Latonya Pennington is a non-binary queer freelance writer. Their writing can be found in places like Wear Your Voice magazine, EFNIKS, and Black Girl Dangerous.
7 Books by Queer Poets to Read for National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and when it comes to poetry, some of the most powerful works have been written by queer people. From June Jordan to Jayy Dodd, these poetry collections are worth reading and celebrating all month long!
It's Scott Hoying's world, and we're just living it.
In every aspect of his personal and professional life, the Pentatonix frontman is thriving and achieving every dream he had as a queer kid growing up in Arlington, Texas.
With a baby announcement hopefully coming any day, the star is taking a trip down memory lane with his own mother, Connie Hoying, in the powerful new book The Untold Story of Scott Hoying, Pentatonix Star.
The novel gives readers insight into Scott's journey to superstardom after coming out at 17 years old, creating the Grammy-winning a cappella group Pentatonix, and eventually marrying his incredible husband Mark Hoying.
"I'm just so excited that my mom is telling this story from her perspective. There could be parents that relate to it more and understand it more. My mom didn't fully understand [my coming out] at first, but she had unconditional love for me. When I came out, the concern she had was my safety. It just makes me very grateful, it makes me want to cry," Scott Hoying tells PRIDE.
The timing of this book's release couldn't be more crucial as many people in the LGBTQ+ community around the world are having a tough time accepting their own sexualities and opening up to their loved ones.
Connie Hoying wants parents of queer children to be able to connect with her own experience accepting and loving her gay son.
"My heart just explodes! When I see him on stage [in front of] an audience of 15,000 people... this is what he wanted to do and he's doing it. I'm hoping parents of gay children learn empathy and acceptance. That's what we need in this world — love, acceptance, support, positivity is everything," Connie Hoying says.
Scott Hoying's star is only on the rise. With an incredible support system behind him, the singer is ready to tackle his next big project by starring alongside Joel McHale and Paula Patton in the upcoming movie musical Reimagined.
"There's so much love in this world! Hate gets highlighted so much, but there's so many wonderful, amazing, beautiful people that are just so inspiring. In a lot of different ways, everything is really aligning, and I've just felt more grateful than ever. As I grow up, I'm more grounded and present to be able to really realize those things."
The Untold Story of Scott Hoying, Pentatonix Star is available wherever books are sold. To see the full interview with Scott Hoying and Connie Hoying, check out the video at the top of the page.
The hilariousRoss Mathews is proud to represent the queer community.
After marrying his handsome husband Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews in 2022, the two have grown so much personally and professionally as a couple.
Now, the hubbies have released their adorable new children's book Tío & Tío: The Ring Bearers that's centered around the couple's two nephews who served as the ring bearers at their wedding.
"We are so grateful and excited that our book is coming out! It's been a labor of love. The book is not political by nature, but by purely existing, of course it is," Mathews tells PRIDE.
Since his early days on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Mathews has helped LGBTQ+ representation on television become more mainstream with his regular appearances on The Drew Barrymore Show and RuPaul's Drag Race.
"I know there are people who have seen me on television who maybe don't know a lot of queer people in their life. The generation before us did a lot of work to make things easier for us. We've made a lot of progress. We've having some setbacks right now, but there's a lot of people that'll never stop fighting. There's more of us than there are of them."
Dr. García-Mathews not only serves as Mathews' better half, but he's also his biggest cheerleader and number one fan.
"What you guys are getting in TV land... he's doing that at home. He's literally himself every day. He's a pioneer. He's an advocate for our community. He's doing tremendous work out there. I'm so proud to be his husband," García-Mathews says.
Tío & Tío: The Ring Bearers is available wherever books are sold. To see the full interview with Ross Mathews & Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews, check out the video at the top of the page.
Footage stills via TikTok @the99thcommander; @callsign.mystic
TikTok going dark in the U.S. for 14 hours revealed secrets about the people behind your fave viral videos, but for some BookTok girlies, the revelations sent them into full-blown bi-panic.
