LGBT

Olivia Newton-John's Instagram account's under fire after posting a pic of the late star in support of Pride ... with commenters rushing to blast the post's intention.

The actress -- who passed away back in 2022 -- still has an active social media account, and the IG admin decided to share a snap of ONJ in a rainbow-covered sweater ... wishing all of the late actress' followers a Happy Pride Month.

While it seems a rather innocuous post, it started a firestorm among Newton-John's followers ... who flooded the comments section with a ton of homophobic comments.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas had no chance to win a legal challenge that would have opened the door for a potential Olympics bid -- and she should instead compete against other trans swimmers ... so says a former Team USA gold medalist.

Decorated swimmer Donna De Varona, who won two golds at the 1964 Summer Olympics, joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we asked her about Lia's failed bid to overturn rules preventing transgender women from competing against biological women at the Olympics.

Donna says Lia was never going to get the ban overturned because she didn't get a U.S. Aquatics membership card, which DDV says prevented Lia's challenge from having any standing from the get-go.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard says she never had a chance to properly explore her sexuality -- including potentially being attracted to women -- but when she was locked up ... she did.

In the latest episode of Lifetime's "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up," GRB reveals she was immersed in a journey of self-discovery at Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center -- a state prison for women -- after her girl crushes as a kid made her question her sexual identity.

Gypsy dropped the bombshell, saying she experimented with ladies while behind bars ... this after being confused about her attraction to women while growing up.

Rebel Wilson hasn't met her fiancée Ramona Agruma's parents yet -- and she's chalking it up to cultural differences with the LGBTQ+ community.

The Aussie actress opened up to Today.com about Ramona's European upbringing ... mentioning she was born in Latvia, which she explained wasn't as Pride-friendly as some other countries.

Rebel had no qualms about the differences. In fact, she was incredibly understanding, noting some people simply need a bit more time to accept same-sex relationships -- which appears to be the case with Ramona's parents.

Pope Francis has yet again used a disparaging slur against gay people behind closed Vatican doors -- less than a month after apologizing for doing the same thing.

According to ANSA -- the leading news agency in Italy -- the pontiff reiterated the vulgar term while speaking to Roman priests Tuesday ... stating, "There is an air of fa****ness in the Vatican," as he expressed it'd be better for young gay men to steer clear of seminaries.

No doubt, it's all a bit disappointing -- and with no repeat apology as of yet, it'll be interesting to see how this situation is handled moving forward.

Kevin Spacey broke down into tears to reveal a hard truth: he's destitute -- so deep in the hole, in fact, that he's about to lose his home ... this on the heels of his #MeToo scandal.

In his first major TV appearance in years, the embattled actor disclosed on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" Tuesday that his Baltimore home, where he lived while shooting "House of Cards," is now up for auction -- and he was soon planning to pack his stuff into storage.

When Piers pressed Kevin on why it had come to such an extreme ... he candidly admitted he simply couldn't foot the debt he owed -- which he says amounts to millions.

Sara Ramirez is making the split from husband Ryan Debolt official ... finally filing for divorce, years after announcing they were going separate ways.

The "Grey's Anatomy" star filed for a dissolution of marriage Tuesday, citing irreconcilable differences. Like we said ... this is coming a good three years after they and Ryan went public with their separation news.

Per the docs, obtained by TMZ, Sara has asked to block the court's ability to award spousal support for either party ... which makes sense because they say there's a prenup. Sara also lists their date of separation as January 2018 ... which is important to note since the exes didn't confirm their split until 2021.

Bill Maher believes Caitlin Clark is being targeted by some of her WNBA peers because she's straight and white.

The TV host discussed the Indiana Fever star and her recent in-game altercation with Chennedy Carter on last week's episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" ... and he made it clear, he thinks CC's sexuality and race did have roles in the incident.

Maher said WNBA players "f***ing hate" the rookie ... and when he later expounded on why -- he said, "it's everything," including her skin color and her sexual preferences.

Maren Morris has shared a major life update perfectly timed for Pride Month ... announcing some very personal news with her fans online.

