The third season of Netflix’s “GLOW” was recently released, and this time the wrestling dramedy has made a home in Las Vegas.

It’s a move that makes sense, with the original show it’s inspired by, “GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” having had its entire run in Sin City.

“GLOW” stars Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin amongst a large and talented cast. In season 3, which launched on Aug. 9, the wrestlers have moved to the fictional Fan-Tan Hotel & Casino – “about $200 east” of the Strip, according to one character.

“Vegas feels like a very tricky place for women in 1986, so that felt really interesting to us,” co-creator Liz Flahive told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But we wanted to get it right, and we wanted the details of being a performer living and working in Vegas to feel real and to feel very authentic.”

Writes the paper:

Flahive and co-creator Carly Mensch, self-described “research nerds,” led a group of around 20 members of the show’s writing staff on a three-day fact-finding mission to Las Vegas. Their itinerary included stops at Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum, “Vegas! The Show” and the old “Jubilee!” dressing rooms at Bally’s.

Perhaps the most interesting storyline to come out of their fact-finding mission was one inspired by local LGBTQ historian Dennis McBride, who informed the creators of legendary female-impersonator Kenny Kerr.

Writes the Review-Journal:

The late “Boy-lesque” star was “100 percent” the inspiration for Fan-Tan headliner Bobby Barnes (Kevin Cahoon), Mensch says. The drag performer, whom the wrestlers befriend, allowed “GLOW” to look at the struggle for acceptance that gay performers faced in Las Vegas in the 1980s.

“The seeming permissiveness,” Flahive says, “contrasted against the conservatism was intriguing to us. … It’s seemingly a very sexually open town, yet the sodomy laws were kind of not off the books and Liberace wasn’t even out — and the next year would die of AIDS.”

But this isn’t the first time “GLOW” has entered into LGBTQ territory. Season 2 of the series showed a blossoming lesbian relationship between Arthie "Beirut the Mad Bomber” Premkumar (Sunita Mani) and Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Rivas (Shakira Barrera).

The 2019 WNBA All-Star Game was hosted in Las Vegas on July 27, and its LGBTQ presence was strongly felt.

The Women’s National Basketball Association is no stranger to Sin City, what with the Las Vegas Aces playing in the league. In fact, the Aces’ Kayla McBride, Liz Cambage, and A’ja Wilson (who captained Team Wilson) made the All-Star roster, again playing on the same team.

Now, the WNBA has always been known for its strong queer presence on the court, with this year’s All-Star Game being no exception. Amongst several out athletes at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne (captain of Team Delle Donne) took part.

But the league has also always been just as queer off the court, with a signative fanbase amongst queer women. This year we saw that this even includes famous faces, like soccer star Megan Rapinoe and her girlfriend, Sue Bird (herself a famed basketball player).

All in all, over 9,000 people attended a game that saw Team Wilson beat Team Delle Donne 129-126. Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler, of Team Wilson, was named the game’s MVP.

A thrilling game, no doubt, but many were just as excited by what they saw leading up to it. Writes Think Progress:

The host city really pulled out all the stops. Walking around Vegas, there were signs for the All-Star Game everywhere, from billboards to casino walls to public transportation. And none of them included inspirational slogans, the color pink, or rhetoric about supporting women. They weren’t focused on sex appeal, either. The ads just showcased the faces of the most elite women’s basketball players in the world, along with the name, date, and time of the event. Simple, and effective.

The publication also praised how the All-Star Game in Las Vegas saw increased acceptance for lesbian, bisexual, and/or gender nonconforming individuals.

In Las Vegas... married Chicago Sky teammates Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot were both All-Stars. They walked the orange carpet together, and were interviewed about playing against each other. It was wonderful to see their relationship out in the open and celebrated. But it was also wonderful that this was just a fun side story to the main event, a basketball game between the best players in the world.

Rest assured, I’m not spoiling anything when I say Jillian Bell runs a lot in “Brittany Runs a Marathon.” All that sweat and all those tears aren’t exactly taken from the 35-year-old actress’ life – in case you hadn’t noticed, this is about Brittany and her running – but it could very well metaphorically dovetail with Bell’s career and the infinite miles she’s clocked to get to her own finish of sorts: a starring role.

