Who’s gayer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Nicki Minaj?

This week in tangentially-queer news, JosephGordon-Levitt will star in the new psychological thriller In Sight. Is it anLGBT-based project? No. Written or directed by someone gay? Not that we’re aware of justyet. But super-producers and power-gays Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are the onesgetting it done, and that means a lot to them and to the ability of gaycreatives to get their projects sent down the pipeline to viewing audiences.Therefore, it counts in ayou-really-have-no-idea-what-goes-on-behind-the-scenes way, got it? Andspeaking of scenes, Nicki Minaj is getting a sitcom with ABC Family based onher life growing up in Queens, New York. Technically, this one is even lessgay than In Sight, but if you were to poll your local group of favoriteyouthful gays and ask which one means the most to them, guess which one they’d probably pick?If you said the latter, the answer is YAAAAASS. And now you know how this weirdworld works.

That funny gay guy whose name youdon’t know is getting a TV show

Happy Endings cultists remember him. He wasthe frantic, perpetual motion gay guy who drove shlubby homosexual Max crazy.The devoted throngs of bearded film-festival-goers who’ve made the Bear Citymovies into an unlikely franchise (a third one is in the works – yes, really)also know the man in question. He’s a comic actor named Stephen Guarino, he used tobe on The Big Gay Sketch Show with SNL supernova Kate McKinnon, and now he’s about to starin the Showtime series I’m Dying Up Here, from producer Jim Carrey. Guarino will play astruggling stand-up comic who is described as "over the top, to the point ofbeing tiresome," in a pilot to be directed by 50/50 and Warm Bodies helmerJonathan Levine. We’re excited about this one, mostly because we already know Guarino’s name and justhow very talented he is. You’re about to, too.

Trudie Styler and Bette Midler go back to high school

Freak Show is the best-selling YA novel fromJames St. James. The author’s earlier book, Disco Bloodbath, about his experience as a NewYork club kid involved with murderer Michael Alig, was made into the filmParty Monster. This means St. James knows a lot about dressing up and makingan impression, just like Freak Show’s hero, teenage force-of-nature Billy Bloom, whosebold, gender-disregarding queerness in a conservative Florida high school hasturned him into something of an outcast. Now Freak Show is getting the movietreatment from producer/director Trudie Styler, starring Bette Midler andAnnaSophia Robb. Yes, those are female names, which means Billy has yet to becast. More on this as it develops, but we’re hoping for an openly queer teen actor. Maybethere aren’t that many yet, but a project like this seems to deserve one.

Dancer From the Dance: The Movie

It’s not just James Franco, you guys. The queer pastis very hot right now. (Exception: the brain-damaged Stonewall). If you’re young andpaying attention, it’s everywhere. So the time is right for Andrew Holleran’s gay cult novel,Dancer From the Dance, to find its way to screens. The 1978 novel exploredchic gay life in New York City’s club culture and the unlikely relationships itfostered. Alan Poul (Six Feet Under) will direct from a script by JoshuaHarmon, John Krokidas and Austin Bunn, and the shoot is planned for 2016. Nocasting news just yet, but this one ought to be memorable. You have plenty oftime to get a vintage-appearing, yet still brand new, Paradise Garage T-shirtfor the inevitable viewing party.