Spring has sprung in Northern California and brought with it warmer temperatures and (mostly) sunny days. Also spreading sunshine is our handsome cover guy, Talakai, a Sacramento native who competed on NBC’s “The Voice” last year. The sexy singer has been serving customers at Tower Café for the last decade, waiting for his big break, and it arrived when John Legend turned his chair around and came face to face with Talakai, a lookalike who could be his younger brother. You can read all about Talakai, his husband, and his music, in our interview on page 10.

Before that, on page 5, you can read two articles on the importance of trans visibility, and then “Celebrate Aging” on page 6. We also have an entire page of friendly photos from the Annual Business and Community Excellence Awards & Expo on page 9, courtesy of the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce.

In entertainment news, funnyman Jerrod Carmichael has an eye-opening new reality show coming soon to HBO, and Broadway diva Patti LuPone is also coming soon, to San Francisco, for a concert at Davies Symphony Hall.

Chris Narloch shares four mini-reviews of movies currently in theaters, including an edgy lesbian thriller with Kristen Stewart, on page 14, and then Matthew Burlingame has a cornucopia of fun stuff to see and do, on page 18. Billie Eilish, plus a review of brunch at Roscoe’s, rounds out this issue of Outword.

So, pick up a print edition at one of the many businesses who support our community, or click your way through Outword’s e-version of the paper. Either way, Happy Spring!