LGBTQ
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Brian Jordan Alvarez on “English Teacher”
The actor and showrunner talks with Vinson Cunningham about his new comedy, whose main character is a gay English teacher in Texas, and what he learned on the set of “Will & Grace.”
On Television
“English Teacher” Is an After-School Special with Edge
Brian Jordan Alvarez’s new FX comedy tackles hot-button issues with a satisfying mix of earnestness and irreverence.
By Inkoo Kang
The New Yorker Documentary
A Drag Story Hour Simply Observed in “It’s Okay”
Amid an overheated national argument, David France, the director of “How to Survive a Plague,” replaces perception with reality.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
The Trans Athletes Who Changed the Olympics—in 1936
A track star’s gender transition in the nineteen-thirties, and the response of Olympic officials, foreshadowed today’s culture-war battles over gender and sports.
The Front Row
“I Saw the TV Glow” Is a Profound Vision of the Trans Experience
In Jane Schoenbrun’s new feature, two teens search for their true selves through their shared obsession with a horror TV series.
By Richard Brody
Daily Comment
The Vatican’s Statement on Gender Is Unsurprising, and a Missed Opportunity
A new document that strives to reconsider matters of human dignity nevertheless echoes Church rhetoric from decades ago.
By Paul Elie
On Television
“Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show” Is Exhibitionism as Art
Two years after “Rothaniel,” the comedian has committed another moving—and deeply entertaining—act of self-exposure.
By Inkoo Kang
The New Yorker Documentary
Flipping the Script on Trans Medical Encounters
Noah Schamus and Brit Fryer’s short film offers a vision of how physicians and trans patients can meet one another on equal footing.
The Front Row
The Forced Erotic Whimsy of “Drive-Away Dolls”
The director Ethan Coen, writing the script with his wife, Tricia Cooke, leans on comical violence and genre winks for this road movie of lesbians seeking love.
By Richard Brody
Page-Turner
Diary of an Abomination
In an illustrated depiction of a young girl’s self-discovery, monstrosity is only skin-deep.
By Emil Ferris
The Theatre
Remembrances of Queer Auteurs Past
With “Bark of Millions,” “Oh, Mary!,” and “Aristotle Thinks Again,” the fabulousness on New York’s stages seems to have reached a critical mass.
By Helen Shaw
This Week in Fiction
Addie Citchens on Love as an Altar
The author discusses her story “That Girl.”
By Dennis Zhou
The Weekend Essay
The Unholy Son
On searching for faith, freedom, and the love of a father.
By Geoffrey Mak
Novellas
“Server”
It was empty when I logged in. I’d been off it since Vic died, four years ago.
By Bryan Washington
This Week in Fiction
Bryan Washington on Queer Friendship and Intimacy
The author discusses his new novella, “Server.”
By Willing Davidson
The New Yorker Interview
Why Emma Seligman Decided to Make a Movie About a Queer Fight Club
The director of “Shiva Baby” and “Bottoms” on indies, male validation, third-wave feminism, and whether you need to be a dick to be successful.
By Naomi Fry
Dept. of Remembering
Voguing as Vigil for O’Shae Sibley
At the spot in Brooklyn where a dancer was stabbed to death, mourners gathered and struck poses as an act of resistance.
By Ian Frazier
The Front Row
What to Stream: Lust, Caution, and Ira Sachs’s “The Delta”
The first feature film by the director of “Passages” shows the perils that arise when gay lives must be lived in secrecy.
By Richard Brody
Persons of Interest
One of America’s Funniest, Gayest Writers Is Finally Becoming Famous
Robert Plunket’s novels made fans of Madonna, Gordon Lish, and Larry David. Yet, for years, he was a cult writer without much of a cult.
By Casey Cep
Screening Room
Quiet and Confrontation in “The Pass”
In Pepi Ginsberg’s short film, an innocent swim turns into a menacing encounter with homophobia.