Inhaltsverzeichnis für September 2018 in OUT

JOHN RUSSO When he photographed Amandla Stenberg, Anthony Ramos, and Casey Cott for this issue’s Fall Preview package (page 54), John Russo set the mood. “Make everyone feel comfortable, throw in some Duran Duran, and you’re sure to get an amazing photo!” he says. Russo is in the process of compiling his new book, 100 Making a Difference, and his work has also appeared in Vogue, GQ, and Esquire. CHARLES SHAFAIEH Charles Shafaieh met acclaimed composer Nico Muhly’s parents before interviewing him for this issue (page 78). “It prompted me to begin our chat by saying, ‘OK, so we’re basically related,’” the writer says. Shafaieh previously profiled Molly Crabapple’s Trumpbeast mural for The New Yorker, and he’s also contributed to The New York Times and The Irish Times. JILL GREENBERG…

“THERE IS NOTHING stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself!” Hannah Gadsby defiantly proclaims in her comedy show Nanette. Yes, you should “run, don’t walk” to your nearest couch to catch the acclaimed Netflix special. It was recorded at the Sydney Opera House, which, although only a six-hour flight, is culturally light-years from Tasmania, where the queer, brainy 40-year-old misfit grew up. It wasn’t until 1997 that the island decriminalized gay sex, the last Australian state to do so. So, imagine the combination of fear and courage it took the gawky 17-year-old Gadsby to talk to a girl her age at a bus stop. The comedian uses the story as part of her live routine, but with a twist: She goes on to explain how the encounter ended—with…

“It activates receptors in our body which help regulate critical bodily functions and, by doing so, helps bring our bodies into homeostasis. I believe it's a game-changer in terms of opening up fitness to more people” GETTING HIGH before working out may sound like a self-defeating premise. After all, stoners aren’t necessarily known for their ripped physiques. But as attitudes toward marijuana and the laws governing it keep changing (medical marijuana is currently legal in 29 states, recreational marijuana in nine), so do its uses. Nowadays, pot isn’t just for getting silly and eating your weight in Goldfish crackers. Veterans swear by it in treating their PTSD; Whoopi Goldberg wants you to use it to ease your period cramps with her very own line of holistic cannabis products; and the…

Sure, summer was great, but by now you must be tired of cycling through the same old tank tops and tees. If the impending chill of autumn is good for anything, it’s your wardrobe, and this fall designers are scaling new heights with comfy sweaters bearing cool, graphic mountainscapes. The prints on pieces from Hermès, Perry Ellis, and Ermenegildo Zegna Couture are more natty than Nat Geo, and they’re vibrant enough to send Julie Andrews twirling. Couple one of these chic, hilly numbers with a pair of solid trousers and you’ll have everyone checking out your Alps.…

Blue Moon Brewing Company, Denver The dish: Poached shrimp with spicy Thai dressing Pair it with: Blue Moon Belgian White. Its notes of orange peel and coriander amplify the shrimp’s subtle sweetness and heat. Treadwell Park, New York The dish: Cedar-planked salmon with “street-style” corn on the cob Pair it with: Chimay Triple Ale. The dried fruit and toasted bread notes of a Belgian ale contrast nicely with a fatty fish. Bondir Cambridge, Cambridge, Mass. The dish: Pasture-raised chicken with eggplant and grilled cabbage Pair it with: The Lost Abbey Farmhouse Lager. The food’s gentle umami notes resonate through the bitter finish of this crisp American lager.…

“THERE’S POWER in just professing who you are,” says Amandla Stenberg. She should know: The 19-year-old veteran of The Hunger Games has vaulted to the front of the new queer guard, thanks to her willingness to influence and move the discussion about identity forward, both in her personal life and in three new riveting film projects. Stenberg came out as bisexual on Teen Vogue’s Snapchat in 2016, and clarified things this summer in Wonderland magazine: “I was so overcome with this profound sense of relief when I realized that I’m gay—not bi, not pan, but gay—with a romantic love for women,” she said. Just a few years ago, that kind of candor would have been unthinkable for a teen at the beginning of her career. But for Stenberg, it was…

LIZZIE Based on the true story of Lizzie Borden, who in 1892 was accused of murdering her parents with an ax, this dishy thriller stars Chloë Sevigny as Lizzie and Kristen Stewart as her lover and—just maybe—partner in crime. (September 14) THE HAPPY PRINCE Rupert Everett makes his return as the writer, director, and star of this Oscar Wilde biopic, with the British actor playing the inimitable raconteur and up-and-comer Colin Morgan playing his hush-hush beau. (October 5) 1985 Charting the homecoming of one man (queer actor Cory Michael-Smith), director Yen Tan manages to address the seismic impact of the AIDS crisis, which saw countless sons reuniting with their families for what they knew would be the last time. (October 26) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Stadium theater seating was made for movies…