Prior to the TikTok ban taking effect when the app temporarily shut down in America on Saturday night, some of the biggest TikTokers — thinking the app might be gone for good — divulged things they had been keeping from their audiences. From a fitness influencer announcing that she never did the workouts to a fancy ice cube maker saying she didn’t use the ice to a beauty influencer admitting her viral foundation challenge was partially faked, the secrets had viewers shook.
But for BookTok, the biggest reveal led to women questioning their sexuality!
As dark romance fans have taken over the book-loving side of TikTok, men started making thirst traps wearing masks and motorcycle helmets to disguise their faces like the love interests in popular books like Lights Out by Navesssa Allen, Carnival Nightmare by Selena Winters, God of Malice by Rina Kent, and The Ritual by Shantel Tessier.
Or at least everyone thought they were men!
The masked TikToker Commander (@the99commander), who makes thirst traps wearing tactical gear and a helmet, made a “face reveal” video showing the world that she is, in fact, a green-haired, pierced woman, and the commenters went feral for her.
“I was pleasantly surprised with this face reveal. - Sincerely a bi girlie,” someone else admitted.
“Running in circles squealing in panic,” one commenter wrote, while another posted, “Aaaand there’s the bi-panic setting it. In all seriousness, I do love your content. And if anything, now I love it more.”
Another commenter pointed out that Commander being a woman actually makes a lot of sense because who would know what would turn women on more than another woman, “Girlies know what the girlies want…and you know what…I’M HERE FOR IT.”
And she’s not the only masked “man” to pull their mask off and reveal that the person all of these women were lusting after was a woman the whole time.
TikToker Callsign: Mystic (@callsign.mystic), who posts thirst traps wearing a skeleton mask to audio from dark romances, did a version of this video, revealing that she is also a woman in disguise.
It started out as just something different from my main co tent, but turns out, I enjoy being Mysic/Ghost! Maybe more in the future ? #ghostcosplay #maskedmen #mw2 #cod #codcosplay #callsign_mystic #maskedwomen #callofdutycosplay #simonghostriley #simonriley #ghost #ghostcallofduty #callofduty #masked
“This is why all the content was on point and just what the girls wanted,” someone commented on the video.
“So you’re telling me that all my fantasy crushes are female…,” another person wrote.
“I’ve been bamboozled for the last 6 years…..and I’m ok with that,” another swooning commenter said.
So, while the majority of the masked-man dark romance novels BookTok obsesses over are about straight relationships, it turns out the girlies loving the masked cosplayers on TikTok may not be as straight as they thought!
Keep scrolling to see more MaskTok reveals and response videos.
Thank you all so much for watching and liking my content. In just over a year I, somehow, managed to gain over 4 thousand followers...Which is INSANE! I'm going to miss this silly little app and all of you guys 🫶 #callofdutycosplay #maskedmen #masktok #keeganruss #facereveal
Face reveal cause why the fuck not… hi, I’m Koda 👋 #c#codm#maskedm#maskedmenf#fypS#SimonRileyG#Ghostc#codcosplaym#maskedcosplayc#callofdutyK#Kodac#codmaskedg#ghostcosplayb#booktokmasktok
***WARNING: Some of the content in this article deals with sensitive topics of abuse. Please read with caution.
New allegations and details about Neil Gaiman's alleged abuse have been revealed.
In case you haven't heard, Vulture just dropped a bombshell exposé on Gaiman titled "There Is No Safe Word," which describes, in shocking detail, the allegations from eight women who detail his sexual assault, coercion, and abuse. It also implicated his ex-wife Amanda Palmer in some degree of complicity with his alleged crimes.
The piece, written by Lila Shapiro, who also gave us an in-depth look into Joss Whedon a few years ago, highlights the chilling dissonance between Gaiman's public persona as a feminist and the shared stories by his accusers. Among them is perhaps most notably Scarlett Pavlovich, a 22-year-old gay woman who worked as a nanny for Gaiman and Palmer.
I wrote about Neil Gaiman, and the women accusing him of sexual coercion, assault and abuse. www.vulture.com/article/neil...
