Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Jill Soloway looks ahead to celebrating new book in Chicago
by Danielle Solzman
2018-10-13

This article shared 1919 times since Sat Oct 13, 2018
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Jill Soloway spoke with the Windy City Times ahead of the release of their new book, She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy. Soloway celebrates the book's launch during a sold-out event Oct. 18 at the Chicago Waldorf School in a conversation with Hannah Gadsby. Also joining Soloway for the event are Elaine Soloway, their mother; Faith Soloway, their sister; and Pidgeon Pagonis.

WCT: Congrats on the release of She Wants It and on your return to Chicago on October 18th. When did you start to get the idea for this book?

Jill Soloway: /Thank you! I think this book has been on my mind in some iteration for a long time. I started with a lot of material about feminist storytelling—thinking about what a "female gaze" or "intersectional gaze" might look like, and how necessary it is. Then I went through a series of really transformative personal revelations and experiences, starting with learning my parent was trans. That's when the memoir element really started to take shape. I wanted to explore—do a little spelunking of my own soul—these changes I was experiencing.

WCT: The event will feature a conversation between you and Hannah Gadsby, in addition to Pidgeon Pagonis, Elaine Soloway, and Faith Soloway. What can fans expect?

JS: I'm so excited to share stages with all these heroes of mine. I wanted the tour to be a place to hold space and have community in the midst of everything going on in the world. I had this vision of a feminist tent revival, or a radical variety show. Audiences should expect laughter, debate, provocative notions, music, etc. We're in such an extraordinary moment, and I wanted the tour to engage with that.

WCT: Like so many successful people in the industry, you got your start through the Chicago comedy scene. Is there an improv instructor who has had a meaningful impact on your career?

JS: The Annoyance Theater was such an essential part of my coming into being as an artist. Everyone there—my teachers and collaborators—shaped me from the very beginning. Mick Napier and Susan Messing deserve special credit.

WCT: Can you talk about 5050by2020 and its importance?

JS: 5050by2020 is a strategic initiative I founded within Time's Up, with a mission to activate and empower artists. We realized there really was no infrastructure for bringing working artists and entry- or mid-level artists into the Time's Up fold. The Hollywood elite are well-represented, but we all knew the movement had to be more than that. So we provide that infrastructure, and do so with an emphasis on intersectionality. We're convening cohorts among disabled artists, sex workers, Latinx writers, MENA [Middle East and North Africa] and Muslim artists, tech and more, to shake things up and change the face of Hollywood. This summer we also launched our TRANSform Hollywood guide, including an open letter signed by 50-plus industry partners promising concrete ways they would improve the representation of trans people in their content.

WCT: Speaking for myself, I can say that the education and awareness from the success of Transparent helped in my coming out as transgender in late-2015. How often do you hear from fans about how much this show has helped with coming out?

JS: I can't tell you what it means to me to hear that. It is a very kind thing I will hear now and again from viewers. When I started with Transparent, my goal was just to make the world a safer place for my parent. I like to say that protagonism is propaganda for privilege. Film and television are empathy machines, and if we put authentic stories of authentic people in front of the camera, I believe it can slowly but surely change the world. If Transparent has helped viewers understand themselves or others better in terms of gender and sexuality, that's the dream.

WCT: As far as the state of transgender representation in TV/Film is concerned, do you feel that things are better or worse than when Transparent started?

JS: Better. Certainly better. Just recently we saw the conversation around cis actors playing trans roles get attention in a big way. Like I said earlier about the TRANSform Hollywood guide and open letter, the entertainment industry is starting to get on board with what trans people need from representation. We can't keep giving trans roles to cis people. We can't keep telling trans stories without trans voices. This isn't to say that we're there yet—we're not. Both the quality and quantity of trans representation have a long way to go.


This article shared 1919 times since Sat Oct 13, 2018
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

RuPaul finds 'Hidden Meanings' in new memoir
2024-03-18
RuPaul Andre Charles made a rare Chicago appearance for a book tour on March 12 at The Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. Presented by National Public Radio station WBEZ 91.5 FM, the talk coincided with ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition'
2024-03-15
Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer
2024-03-08
Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Altercation, mpox research, Univ. of Fla., George Santos, tech battle
2024-03-08
Video footage uploaded to Facebook showed an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders, the Washington Blade reported, republishing an article from Philadelphia Gay News. Celena ...


Gay News

Without compromise: Holly Baggett explores lives of iconoclasts Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap
2024-03-04
Jane Heap (1883-1964) and Margaret Anderson (1886-1973), each of them a native Midwesterner, woman of letters and iconoclast, had a profound influence on literary culture in both America and Europe in the early 20th Century. Heap ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor
2024-03-01
Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

There she goes again: Author Alison Cochrun discusses writing journey
2024-02-27
By Carrie Maxwell When Alison Cochrun began writing her first queer romance novel in 2019, she had no idea it would change the course of her entire life. Cochrun, who spent 11 years as a high ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes
2024-02-27
February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors
2024-02-25
Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar
2024-02-23
The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic
2024-02-23
At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Theater Review: Billy Elliot, The Musical
2024-02-19
Book and Lyrics: Lee Hall; Music: Elton John. At: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora Tickets: 630-896-6666 or Paramountaurora.com; $28-$79. Runs through March 24 Billy Elliot: The Musical may nearly be two decades old, but ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree
2024-02-16
In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller
2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards
2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.