John Waters Probes His Drama-Filled Ancestry on Finding Your Roots

Waters is one of several out celebs and allies who'll appear on the new season of Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s genealogy show, which opens Tuesday night.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

January 19 2021 8:32 PM EST

May 31 2023 5:18 PM EST

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It's going to be a very queer season of Finding Your Roots, the PBS series in which historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. delves into celebrities' genealogy.

Filmmaker and self-proclaimed "filth elder" John Waters is featured on the series' season 7 premiere, airing Tuesday night, along with actress Glenn Close. In addition to Waters -- the man behind Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, and more -- out celebs who'll appear this season include journalist Don Lemon, actress Jane Lynch, and Bravo media personality Andy Cohen.

The series has long been inclusive of LGBTQ+ folks -- it's traced the lineage of out luminaries such as Anderson Cooper and RuPaul -- but this season's lineup seems particularly so.

The season will also feature several people who are icons or allies to the LGBTQ+ community, such as Close, Broadway star Audra McDonald, actors John Lithgow and Christopher Meloni, and musician Rosanne Cash.

In the season premiere, Waters is pleased to hear that his family tree "drips with drama," as Gates puts it. The filmmaker additionally notes that an account regarding one ancestor "sounds like a movie scene I'd write."

The premiere episode airs on most PBS stations Tuesday at 8 p.m./7 p.m. Central, but check your local listings. It can also be streamed or viewed on the PBS app. Find out more at PBS.org, and watch a season preview below.