For her first lead part in a film, Bell portrays out writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo’s real-life best friend in his heartfelt debut feature, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in February. When we first meet Brittany, her life is in shambles. Landlord issues, job issues, friend issues, and according to her doctor, a less-than-ideal BMI issue. So she runs. Short jaunts at first, then longer, steadier stretches. But as she trains for a marathon, Brittany learns that self-acceptance and personal growth aren’t just the result of going the literal distance.

Starring concurrently in bisexual director Lynn Shelton’s “Sword of Trust,” which premiered recently at SXSW, Bell’s credits also include a smattering of comedic TV series like Comedy Central’s “Workaholics” and “Idiotsitter.” Film-wise, she starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon in the bachelorette-party-gone-wrong farce “Rough Night” and “22 Jump Street,” her mainstream breakthrough, playing the scene-stealing, deadpanning rival to Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill’s doofus cop duo.

Bell phoned recently to chat about wine runs with a dear gay friend, shooting a scene with Bob the Drag Queen and her commitment to telling LGBTQ stories.

In real life, do you have any gay friends who’d run a marathon with you? 

(My friend) Kyle would actually be amaaaazing at running a marathon. He would be cheering the entire time. The only thing: He would want to stop midway to just grab a little bit of rosé, which would make us very sick for the rest of the marathon.

Conveniently, he might already have that in his Hydro Flask as you run. 

You know the ones that are attached to the hat and you just slurp out of them? That would be Kyle’s situation. But he’d be a blast. We’d have so much fun. We’d probably laugh the whole time.

Do you have LGBTQ friends in your life who’ve pushed you to be a better version of yourself in the way that Brittany’s gay friend, Seth, does in the film?

Absolutely. One of my best friends is Fortune Feimster. She’s hysterical. She is the coolest friend of mine. We did (the Groundlings’) Sunday Company together and then we ended up living next to each other in apartments. Then, when she moved into a house, I moved into a house nearby. I keep telling her I’m stalking her for the rest of her life.

She’s had me on her podcast and we’ve talked a lot about our careers because we’ve both been very blessed to have some great stuff happen. She’s always encouraging me; I’m always encouraging her. And she’s kind of my touchstone of someone who just makes me very, very happy. I think she’s been so smart in her career – the decisions that she’s made and what she’s decided to do and what it says about her – and she’s one of my best friends and I’m a big fan of hers.

I love Seth and how supportive he is of Brittany – but what I really love is that he’s not just the token gay best friend. He also has a whole, full life of his own. Remember when gay characters only existed in films for the sake of the female protagonist? This feels like progress.

I know, I know. This was written by Paul and he is a gay man, and the character he wrote that was basically inspired by his own story is Seth. This is sort of a love story for her of what she went through and how she achieved these goals, and Seth is a very important character in this movie. He’s always so positive and encouraging, and you’re right: He’s seen in the light that is different from a lot of films as the gay best friend. I think that that is such a wonderful and important thing.

And of all the families portrayed in the film, he seems to have the most together, stable family unit. 

Yeah, he’s married, he has a kid, and all he wants is to have another kid and get in better shape in his life and he’s doing great. He’s a successful human being and that is important to showcase in film. It makes me really sad when it isn’t and so I’m just happy that our film is a part of doing something hopefully right.

Do you find that gay male directors have a special way or a different sensibility when it comes to telling a female-centered story? 

I can only speak to my relationship with Paul and how we worked together, and there were moments where we would just cry together and moments of great strength. And we had moments where we would laugh till we were on the floor. We just had each other to lean on throughout this whole process, and it was a big bonding moment. Not only was he doing this almost for the second time in his life, because it’s about his real-life best friend, but it was his first film that he was directing and that he wrote, so that was a huge achievement. We just had a really strong connection and we both were very passionate from the beginning about this story and how we weren’t sure if people would get it. We’re so excited now that, for the most part, people are understanding what this story is about. That makes both of us very happy.