The country singer took to Instagram Sunday and shared a series of photos from her "RSVP Redux" tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona -- where she proudly waved a Pride flag at one point during her concert.

Maren confirmed she was a member of the LGBTQ+ community, writing in the caption ... "happy to be the B in LGBTQ+ happy pride 🌈."

Humans and animals aren't the only living organisms with same-sex couples ... some plants and fungi are also essentially lesbian and gay -- so says a pro who knows all about this.

Dr. Patricia Kaishian -- who worked on this new Peacock doc all about queer animals -- has been researching plants and fungi for years ... and she joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and shared some of her strangest findings ... same-sex reproduction!!!

It's pretty incredible, the good doctor says the plant and fungi worlds are way more complex than simply being comprised of just males and females ... and she says some organisms have figured out how to have offspring without a mate of the opposite sex.

It seems like the animal kingdom is waving its pride flags, too ... spreading the message that love is love -- all detailed in a new doc about animal sexuality, which is apparently fluid.

From gay penguins and giraffes to lion "bromances" and lesbian primates, Peacock's "Queer Planet" delves into the wild world of animals' homosexual interactions ... revealing over 1,500 species engaging in queer behavior.

The 90-minute doc -- narrated by actor Andrew Rannells -- dishes on lions mounting each other, the promiscuity of pansexual bonobo monkeys, and even sex-changing clownfish.

JoJo Siwa's got a bad habit, and apparently, doesn't care who knows it ... because while she was gnawing on herself, she made sure it was easy for her fans to spot her.

Check it out ... you'd think the singer skipped a meal from the way she was aggressively chewing on a fingernail while cruising down an L.A. freeway. JoJo even did a double take to make sure she was satisfied with the impromptu manicure.

As for how a fan recognized JoJo snacking on herself -- well, unlike some celebs who try to avoid recognition in public ... JS fully embraces it by plastering her face and name on her whips.

Oprah Winfrey paid a heartfelt tribute to her late brother Jeffrey Lee ... marking 35 years since he passed away from AIDS during the height of the country's HIV epidemic.

In a clip shared to Oprah Daily's IG Tuesday in honor of Pride Month, Oprah revealed Jeffrey passed away at just 29 in 1989 -- a time she described as an "extremely cruel place, not just for people suffering from AIDS, but also for LGBTQ people in general."

Oprah poignantly reflected if her brother had lived, he'd be amazed at how much the world has changed -- especially with Pride Month and the progress in legalizing gay marriage.

Chris Colfer says he was warned not to come out as gay while on "Glee" -- even though he played an openly gay character -- because it'd ruin his career ... but he didn't listen.

The actor went on "The View" Tuesday where he reflected on his time on the hit show from the 2010s -- on which he played Kurt, who was gay ... obviously mirroring CC's real-life sexual identity.

At the time, however, Colfer says he wasn't out just yet ... and goes on to say people around were encouraging him to keep his orientation a secret -- warning he could torpedo his career.

Adele may have prematurely gone off on a fan at her Las Vegas show for perceived homophobic remarks ... at least that's what people are saying in light of this new footage.

ICYMI ... the singer popped off in a profanity-laced rant after one attendee at her Vegas residency seemingly shouted, "Pride sucks." Adele was quick to defend the LGTBQ+ month of celebration ... telling the concertgoer to stay silent if they had nothing nice to say.

However, new footage from the concert shows the attendee actually may have said something far less antagonistic. Check it out ... Adele is chatting with the crowd about her unconventional work week when someone seems to shout out ... "Work sucks."

Taylor Swift powered through some serious rain during her "Eras" tour performance in France this weekend -- and so did her fans, which TayTay appreciated ... and made known too.

The pop star shouted out the Swifties Sunday who wouldn't stop dancing during the concert at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon -- despite the immense amount of rain.

Here's what she said ... "So it looks like we have officially had a rain show tonight, this is a rain show for sure. And that is set, that is permanent because it doesn’t matter if it rains again, it really did rain during this show."