NATIONAL
In the two days since Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on a Minneapolis street, a wave of support has now lifted her family with more than $1.5 million in grassroots donations via GoFundMe, The Advocate noted. (GoFundMe confirmed to The Advocate that the fundraiser is legitimate.) “Thank you for your generosity. We’ve closed this GoFundMe and will place the funds in a trust for the family,” organizer Mattie Weiss wrote after she and others paused donations. “If you’re looking to donate, we encourage you to support others in need. We’re truly grateful.”
Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas Judge Ann Butchart—Pennsylvania’s first LGBTQ+ elected official—has retired, per Philadelphia Gay News. She was elected in 2005, paving the way for other firsts for LGBTQ+ leaders throughout the commonwealth, including the first openly non-binary judge, Pittsburgh’s Xander Orenstein, in 2009. Butchart noted to the outlet that she didn’t make her queer identity part of her candidacy but didn’t hide it either. She doesn’t believe someone’s sexual orientation is what makes them a good candidate, stating that voters need information about a candidate’s values, reputation and community involvement instead.
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, donated $45 million to LGBTQ+ youth crisis intervention nonprofit the Trevor Project—the largest single donation the organization has received, The Advocate noted. Scott has now donated hundreds of millions of dollars to various LGBTQ+ nonprofits globally over the years. Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement, “LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. are facing a growing mental health crisis, and the resources they have for support continue to be politicized and jeopardized. This gift provides a safety net for our life-saving suicide prevention and crisis intervention work, offering stability during a period of immense economic and political uncertainty.”
Queer entertainers Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang (the latter who recently left SNL) acknowledged the backlash to their comments about U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett after urging their podcast listeners not to donate money to the Texas politician’s U.S. Senate bid, according to Yahoo! “Hey everybody,” Rogers wrote in an Instagram Stories update. “I hear the response, and l am taking every bit of it to heart, I promise. … I have great respect and admiration for Rep. Crockett, and I regret that my words suggested otherwise. I just want us to win, and I will be better at finding ways to help.” Yang reposted his co-host’s message and added, “Should not have cursorily weighed in on this. Understanding the platform and will use it more responsibly.”
In California, Alvin Prasad, 58, died due to injuries from a 2025 assault that authorities believe was a hate crime, per LGBTQ Nation. The alleged attacker, Sean Wesley Payton Jr., 25, now faces homicide charges. Prasad had been enjoying a Halloween night out with his adult daughter and friends in Lavender Heights, Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ district; after exiting the Badlands nightclub and heading for their car, a man approached Prasad and insulted his costume. Eventually, the man punched Prasad in the forehead, causing him to fall backward and strike his head on the pavement.
After threats from President Trump, gay Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) recently said that he’s considering granting clemency to Tina Peters—a former state official convicted of breaching election security to assist Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, LGBTQ Nation noted. When Trump announced his pardon of Peters on Dec. 11, 2025 Polis reminded him that presidents can’t pardon state-level convictions—leading Trump to threaten “harsh consequences.” “[Peters] got a sentence that was harsh. It was a nine-year sentence,” Polis said in an interview with CBS Colorado.
Out noted that Utah officials ordered gay writer Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West off public-school library shelves under a controversial education law and its recent H.B. 29 Sensitive Material Review Amendments. The book, published in 1995, inspired Stephen Schwartz’s 2003 hit Broadway musical of the same name as well as two record-breaking film adaptations: 2024’s Wicked and 2025’s Wicked: For Good. Wicked is one of three books that were formally banned on Jan. 5, along with Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes.
In Florida, Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library (SNMAL) welcomed Molly Lenore as the new director of capital campaign and major donors, per a press release. Lenore—a key board member of the LGBTQIA Sports Equality Foundation, which includes the LGBTQ+ Sports Hall of Fame—will lead the campaign to build a new home for SNMAL fully equipped to house the millions of stories the museum shares.
