This week read about Maureen Raisch coming out as trans, Samantha Prabhu playing as a bisexual character in an upcoming movie, and Disney's text-to-speech censoring LGBT words.
NFL Logo Designer Comes Out as Trans
Maureen Raisch, an award-winning illustrator and NFL logo designer, recently came out as transgender.
Raisch is set to design the next Super Bowl logo and came out during Transgender Awareness Week, “Contributing something of value to the Super Bowl as a brand, for America to know that a trans woman created it, I think is a powerful thing. It’s not about me, it’s just important to know the visibility of that,” Raisch told Forbes.
Dubbing this coming out as her “rebranding,” she has received hundreds of positive comments and 1.7 million views on her LinkedIn announcement. The illustrator is a Clio award recipient and is behind the design of the Houston Astros logo, the Toronto Blue Jays logo, and creative director of NFL’s Stackhouse.
“The NFL is a microcosm of America,” said Raisch. “These issues that come to the forefront that are important are about, you know, race, equality, what Colin Kaepernick was saying, and mental health of players, all those things. And somehow, I brought up a real relevant conversation about identity and gender and transition into the league. I wanted to be my authentic self, be balanced, be whole, be complete. One of our art directors said this really well: ‘That this conversation, if it starts with the NFL, it can disseminate back into America.’"
Samantha Prabhu Set to Play a Bisexual Woman in Upcoming Project
Samantha Prabhu. Photo via Facebook.
Samantha Prabhu, a 34-year-old Telugu actress, is set to star in the feature film “Arrangements of Love” directed by Welsh director Philip John who is best known for his work on “Downton Abbey.”
In the film, Prabhu is set to play a bisexual character who comes from a traditional family that wants her to have an arranged marriage. The film-adapted book will look into the bisexual experiences in a traditional household. This film will mark Prabhu’s first international movie experience.
She took to Instagram to express her gratitude, “A whole new world. I last auditioned in 2009 for Ye Maya chesave. Twelve years later, and auditioning again, I felt the very same nervousness … I guess it’s not everyday you get to audition for a BAFTA award winning, critically acclaimed, director of your most favourite series ‘Downton Abbey.’ Jumping for joy that you picked me sir 🤗 #PhilipJohn. Thank you @sunitha.tati @gurufilms1 for the opportunity. Can’t wait to start this exciting journey!”
The movie is set to start shooting in August 2022.
Disney’s Text-to-speech Censors Words like ‘Gay’ and ‘Lesbian’
Photo via Adobe.
TikTok recently revealed a new feature by Disney that transforms users' voices to popular Disney characters such as Rocket the Raccoon, C-3PO, and Stitch. However, it was quickly revealed that the voice automated refused to say words like “gay,” “lesbian,” and “queer.”
The feature was created as part of a Disney Plus promotion and after this censorship was brought to people’s attention, Disney’s and TikTok quickly made the change. However, it caused an online debate on whether or not the software was implemented with the idea of censoring LGBT people’s identities. Neither Disney nor TikTok offered an explanation for this situation but rather quietly made the fix.
Each week ‘Beyond the G’ looks at news featuring the many letters of our LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
