Just when we thought we couldn’t be any more obsessed with the cast of The White Lotus, one of them is showing their support for the trans community on Instagram in a big way. We love our allies!
The ally in question is actor Michael Imperioli, who played Dominic Di Grasso in the Sicily-set second season of the hit HBO dark satire. And while Dom was a bit of a philandering hotshot suffering from a crisis of conscience while on vacation with his son and elderly father, Imperioli’s been nothing but a stand-up guy.
Look no further than his Instagram, where one of his most recent posts is a graphic of the trans pride flag, accompanied by the following caption:
“dear brothers, sisters and siblings. fear not, be strong and don’t let the bastards grind you down. love you.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Amid the recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation—including a terrifying number of bills deliberately attempting to legislate trans and non-binary people out of existence—even small gestures like this can make a difference.
We as a community can fight back and make our voices heard, but vocal support from our allies is vital, and we call on more cisgender, heterosexual men to speak up for us just like Imperioli.
The video is a heartwarming reminder that the kids are alright—it’s their parents we need to be worried about.
Even better, Imperioli is best known for his Emmy award-winning work on The Sopranos, starring as DiMeo crime family power-player Christopher Moltisanti. And while the celebrated HBO drama sure has fans from all walks of life, there’s no denying it’s a favorite among straight guys who view it as a bastion of a certain brand of the masculine, tough-guy ideal.
Which is to say: Not all of Imperioli’s followers were pleased to see his support of the trans community. But the actor was quick to let them know that he doesn’t want them following anyway. Bye, haters!
Will give this first person—who claims to not recognize the trans pride flag—the benefit of the doubt, but Imperioli made sure they knew what it really represents:
Screenshot: Instagram, @realmichaelimperioli
Another commenter thought they did something here, only to be called out for their poorly worded post:
Screenshot: Instagram, @realmichaelimperioli
And, when someone else tried to shame Chris for being an ally, this just might be our favorite response:
Screenshot: Instagram, @realmichaelimperioli
Elsewhere on Instagram, writer and pop culture curator Evan Ross Katz has shared a few of his favorite clapbacks from Imperioli, and they’re pretty incredible. You tell’em, Michael!
And we should note: Not all of the comments on Imperioli’s post are negative—far from it. Trans icons like Drag Race Season 15 frontunner Sasha Colby and Anything’s Possible star Eva Reign replied, thanking the actor for his powerful post.
Others fans logged on to share their support and stories of their own. This one sums it up quite nicely:
Screenshot: Instagram, @realmichaelimperioli
And another felt compelled to express what Imperioli’s post means to them, as a trans man:
Screenshot: Instagram, @realmichaelimperioli
In summary, thank you, Michael Imperioli, for being the boss daddy trans ally we always knew you were. Your support for the entirety of the LGBTQ+ community means the world to us!
‘The White Lotus: Sicily’ really did stick the landing—even if we can’t say the same for all of its characters…
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I know Michael Imperioli and I can tell you, contrary perhaps to the characters he usually portrays, he is an extremely decent human being who doesn’t seem to have a homophobic bone in his body.
Some laws may be cruel, but I don’t think anyone is trying to “Legislate trans and non binary out of existence”. It’s their irrational demands that are being tossed out of existence. I support Trans I don’t support irrational demands. Men and women can’t walk in each other’s dressing space, yet they feel so entitled to sport boobs and a dik and walk into either. Such arrogance. Do behave. Exact your own dressing rooms, we had to.
Look around – half the states in this country are very much trying to legislate trans lives out of existence, and for that matter gay lives as well. Not sure where you live, but come on down to Texas and see what it’s all about. Or go to Florida – Ron will tell you how the cow ate the cabbage and exactly where the queers can go. So not sure where you keep your head these days – pay attention. But then since all you are concerned about are appropriate “dressing rooms”, perhaps the real issues are beyond you.
Give me an effen break! This has always been a ludicrous argument. If you know anything about the person in the bathroom stall or the dressing room next to yours, then you are obviously in there for something other than the intended reasons! In other parts of the world, people do not get their panties in a wad over going to the bathroom. In some places it is a hole in the ground. In others, the space has nothing but toilet stalls so it isn’t specifically identified with either gender. Diplomat, I have to question exactly how much educational time you have even spent with someone who is trans or non-binary. I am a 73+ year old cisgender gay white male. I knew I was queer at age 8 but did not have the vocabulary to discuss it. Aside from that, when I was 8 there was NO discussion about sexuality at all. I have usually “passed” as straight, but not intentionally, it’s just who I am. I use it as a tool for education after some idiot starts trying to remove his foot from his mouth….sort of like you??? I don’t know why you chose that name, but perhaps you should learn about it so you can live up to is rather than use it as an excuse for ignorance. Just sayin’!
