Queer Holiday Movies: Naughty or Nice?
Ruth Coker Burks on AIDS in the South, and unwrapping the gift of LGBTQ Christmas movies

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Episode Notes
This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan speak with Ruth Coker Burks, author of the new book All the Young Men: A Memoir of Love, AIDS, and Chosen Family in the American South, about her work in the 1980s, helping Arkansans with AIDS. Then they discuss three of 2020’s bumper selection of LGBTQ holiday movies: The Christmas Setup, Happiest Season, and A New York Christmas Wedding. Should we be grateful for the gift of representation, or should we be searching for the receipt?
Items discussed on the show:
Elliot Page’s Instagram post
Evan Urquhart’s piece on the notion of Page “abandoning” lesbians
Bryan’s dispatch from Parliament House
Harry Styles in Vogue
All the Young Men, by Ruth Coker Burks
The Christmas Setup on Lifetime
Happiest Season on Hulu
Christina’s Slate review of Happiest Season
Slate’s Spoiler Special episode on Happiest Season
A New York Christmas Wedding on Netflix
Christina’s Slate review of A New York Christmas Wedding
Gay Agenda
• Daniel Schroeder: The films of Pedro Almodóvar, and the podcast All About Almodóvar
• June Thomas: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, by Jenn Shapland, and Motherland: Fort Salem on Freeform
• Daniel Lavery: Untitled Goose Game, pairs edition
• Benjamin Frisch: An Actor’s Revenge
• Christina: Jordan Firstman’s Instagram impressions of straight, cis men
• Bryan: Queer creators connecting online
• Rumaan: Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, by Leslie Brody
This episode was produced by June Thomas.
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