LGBT

Letters were found inside Aaron Hernandez's cell when his body was found, but none of them were written to a gay lover.

Hernandez's lawyer, Jose Baez, tells TMZ Sports, "Rumors of letters to a gay lover, in or out of prison, are false. These are malicious leaks used to tarnish somebody who is dead."

The D.A. announced Thursday 3 letters were next to Hernandez's Bible, and that's when the rumors began.

Lance Bass is sickened by news of gay concentration camps in Chechnya, and thinks it's time for more U.S. politicians to speak up and put a stop to it.

Lance tackled the brutal topic Thursday morning, telling us the alleged brutality -- the rounding up of gay men in the Russian republic -- is just now starting to get the necessary attention.

Shannon Purser -- who plays Barb on "Stranger Things" -- came out as bi this week, and apologized to fans who thought her show was misleading the LGBT community.

Shannon posted the news Tuesday night in response to online backlash over her show, "Riverdale" ... which fans accused of queerbaiting. If you're unfamiliar, that's when a show teases fans into thinking characters are gay to build an audience, but ultimately they turn out to be straight.

"Riverdale" was accused of doing that with it's characters Betty and Veronica ... pissing off a lot of Beronica worshipers. That's when Shannon got involved.

She posted an offensive tweet a fan sent her -- which Shannon felt harassed by -- and then announced ... she's bi.

Lisa Vanderpump's track record as an ordained minster is taking an L because the first couple she ever married just filed for the big D.

Magno and Dominic Salva were the first gay couple to get hitched at Lisa's Pump restaurant, which sits smack in the middle of WeHo.

They got hitched in November 2014 but the marriage hit the rocks. They filed for divorce this week.

It's a pretty clean divorce ... they have no kids and neither wants spousal support. Dominic wants his name restored to Dominic Carlos Pierson.

Transgender model Isis King is taking a strong stance in support of 'Survivor' contestant Zeke Smith after his televised outing, because she went through the same thing on "America's Next Top Model."

Isis was the first transgender contestant on 'ANTM' in 2008. She was outed on TV, and some rival models refused to acknowledge her transition. Tyra later funded her reassignment surgery.

Isis says Jeff Varner put unfair pressure on Zeke, especially because his being trans had NOTHING to do with winning or losing 'Survivor.'

She did say there's ONE situation where it's relevant, and we highly doubt it applies to tribal council.

Andy Cohen thinks the 'Survivor' contestant who outed his fellow castmate as transgender did a terrible thing, but believes there's a silver lining.

We got Andy Thursday at LAX where he was clearly disgusted by what went down -- Jeff Varner telling the whole tribe Zeke Smith is transgender. Andy told us what he'd like to say to Jeff, and didn't pull punches.

He did see some good news in how the rest of the cast responded. Varner has since apologized.

"Survivor: Game Changers" star Jeff Varner apologized again for outing his transgender co-star during Wednesday's tribal meeting, comparing the move to assault.

Jeff wrote a lengthy apology to Zeke Smith, who was born a woman, saying he "recklessly revealed something I mistakenly believed everyone already knew."

Jeff went on to say ... outing someone is assault since it robs a person of their power and protection.

Jeff outed Zeke to save himself at the tribal council. Most of the others jumped to Zeke's defense.

Michelle Rodriguez got a strange feeling from a prosthetic penis.

To be clear, she was wearing it for her new movie, "The Assignment." She plays a transgender female hitman (if that makes sense) and the role called for her own "Boogie Nights" moment.

Michelle was outside "The Daily Show" studio in NYC when she broke down her genital experience -- y'know, being a woman playing a man who transitions to a woman.

Open your mind and check out the clip -- Michelle's answer is a bit of a head-scratcher, but definitely sounds like she had a good time.

Paris Jackson spent some time with Caitlyn Jenner on the heels of starting a friendship with one of Caitlyn's daughters.

Paris attended the GLAAD Media Awards Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton, and ran into Caitlyn. Just last week, Paris was spotted shopping in L.A. with Kendall -- which makes sense since PJ is breaking into the modeling biz. Little professional advice.

Gilbert Baker, the man who created the rainbow flag for gay pride, has died ... according to his close friend.

Gilbert was an openly gay man and civil rights activist. He created the flag for the 1978 Pride Festival in San Francisco. According to his website, Gilbert taught himself to sew at a young age after serving time in the army, and used those skills to make banners for gay and anti-war protest marches.

He was heavily involved within the San Francisco gay rights movement and had a close friendship with Harvey Milk.

Gilbert's friend and fellow activist, Cleve Jones, posted the news of his death, writing, "I am heartbroken. My dearest friend in the world is gone ... he gave me forty years of love and friendship. I can't stop crying. I love you forever Gilbert Baker."

Cleve didn't say how Gilbert died.

He was 65 years old.

R.I.P.

"The Walking Dead" star Daniel Newman was mentoring an LGBTQ kids group when he made the choice to tell the world what his friends and family already knew.

Daniel came out on Twitter Thursday ... the same day we ran into him outside an L.A. mission for the homeless. He explained why he'd only spoken about his sexuality with his inner circle up to this point.

But more importantly, you gotta see him explain the moment he decided it was important for him to go public. Great message. Great guy.

Migos insist they meant no ill will toward iLoveMakonnen or any other LGBT artist ... heck, they'll even play a gay show if the price is right.

We got the hip-hop trio at LAX, and they were doing some pretty intense backpedaling on seemingly harsh comments they made about Makonnen coming out of the closet.

They tell us their words were twisted in an article, in which they appeared to say things like "They supported him?" and "This world is not right" and, of course, "That's wack, bro."

Seems like Migos found their come-to-Jesus moment in all the backlash they got. Good to see they've got their priorities in order ... morality, money and otherwise.

Becky G doesn't understand all the fuss about playing a gay Power Ranger, but she has a problem with playing the first gay one in 2017.

Becky plays Yellow Ranger Trini who deals with "girlfriend problems" in the new flick.

She was at the Hollywood star ceremony for the show's creator, Haim Saban, Wednesday where she told us her issues with her character had more to do with the timing.

Hilary Duff thinks it's great there's a gay character in the new "Power Rangers" movie ... but when asked to elaborate on its meaning, she resorted to talking points.

We got Hilary on Melrose Ave. Tuesday, and she seemed genuinely surprised that Becky G's playing what appears to be the first openly gay superhero on the big screen.

But watch what happens when she's pressed as to what it means for the LGBT community. Hilary reaches deep for wisdom ... and pulls out a pretty kosher answer.

Awesome!

Thomas Payne's character, Jesus, from "The Walking Dead" finally came out as gay on Sunday night's episode, but he says his sexuality on the show isn't and shouldn't be a significant part of the story line.

We got Tom at LAX Monday where he told us the subtle moment was a long time coming. His character is gay in the comic books and it's also been hinted throughout the season.

Floyd Mayweather's ex-personal chef -- the woman who famously said she was paid $1,000 a plate -- is no longer part of Floyd's crew ... and says the fact she's gay may have played a role.

We spoke with Chef Q who is now backtracking on her $1,000 a plate claims ... saying there was no REAL set rate for her. Sometimes she would get paid fat. Sometimes nothing.

But sometime after the Manny Pacquiao fight, Chef Q says her relationship with Floyd fell apart and she doesn't really know why ... but she has her theories.

"I don't think he's ever looked at me past as just a gay person or a lesbian."

Chef Q says some comments that were made during her time with TMT were hurtful and felt homophobic.

Still, Chef Q says she wants to have a relationship with Floyd moving forward -- she considers him family ... but knows they have to work out their issues.

We reached out to Floyd's camp. So far, no word back.