This week read about pro rugby player Jack Dunne coming out as bisexual, trans teen Victor Langlois' artwork selling for $2.16 million, and "Rugrats" reboot featuring Betty DeVille as a lesbian.
Pro Rugby Player Jack Dunne Comes Out as Bisexual
Professional Irish rugby player Jack Dunne came out as bisexual. The second row for Leinster Rugby made the announcement during an outreach panel called “Building Allies with Pride." Dunne admitted to already being out among friends and teammates since his late teens but this is his first time speaking out publicly.
"I kind of realized when I was maybe 16 or so, maybe 15 or 16, but you're in a school full of teenage boys," Dunne said on the LGBT Sport Podcast. He admits that he would have come out sooner but decided to stay in the closet due to the comments and attitudes he heard from his classmates. Dunne also spoke of the differences between being gay and bisexual.
"When you're bisexual, it's almost like a blessing and a curse," Dunne explained. "You can hide it easier, you can still go out with the lads on Saturday night and do all that stuff, but then at the same time it's easier to hide it and easier not to be true to yourself." Dunne said that he’s coming out now to be a role model for other young athletes coming to terms with their sexual identities.
Trans Teen’s Artwork Sells for $2.16 million
Victor Langlois. Photo via Instagram.
Victor Langlois aka FEWOCiOUS netted $2.16 million at an auction on Christie’s (a digital auction site). His project: “Hello, i’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life” included five sections of digital art that each represent a year of Langlois’ life between the ages of 14 and 18. It takes you through his journey of understanding his gender identity and transition process. He began drawing on his iPad because he wasn’t allowed to paint in his room.
“I wasn’t allowed to paint in my room, so 90% of all my art online is digital. I made it on my iPad,” said Langlois in an interview with Decrypt. Since then, he has successfully established himself in the digital art community. On June 23, the day of the auction, the demand for his pieces was so high that Christie's crashed. Langlois took that as a win not only for himself but for trans artists as a whole since they are generally overlooked.
‘Rugrats’ Reboot to Feature Betty DeVille as a Lesbian Mom
Betty DeVille. Credit: Paramount.
The up-and-coming streaming service, Paramount +, is reviving “Rugrats.” This animated children’s television series originally aired from 1991-2003 on Nickelodeon. Tommy, Angelica, Chuckie, and other fan favorites will return but so will Betty DeVille (mother of Phil and Lil) only this time she will be a lesbian.
In the original series, Betty was married to Howard Deville but since then she has come out. Natalie Morales, the voice of the new Betty, told The A.V. Club that “Betty is a single mom with her own business who has twins and still has time to hang out with her friends and her community.”
She continued by saying that she in honored to voice this character and believes that it will be influential to young people watching and show them that being a lesbian is normal. “If I’d been watching 'Rugrats' and seen Betty casually talking about her ex-girlfriend, I think at least a part of me would have felt like things might be okay in the future,” said Morales.
Each week ‘Beyond the G’ looks at news featuring the many letters of our LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
