31-year-old Dyllón Burnside is an openly proud gay actor and singer who most people will know from his role as Ricky Evangelista, a dancer, in the FX television series Pose. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Burnside’s life journey changed after being fired as a Church Worship Minister because of his sexuality. Since then alongside his successful career ….he starred in the musical Holler if Ya Hear Me on Broadway …. he has started questioning and challenging all the toxic masculinity in both show business and in his life.
As part of his LGBTQ actvisim and advocacy he has spoken at schools about how studying performing arts can be empowering and help young people find their means of self-expression.
Now Burnside is hosting a brand new series for PBS Voices to celebate LGBTQ Pride Month. Prideland takes him back to the South where he guides viewers into a journey of discovery of the areas various LGBTQ+ communities, connecting with people of different backgrounds, locations, experiences and points of view
What immediate strikes the viewer is how the charismatic Burnside has such a passion for these communities and is so anxious to show a positive side of the Bible Belt Deep South who have been traditionally hostile to homosexuliaty. While some people he encounters still find rejection close to home, others are finding more and more acceptance in their communities of origin or those they create.
For example one of the people Burnside meets is Rob Lowry, an openly gay minister at a small, but mainstream church in Jackson, Mississippi. Lowry may still be a rare exception to the norm but the fact the church have accepted him with open arms, is a major step forward in such a conservative congregation.
With this ground-breaking series Burnside highlights authentic personal stories from such a diverse and relatively still new LGBTQ community that he brings to life with his natural curiosity and genuine commitment to seek out positive change wherever he can find it.
PRIDELAND, consists of a one-hour special and six episode short-form digital series on PBS Voices a new documentary-focused YouTube Channel by PBS Digital Studios.
The first episode aired on Tuesday, May 26, and the second episode of the entitled entitled, “An Openly Gay Pastor’s Journey to Acceptance in the Bible Belt” premieres Tuesday, June 2 . A one-hour companion special, also hosted by Dyllón Burnside will premiere on Friday, June 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.ORG and the PBS Video App
Labels: 2020, documentary, Dyllon Burnside, Web series
