Christopher S. Nelson 
Summer is here and summer is weird, bringing with it a stack of new releases, Pride month events and celebrity news.
Every week on “The Buzz” we keep you up to date with the latest happenings in queer and trans celebrities, entertainment and internet affairs. This week, we’ve got everything from gay relationship news to corporate Pride releases.
Here’s what you missed this week in queer and trans pop culture.
→ Laverne Cox will be the inspiration for Barbie’s first trans doll. Last week, the company announced it would be producing a Cox doll to celebrate his 50th birthday.
Designed by Carlyle Nuera, the Cox Barbie features “an original triple-threat design, with a dark red tulle dress draped gracefully over a dazzling silver metallic bodysuit.”
She’s the first Barbie ever made in the image of a trans woman.
“What excites me the most about her presence in the world is that young trans people can see her and maybe buy her and play with her, and know that there is a Barbie made by Mattel, for the first time, like a trans person,” Cox said in an interview about the release of People.
She specifically mentioned the impact of positive outings like this for trans children following a wave of anti-trans hate targeting children.
“In this environment where trans kids are under attack…it can also be a celebration of being trans, and also a space to dream, understand and remember that trans is beautiful,” she said. “There is hope and the possibility for them to be themselves.”
Mattel, Barbie’s parent company, also announced that the company would make a donation in Cox’s name to the nonprofit. TransFamilySOS.
The Laverne Cox Barbie is available online for $40.
→ Speaking of other Pride companies that meddle with popular doll companies, Bratz declared “gay rights” by selling their first pair of queer dolls. Roxxi and Nevra are available for purchase as a Pride couple alongside their Pride parade attire (including an “I can’t even think straight!” sign). The couple stepped out as queer for the first time for Pride 2020.
“We are thrilled to present this collection as many of the fans who have made Bratz what it is are part of the LGBTQ+ community and this is a way of honoring them,” a representative for Bratz said in a statement.
→ Plus, there’s a new Oreo package for Pride that celebrates kind messages from allies, but to be honest, some of them are a little weird.
→ Ellen DeGeneres used his last show to remind people that she had no right to say “gay”.
“When we started this show, I couldn’t say ‘gay’ on the show,” she said. “I couldn’t say ‘we’ because that implied I was with someone. Of course, I couldn’t say woman; this is because it was not legal for homosexuals to marry. And now I say ‘woman’ all the time.
→ modern family starJesse Tyler Ferguson and actor/producer Justin Mikita expecting another baby!
→ Hayley Kiyoko has confirmed her relationship with Bachelor alum Becca Tilley, who appeared in Singer Bachelorette inspirational music video. The couple have been dating for four years.
“Hard to say if this is a hard or soft launch, but it’s a launch,” the “Girls Like Girls” singer wrote in an Instagram post sharing highlights from their four years of dating. .
But apparently Taylor Swift was aware of the relationship long before us.
→ Roku’s streaming service has released its new makeover series, Butch Pal for the straight girlwhere a group of five lesbians work to help straight women discover their true potential.
→ Grey’s Anatomy Actor Jake Borelli explained why the show’s storyline in its season finale around blood bans targeting men who have sex with men hits so close to home.
“Thinking about that [ban], like you have this poisonous blood, which just isn’t, it’s not scientifically accurate. And we’ve gone so far in terms of blood safety testing… There’s no reason for that,” he said.
“I was able to bring my own weirdness to this finale, and I chose to let that opinion seep into the character a bit, because not everything is wonderful. [that] these rules have changed [to 90 days]. I think it’s good to see Levi a little angry. And I hope that will show in the final.
→ Jewelry company Bulgari has released a bizarre yet very exciting brand video featuring Anne Hathaway and Zendaya romantically gallant in Rome while wearing costume jewelry. I don’t know why it exists, but I’m a fan!
→ Their profile Fire Island director Andrew Ahnwho spoke about her lifelong desire to explore and tell queer Asian stories.
“I’m constantly on the lookout for more, and in some ways every Asian American queer person is an embodiment of that. Every time I meet a queer Asian American person, I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s your story? What is your market?’ Ahn said.
→ Jodie Foster is ready to play and the executive production of a new season of real detective!
→ Kristen Stewart is really pushing to produce her first movie by the end of the year. Stewart has been attached to adapting Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir The Water Timeline since 2018, but has not yet secured funding.
“If I don’t make this movie before the end of the year, I will die”, Stewart said during the promotion his last acting tour in Future Crimes at Cannes.
→ In case you missed it, drag race Star Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo is set to star in a new dating show on VH1. On Vanjie: 24 hours of love, 18 competitors will compete to win Vanjie in just 24 hours.