WORLD
The first-ever International Rebel Dykes Day is set to take place Jan. 29 and will honor the history of dykes and rebel dykes all over the world, per PinkNews. The term “rebel dykes” has been used to describe an unapologetic community of activist, sex-positive lesbians who lived on the very fringes of society in 1980s London and who ran riot through both the decade and city. Characterized by their gender non-confirming aesthetic and anti-capitalist, anti-establishment ideals, the trans-inclusive group of “pervs, punks, sex workers, artists, activists, organizers and troublemakers” embraced leather, kink and polyamory when a more conservative slant dominated feminist discourse.
In Azerbaijan, authorities raided the LGBTQ+-friendly Labyrinth Nightclub late last month, detaining more than 100 patrons who reported physical violence, humiliation and demands for bribes, per Erasing 76 Crimes. Detainees alleged hair cutting, broken teeth and sexual violence, with one stating that police “urinated on their head” during detention. Unfortunately, the allegations have a history; according to Caucasian Knot, in October 2017, human-rights activists reported that more than 50 queer people were detained during police raids in Baku and subjected to violence such as beatings, torture with electric shocks and head-shaving.
Pansexual U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn made history at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Championships when she not only beat out her competition but also secured a record-breaking score that may land her on the U.S. Olympic team, according to The Advocate. The two-time defending champion teared up when her score was announced after she pulled off a perfect opening triple axel. It has been 20 years since an American woman has won an Olympic figure skating medal, but this 26-year-old LGBTQ+ athlete may change that at the Games set to take place in Italy next month.
The 10 Queens returning to the Werk Room for the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World have been revealed, per a press release. They include Fontana (Sweden), Gawdland (Thailand), Kate Butch (UK), Mariah Balenciaga (U.S.), Melinda Verga (Canada), Minty Fresh (Philippines), The Only Naomy (Germany), Serena Morena (Mexico), Sminty Drop (UK) and Zahirah Zapanta (UK). The show is coming soon to WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and other territories.
Out gay saxophonist Dave Koz returns to the seas with his third Somma cruise, Jewels of the Adriatic, a press release noted. The customizable seven-day voyage will depart Athens (Piraeus), Greece on Nov. 6, 2026, and visit Bari, Italy, Kotor, Montenegro, Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar in Croatia and Venice (Fusina), Italy. For reservations and additional details, visit https://somma.life/2026. Koz has amassed numerous honors and accomplishments, including 10 Grammy® nominations, 12 number-one albums on Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, numerous world tours and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
SHOWBIZ
Peacock kicked off the season-four premiere of the Emmy®-winning series The Traitors with several celebrations, a press release noted. The day began with host and executive producer Alan Cumming receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony featured a bagpipe performance, remarks from longtime friends Brian Cox and Monica Lewinsky, and concluded with a celebratory luncheon. In Los Angeles, Peacock and The Abbey hosted an immersive watch party that included a surprise cloaked appearance by Cumming, a performance by drag artist Aiana Shaw, and a screening of the supersized premiere episode; cast members in attendance included Colton Underwood, Eric Nam, Lisa Rinna, Monét X Change, Maura Higgins and Yam Yam Arocho while Cumming’s husband, Grant Shaffer, was also there. Also, in NYC, Peacock partnered with burger joint Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer to transform its event space into a themed watch party.
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced the group’s 2026 Dorian Film Award nominations for the best in mainstream and LGBTQ-themed productions. Leading the pack are director Paul Thomas Anderson’s resonant dystopian thriller One Battle After Another, with nine nods; Ryan Coogler’s vampire mystery Sinners, with eight; and Josh Safdie’s satire Marty Supreme, with five. Nominees for LGBTQ film of the year are Blue Moon; Hedda; Pillion; Sorry, Baby; and Twinless. Nominees for the Wilde Artist Award (for a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment) include Ryan Coogler, Cynthia Erivo, Jinkx Monsoon, Jafar Panahi and Pedro Pascal. The recipient of GALECA’s Timeless Star career achievement honor will be announced on Thursday, March 3, along with the rest of the winners at the 2026 Dorians Film Toast.
Queer Emmy-winning writer/producer/actor Lena Waithe (Master of None; The Chi) will make her playwriting and stage acting debut with the self-penned trinity at Baltimore Center Stage, Deadline noted. The limited engagement runs Feb. 12 through March 8, and stars Waithe in her theatrical acting debut alongside Courtney Saulsand Megalyn Echikunwoke.