Before you began filming, you said it was going to be very challenging because of how the movie deals with women’s perception of their bodies. But you also were hoping it might be more therapeutic than difficult. Well, you’ve done the film. Was filming this like therapy? 

You know what? Both kind of happened. And I was expecting that. Sometimes you spiral out after these things, sometimes it’s therapeutic. It was both, but in a healthy way. It just sort of made me look at my relationship with my own body and how I was talking about myself. I can only speak from my perspective, but sometimes you’ll look at other people, some of your best friends, and think, “Oh, they’re all wonderful and beautiful and lovely and smart,” and then you’ll go home and you’ll say awful things to yourself that you would never say about anyone else. I just felt like this movie hits on that and how society treats you but also how you treat yourself. What it feels like to choose yourself for the first time.

By doing this project I also felt like I was choosing my own marathon – I was running my own marathon here. I didn’t really want to address (these themes) in either film or television unless it was doing it right, and this is the first film that I read that was sort of a transformation story, but it wasn’t like “girl gets skinny, girl has a better life.” To me, that’s very important to put out there for women andmen. I shouldn’t say I’m surprised, but it’s been overwhelming how many men relate to that and how difficult it is when you’re not. You don’t come out looking like Adonis. It’s a lot.

By the end of her journey, I was weeping. Because – shocker! – gay men have body image issues too. 

Awww. I’m so glad you liked the film and you related to it. This is why we did it. I haven’t seen a movie like this in a very long time, maybe not ever, where I thought, “These are real humans, this is a real human story.” There are raw emotions here, and there’s vulnerability in a way that’s so beautiful and isn’t always showcased in film. I just really wanted to be a part of that kind of storytelling.

Your filmography has been very LGBTQ-inclusive. As Alice in “Rough Night,” you were the perfect ally-friend to Blaire and Frankie, played by Zoë Kravitz and Ilana Glazer. 

Absolutely! We wanted to get them back together! I mean, how cute is that couple? And they were always fighting with each other and we were like, “You like each other! Get back together!” I was so happy with that ending too, because I don’t think I was around when they were shooting that part of the scene where they end up being back together at the end and I loved the way it was handled. It was so beautiful and real.

Also beautiful: that cameo from Bob the Drag Queen, who was the DJ while you girls danced to “My Neck, My Back (Lick It).”

Oh my goodness, Bob the Drag Queen. Amazing! We had a really good time. I think that was our second day of shooting and I remember I was so nervous because my character was the one that had to know the dance perfectly because she holds onto her college memories for dear life. So I was in my own head about the dance – and then everybody else was losing their minds over Bob! I was like, “I’m so excited to be working with you too!” We were so thrilled that we got to work with Bob.

While writing for “SNL,” do you recall any LGBTQ-oriented sketches you wrote? 

I’m trying to remember. It’s funny: I just did an interview today where they were showing a clip from something that I wrote and it was a sketch called “Your Mom Talks to Megan Fox,” and it was just a mother talking to Megan Fox and how funny that conversation would be. But, actually, I’ll be honest with you: I did not get a lot of stuff on the air (laughs). I don’t remember most of my sketches, but I’ll say this: I don’t remember anything really making it on.

As Cynthia in “Sword of Trust,” you play a lesbian. Is this the first lesbian character you’ve played, and what can you tell us about her? 

I’m trying to think if it’s the first lesbian character I’ve played – it might be, technically! I will just say I believe it was originally going to a woman who’s a lesbian – I wanna say that (laughs) – and they called me last minute because she had to go shoot another project, which is very exciting! But I’m hoping I did it justice. We had the best time shooting. Michaela (Watkins, also her co-star in “Brittany Runs a Marathon”) and I were … I would say careful. We wanted to make sure they seemed like a real couple and they really cared about each other. I think that comes across in the movie, that they would do anything for each other. It’s really sweet.

As a comedian, are you conscious of what lines should and shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to queer content?

