They Found Love in Their 40s. Their Third Date Was at Buckingham Palace.

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They Found Love in Their 40s. Their Third Date Was at Buckingham Palace.

Marlon James and Nicholas Boggs found each other through a dating app in Brooklyn, when both men were already in their 40s.

They lived just three blocks apart.

It is an appealingly ordinary beginning to a relationship whose early dates included something considerably less ordinary: a visit to Buckingham Palace.

In a new joint interview with The Guardian, published October 24, the writers recall how James invited Boggs to a palace event for their third date.

James says the occasion even included kissing in the Queen’s bathroom.

A New Chapter in Their 40s

James, 55, and Boggs, 53, have been together since 2018.

Their story offers a welcome counterpoint to the idea that the most exciting parts of a gay man’s romantic life must happen young.

Here are two men who met in midlife and have since built a relationship alongside demanding creative careers.

The palace anecdote is delightful, but the life around it is the more substantial story: companionship, shared interests and the opportunity to watch someone you love achieve something important.

Two Writers, Two Major Shortlists

James is shortlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize for The Disappearers, as confirmed by the prize’s official announcement.

The novel explores homophobia and violence against gay men in Jamaica during the AIDS era.

James previously won the Booker in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings.

Boggs, meanwhile, is shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction for Baldwin: A Love Story.

The prize’s announcement describes a biography drawing on archival material, research and interviews to examine the intimate and artistic relationships that shaped James Baldwin’s life.

These are separate achievements in different literary fields, and neither of this year’s awards has yet been decided.

A Story They Will Write Together

Their work shares a concern with Black queer lives and histories that have too often been overlooked.

Now their creative paths are converging on a joint project.

As Publishers Weekly reports, Boggs and James will co-adapt Baldwin: A Love Story for film, with Anonymous Content and Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground involved.

The adaptation is in development, adding a shared screenplay to the books they have written individually.

There is much to celebrate here: gay love found in their 40s, two significant literary accomplishments, and the chance to build something new together.

And, admittedly, a third date that would be rather difficult to top.

📷 @nicholastboggs @marlonjameswriter

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Troye Sivan Remembers the Teacher Who Gave a Frightened Boy a Chance to Shine

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Troye Sivan Remembers the Teacher Who Gave a Frightened Boy a Chance to Shine

Before Troye Sivan became a global pop star, singing was one of the things that made him feel vulnerable at school.

Other boys mocked him for sounding like a girl, and compulsory sport brought another kind of anxiety: being watched while struggling to do something they seemed to expect of him.

In a new interview for A View From A Bridge, published October 22, the gay singer recalls a teacher whose response to that fear stayed with him.

A Different Way to Take Part

Sivan describes a school swimming carnival where participation was compulsory.

Already uncomfortable in the pool, he was acutely aware that boys who had teased him about his singing were watching.

When another carnival approached the following year, he went to a teacher and told her he really did not want to swim.

She offered an alternative: he could sit out the swimming if he sang the national anthem at the event.

He accepted, performed, and heard the school applaud.

As PinkNews reports, Sivan now sees the exchange as an example of leadership that recognizes and celebrates someone’s differences.

Being Seen for Himself

The significance was larger than avoiding a race.

Looking back, Sivan says the teacher recognized “a more real version of myself,” something he was still afraid to embrace.

His account connects the experience to a complicated relationship with masculinity and the pressure he felt to fit in with other boys.

For many gay men, the setting will be familiar even if the details differ: a sports field, a swimming pool, a classroom, or any place where being different felt like being exposed.

The teacher’s decision gave Sivan a way to participate through an ability he already loved.

It made room for him within the event, rather than requiring him to succeed on the same terms as everyone else.

The Small Gestures That Last

In the episode transcript, Sivan reflects on how an apparently ordinary decision for a teacher can carry enormous meaning for a child.

He remembers the gesture as permission to be celebrated for his own strengths.

He also connects it to the support he has received from women throughout his life.

The story offers a tender glimpse of the child behind the performer: someone who needed encouragement while learning how to feel comfortable being himself.

Long before the larger stages, there was a school event, a song, and an adult willing to see what he could bring to it.

📷 @troyesivan

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Jonathan Groff Returns to Broadway With a Story That Hits Close to Home

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Jonathan Groff Returns to Broadway With a Story That Hits Close to Home

Jonathan Groff is returning to Broadway with a story connected to the place where he grew up.

The Tony-winning actor will star in The Amish Project, a solo play by Jessica Dickey, directed by Sarna Lapine.

Performances begin February 10, 2027, at the Broadhurst Theatre, according to the production announcement published by The Shubert Organization.

The play draws on the 2006 Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an event that occurred just minutes from Groff’s childhood home.

A Story Close to Home

Groff said Lapine sent him the play last year and that its writing made a profound impression on him.

He was particularly drawn to its exploration of forgiveness as a radical human response to devastating violence.

The production places a community’s different perspectives in the hands of one performer.

It is an intimate challenge for an actor audiences have watched across musical theater, television and film, including Looking and Glee.

Fiction Inspired by Real Tragedy

The distinction between inspiration and documentary is important here.

Publisher Concord Theatricals describes the play as a fictional exploration of the shooting and the compassion that followed it.

In a 2019 interview about the work, Dickey explained that she created fictional people rather than asking survivors and families to recount their experiences for her script.

She wanted to respect the privacy of people already carrying an immense loss.