MNEK, a.k.a. 23-year-old Uzo Emenike, needs to correct something in his biography. He’s seated outside a north London studio, on break from editing the video for “Correct”—a bolshie track from his debut album, Language —and he’s barely surviving the city’s heat wave in a pair of short shorts and a faded 50 Cent T-shirt cinched by a neon fanny pack. The story goes that he started writing and producing songs at the age of 8. But the truth is even more ridiculous. “I struggle with taking compliments on the whole ‘Oh, you started so young’ thing,” says the U.K native, “so until now I’ve told people I started producing when I was 8 or 9. But my first exposure to music production was when I was 5.” That was when,…

HOUSEGIRL, MICHAEL DONKOR Alternating between the Ghanaian city of Kumasi and multicultural south London, Housegirl is a coming-of-age novel that nails the apprehensions and dislocation of a young teenage girl, Belinda, who finds herself far from home. Interweaving the stories of three young women, Donkor—who came out to his family in his 20s—has pulled off a rare feat: a complex story of female lives, written by a man. (Picador, August 28) VANISHING TWINS: A MARRIAGE, LEAH DIETERICH “Coupledom is performance art,” wrote the psychoanalyst Adam Phillips. Dieterich quotes it about a third of the way through this highly original memoir about looking beyond her marriage to explore her sexual wants and desires, with both men and women, beyond the constraints of monogamy. (Soft Skull Press, September…

Live. Work. Pose. Entrancing audiences with its chic costumery and scintillating ballroom scenes, Pose, the FX series that serves as a love letter to New York ball culture of the 1980s, cemented itself as one of the best series of the summer. For our August cover story—which turned up the spotlight on stars Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, and Indya Moore—we enlisted Pose writer, director, and producer Janet Mock to chat with the actresses. The four transgender women of color discussed bringing new perspectives on the trans experience to cable television (like sex, surgery, and sisterhood), and finding family within the groundbreakingly diverse cast and crew assembled by series creator Ryan Murphy. Responding to our story, reader Brandon Shepherd commented, “Definitely my favorite show on TV. Thank you for showcasing black,…

If the recent Mr. Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor? had you re-evaluating your feelings about that old-fogey staple, the cardigan, you’re in luck. This season, a slew of designers are expressing an affinity for our pal Fred’s wardrobe favorite, and they’re proving that, like him, it’s much more than what it seems. A good cardy is like the Swiss Army knife of your closet—useful in any number of scenarios. Throw it on over a T-shirt and leave it unbuttoned for a casual, cozy day look. Opt for a bold pattern to give your outfit some preppy swag. Or, if you’re really feeling yourself, just wear it on its own. It’ll show your neighbor you’re anything but the guy next door.…

WHAT IF A POPULAR 18th-century folk hero and rebel, more popular than the Queen, was in actual fact a trans man? In Britain, the 1724 execution of Jack Sheppard, a legendary jail-breaker, drew 200,000 people—about a third of the city’s population. His exploits have been revived intermittently ever since, including in last year’s novel The Fatal Tree, by the gay British author Jake Arnott. Now comes Jordy Rosenberg with a more radical thesis, overlaying Sheppard’s daring escapes with a powerful queer subtext: what if Sheppard were trans, and his lover, Bess, the daughter of a mixed-race marriage? Layered with the raucous street life of 17th-century London, Confessions of a Fox is a punchy picaresque that is simultaneously a manifesto for rethinking, and reimagining, history. Sheppard’s story is footnoted by a…

IN A STAR IS BORN, Anthony Ramos plays Ramon, the best friend and confidant of breakout musician Ally (Lady Gaga, in her first film role). Landing a gig with Gaga would already be a dream come true for millions, but Ramos got extra perks: The actor also got to watch the pop star—a woman with whom he’s now on casual, first-name terms—break into impromptu performance. “We were filming in a theater and in between set-ups, Stefani just got on the piano and did a 15-minute show for the audience,” says Ramos. “She crushed it. Just her and the piano. She’s a megastar. Period.” If Brooklyn-born Ramos wants to be a megastar, too, he’s certainly nabbing the right projects. In 2015, he dazzled audiences in Broadway’s Hamilton in…

WITH HIS heart-pulverizing songwriting, John Grant has laid everything bare, from his drug addictions to his HIV diagnosis. But on his dazzling synth-driven fourth album, Love Is Magic, the American-born, Iceland-based gay artist draws on dark humor and absurdist flair to take aim at a certain White House “buffoon.” Grant owns his metamorphosis in the record’s fantastical artwork—he is transformed with feathers and face paint into a songbird whose distinct voice rings out against the odds. Here, he discusses some of his brightest and most eclectic music to date. What’s the story behind Love Is Magic’s amazing album art? It’s about doing whatever you need to get into character to do the songs. That was the idea of Scott King, who did the artwork. He’s done…