Absolutely. One of my good friends is non-binary and we’ve been trying to figure out a way to showcase more artists in the LGBTQ+ community. We would love to do something where there’s an actress who wants to work with a new up-and-coming director who is trans, or a non-binary short film where it’s showing them being the one who saves the day when there’s a plane attack. We are just like, “What are interesting stories we haven’t seen before in making people superheroes or just showing normal life?” Like in our movie, with Seth. Just showcasing more of that.

There was this sort of unofficial questionnaire online, and they were asking a bunch of questions about what they have and haven’t seen in film and television. The amount of LGBTQ people that wanted to be seen but also not killed off immediately was so upsetting to me and it opened up my eyes to the fact that that happens and how sad that is and, you know, if they’re gonna do a remake of “Harry Met Sally,” what is the gay version? I’m curious to see that. I would love to see that. I would pay for a ticket to go see that film because we’ve seen it the other way for so long.

Speaking of role reversal, what’s the latest on the Disney remake of “Splash” with Channing? 

Yeah, we’re trying – we’re trying! It’s being written right now. Really excited about it. Anything to work with him again because he is a doll of a human being and, I mean, it would be such a dream come true. I would be playing, basically, the Tom Hanks part, and what is more thrilling than that?

And Channing, a merman, to boot.

Yes, Channing as a merman! I’m giving the people what they want. That’s what I’m trying to do.

At the very least you’re giving me what I want, so thank you.

Yes, I’m doing this for you, Chris.

Album release week has Shura, synth-pop’s “lesbian pope,” feeling like “Ice Age” squirrel Scrat, whose acorn keeps getting away from him. “The acorn is representative of my well-being, my sanity,” says the 30-year-old British musician. “And it’s always a hair’s breadth away.”

I am Skyping with Shura, who is calling from Rough Trade, a record store in Nottingham, England, just days after the release of her second album, “Forevher,” the follow-up to her 2016 debut “Nothing’s Real.” Named by her girlfriend, Pauline, who she met on the dating app Raya while living in London (the two were in a long-distance relationship until Shura moved to Brooklyn), the title represents “For Her,” “Forever” and “Forever Her.” And calling it simply “Forever” was out of the question; that name was already taken by the Spice Girls. 

During our chat, and without the video feature activated because “I’m literally in a cave and look like I haven’t slept,” Shura discusses playing dress-up with her gay twin, her infatuation with fun nuns, writing a Titanic musical from the perspective of the icebergs and being scared of Madonna. 

After “Nothing’s Real,” did you anticipate making another breakup album?

When I finished writing “Nothing’s Real,” I was kind of like, “I don’t know if I can make another record again,” because it does take so much out of you emotionally. At that moment, I just didn’t feel like I felt anything at the end of that – (it) just really, really kind of sucks you dry. Not necessarily as a negative either. I was just exhausted. So I … I kind of imagined retiring! 

One and done.

Bye! Exit stage left! I was finishing touring with Tegan and Sara and M83 and that’s when I started talking to my current partner and was like, “Maybe I can write some songs again.” I was attracted to someone and that was exciting, and I was writing about that. It wasn’t until maybe a year into the process of writing that I was beginning to decide what to record and I was like, “Oh, shit, this is gonna be a really different record.” I always love artists who do that, who make big leaps of faith and take risks; sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t, but the fun is in trying. 

How did you decide to include lesbian nuns in the “religion (u can lay your hands on me)” video?

I love nuns. I had this calendar as a kid called “Nuns Having Fun” and it was images of nuns smoking and riding a rollercoaster. Images of women who are traditionally not meant to have any sort of worldly pleasure in that sense. It’s a life of: You make a commitment to God, and so you see these people doing naughty things and it’s something that does spark joy and makes you laugh and smile. So I’ve always loved nuns. And then I remember seeing Jude Law in “The Young Pope” and I thought he looked amazing, and I just went, “I want to look amazing.”I have this really great job where I can do that. And if you don’t do that as a pop star or as a musician, I think you’re missing out on one of the funnest aspects of the job. 

