The TV series Arrow may be fun (and very shirtless), but its actual LGBT content has been pretty mild, limited to a bisexual female character who for 90% of the time they’ve been only shown being interested in guys. It’s been a particular surprise as the show’s creator and driving force, Greg Berlanti, is gay (and incidentally dating LA Galaxy soccer player Robbie Rogers).
However new sister-show Flash may well feature more gay content. Back in July it was revealed that gay DC Comics character David Singh (played by Patrick Sabongui) would be a recurring character. At the same time Berlanti said another gay character would also appear in the first half of the season, but wouldn’t be drawn on whom.
Now we may know, as TVLine reports that The Pied Piper will be the villain in at least one of Flash’s episodes. The Piper, real name Hartley Rathaway, was one of the earliest openly gay characters in mainstream comics (although he came out long after his first appearance in 1959, when he revealed his sexuality in 1991 it was still incredibly rare).
Rathaway has had a couple of different back-stories, which means in his Flash appearance he may or may not be deaf. Whichever it is he’ll be obsessed with sound and famously in the comics invented a flute that hypnotises people, as well as having various other sonic devices that allow his to manipulate those around him.
He eventually stopped being a bad guy, turned good and at one point also dated David Singh, which gives plenty of possibilities as to how the character can be used in Flash.
At the moment it doesn’t appear the character has been cast.
It’s just a week and a half until the BFI London Film Festival kicks off on October 8th, and it’s laying out its stall right from the beginning that this year there’s plenty of LGBT interest. The festival kicks off with an Opening Night Gala of The Imitation Game, the Benedict Cumberbatch starring biopic of gay mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing.
LGBT focused US TV network Logo seems fascinated by those defying the sexual orientation stereotypes this year. Back in June they aired Gay Lives of Straight Guys, about lady-loving fellows in professions that most people thinks being for women and gay men.
There’s been a lot written about the situation for gay people in Russia, with the country becoming increasingly homophobic – or at least the most virulent homophobes feel they have free rein ever since Putin enacted the infamous ‘gay propaganda’ law.
Girls creator Lena Dunham has long set out her LGBT-ally credentials, including saying she won’t marry her boyfriend until same-sex marriage is legal across the US. Now she’s putting her name and her production company behind a documentary called Three Suits, about a New York tailors that specialises in serving the LGBTQ community.
A few months ago Daniel Radcliffe said words to the effect that you must be doing something if people are speculating about your sexuality. However I doubt even he would have thought he’d be included on a list where the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) decided to ‘name and shame’ him on a homophobic list of gay people.
Stephen Fry sits alongside the likes of Ian McKellen as one of the most beloved people in the pantheon of famous gay men and women. Now the polymath is letting us back into his life again as his latest memoir, More Fool Me, is due to be published in the UK on September 26th.
When Sordid Lives was released in 2000 even creator Del Shores probably never believed the life the film version of his 1996 play would take on. The movie quickly became a cult classic, and in 2008 even spawned a short-lived TV show.
After getting almost universally great reviews, Pride opened in the UK last week placing third on the chart, which isn’t bad considering few gay-themed British movies even make it into mainstream cinemas. However it appears it may not end with a movie, because as with fellow miner’s strike movie Billy Elliot, it may become a musical.
Out actor Ben Whishaw is a busy man, but he’s finding time to slot in another role, with