@ Bruce Gardner, I’m 75 and right there with you. The only reason for the laws they’re passing now is to rile up the idiots to get them out to vote in the next election. Republicans can’t win an election unless there is hate on the menu.
Of course they are trying to legislate the community out of existence. WE make them uncomfortable and they are now being called out on how ugly their behavior is. They hide behind religion and pretend somehow that our existence violates their “religious freedom”. They are trying to pass through laws where LGBTQ people can not even be acknowledged in schools and any book that has such a subject matter is being removed from school libraries. There are even public libraries where books with LGBTQ subject matter have been removed, public libraries! They are creating laws that will ban drag performances in public which could lead to trans people getting arrested just for being in public while wearing clothes that are not for the gender assigned at birth. They will be coming for gay marriage and pride parades next.
More anti-LGBTQ laws have been proposed already in 2023 than in all of 2022. Two moments of thought should tell them that trans people have been using the bathrooms of their identified gender for years… and they had no idea! No clue!
Referring to us as “groomers and pedophiles” were tactics used in the 50’s and of course ignorant minds cling on to it and the really ignorant believe it. There will be more than hateful laws passed against our community – there will be violence. We should have started screaming a long time ago
I agree and disagree. No surprise there. The ludicrous overreach of the radical left did give them the opening. Yeah, yeah, whine all you want, you sound like Trump supporters denying reality, with blinders on and stupid hats saying “Trans Women are Women” – the new MAGA of the left.
That said, the right is horrible. They would like to legislate us into a hole, figuratively and literally. They use protecting the children, a valid cause, to create real threats to the entire LGBT community. Worth it to mix drag queens with kids? (Seen some of the photos from some of these events floating around? God, I hope they are faked.) The right wing is dangerous…and some of you handed them the excuse.
You were warned. Real life isn’t your bubble you live in. Come for me all you want. The results of your stupidity are creating real danger for us in many states now.
Astounding LP, you sound just like JC! (Jesus of Nazareth)
You were warned. Real life isn’t your bubble you live in. Come for me all you want. The results of your stupidity are creating real danger for us in many states now.
A person is more than a physical body. If divided they can and should be united. I think it should be done in the easier and heathier means available as determined by a doctor. Noone else except parents in the case if minors should be involved. Lawmakers have no business involving themselves for any reason and should be subject to prosecution for invasion of privacy if thy try to.
Amen! Kids are much more aware of who they are than even many of their parents. I have watched a timid “boy” blossom into a delightful, self-sufficient “girl” once they owned the fact that their gender identity did not match the body parts with which they were born. They told their parents they did not want to go back to school because everyone would be calling them a little boy when they knew they were a little girl. Bright kid! Blessed with wonderfully patient and understanding parents. If I had a child who identified as trans and some legislative fool tried to pass nasty legislation, I would be hauling his ass into court post haste! Legislators should not let their insecurities and ignorance govern the legislation they want to impose on everyone.
EXACTLY, I think of what my dad would have done to anyone who tried to tell him what to do with his kids. If a parent does not know if their kid is serious no ignorant lawmaker is going to know. Stay out of our bedrooms and homes too. religious freaks. it is funny that it is the religious leaders who are the damned molesters
Yes, Diplomat, come to Georgia and watch the fools in action. Please do not insult me by saying that we should all stick to our respective dressing rooms. Someone once told another group of people to stick to their own bathrooms and water fountains. They used similarly stupid arguments to the ones you use. While you are at it, do some reading from people who have lived experience as trans or non-binary folks. Until you do that, sit down and shut up. There used to be a saying: Better to keep your mouth shut and let people assume you are a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.
Bruce…you got what you got because people like you did what you did. You think you can threaten your way out of it? Diplo underrepresents the threat, but not the cause. You being rude doesn’t help. Perhaps it is subconscious guilt?
Barry, for someone complaining about another person being uneducated, you might best study capitalization, grammar and punctuation.
What else should we refrain from doing so as not to hand THEM the election? Make a list. As long as you wish
We’ll do our best to try to exist and party within that framework of your wishes. I hope we can do our best, the radical left.
And I suppose we should all spell as well as you can all the time so the right won’t think us fools. There must be a support group for fools like you.
Party people, get out there, do your thing. Now excuse me, I have to pee.
I do believe there is some social engineering going down at the top that is responsible for alot of confusing situations within society, even the mass shootings.
