Metro Weekly

An employee at a wastewater treatment plant in suburban Buffalo has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he was discriminated against because he is gay. The co-worker’s negative reaction was so noticeable that other employees asked Burns about it. After Burns married his husband in August 2021, another employee mentioned the marriage at work, and the co-worker allegedly responded by making vomiting noises.

Qommittee’s Rally and March for Drag at the Kennedy Center on March 8, 2025 – Photo: Ward Morrison Drag artists and advocates fighting back in the culture war against drag and LGBTQ rights have seen triumphs and setbacks this summer. Two recent federal court decisions — one in Florida, the other in Texas — illustrate opposite shifts in the war being waged over anti-drag laws in states around the nation.

Venture-N in Tucson – Source: Facebook A gunman killed two men outside a Tucson gay bar before fatally shooting himself in what police say was a targeted attack motivated by anti-LGBTQ hate. According to Tucson police, officers were dispatched to Venture-N, a gay bar on Sixth Avenue, around 12:30 a.m. on August 31. They found three men with gunshot wounds in the bar’s parking lot, including 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay, who police say had confronted and shot the other two men before shooting himself.

Elegance Bratton – Photo- Erik Umphery, Blackhouse Portrait Studio copy “This is not your grandma’s civil rights movie.” Elegance Bratton is telling me about his latest film, By Any Means, and he’s a passionate hype man for his work.

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries – Photo: news12bx screenshot Michael Jeffries, the former CEO of clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, is mentally competent to stand trial on charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution, a federal judge has ruled.

Arianna Grande – Photo: Dave Meyers, Trump – Photo: Gage Skidmore For the second time this summer, Ariana Grande has rebuked President Donald Trump’s administration for using her music in a social media post. The latest dispute erupted after the Team Trump account added Grande’s 2024 hit “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” to a TikTok post that repurposed one of its lyrics.

The Shards: Igby Rigby and Kaia Gerber – Photo: FX It’s said that “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” but what if life is all play and no work? It turns out that the end result can be just as unhinged, if not more so, if the latest thriller from TV super-producer Ryan Murphy is anything to go by. The Shards opens with a fictionalized version of American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis (Igby Rigney) watching an early screening of The Shining in 1980s Los Angeles.

When I heard about Dolly Parton’s death, I did the same thing. I, of course, found a way to make it about myself. Or, put another way, I thought back to one very exciting moment in my life that connected me to the singer — one that almost didn’t happen. Dolly meant so much to so many people, including generations of gay fans, and I was fortunate enough to speak with her once. What I remember most about the experience has very little to do with her music or her clothes.

The Dog Stars: Margaret Qualley Everybody just wants Ridley Scott to get on with it. By that, of course, I mean wrap up the damn Alien trilogy he started with Prometheus and left dangling — quite unnervingly — nearly a decade ago with Covenant. But Ridley is a stubborn old director, and he’s going to make what he feels like making, even if he teases us sadistically with promises of “Maybe it’ll be my next film — I’m developing it.” Kodak film from 1966 develops faster.

The Rocky Horror Show: Clari Swaggard and Jackson Miller – Photo: Sean McCoy “Well, that was horny.” So declared a knowledgeable patron to me following the amply entertaining opening night performance of Monumental Theatre’s The Rocky Horror Show at Dance Place. True, the cabaret-style production, staged by company co-artistic directors Jimmy Mavrikes and Michael Windsor, accentuates every lustful beat of Richard O’Brien’s classic sci-fi horror musical.