In the Vulture piece, Pavlovich describes an unsettling power dynamic and alleged assaults, recalling one incident where Gaiman joined her in a garden bathtub despite her discomfort. “I said ‘no.’ He said, ‘Don’t ruin the moment,’” she told Shapiro, adding that what followed left her feeling “a subtle terror.” Pavlovich’s story adds another harrowing pain point as she noted, “I’m gay. I’d never had sex [with a man].”
Elsewhere, Pavlovich recalled Gaiman telling her that Palmer told him he "couldn't have" her, which only fueled his desires. According to Pavlovich, she said Gaiman wished "it were the gold old days we we could both [he and Palmer] f**k you."
Seven of the eight accusers in the article emphasize that they had no interest in BDSM, a culture Gaiman’s representatives claim he engaged in consensually. However, as Shapiro points out, “If just one party consents, then it’s not BDSM but abuse.”
Despite the gravity of these claims, Gaiman’s career remains largely intact, for now, and major projects with Netflix and Amazon Prime are still currently slated for later this year. Meanwhile, Pavlovich and others continue to process the aftermath, finding solace in one another’s stories -- which have finally gotten the public attention they deserve.
Keep scrolling for reactions from fellow writers, queer folk, and fans as we watch the downfall of Neil Gaiman in real-time.
I knew this piece about Neil Gaiman was in the works, and still, I felt sick reading it.
TW: rape, abuse, coercion, and child sex abuse.
I named my caiman lizard Neil Caiman back before all the shitty stuff came out about Neil Gaiman. I would like to propose we forget Gaiman exists entirely and replace him with my lizard.
Here's a list of NON PROBLEMATIC genre authors to read instead of Neil Gaiman:
1-10: A bunch of people who harassed Isabel Fall into a mental hospital and who give zero results when you search their social media for the word 'Gaza'.
CJ Entertainment, Scanbox Entertainment, Warner Bros
Your read and watch list is about to get longer!
CJ Entertainment, Scanbox Entertainment, Warner Bros
Across all of the entertainment world, books included,LGBTQ+ storylines are getting lauded and we're seeing more and more representation as a result. Which is great news. However, oftentimes, there's a lot of focus on men and there isn't always as much love to our lesbian friends within the community.
Fortunately, there are still a solid number of books that revolve around lesbian subplots, and plenty of them have also been made into some pretty stellar movies -- and some even have more than one adaptation.
Here are 10 lesbian movies you can watch that are based on books, and believe us you're gonna want watch AND read them all!
The Color Purple
There are a lot of reason's Alice Walker's The Color Purple is a classic novel, especially with its depiction of same-sex and bisexual relationships among its main characters. It's gone on to now have two different adaptations of the source text (although as of this writing, the next one comes out in a few days.) The 1985 film stars Whoopi Goldberg in her film debut as Celie, whose story chronicles her abuse as a child and her journey to find her own voice (and Shug Avery, swoon) as an adult later on in life.
I Can't Think Straight
Shamim Sarif's 2008 novel I Can't Think Straight deals with coming to terms with not only your sexuality, but also how to deal with interfaith relationships when they start to push up against the line of tradition and love. Sarif's longtime partner, Hanan Kattan, produced the film version, which stars Lisa Rey as the Christian Tala and Sheetal Sheth as the Muslim Leyla, who must work together in multiple ways to let their love shine.
Fingersmith
Another novel that has two different adaptations is Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. The book, published in 2002, is a historical crime novel set against the backdrop of Victorian-era Britain. The 2005 miniseries, which stars Elaine Cassidy as Maud and Sally Hawkins as Sue, sticks to the book's plotline. The 2016 South Korean film Handmaiden, on the other hand, takes the murderous plot seen within the main characters and puts it in a more modern-day setting in Japan, where the handmaiden Sook-Hee (Kim Tae-ri) plots to take the inheritance of Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee).