The Amish community’s response, including embracing the gunman’s family as fellow victims, became central to her exploration.

Dickey also emphasized that the play offers audiences an opportunity to consider forgiveness, rather than prescribing it as the response everyone must choose.

Her account makes room for another element that might surprise audiences: humor arising from the characters’ personalities, alongside the work’s difficult subject matter.

The Place His Dreams Began

For gay audiences who have followed Groff’s career, the connection to his childhood adds another layer.

Accepting his 2024 Tony for Merrily We Roll Along, he thanked the family who encouraged his creativity and the Spring Awakening company who helped inspire him to come out at 23.

As the transcript of that speech records, his journey from Pennsylvania to the theater community in New York remains deeply meaningful to him.

This new production brings those two parts of his life into proximity again: a Broadway stage and a story rooted near home.

General ticket sales begin November 10, with early-access sales starting November 9.

📷 The Tony Awards / @grofffsauce

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Gay Volleyball Star Rui Takahashi Found Acceptance in His Famous Little Brother

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Gay Volleyball Star Rui Takahashi Found Acceptance in His Famous Little Brother

Rui Takahashi had been struggling with his sexuality when he told his younger brother, Ran Takahashi, that he was gay.

He did not expect such a casual response.

“That’s interesting,” Ran said, according to Rui’s account in a new Asahi Shimbun interview, translated and reported by Outsports.

The reaction surprised Rui, who had approached the conversation with very different expectations.

But his brother’s calmness helped him feel relieved and begin seeing his sexuality as something he could accept.

A Brother in His Corner

Ran is a star of Japan’s national volleyball team, making Rui’s later decision to come out publicly feel complicated in another way.

Rui worried that the announcement could have consequences for his famous younger brother.

Ran’s response, as Rui recalled it, was reassuring: “It’s your life, so I’ll support it.”

For someone who had spent years wrestling with self-acceptance, that support mattered.

The brothers’ conversations gave Rui space to speak honestly, rather than carrying his worries alone.

For many gay readers, the emotional weight of that first conversation will feel familiar: deciding what to say, wondering what might change, and hoping the person listening will still see the same person.

Coming Out on His Own Terms

Rui, 26, publicly came out on September 29.

The fresh development is his October interview about that journey and his brother’s reaction, rather than a new coming-out announcement.

In his original statement, covered by GMA News, Rui described years of denying his feelings and credited conversations with Ran with helping him acknowledge himself.

The Suntory Sunbirds Osaka player also thanked the family members, teammates and staff who had supported him.

He hoped that sharing his experience might help someone else struggling to accept themselves.

His fears before going public were substantial: he had considered the possibility that the reaction could force him to leave volleyball.

Instead, he has described receiving widespread encouragement from the people around him.

Making Room for Someone Else

His decision has already resonated with another player.

Reon Arao subsequently spoke publicly about their LGBTQ identity, citing Rui’s example as an inspiration.

Rui’s story is a reminder of how support can travel: from one brother to another, and then beyond their family.

Coming out remains a personal decision, with different circumstances for every individual.

What makes this account so touching is the acceptance Rui found when he finally began putting his feelings into words.

His brother was ready to listen, keep talking and stand beside him.

📷 @rui_takahashi_

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Nicholas Galitzine Calls His Return to Gay Royal Romance a ‘Nice Reset’

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Nicholas Galitzine Calls His Return to Gay Royal Romance a ‘Nice Reset’

Nicholas Galitzine has a particularly vivid reason to appreciate returning to the world of Red, White & Royal Blue: his previous production involved months of explosions.

Speaking to Variety at the October 22 premiere of The Mosquito Bowl, the actor described making Red, White & Royal Wedding afterward as a “nice reset.”

His latest comments offer a warm glimpse of the experience of returning to Prince Henry, even as fans continue waiting for a release date for the sequel.

Back to Henry and Alex

Galitzine reprises Henry opposite Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex Claremont-Diaz, bringing the central couple back for another chapter of their romance.

Their reunion follows the 2023 film, which introduced movie audiences to the love story adapted from Casey McQuiston’s novel.

For viewers who enjoyed its combination of romantic fantasy, humor and two men finding their way to each other, the prospect of more time with these characters has an obvious appeal.

Galitzine’s comments concern the contrast between his working experiences on the two films, rather than a revelation about the sequel’s plot.

As ComingSoon reports, a release date for Red, White & Royal Wedding has not yet been announced.

A Different Kind of Set

In The Mosquito Bowl, Galitzine plays John McLaughry, one of four college football players who enlist in the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Netflix’s account of the film describes their journey from celebrated athletes to the battlefields of the Pacific.

Directed by Peter Berg, it also stars Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis.

The film opens in select theaters on October 30 and arrives on Netflix on November 25.

That demanding wartime setting helps explain why returning to a romantic comedy could feel like such a welcome shift.

Familiar Faces and a New Director

Amazon MGM Studios has confirmed that Jamie Babbit, whose films include But I’m a Cheerleader, directs the sequel.

The screenplay is by Gemma Burgess, Matthew López and McQuiston.

Uma Thurman and Stephen Fry are among the returning cast, while newcomers include Lena Headey and Chloe Fineman.

The studio is keeping the story under wraps.

For now, there is pleasure in the smaller update: returning to this gay love story was something its leading man welcomed.

Fans waiting to see Henry and Alex together again can probably relate.

📷 Amazon MGM Studios /@ nicholasgalitzine

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