MOTHER OF THE MAID Any chance to see Glenn Close onstage borders on spiritual. But watching her portray the woman who birthed Joan of Arc will feel like the holiest of theatrical pilgrimages. (Opens September 25 at Anspacher Theater, New York) PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT This “contemporary queer love story” centers on Theo and Cecily, a couple struggling to come clean about their sexual histories—or, if you will, their very human plot points. (Opens October 6 at Claire Tow Theater, New York) EVE’S SONG She’s just gotten divorced and her daughter has just come out, but those are only two of the hurdles Deborah faces in this drama, a dissection of race in America that mixes horror and dark comedy. (Opens October 23 at LuEsther Hall, New York)…

“Even though I am a poor, black, orphan queer, I haven’t lived my life on the margins of nothing.” EARLY IN THEprocess of penning his astonishing memoir, There Will Be No Miracles Here, Casey Gerald sent a few chapters to a respected writer he knew. “He was very concerned,” recalls Gerald. “He said, ‘Listen, you’ve been hired to write an autobiography, so what is this?’” The blunt feedback might have discouraged others. Gerald listened patiently as his friend suggested he take time out to read memoirs that reflected marginalized experiences—a rich seam in American literature—and then start over. “I was really grateful for his attempt at intervention because it clarified for me that I had no interest whatsoever in writing that kind of book,” says Gerald, before quoting Kendrick Lamar:…

“What joys there were in remaking a magazine, and what amazing luck I had to work with some of the best in the industry.” I KNOW IT’S ANCIENT HISTORY, but can we talk about the world 12 years ago? That was the year I arrived at Out, not quite sobbing, but terrified that I might have made the wrong choice by moving from “mainstream” media to a “niche” publication that you often had to hunt for on newsstands, only to find it among the adult titles. I started in the spring of 2006—the year that Twitter was launched, a year before the iPhone arrived—when being gay (as we quaintly described ourselves then) took determination, long before same-sex proms, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Ryan Murphy made the world more hospitable. After…

NEIL GROTZINGER, NIHL Provenance: Colorado Springs, Colorado Who he is: With a BA from Pratt Institute, and on track for an MFA from the Parsons School of Design, Grotzinger was shortlisted for the 2018 LVMH Prize and made his New York Fashion Week debut last season to rave reviews. His style: He contrasts conventional men’s silhouettes—like those of the uniforms at the Air Force Academy in his hometown—with decorative embroidery and delicate beadwork, offering up gender-fluid looks with homoerotic undertones. In his words: “In recent years, it seems that more people are starting to construct their identities in a way that serves as social commentary on the 21st century, and I hope to see my work play a part in this conversation. The message behind our brand is fairly straightforward—it’s…

The best way to stand out in a sea of stuffy gray suits? Make sure the next one you buy has a little luster. The words shiny suit may instantly conjure visions of Puff Daddy and Mase parading under a fisheye lens circa 1997, but the ensembles we’re endorsing are light on the ostentation and heavy on the elegance. Labels like Berluti, Louis Vuitton, Kenneth Cole, and Emporio Armani have paired classic tailoring with sumptuous fabrics for a formal, just-flashy-enough look that you can rock at a wedding or at your nine-to-five. Because who ever said what you wear to the boardroom has to be boring?…

1: With 70 inches of rainfall annually, the forested interior of Saint Lucia makes for a lush canopy, best enjoyed by zipline. At the Morne Coubaril Estate, knowledgeable guides will give you a crash course in tree identification—and point out Oprah’s winter retreat, far below in the town of Soufrière. MorneCoubarilEstate.com 2: Taste the forest bounty on a hike to Superman Falls, with guides that will stop and share the tart pop of “jungle M&Ms,” a.k.a. cacao beans (much of it destined for gourmet chocolate makers like London-based Hotel Chocolat). SupermanWaterfalls.com 3: Arrange to join a half-day catamaran trip around the base of Petit Piton, and then north along the coast, where you can snorkel to shore and hike the beach to the small fishing village of Canaries. Replenish those…

AT ITS WORST, photojournalism can feel extractive. Consider the standard trope: an image of someone suffering. The person depicted is anonymous, afflicted, and mute, with no say in their representation. Fid Thompson, a photographer (as well as a writer, researcher, and filmmaker) worked for 12 years in West Africa, and knows this set of issues intimately. “You go and photograph someone suffering or in a marginalized situation,” Thompson says, “[but] would you be OK [if] photographed in that situation?” What, Thompson’s practice seems to ask, is the opposite of extraction? The answer: consent. Full-bodied, enthusiastic consent. The kind of consent that feels collaborative and transformative for all involved: a celebration. This language and practice, ordinarily applied to sex, can also be applied to portraiture—vulnerability, intimacy, and a desire for shared…

