Arooj Aftab: Last News

Many of us would happily indulge in a constant loop of “All I Want for Christmas is You” by the reigning Queen of the Holiday Season, Mariah Carey. But we have the chance to, now more than ever, consider sprinkling in some Black queer artists on the holiday playlist.One may have to dig for these deep-cut holiday tracks. And to assist in your search for some new tunes for your Christmas party, we’ve pulled together both festive original songs and unique spins on some of our favorite standards—all from both established and new artists from the Black queer community.

Wicked pandemonium is defying gravity. (Insert your own clawing high note.)It’s been nearly a month since Jon M.

Glee didn’t learn this lesson soon enough, and its fourth & final holiday episode—season 5’s utterly batsh*t and controversial “Previously Unaired Christmas”—is a big old lump of coal.Long dubbed problematic by even the most ardent Gleeks, it’s recently come to light that, yes, much of the cast now acknowledge what a mess the episode was and, no, they didn’t have fun filming it either!Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.On a recent edition of And That’s What You REALLY Missed, Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz’s popular Glee rewatch podcast, the stars reminisced on a time when all was not merry and bright. In fact, McHale—who played wheelchair-bound Artie Abrams—referred to the episode as “an actual breaking point.”“I was so angry in everything in this episode,” Ushkowitz, who played fellow McKinley High student Tina Cohen-Chang, admitted.To be fair, “Previously Unaired Christmas” was at least trying to push the envelope.

In case you missed out on the Dear Evan Hansen craze when it debuted on Broadway in 2016 and when the movie adaptation came out in 2021, the musical follows a socially awkward teenager as he navigates the death of one of his classmates. It raises questions on mental health, the influence of social media, and what it means to be remembered while ultimately affirming that everyone matters and should feel like they belong.

Cathy Cade, an activist and pioneering photographer who chronicled same-sex female relationships, producing a 1987 book that was hailed by feminists and gay-rights advocates as a classic, died on Nov. 16 at her home in Berkeley, Calif. She was 82.