Queer Vulturing
September 9, 2026
Meet El Mehdi, the singer/actor making room for queer culture in Morocco. Why international travel is getting less safe for queers. Influencer Jake Andrich’s troubles continue. And the rebellious colonial community called Merrymount.
Interview: El Mehdi Is Claiming Space For Queer Identity In Moroccan Society
The NATIVE
Raised between Morocco, France and Canada, singer and actor El Mehdi talks about making room for queer identity within Moroccan culture while reconnecting with his Amazigh roots. His debut project SALAM blends Darija, layered vocals and Gnawa sounds, while his role in L’Héritier des secrets, a Moroccan feature exploring trans identity, extends that push for LGBTQ+ visibility into film.
World Cup winner blasts YouTuber for gay slurs against soccer star Hector Bellerin
Outsports
Spanish World Cup winner Borja Iglesias has condemned YouTuber Iñaki Angulo after a livestream tirade aimed at Real Betis defender and longtime LGBTQ+ ally Hector Bellerin. Angulo apologized, but the episode has triggered a formal complaint and renewed scrutiny of homophobia in men’s soccer.
How the world is becoming less safe for gay travellers
The Telegraph • PAYWALL
The Telegraph examines the shifting risks LGBTQ+ travelers face as laws, politics and social attitudes harden in parts of the world. The piece is a useful reminder that a destination’s beaches and bargains can conceal a very different legal and cultural climate for queer visitors.
Nick Offerman calls out Ben Shapiro’s “rampant homophobia” after his Last of Us gay-role criticism
The Hollywood Reporter
Nick Offerman finally heard Ben Shapiro’s sneering recap of the acclaimed Last of Us episode “Long, Long Time” and was less than impressed. The Emmy winner called out both Shapiro’s “rampant homophobia” and his mangling of the episode’s story, which centered on the decades-long romance between Bill and Frank.
Gay adult star Hunter Hardin, aka LuLu LoveBottom, dies at 30
LatestLY
Adult performer and burlesque artist Hunter Hardin, known onstage as LuLu LoveBottom, has died at 30. Friends and fellow performers are remembering a charismatic figure whose work blended masculinity, femininity, athleticism and queer performance.
The complicated yearly renegotiation of being a queer NFL fan
Salon
With the NFL season returning, Dimitrios Aletras Jr. writes about loving a sport whose culture can still make queer fans feel peripheral. His essay captures the annual bargain between genuine football devotion and a league that has made progress without fully learning how to recognize its LGBTQ+ audience.
The ‘Homophobic’ Drama Surrounding OnlyFans Star Jake Andrich Keeps Getting Worse
The Tab
OnlyFans star Jake Andrich, whose audience is heavily gay, is facing backlash after saying he did not ‘in particular’ support the LGBTQ+ community. Attempts to explain the remark, a debate over his sexuality and the loss of his 14-million-follower TikTok account have only fed the controversy.
LGBTQ Nation
Long before Provincetown acquired its modern reputation, Thomas Morton’s Merrymount challenged Puritan New England with dancing, drinking, interracial community and a giant maypole. LGBTQ Nation revisits the strange, unruly Massachusetts settlement that became an early symbol of resistance to Puritan social control.
This buzzy Derek Jarman doc gives insight into a great artist lost to AIDS
Queerty
A new documentary built around long-forgotten behind-the-scenes footage from Derek Jarman’s defiantly queer Edward II is drawing festival attention. First-time filmmaker Theo Rollason uses material shot by a young Seamus McGarvey to revisit Jarman’s art, activism and final years during the AIDS crisis.
LGBTQ Nation
Anti-trans activist Riley Gaines went to a WNBA game and complained that the crowd contained “a bunch of disgruntled lesbians,” prompting a swift online roasting. Critics noted the contradiction of building a brand around “protecting women’s sports” while disparaging one of women’s basketball’s most loyal constituencies.
Military reportedly snooping through private medical records to identify and kick out trans soldiers
LGBTQ Nation
The U.S. military is reportedly searching electronic health records and other databases for service members with a history of gender dysphoria as it accelerates removals of transgender troops. Advocates warn that the effort threatens medical privacy and risks turning military healthcare into a tool of surveillance.
Gaydio
Los Javis, Drag Race España judges Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, turn to Federico García Lorca for an ambitious gay epic spanning 1932, 1937 and 2017. The Cannes-honored film links three men through desire, pain and inheritance, drawing inspiration from Lorca’s unfinished La bola negra.
They brutally tortured and murdered a trans man. Now they’re paying the price.
LGBTQ Nation
Two women described as ringleaders in the torture and murder of 24-year-old trans man Sam Nordquist have been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The sentencing brought wrenching statements from Nordquist’s family and another chapter of accountability in a case that horrified the LGBTQ+ community.
Ed Markey’s primary win is a bigger deal for trans rights than you think
LGBTQ Nation
A commentary argues that Sen. Ed Markey’s decisive Massachusetts primary victory over Seth Moulton offers a notable political data point for transgender rights. Markey repeatedly foregrounded his pro-trans record while attacking Moulton’s earlier comments about transgender athletes, turning the issue into a visible fault line in the race.
School district won’t back down in “impressive” legal battle with Trump admin over trans rights
LGBTQ Nation
Colorado’s Jefferson County Public Schools is suing after the Trump administration threatened federal funding unless the district abandons policies accommodating transgender students. The district argues that the federal demands conflict with Colorado law and that its inclusive policies do not violate Title IX.
Around 3,000 people attend Brighton’s first-ever Dyke Pride
Scene Magazine
Brighton’s first Dyke Pride drew an estimated 3,000 people, dramatically exceeding organizers’ initial target of 500. The volunteer-run, sponsorship-free event mixed music, drag, speeches, crafts and grassroots activism while centering lesbian and dyke community space outside the corporate Pride model.
Why Queer Horror Fans Are Obsessed With Leviticus
Dazed
Director Adrian Chiarella discusses the cult afterlife of Leviticus, his queer Australian horror-romance about teenage desire, repression and a monster that takes the form of the person its victim most wants. Dazed digs into why the film’s blend of longing and body horror has struck such a nerve.
PRISM: A Festival of New Queer Musicals Opens in Brooklyn
The Brick
The Brick launches a weeklong festival devoted to new queer musical theater. The lineup pairs The Laugh of the Medusa, a trans coming-of-age folk-rock musical, with The Rumspringa Project, a queer exploration of identity, community and the terrifying freedom of crossing the fence.
FOMO: Formerly Mormon Turns a Queer Exit From the Church Into a Solo Show
The Tank
Frankie Lee’s award-winning solo show returns with a comic and painful account of discovering a queer identity while bound to the Mormon Church. Religion, escape, sex and self-invention collide in a story about choosing a gay life despite the cost of leaving another world behind.