Our annual guide to everything you should be watching, reading, and listening to this season. Starring Amandla Stenberg , Anthony Ramos , Casey Cott , Melissa McCarthy, Keira Knightley, MNEK, John Grant, Nico Muhly, Lea DeLaria, DeRay Mckesson, and more.…

IT’S A DARK, FOGGY night in a forest on the outskirts of Riverdale and Kevin Keller is cruising. Chiseled men wander through the woods on the hunt for anonymous, small-town sex. Just as Keller’s sex life seems poised to move from The CW into premium cable territory, he hears gunshots and quickly comes across a gruesome crime scene. “It was full-on Carrie,” Keller tells his classmates the next day at school. “Midge covered in Moose’s blood. It was insane.” But when his friend Betty finds out just why Keller was in the woods, she scolds him for venturing out alone. “Why can’t you just use GrindEm like everybody in the world?” Kevin Keller, played by the equally alliteratively-named Casey Cott, 26, can’t use GrindEm (a just-different-enough version of a familiar…

REL Stand-up Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Insecure) tackles an age-old question: Is it better to have loved and lost your wife to your barber than never to have loved at all? Even crazier: Howery based the humiliating story on his own life. (Premieres September 9 on Fox) FOREVER Well-mannered comedies about bougie California married couples are a dime a dozen. But this one stars Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, and Catherine Keener (as a mysterious neighbor—classic Keener), so it’s more than enough to make us bite. (Premieres September 14 on Amazon) MANIAC True Detective director Cary Fukunaga’s black comedy about a pharmaceutical trial gone very wrong features an intoxicating cocktail of A-listers including Emma Stone and Sally Field. Refill your Wellbutrin beforehand. (Premieres September 21 on Netflix) I FEEL BAD…

CHIC, IT’S ABOUT TIME Exactly who will make the final cut of the iconic disco freaks’ first album in 25 years is a mystery. But the band’s chief architect, Nile Rodgers, has name-dropped everyone from Lady Gaga, Pharrell, and Miguel to Bruno Mars, Janelle Monáe, and the late Avicii. (September 7) CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS, CHRIS French songwriter-chanteuse Héloïse Letissier follows up her 2014 breakthrough, Chaleur Humaine, with a very personal, dance-driven sophomore album that explores her pansexuality and newfound experience as a “real grown-ass woman.” (September 21) PRINCE, PIANO AND A MICROPHONE 1983 An early take of “Purple Rain,” a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” and a scorching version of the 19th-century spiritual “Mary Don’t You Weep” are just a…

DON’T PIGEONHOLE Nico Muhly. The 37-year-old, Vermont-born composer’s third opera, Marnie, based on the 1961 Winston Graham novel previously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock, takes inspiration, in part, from Muhly’s decades-long obsession with the Renaissance choral tradition but also from American minimalists like Philip Glass, for whom he worked while studying literature at Columbia University and composition at Juilliard. That he has also collaborated with Usher, Anohni, The National, and myriad other artists—while somehow finding time to write for television and film, including the score for The Reader (2008)—may surprise many at the Metropolitan Opera this October, when Marnie has its U.S. premiere. It shouldn’t though, as his musical genre-hopping has always enriched his classical work. Stifled desire and the impediments that restrict expressions of self-identity are foregrounded in all three…

AFTER FOUR YEARS on the frontlines of the Black Lives Matter movement, activist DeRay Mckesson has written his first book. In The Other Side of Freedom, he attempts to make sense of his experiences protesting systemic police violence against African-Americans while galvanizing others to make change in their own communities. He also writes for the first time about being gay and living in “the quiet.” —JOHN RUSSELL What was the goal with the book? I wanted to reflect on everything I’ve experienced, the lessons that I’ve taken from them, what I would have done differently, and where I think we should go from there. I just wanted to use these stories as a way to talk about larger ideas. The first chapter of the book is all about hope. What…

THE SLEEP Abigail quilt by Calvin Klein $165-$215, CalvinKlein.com THE BAR KEEP Deco Bar Cart by Crate & Barrel $699, CrateAndBarrel.com THE RELAX Gagnet Armchair by Ikea The Swedish furniture giant is relaunching a series of iconic pieces from the 1950s to the 2000s, in celebration of the brand’s 75th birthday. In keeping with Ikea’s fondness for cute, indecipherable names, the special collection will be sold as the Gratulera series, and will include such pieces as the company’s first Klippan sofa and its retro Ekenäset armchair. Released in three rounds, marking the 50s and 60s, the 70s and 80s, and the 90s and 2000s, the Gagnet Armchair was originally released when Ikea opened its first store in 1958, making it a 70-year old design veteran. $80,…