Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) Pitch Perfect 2 opens in theaters today and out Bellas team member Cynthia-Rose returns! The Bellas are suspended from A Capella performing after Fat Amy has a wardrobe malfunction on stage. To regain their competition status, the Bellas must win an international competition that no American team has won before. Check out the trailer below and find Pitch Perfect 2 showing near you.
2) SundanceNow Doc Club has picked up U.S. distribution rights for A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile. The documentary premiered at Sundance in January and follows the story of Amina Arraf, a Syrian-American whose blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus" acquired a huge following during the Syrian uprising. Arraf was involved in an online relationship with a young woman in Montreal, Sandra Bagaria, who helped spark an international movement to save Arraf when she was allegedly abducted by the Syrian secret police. It was later revealed that the Amina profile was a hoax created by an American man. The film will premiere in theatres and be available through the on demand SundanceNow Doc Club on July 24; A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile will also debut on Sundance Channel Global later in the year.
3) Out comedian and actor Alec Mapa has announced that his Kickstarter-funded comedy special concert Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy will premiere on Showtime on June 12! Baby Daddy focuses on Mapa and his husband's journey to become parents, aging in the gay community, how parenthood has affected their sex lives, and how adopting a five-year-old changed their lives. Check out the trailer below, Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy premieres on Showtime Friday, June 12 at 10pm.
4) ABC Family's Shadowhunters, adapted from The Mortal Instruments book series, has cast Matthew Daddario as Alec Lightwood. Alec and his sister Isabelle hunt demonic creatures along with their adoptive brother Jace whom Alec is in love with. Alec eventually develops a relationship with Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn. There is not yet a premiere date for Shadowhunters. Another ABC Family show, Chasing Life, has announced that out actress and musician Leisha Hailey will appear on an upcoming episode. Hailey will play Juliet, a lesbian character who unexpectedly comes into Brenna's life. Season two of Chasing Life premieres August 17.
5) Out actor Jim Parsons and his partner Todd Spiewak will be developing a half-hour comedy based on the upcoming Ryan O'Connell novelI'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves. I'm Special, which will hit shelves next month, is described as "part memoir, part manifesto" about O'Connell's life and growing up gay with cerebral palsy. The book will touch on modern dating culture, jobs, coming out, and coming of age in today's world.
6) Singer and Broadway actress Rachel Potter has released a new video for her single "Jesus and Jezebel" from her debut album Not So Black and White. "I think that country music listeners are becoming more and more open minded every day, as is the rest of the country," she told Entertainment Tonight. "All I'm trying to say is that I think Jesus loves us all the same." Check out the "Jesus and Jezebel" video below, Not So Black and White is available now.
7) The Australian documentary Love in Full Colour is looking for funding help. The film was shot over three years following 12 teens as they organized the Same-Sex Formal, an annual event for LGBT teens who missed out on their own school's dances because they didn't feel safe or comfortable to attend or were told they were not allowed. Love in Full Colour is seeking funding help to cover post production and submission costs, learn more at their Kickstarter page.