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‘Rocko’s Modern Life’ reboot will include transgender storyline

The ’90s cartoon reintroduces an old character

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(Screenshot via YouTube)

“Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling,” Netflix’s revival of the ’90s cartoon, will include a transgender character.

In the 45-minute special, Rocko and his friends Heffer and Philbert return to Earth 20 years after floating around in space. They land to find that the world around them has drastically changed with updated technology. The gang also discover that their friend Ralph, the child of Mr. and Mrs. Bighead, has become Rachel.

Rocko is also shocked to learn that his favorite show ā€œThe Fatheads,” which Rachel created, is no longer on air. The gang sets out to find Rachel and convince her to bring the show back. They find that Rachel is now working at a ā€œFatheadsā€-themed ice cream truck.

“When I started writing [Static Cling], I really started latching onto the idea of change and how society has changed and whatā€™s gone on in the last 20 years and the development of our characters and how they would react to change,ā€ series creator Joe Murray, who voices Rachel, told EW. ā€œIt felt natural, because it was not only about change, about somebody finding who they are and making that courageous choice to go through that change.ā€

Nick Adams, GLAADā€™s director of transgender representation, consulted on the Netflix special. Adams calls the episode “beautiful” and “hilarious.”

The original “Rocko’s Modern Life,” which aired from 1993-1996 on Nickelodeon, subtly touched on an LGBTQ storyline in the episode “Closet Clown.” In the episode, a clown must hide his clown identity from a town of clown haters.

ā€œWe were still playing by the rules, so to speak, and still trying to interject those situations [into the cartoon],ā€ Murray said of “Closet Clown.”

“Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling” streams on Netflix on Aug. 9.

Watch the trailer below.

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More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio

Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday

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Madonna performs on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach on May 4, 2024. (Screen capture via Reuters YouTube)

An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.

The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.

Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s HonĆ³rio Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.

Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman MĆ“nica BenĆ­cio, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.

“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” saidĀ AssociaƧao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association ofĀ TravestisĀ and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on itsĀ X account.Ā “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”

The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.

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PHOTOS: Gay Day at the Zoo

Smithsonian observs International Family Equality Day

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Gay Day at the Zoo (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian observed International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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PHOTOS: Taste of Point

Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization

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Taste of Point DC (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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