Lea DeLaria is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer. DeLaria is credited with being the first openly gay comic to appear on American television with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show. She is best known for her portrayal of inmate Carrie "Big Boo" Black on Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019). She's known for her work on Broadway including the revival of The Rocky Horror Show in 2000, and POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive in 2022.
John Scott Thompson, known professionally as Scott Thompson, is a Canadian actor and comedian, best known as member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall and for playing Brian on The Larry Sanders Show.
My Fabulous Gay Wedding is a Canadian reality show hosted by comedian Scott Thompson in the first season and Elvira Kurt in the second. The series airs on the Global Television Network. It is broadcast in the U.S. as First Comes Love, on Logo.
Suzanne Westenhoefer is an American out lesbian stand-up comedian. She starred as a panelist on GSN's 2006 remake of I've Got a Secret, which featured a panel of gay celebrities who had to guess the various guests' 'secrets' through a series of timed questions. Her comedy special and documentary, A Bottom on Top, aired on LOGO Television in the fall of 2007. In 2004 she was featured in the film Laughing Matters along with Kate Clinton, Marga Gomez and Karen Williams.
Jade Esteban Estrada is an American singer, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist and human rights activist. Out Magazine called him "the first gay Latin star."
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Canada. For a broad overview of LGBT history in Canada see LGBT history in Canada.
Bob Smith was an American comedian and author. Born in Buffalo, New York, Smith was the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show and the first openly gay comedian to have his own HBO half-hour comedy special. Smith, along with fellow comedians Jaffe Cohen and Danny McWilliams, formed the comedy troupe Funny Gay Males in 1988.
Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBT individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBT people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBT communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBT communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBT communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.
We're Funny That Way began as an annual charity comedy festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1996. Launched in 1996 by Maggie Cassella, the festival featured stand-up and sketch comedy shows by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender comedians. It ran until 2012 when it took a five-year hiatus, returning in 2017. The festival has grown to a broader performance festival and now includes musicians, story-tellers, burlesque artists, plays, drag performances, generally following the genres associated with live cabaret.
Jonathan Wilson is a Canadian actor, comedian and playwright, who is best known for his 1996 play My Own Private Oshawa. The play, a semi-autobiographical comedy about growing up gay in Oshawa, Ontario, was also optioned by Sandra Faire's SFA Productions for production as a film, which won an award at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival in 2002 until being broadcast as a television film on CTV in 2005.
Spin Off is a Canadian game show created and produced by Mark Burnett for CHCH-DT. The series is hosted by Canadian comedian Elvira Kurt and debuted on September 11, 2013. The show appeared to only have one season, and reruns air randomly on CHCH overnight and weekends.
LGBT culture in Eugene, Oregon predates the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969, but that event coincided with organized efforts in Lane County, Oregon, to support and celebrate LGBT people. Even though Eugene has been rated on lists of cities friendly to LGBT populations, there are very few venues specifically for the LGBT community in the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area.
Vancouver's LGBT community is centered on Davie Village. Historically, LGBT people have also gathered in the Chinatown and Gastown neighborhoods. Former establishments include Dino's Turkish Baths, a gay bathhouse on Hastings, and the city's first drag bar, BJ's, on Pender Street.
Martha Chaves is a Nicaraguan-Canadian comedian, actress, activist and playwright. She performs standup in English, Spanish, French and Italian. She is a regular in the comedy circuits in Canada, the United States and Latin America, at Just for Laughs and other major festivals, and on CBC Radio.
Dana Goldberg is an American comedian. She is especially known in the gay community, as Goldberg herself is gay. She is a weekly guest on The Stephanie Miller Show on SiriusXM and hosts her own podcast, Out in Left Field With Dana Goldberg on Advocate.com. She hosts an annual show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2013, she was named a finalist in the Advocate's Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search. In 2017, she hosted the Los Angeles Resist March. Also in 2017, she performed at Trevor Live in New York City on a bill featuring John Oliver and Imagine Dragons. In 2019, she spoke at Lambda Legal's annual National Liberty Awards. In television, Goldberg has appeared on LOGO with her comedy special One Night Stand Up: Episode 4, filmed at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.
Jeffrey Jay is an American comedian, writer, and public speaker. In 2011, The Advocate placed him on their list 7 Funny LGBT Comics You Shouldn’t Have Missed. In 2013, he was a finalist for Funniest Comedian in Texas; the same year, The Advocate named him one of the 5 Hottest Transgender Comedians. In television, Jay has appeared on the CW's The Eye Opener. Jay has spoken and performer at universities around the country, including Ramapo College of New Jersey; the University of New Haven in Connecticut; Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York; Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, Eastern Illinois University, and the University of Delaware.
Belinda Carroll is an American standup comedian, writer, activist, actress, and singer. She is the founder of the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, organizer of the Portland Dyke March, and is a co-organizer as well as date auction host and fundraiser emcee of the Butch Voices Portland Regional Conference.
In Thru the Out Door is a Canadian comedy special, which aired on CBC Television on June 22, 1998. Created by Andy Nulman and billed as "network television's first-ever all-queer, all-star sketch comedy show", the special was a sketch comedy program highlighting LGBT comedians who had performed in the Queer Comics program at the Just for Laughs festival.
Robin Tyler is the first lesbian or gay comic to come out on national television, a feminist and pioneer in the grassroots struggle for LGBTQ civil rights and marriage equality in the U.S., and a producer. She emceed and produced the main stage at three marches on Washington for LGBTQ rights, including the historic first National March On Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979. Tyler coined the phrase "We are everywhere" as a rallying cry for the LGBTQ community. This became the powerful signature chant of the 1979 march, appearing on banners and posters. The chant "We are everywhere" has continued as a popular rallying cry for LGBTQ equality.