The Price of Salt/Carol
The Price of Salt was released by Patricia Highsmith in 1952, originally under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. It's based on a true story from her own life and tells the thrilling tale of Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), a stage designer whose life is turned upside down when she meets Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett). The 2015 film tells the tale on the screen in riveting performances from the main actresses.
She Said
Have you ever heard of the #MeToo movement? Yeah, you can thank Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey for breaking the story on Harvey Weinstein and all of the "alleged" assault that's coursed through Hollywood for years. The film, starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, takes the contents of the book and puts it into a heartpounding tale on screen that chronicles the trials, tribulations, and dangers the journalist's faced as they worked to break arguably one of the most important stories in history.
Daisy Jones & the Six
Taylor Jenkins Reid is a great author with some incredible stories, and Daisy Jones & the Six is no exception. In the book, character Simone Jackson, played by Nabiyah Be onscreen, is not explicitly queer, though she is depicted as such in the film. The plot of the story is influenced by the breakup of Fleetwood Mac, and the adaptation, which is produced by Reese Witherspoon, is set up as a documentary style that blends in with its gritty 1970s backdrop.
Tipping the Velvet
Another Sarah Waters classic that's lasted the tale of time is Tipping the Velvet, which is also the author's debut novel. It's set during 1890s England, when a young woman named Nan (Rachael Stirling) falls in love with a male impersonator named Kitty (Keeley Hawes) and follows her to London as she continues to search for herself. The BBC adapted the novel into a three-part miniseries for the small screen.
The Hours
Stephen Daldry's 2002 adaptation of Michael Cunningham's The Hours is arguably a little better than the book, which is rare, but each have their own prospective strengths. Partially influenced by the life of Virginia Woolf, the plot follows three women, Clarissa (Meryl Sreep), Laura (Julianne Moore) and Virginia (Nicole Kidman), who each exist in a different time and place as the story weaves them closer together. Woolf, when she was alive, was famously depressed and bisexual, both of which are examined in the story.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Green Tomatoes is an example where the queerness, particularly between Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) and Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson), is more explicit in the book than it is in the film. That said, both are equally entertaining and follows around a trapped housewife named Evelyn (Kathy Bates) who befriends an elderly woman named Ninny (Jessica Tandy) and shares stories of their lives and exploits, ultimately leading Evelyn to make better decisions for herself.
Aimee & Jaguar
Erica Fisher released Aimée & Jaguar in 1994 that tells an equally tragic and heartwarming tale of the two Berlin women, Lily Wust (Juliane Köhler) and Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), who try to let their love endure during the Nazi persecution of World War II. The plot is based on real events, and the onscreen adaptation from director Max Färberböck puts the weight of the affair they endured front and center on the screen.
Thérèse and Isabelle
Author Violette Leduc channeled her own youthful love affair into this book about two boarding school girls falling passionately in love. It’s lyrical and dreamily written. The film, by the same name, leans heavily into the book’s eroticism, with adult filmmaker Radley Metzger behind the camera.
Desert Hearts
This lesbian classic film first started out as a lesbian classic nove Desert of the Heart l by Jane Rule and sees a woman in the 1950s headed to Reno to file for divorce. There she meets Cay, a young confident woman who awakens something new in her. It’s sweet and romantic and sometimes we just deserve nice things.
Foxfire
Many a lesbian of a certain age can date their queer awakening to this film starring Angelina Jolie in her short hair era. What a time to be alive. It was based on Joyce Carol Oates’ Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang which sees a group of teens, brought together by the charismatic feminist leader Legs, who leads them on increasingly destructive missions for justice against local creeps.
Lost and Delirious
Lost and Delirious is an adaptation of The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan, with, um, lets say lots of liberties taken. But it's also the film that first gave us our crush Piper Perabo who would go on to star in Imagine Me & You, a true lezzie fave. It focuses on a young girl named Mouse who is sent away to boarding school rooms with two girls secretly in love.
Disobedience
Disobedience which stars Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz sees the two former lovers reunited and rekindling their passionate romance when one returns home for her fathers shiva. The movie is an adaptation of the novel by Naomi Alderman which won the 2006 Orange Award for New Writers.