That’s something I learned from doing “Nothing’s Real,” because I was at a major (label) and maybe nervous about them turning me into something that I wasn’t, which they didn’t, actually. But I was still nervous about it. I really tried to cling onto, “I’m gonna wear a denim jacket and a beanie and I’m just gonna be me.” And actually, I was like, “But I can be anyone? Why wouldn’t I choose that? That’s fun.”

I used to love dressing up as a kid. I’d dress up as Zorro and Peter Pan. I remember (my brother) Nick and I doing “Beauty and the Beast” with the dress and the beast costume and I cried, and then we swapped and he wore the dress and I wore the beast costume and we were like, “This is perfect.” So I’ve always loved inhabiting different personalities. After three years of silence, I was like, “I wanna come back and I wanna be the pope,” because I thought that would be hilarious. Anxious lesbian comes back and she’s the vaping, lesbian pope.

In fact, you’ve envisioned the entire album as a lesbian musical of sorts with a similar queer, religious motif. 

Yeah. Oh my god, I still really wanna do it. 

Have you truly given this much thought? 

I want to get someone good to write the script, for sure. I was thinking that it would be absolutely hilarious if (“Fleabag” creator) Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote the script for it; she’s just in my head right now because she’s sort of everywhere. I feel like she’d nail it. I started thinking about the story and was like, “Maybe it has to be someone who’s a girl growing up in a convent school.” That’s where it would start. I also just like the idea of it being a dream sequence with popes and lesbian nuns. 

And maybe a cameo from Sister Mary Clarence. Let her run the convent for lesbian nuns. In fact, maybe Sister Mary Clarence has been a closeted lesbian all these years and she finally has the opportunity to come out during your musical.

I mean, that would be amazing. I feel like you’ve thought about this more than I have so maybe we should get you to write the script. 

Call Phoebe. We’ll collaborate.

Yeah, perfect. Amazing. We’ll do one night on Broadway. 

One night only!

Of course. It has to be one night only. If I make a musical that’s more successful than any album I’ve done, that would be amazing, especially given that I really didn’t like musicals growing up because I kept hearing my brother rehearse them and I was like, “Shut up. I don’t care about tomorrow. I do not care! Annie, leave me alone!”

Do you have serious aspirations to pursue a musical?

I’ve written a musical! I wrote one when I was at university. I can’t say it was very good. And it was very short, so I’d have to develop it. But I wrote a musical about the story of the Titanic from the point of view of the iceberg. It was this love story between two icebergs (laughs) in the Atlantic. And there was like the Greek chorus, so to speak, but they were seagulls. There was one bit where they ended up in Chile and there were penguins and there was a song called “It’s Chilly in Chile,” and the main iceberg was called Ferdinand and he ended up obviously dying because the Titanic crashes into him. So it’s a tragedy. I don’t think I’ve told anyone that before, so there you go. Exclusive. 

Based on the “religion” video, I assume you may have been a bit obsessed with Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”

You reckon? (Laughs) We had “The Immaculate Collection” on VHS, which I suspect was a way of keeping my twin and I occupied for large swaths of time when we were being a bit hyperactive. We would sit in front of the television and stare, and that would just be us for a couple of hours. So she’s been a huge inspiration musically and absolutely (the “religion”) video is intended as a nod and homage. I discovered the other day that I released the record on her birthday, so that feels like a nice kind of full circle. I was tempted to be like, “Happy Birthday, Madonna!”and send her a link to my album but then got too scared because I thought she’d just scream at me. 

“Forevher” manages to be both explicitly queer and incidentally queer. And your queerness has been a major talking point during recent interviews. Did you expect the queerness of this album to be as big of a focus as it’s been while promoting the album? 

When you come from a queer perspective, you never really feel like what you’re doing is super gay because it’s just what you’re doing. It’s only when you start to see it through the eyes of other people – when you see fans and they’re so excited that it is explicitly queer and they’re like, “Oh my god, this is the album that I needed when I was a teenager that I didn’t have.”