Cardi B applauded her transgender glam squad after appearing as a guest judge on the premiere of season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, LGBTQ Nation noted. “These are the dolls. I can’t live without them… literally,” she said on Untucked. Cardi heaped praise on her hairstylist, Tokyo Stylez, and makeup artist, Erika La’Pearl, while the three of them sat with the Drag Race contestants, adding that she has “learned a lot” from both the drag and trans communities.
LGBTQ+ actor Jim Parsons, queer entertainer Frankie Grande and iconic singer/actress Deborah Cox are joining upcoming musical comedy Titanique, per Deadline. (Also, show co-creator Constantine Rousouli is returning to the cast.) Parsons will take on the role of Rose’s mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater (played in the 1997 film by Frances Fisher). Cox will play Unsinkable Molly Brown; and Grande, an original cast member of the 2022 off-Broadway staging, will reprise his role of Victor Garber. Olivier-winning Rousouli returns to the musical as Jack Dawson.
Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) announced that Dashaun Wesley (Legendary), Toni Bryce (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), and breakout artist Billy The GOAT, alongside an international ensemble that includes Brazilian-born actor Victor Hugo De Oliveira Mauricio (Gemini Man), Nigerian actor Towase Abayomi Alvin (MTV Shuga) and French actor Yann Kidou (Les Racines Ardentes) have joined the cast of Red Light Diaries, per a press release. The new seven-episode scripted drama series created and directed by Micheal Ighodaro is currently in post-production. GBGMC is a global nonprofit organization working to advance the health, rights and dignity of Black gay men and other Black LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.
Writer/composer/producer T.J. Armand announced the release of Happy Hour Blues: Volume 2 (Demo Sessions)—the latest chapter in his three-volume recording project exploring queer life, immigration and identity through the lens of New York City nightlife, per a press release. Happy Hour Blues (which Armand wrote during the COVID pandemic) is a multidisciplinary project anchored by a developing musical that follows Adam—a queer immigrant dealing with love, exile and belonging inside a country-themed gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen. The written companion to the recording project is here.
Laid Bare is now running as an OUTtv original series, according to a press release. Written and directed by Tim O’Leary, the genre-bending whodunit is set at a clothing-optional gay resort and unfolds as a darkly playful murder mystery, where 10 men on vacation are picked off one by one. The series stars Ethan Daniel Corbett, Marval A. Rex, Ephraim López and Kevin Scott Allen, among others.
Dolly Parton won’t be at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry to celebrate her 80th birthday, per USA Today. On Jan. 17, “Opry Goes Dolly” will honor Parton’s “iconic ‘80s era” and feature performances by Lainey Wilson, Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent and more; Parton turns 80 on Jan. 19. Parton’s announcement came months after she postponed her Las Vegas concert residency due to medical procedures. Parton later told fans that after her husband had died earlier in 2025, she “didn’t take care of” herself and “let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of.”
Donnie McClurkin’s former assistant Giuseppe Corletto is suing the Grammy-winning gospel singer/pastor, claiming years-long sexual abuse, per MassLive. Corletto filed a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court on Jan. 2 claiming that McClurkin sexually abused him for several years when Corletto was a young man. Corletto was 21 when he “sought out” McClurkin in 2003 because he was struggling to reconcile with his sexuality, and claims that the pastor assured Corletto that he “would help deliver him from homosexuality,” according to USA Today. McClurkin wrote an apologetic email to Corletto after what he claims was another sexual assault at a Niagara Falls hotel in 2013, per NBC News. McClurkin, on Jan. 7, issued a statement on social media in which he called the allegations “contrived and untrue.”And LGBTQ+ ally Bad Bunny is facing legal action from a woman who says an unauthorized sample of her voice was used on two of the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show headliner’s songs, per Complex. Tainaly Y. Serrano Rivera is seeking $16 million for alleged intellectual property infringement connected to the vocal line, “Mira, puñeta, no me quiten el perreo” (“Look, damn it, do not take away my perreo”). The phrase appears at the very end of “Solo de Mi” from X 100pre and is also reused at the 1:05 mark of “EoO,” a track from Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.