raising the prospect that the screen character will reflect his sexuality in the comics. This remains an insider report rather than a Marvel announcement; keep the champagne on ice.
Gabby Williams credits her peers while calling out belated media recognition
Outsports | October 17
With Golden State in the WNBA Finals, Williams says encouragement from fellow players has mattered more than the media’s late attention. She singles out Jewell Loyd, Paige Bueckers and Sue Bird after years of feeling overlooked.
Hannah Einbinder and King Princess give the New Yorker Festival queer opening-night appeal
The New Yorker | October 16 | Metered access may apply
The October 23–25 festival opens with Einbinder in conversation with Rachel Syme and King Princess talking with Amanda Petrusich and performing. Benito Skinner joins the weekend lineup, giving the literary crowd several reasons to loosen its tote-bag straps.