feature image photo by Noam Galai / Stringer via Getty Images

One of the co-writers of KPop Demon Hunters came out as bisexual amidst writing the movie, which maybe isn’t a surprise to any queer person who has seen the movie.

Perhaps you, like me, watched KPop Demon Hunters and felt a really strong connection to Rumi’s storyline, about the secrets she felt like she had to hide, about how it felt to finally reveal them and to meet resistance from people you love but also feel more free than you’ve ever felt. While one of the writers, Hannah McMechan, didn’t intentionally set out to tell a queer story, she felt a stronger and stronger connection to it with each draft and rewrite. You see, when she started the Netflix project, she didn’t realize she was bisexual, but as many people did, she did some soul searching at the start of the pandemic lockdown and realized the truth. She started to come out to people, and unfortunately had an experience all too similar to Rumi’s experience with her adoptive mother, McMechan’s own religious parents not being accepting of her queerness.

Since the film’s release, many queer people have connected with the film, and this is something that McMechan has really enjoyed watching. She said, “It’s so cool. There’s no group of people happier than a bunch of queer people dressed up as these girls.”

And McMechan isn’t the only queer woman attached to the project! May Hong, who plays Mira’s speaking voice, and Rei Ami, who plays Zoey’s singing voice, are both queer in real life. A third of the six actors who play the Huntr/x trio being queer is not a bad stat at all, PLUS a bonus writer. If you need me, I’ll be streaming What It Sounds Like on repeat for the foreseeable future. Happy Pride!

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+ Only Murders in the Building has added a SLEW of new British cast members for its sixth season, including Nicola Coughlan (aka the “wee lesbian” on Derry Girls), Jodie Whittaker (aka the first woman to play the titular Doctor in Doctor Who, and queerly at that), Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts), Geri Halliwell (a real Spice Girl!), number one ally David Tennant, and so many more

+ The Real Housewives of Atlanta had a very pride-ful episode, celebrating Porsha officially coming out at Culture Con—they even made her a rainbow cake

+ The new Legally Blonde prequel TV series Elle features at least one queer actor, Gabrielle Policano, and the trailer is out now

+ Ted Lasso also dropped its new teaser for the season that will undoubtedly have more queer women on it, since it features a women’s soccer—sorry, football—team

+ Trans actor Benny Zielke says bigots are the butt of the joke instead of trans people themselves in the latest installment in the Scary Movie franchise, and that it doesn’t punch down

+ Hayley Kiyoko talks about making a companion album for her upcoming Girls Like Girls film and collaborating with all queer artists

+ Ariana Grande has launched a charity aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ rights called the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation

+ Adults is returning for a standalone prequel episode on July 31 ahead of its season two premiere in August

+ And last but not least, if you’re looking for some more Pride Month reads, check out this list of new book releases this month