I did an interview recently and the headline was, “Shura sometimes forgets she’s a lesbian” (laughs). I just forget in the same way that I forget that I am a woman sometimes because I don’t really wake up every day going, “Where am I gonna take my vagina today?” If you are going to be openly queer, it’s always going to be a part of any conversation. For “Nothing’s Real,” actually, it was still a talking point even though I never used a pronoun. Even when I wasn’t being explicitly queer lyrically, it was still a part of the conversation. 

How does it feel to be using specific gender pronouns on this album?

It’s fun to be able to do it and be like, “I don’t care. I don’t care that someone might go, ‘Oh, shit, OK! Let me switch this off.’”

How were you writing about being queer at the age of 16, when you first started writing songs?

The language I would use was very decorative. I would use metaphors and allegories, and it would be much closer to poetry lyrically. I would never be specific about what was going on. I would kind of talk in…

In code? 

Exactly. But I understood the code. And anyone who knew what it was about would know the code; anyone who was a fan, if they understood that I was gay, would also get the code. But I think just growing up in general as a writer, I’ve found where I thrive is in the really mundane and the really specific. 

That’s the thing: When you first start making music, it’s normally because you’re a fan, right? It takes you a while sometimes to discover what it is that you’re good at. Maybe you try to emulate some of your heroes and then over time you discover what you’re about. As a kid, I would’ve loved to have been a rock star. I would’ve wanted to be in a rock band and shredded (laughs), but I’ll let someone else be good at that and I’ll do this. One of the most important things about being creative is knowing what you’re not good at. 

What else are you not good at? 

My singing voice, I wouldn’t describe it as especially acrobatic. I have, I would say, a relatively delicate voice. Some of my heroes – some of the people whose voices I love, like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey – they are voices. You hear them and you know who it is straightaway, and I was just like, “Well, I can’t sing like that so I’m gonna stop trying and I have to find the way my voice works.” Another thing I’m not good at it, apparently, is buying presents, which was really tragic to discover. 

Who told you that you weren’t a good gift giver? 

My girlfriend! I thought I was brilliant at buying presents until this relationship. But I don’t know whether I’m not very good or she’s just very, very picky about what she likes. (Laughs) 

I used to buy Mariah Carey albums and give them to people as gifts even if they weren’t fans.

When “Nothing’s Real” came out, my twin bought 10 copies of the album and gave them to everyone he worked with. (Laughs)

How has love changed the way you approach queerness in your work? 

I’m exploring a different side of my queer romantic experience, which is like … joy (laughs). For a start! The queer stories we’re exposed to are quite dramatic stories; in film and music, we don’t get to see a lot of happiness or things working. This record is about a three-year period, a little time capsule of a really lovely time … before it goes wrong! And hopefully it never will (laughs). It’s made me sort of feel braver in terms of expressing my queerness, but then also makes me feel more vulnerable. 

Declaring being in love is putting yourself in a vulnerable position. But I’m somewhat used to putting my life experiences on record, so for me it’s maybe not as big of a deal because it’s just what I’ve always done. I guess it’s a bigger audience now (laughs) than when I was 16 and recording on a MiniDisc recorder for my friends at school, who were like, “Ugh. She just wishes she were Avril Lavigne.”

What is Pauline’s favorite song on the album? 

Her favorite song is “The Stage.” I think she likes the rhythm of it because it’s quite weird. It’s quite a weird record. Quite a challenge. I was a bit nervous about putting it out before the record was released because, musically, it’s a demanding listen because of these huge shifts and chord progressions and key changes that never really materialize. I finished the record in January and was like, “I just delivered something. I don’t know what it is. I like it. But I don’t know what it is.”

Do you know now? 

I definitely have a better handle on it now. And actually, this is (laughs) gonna sound awful, probably, but the more I get to know it, the more proud of myself I am. The more I kind of impress myself. Like everyone else, I’m still getting to know it. It’s like having a kid and when they get to be about 4, 5 or 6 and you start to realize they’re developing a real personality and you’re like, “Oh, I made one of these children! Great!” That’s kind of like me with my album. I’m like, “Oh, wow. This is all right. Well done.”