Bottom line: they them is singular, “men are woman and don’t fking argue w me”, dicks flapping in women’s locker rooms, men on women’s sports teams. These are not LGB issues, not one of them and it’s destroying the gay community. Talk about handing the Right dog shit on a shingle to throw back x10. I’m a gay male Democrat and don’t go along with any of this nonsense. It’s the uneducated who do so. And you wonder why you’re getting “erased”. The right is livid on these subjects and rightly so. I find these issues to be a complete disgrace to rational thought and the gay community as a whole.
As far as giving health care to trans minors that is a very rational thing to do, to take care of their human needs to include medications. It’s the irrational bs that needs to get tossed, and there’s alot of it.
Now instead of all this flatulence about the issues at hand, why don’t you bring solid rational arguments to the table bc so far, you’ve lost the debate.
Oh yes, this is where the room falls silent. Cuz you got nada.
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PoetDaddy
I know Michael Imperioli and I can tell you, contrary perhaps to the characters he usually portrays, he is an extremely decent human being who doesn’t seem to have a homophobic bone in his body.
LumpyPillows
He’s an actor 🙂
dbmcvey
@LumpyPillows
And actors aren’t people.
Diplomat
Some laws may be cruel, but I don’t think anyone is trying to “Legislate trans and non binary out of existence”. It’s their irrational demands that are being tossed out of existence. I support Trans I don’t support irrational demands. Men and women can’t walk in each other’s dressing space, yet they feel so entitled to sport boobs and a dik and walk into either. Such arrogance. Do behave. Exact your own dressing rooms, we had to.
carllonghorn
Look around – half the states in this country are very much trying to legislate trans lives out of existence, and for that matter gay lives as well. Not sure where you live, but come on down to Texas and see what it’s all about. Or go to Florida – Ron will tell you how the cow ate the cabbage and exactly where the queers can go. So not sure where you keep your head these days – pay attention. But then since all you are concerned about are appropriate “dressing rooms”, perhaps the real issues are beyond you.
wade.l
My friends are renovating their hotel/bar and guess…Unisex toilets… problem solved
Bruce Garner
Give me an effen break! This has always been a ludicrous argument. If you know anything about the person in the bathroom stall or the dressing room next to yours, then you are obviously in there for something other than the intended reasons! In other parts of the world, people do not get their panties in a wad over going to the bathroom. In some places it is a hole in the ground. In others, the space has nothing but toilet stalls so it isn’t specifically identified with either gender. Diplomat, I have to question exactly how much educational time you have even spent with someone who is trans or non-binary. I am a 73+ year old cisgender gay white male. I knew I was queer at age 8 but did not have the vocabulary to discuss it. Aside from that, when I was 8 there was NO discussion about sexuality at all. I have usually “passed” as straight, but not intentionally, it’s just who I am. I use it as a tool for education after some idiot starts trying to remove his foot from his mouth….sort of like you??? I don’t know why you chose that name, but perhaps you should learn about it so you can live up to is rather than use it as an excuse for ignorance. Just sayin’!
Mack
@ Bruce Gardner, I’m 75 and right there with you. The only reason for the laws they’re passing now is to rile up the idiots to get them out to vote in the next election. Republicans can’t win an election unless there is hate on the menu.
Fname Optional Lname
Of course they are trying to legislate the community out of existence. WE make them uncomfortable and they are now being called out on how ugly their behavior is. They hide behind religion and pretend somehow that our existence violates their “religious freedom”. They are trying to pass through laws where LGBTQ people can not even be acknowledged in schools and any book that has such a subject matter is being removed from school libraries. There are even public libraries where books with LGBTQ subject matter have been removed, public libraries! They are creating laws that will ban drag performances in public which could lead to trans people getting arrested just for being in public while wearing clothes that are not for the gender assigned at birth. They will be coming for gay marriage and pride parades next.
More anti-LGBTQ laws have been proposed already in 2023 than in all of 2022. Two moments of thought should tell them that trans people have been using the bathrooms of their identified gender for years… and they had no idea! No clue!
Referring to us as “groomers and pedophiles” were tactics used in the 50’s and of course ignorant minds cling on to it and the really ignorant believe it. There will be more than hateful laws passed against our community – there will be violence. We should have started screaming a long time ago
LumpyPillows
I agree and disagree. No surprise there. The ludicrous overreach of the radical left did give them the opening. Yeah, yeah, whine all you want, you sound like Trump supporters denying reality, with blinders on and stupid hats saying “Trans Women are Women” – the new MAGA of the left.
That said, the right is horrible. They would like to legislate us into a hole, figuratively and literally. They use protecting the children, a valid cause, to create real threats to the entire LGBT community. Worth it to mix drag queens with kids? (Seen some of the photos from some of these events floating around? God, I hope they are faked.) The right wing is dangerous…and some of you handed them the excuse.
