A sculpted body, an adoring audience and the run of Paris’s gay scene: Jim seems to have everything under control.

Then along comes a problem that cannot be solved with another gym session.

Jim Queen, the French animated comedy for adults, imagines a fictional virus called Heterosis that turns gay men straight. For its influencer hero, the result is a spectacular fall from social royalty.

Now that outrageous premise is getting an American theatrical outing.

A very gay trip to the movies

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the film, with the English-language version planned for cinemas in summer 2027, as reported by Cartoon Brew. An exact opening date has not been announced.

Jordan Firstman voices Jim, while comedian Matteo Lane plays Lucien, the admirer who becomes his unlikely companion.

The supporting cast includes Nicole Byer, John Cameron Mitchell, Bob the Drag Queen and Wendie Malick.

That is quite a collection of people to hand a script this chaotic.

The guy who stays

Directed by Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané, the film premiered in the Midnight Screenings programme at Cannes in 2026.

The festival’s official synopsis describes Jim losing his status and followers, with Lucien remaining by his side. Their search for a cure takes them through the Marais, the Paris neighbourhood central to the film’s queer world.

As Adelaide Film Festival’s description makes clear, Lucien’s devotion initially goes unnoticed by the man he admires.

That gives the comic adventure a human question beneath the exaggerated muscles: who matters when being desirable stops opening every door?

Getting this much gay onto a screen

The filmmakers have described drawing on their experiences of gay nightlife and community.

Speaking to Reuters at Cannes, co-writer Simon Balteaux said it took eight years to secure sufficient backing. A recurring concern was that the project was too gay.

The new U.S. deal gives that very gay film another audience.

Its premise is deliberately absurd, its characters animated and its epidemic entirely fictional. The material it plays with — belonging, rejection, beauty and the value of someone staying beside you — is rather more recognisable.

Jim may have built his reputation on being everyone’s fantasy. Finding out who sees more than the fantasy sounds like the more interesting adventure.

📷 Bobbypills / Umedia

Sherrod Brown’s Senate comeback has a history that gay readers may want to remember.

In 1996, when the House overwhelmingly passed the Defense of Marriage Act, the Ohio congressman was among the small minority voting against it.

Thirty years later, voters have elected Brown back to the Senate. The Associated Press reports that the Democrat defeated Republican senator Jon Husted, following Brown’s loss of his previous Senate seat in 2024.

One of the 67

The historical record is clear. The House Clerk’s official roll call for July 12, 1996 lists 342 votes in favour of DOMA and 67 against. Brown of Ohio appears among the opponents.

It was a consequential piece of legislation. The law’s text defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between one man and one woman, excluding same-sex spouses from federal recognition.

For gay couples, that was about the legal treatment of a shared life: whether the federal government would recognise the person you had married as your spouse.

Brown’s vote did not stop the bill. It did put his opposition on the record.

From opposition to repeal

In 2022, Brown voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. The Senate’s November 29 roll call records his yes vote on the measure, which repealed DOMA and provided marriage recognition protections.

His record also includes joining senators introducing a resolution recognising June as LGBTQ Pride Month in 2017, documented in an announcement from Senator Chris Murphy’s office.

These are distinct actions across different years: opposing exclusion, supporting recognition and acknowledging LGBTQ+ community life.

A voting record worth checking before a date

There is a personal connection, too. In a Valentine’s Day essay published this year, Brown recalled asking writer Connie Schultz out in 2003.

Before agreeing, he said, she wanted to see his voting record on reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights. Both had to meet her standards.

Brown wrote that he passed the test. It is an affectionate detail, and a rather practical approach to checking whether someone shares your values.

The current news is his election victory. The older story is a set of decisions made long before this comeback campaign.

For readers who remember the uncertainty and exclusion surrounding gay relationships in the 1990s, that distinction has weight. A new win can bring attention back to an old vote — and to the people whose lives were affected by it.

📷 Renee Bouchard / U.S. Senate (2009)