What up y'all?
I'm Penn, a Black-Asian genderqueer freelance pop culture critic and this is my column, Queerly Nerdy. Initially, Queerly Nerdy began over at the LGBTQ news site Into More, with the blessing of my editor Henry Giardina — before the entire staff was laid off in mid-June. Thankfully, with the blessing of Pop Heist's editor-in-chief Brett White, Queerly Nerdy is being given a new home at Pop Heist.
Whether you are a returning reader or a new one, I hope you'll enjoy this monthly column critiquing queer geekiness in comic books, anime, and video games. Sometimes, I'll talk music and poetry too, whenever the mood strikes.
For my debut column at Pop Heist, I'm gonna discuss geeky LGBTQ+ folks that have inspired me or made my day a little brighter. In my teens and early twenties, I used to feel like I had to hide not only my queerness, but also my nerdiness. Now, in my mid-thirties, I'm here, queer, and geeking out with so many other LGBTQ+ folks. From comic books to anime to gaming, here are some of my favorite LGBTQ+ geeks.
Davidvinc RPGs
Davidvinc RPGs is the YouTube channel of gay YouTuber David, who creates videos on RPGs, especially Japanese roleplaying games, or JRPGs. As a JRPG fan myself, I was hype AF when I stumbled on his channel a few years back. I follow a few other gaming YouTubers besides him, and he is one of the most enthusiastic and welcoming ones. He has a way of informing you about JRPGs in a way that's exciting, even if you haven't played the game he's discussing.
Of course, if you happen to be looking for a new JRPG to play, you will definitely have a suggestion or two after watching one of his videos. One particular video of his on indie RPGs persuaded me to play Chained Echoes despite me being on the fence about it, because the way he talked about it made me feel like an excitable kid getting a new game on Christmas Day. Chained Echoes would become one of my favorite indie RPGs and Davidvinc RPGs became one of my favorite gaming YouTubers.
Milady Confetti
Continuing on the gaming track, Milady Confetti is a Black demisexual gaming YouTuber and critic for the digital gayming news site Gayming Magazine. Recently, Millday Confetti co-hosted the 2025 Gayming Awards alongside drag-queen and content creator DEERE, and RuPaul's Drag Race star and gamer Morgan McMichaels.
I first discovered Milady Confetti in 2023 through her YouTube channel on a video where she discussed asexuality as depicted in the criminally underrated anime series Romantic Killer. It wasn't until I was browsing Gayming Magazine one day and saw that Milady Confetti had a column there called Confetti's Cozy Corner. As someone who was bi gray-ace and also watched Romantic Killer through an asexual lens, it was gratifying to see someone else with a similar perspective. A similar feeling would be evoked through Confetti's Corner, as I read fun and queer cozy video game recs.
Marlin M. Jenkins
There is poetry, and then there is poetry about video games. Video game poetry has used verse to elevate the poignant themes, characters, and self-discovery that can be found in the medium. Marlin M. Jenkins is a queer Black-Arab poet whose 2020 poetry chapbook Capable Monsters is strongly inspired by the Pokemon video games. Taking cues from the games' Pokedex entries, Marlin M. Jenkins uses Pokemon such as Umbreon and Cloyster as metaphors for discussing Blackness, raw emotions, and queer desire.
As a poet of color who also writes video game poetry, I can't help but admire the many gorgeous lines from Marlin M. Jenkins' Capable Monsters. One of my favorite poems of his is titled "Pokédex Entry #133: Eevee --> Entry #197: Umbreon". Published at the literary magazine FreezeRay Poetry, sensitive lines reflect on the Pokemon Umbreon and its relatability. My favorite lines are: "Glow on black body/like Bruce Leroy-unlikely/light where none is/Umbreon, I pulse/my dark too/or am learning/music as offense".
Brandon McInnis
I first discovered the work of bisexual singer, Japanese translator, and voice actor Brandon McInnis while rewatching the anime series Given ahead of the new Given film, To The Sea. Adapted from Natsuki Kitsu's gay coming-of-age manga of the same name, Given tells the story of basketball player and guitarist Ritsuka Uenoyama, whose passion for music has waned. One day, he meets Mafuyu Satō and hears him sing for the first time. As they get to know each other, Ritsuka finds his passion returning in more ways than one.
Instead of rewatching Given in Japanese, I decided to rewatch it in English after hearing Brandon McInnis sing an epic English cover of the anime's opening song "Kizuato." He became Mafuyu Sato's English voice actor in 2022. Prior to this, Brandon had been such a huge fan of Given that he made a 2021 EP To Be Given, which consisted of vocal covers of songs from the show and one original song, "To Be Given." I believe that Brandon McInnis' excellent voice acting as Mafuyu is informed by the understanding and passion evident in his English covers of Given's songs. This is best seen in my personal favorite Given English cover, "Yoru Ga Akeru", which translates to "Dawn Breaks" and recently helped me recover from a bout of caregiver burnout.
Mey Rude
Mey Rude is a trans Latina lesbian entertainment journalist who changed my life a decade ago. At the time, I was barely out of the closet as queer and just starting out as a freelance pop culture critic. While reading the queer women's news website Autostraddle, I discovered Mey Rude's column Drawn to Comics, which discussed a variety of comic books that ranged from superhero comics to graphic novels to indie comics.
A decade ago, I had taken the first hesitant steps out of the closet as a queer person of color. When I saw Mey Rude's comic book column Drawn to Comics, it made me feel that maybe, just maybe, I could find the courage to be my queer geeky self through pop culture criticism. Without Drawn To Comics, Queerly Nerdy may not be here today.
Are there any queer critics or content creators that personally inspire you? Let us know over on Bluesky.
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