You were warned. Real life isn’t your bubble you live in. Come for me all you want. The results of your stupidity are creating real danger for us in many states now.
abfab
Astounding LP, you sound just like JC! (Jesus of Nazareth)
You were warned. Real life isn’t your bubble you live in. Come for me all you want. The results of your stupidity are creating real danger for us in many states now.
dbmcvey
LumpyPillows is known to be very anti-trans and anti-drag, except when the narrative suits him.
DBMC
There was a conservative pundit who said we should eradicate transgenderism, so there’s that.
talondrago
A person is more than a physical body. If divided they can and should be united. I think it should be done in the easier and heathier means available as determined by a doctor. Noone else except parents in the case if minors should be involved. Lawmakers have no business involving themselves for any reason and should be subject to prosecution for invasion of privacy if thy try to.
Bruce Garner
Amen! Kids are much more aware of who they are than even many of their parents. I have watched a timid “boy” blossom into a delightful, self-sufficient “girl” once they owned the fact that their gender identity did not match the body parts with which they were born. They told their parents they did not want to go back to school because everyone would be calling them a little boy when they knew they were a little girl. Bright kid! Blessed with wonderfully patient and understanding parents. If I had a child who identified as trans and some legislative fool tried to pass nasty legislation, I would be hauling his ass into court post haste! Legislators should not let their insecurities and ignorance govern the legislation they want to impose on everyone.
barryaksarben
EXACTLY, I think of what my dad would have done to anyone who tried to tell him what to do with his kids. If a parent does not know if their kid is serious no ignorant lawmaker is going to know. Stay out of our bedrooms and homes too. religious freaks. it is funny that it is the religious leaders who are the damned molesters
Bruce Garner
Yes, Diplomat, come to Georgia and watch the fools in action. Please do not insult me by saying that we should all stick to our respective dressing rooms. Someone once told another group of people to stick to their own bathrooms and water fountains. They used similarly stupid arguments to the ones you use. While you are at it, do some reading from people who have lived experience as trans or non-binary folks. Until you do that, sit down and shut up. There used to be a saying: Better to keep your mouth shut and let people assume you are a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.
barryaksarben
from all his comments (all stupid) I assume he is some undereducated straight boy come here to own the gays. dumbass
abfab
OMG some one just opened up the attic windows for waves of fresh air! Glory! What great writing, what TRUTH! Thank you, gentlemen! (Not you Diplomat).
LumpyPillows
Bruce…you got what you got because people like you did what you did. You think you can threaten your way out of it? Diplo underrepresents the threat, but not the cause. You being rude doesn’t help. Perhaps it is subconscious guilt?
Barry, for someone complaining about another person being uneducated, you might best study capitalization, grammar and punctuation.
Abby, you probably do need some fresh air.
abfab
What else should we refrain from doing so as not to hand THEM the election? Make a list. As long as you wish
We’ll do our best to try to exist and party within that framework of your wishes. I hope we can do our best, the radical left.
And I suppose we should all spell as well as you can all the time so the right won’t think us fools. There must be a support group for fools like you.
Party people, get out there, do your thing. Now excuse me, I have to pee.
DBMC
LumpyPillows has a long history of anti-trans hate.
Diplomat
Lumpy,
I do believe there is some social engineering going down at the top that is responsible for alot of confusing situations within society, even the mass shootings.
Kangol2
Thank you, Bruce Garner!
Diplomat
Bottom line: they them is singular, “men are woman and don’t fking argue w me”, dicks flapping in women’s locker rooms, men on women’s sports teams. These are not LGB issues, not one of them and it’s destroying the gay community. Talk about handing the Right dog shit on a shingle to throw back x10. I’m a gay male Democrat and don’t go along with any of this nonsense. It’s the uneducated who do so. And you wonder why you’re getting “erased”. The right is livid on these subjects and rightly so. I find these issues to be a complete disgrace to rational thought and the gay community as a whole.
abfab
Thank you Princess Pence.
Diplomat
As far as giving health care to trans minors that is a very rational thing to do, to take care of their human needs to include medications. It’s the irrational bs that needs to get tossed, and there’s alot of it.
abfab
What on earth do you know about human needs? Still, it was very gracious of you to offer…..
Diplomat
Now instead of all this flatulence about the issues at hand, why don’t you bring solid rational arguments to the table bc so far, you’ve lost the debate.
Oh yes, this is where the room falls silent. Cuz you got nada.
abfab
No, it’s because you’re a bore and you’re annoying.