CONGRATULATIONS

TO THE 2020 OUT100

LEXUS CELEBRATES THE BEST OF US
Congratulations to the innovators who are the 2020 OUT100. Your impact and influence
create a lasting mark on the world, as well as a better tomorrow. We celebrate you.

Prototype shown with options. ©2020 Lexus

OU T 100
26-98
In the year that changed the world,
here are some of our favorite
LGBTQ+ folks who changed
it for the better.
By Out Editors

28 Cruz Control Pioneering out

gay star of stage and screen
Wilson Cruz proves life gets better
(and sexier) as you go along.
By Diane Anderson-Minshall

30 Magnificient Monáe
Our favorite pansexual pop star,
Janelle Monáe, makes the leap onto
the big screen in Antebellum. L EGACIE S
By Tracy E. Gilchrist

99
32 Future Fighter Social activist,
author, and speaker Janaya Khan is
My Friend Larry Kramer
Actor Matt Bomer remembers
writer and activist Larry Kramer.
the leader the world needs now. By Matt Bomer
By Desirée Guerrero

34 The Mantello Method

Veteran Broadway actor and
100
A Final Farewell Paying tribute
director Joe Mantello goes to some of the LGBTQ+ legends
Hollywood. we lost this year.
By David Artavia By Out Editors

COVER 1: Wilson Cruz photographed by THE RIKER BROTHERS / COVER 2: Janelle Monáe photographed by DANIELLE LEVITT / COVER 3: Janaya Khan photographed by NABIL ELDERKIN
COVER 4 & ABOVE: Joe Mantello photographed by LUKE FONTANA / ABOVE: Black suit, shirt, and glasses are Joe’s own. Watch by Tom Ford.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020. Volume 29, Number 3 Out (ISSN 1062-7928) is published six times a year by Pride Media, P.O. Box 241579, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Telephone: (310) 806-4288. Entire contents © 2020 Pride
Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproductions in whole or in part without express permission of the publisher are strictly prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA, and at additional mailing offices.
Subscription rate: $19.95 per year. Annual subscription rate outside the U.S.: $54, payable in U.S. currency only. Postmaster: Send changes of address to Out magazine, PO Box 2660 New York, NY 10108. Out is distributed
to newsstands by Curtis Circulation Co. Printed in the United States of America.

2 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
S T Y L E 360 A F T ER HOUR S

12
Holiday Spirit These gifts will
101 COCKTAILS
Diamonds Are Forever Why go
warm even the Grinchiest of out to a bar when you can bring
hearts this holiday season. it to you with a little help from
Tiffany’s?

COV E T

17
Classic Ford Designer Tom Ford
102 LATE-NIGHT MOVIE
Bad Hair Day Filmmaker Justin
is helping save the Earth in style. Simien and star Laverne Cox
weave Black hair and horror
together in Bad Hair.

18
The Nas X Factor Lil Nas X and
designer Christian Cowan join
forces for queer Black youth.
104 SWIPED
No More Safe Sex? 2020 was
tough for single queers. Where do
we go from here?
WORL D A IDS DAY

16
The Long Road Reflecting on the
past and future of HIV.
THE RIKER BROTHERS

ABOVE: Out100 cover star WILSON CRUZ

4 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
Diane Anderson-Minshall Chief Executive Officer Joe Valentino Executive Vice President,
and Editorial Director Group Publisher and Corporate Sales
David Artavia Editor in Chief Stuart Brockington Vice President,
Branded Partnerships and Associate Publisher

EDITORIAL ADVERTISING
Mikelle Street Digital Director Ezra Alvarez and Patricia Aguayo
Marco Medrano Grooming & Beauty Editor Executive Directors, Integrated Sales
Neal Broverman Senior Editor Stewart Nacht Senior Director, Ad Operations
Trudy Ring Senior Copy Editor Tiffany Kesden Manager, Ad Operations
Desirée Guerrero Associate Editor
Donald Padgett Assistant Editor BRANDED PARTNERSHIPS
Mey Rude Staff Writer Jamie Tredwell Director, Branded Partnerships
Michael Lombardo Creative Director, Branded
CONTRIBUTORS Partnerships
Alexander Cheves, Matt Bomer Tim Snow Senior Manager, Branded Partnerships
Dean Fryn Junior Manager, Advertising & Branded
ART Partnerships
Raine Bascos Executive Creative Director
Ben Ward Art Director DIGITAL
Christopher Harrity Interactive Art Director Eric Bui Vice President, Technology & Development
Laura Villela Digital Media Manager
PRINT PRODUCTION Christine Linnell Social Media Manager
John Lewis Production Director Javy Rodriguez Social Media Editor
Jacob Anderson-Minshall and Desirée Guerrero
Production Editors CIRCULATION
Argus Galindo Director of Circulation
PRIDE MEDIA EDITORIAL
Tracy E. Gilchrist Editor in Chief, The Advocate FINANCE / ACCOUNTING
John Casey Editor at Large, The Advocate Betsy Skidmore Vice President, Finance
Neal Broverman Editor in Chief, Plus Lorelie Yu Accounts Receivable Controller
and Digital Director, Advocate.com Paulette Kadimyan Accounting Manager
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Out is a registered trademark of Pride Publishing Inc. ©2020 Pride Publishing Inc.
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6 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
A HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO

FOR ITS SUPPORT OF

E D I TO R I A L D I R E CTO R’ S S TAT E M E N T

Hamming it up
with our new
editor in chief,
David Artavia

ON DAVID
Suit by Burberry
FOR A QUEER GIRL IN THE ’90S, Wilson Cruz — who As the first female editorial director
Polo shirt by TY-LR sprang onscreen as sweet gay teen Rickie on My So-Called Life (and perhaps the first Zuni/Choctaw out in
ON DIANE opposite Claire Danes and Jared Leto — was the patron saint LGBTQ+ media), I’ve been thrilled to work
Dress by Stine Goya
of Gen X TV. It was still years before other milestones, before on this year’s Out100 and to introduce our
Ellen Degeneres came out on TV, longer before Buffy the Vampire new editor in chief, David Artavia. My right
Slayer offered up a queer couple, a decade before The Wire hand for the last few years (at The Advocate,
slightly destigmatized being a Black gay man, and a full 25 years Chill, and Plus magazines), David joins
before Pose told the stories of Black and brown LGBTQ+ folks a lofty roster of former editors, from co-
to mainstream audiences. For my friends, Rickie was the first founder and the mag’s first editor in chief,
unabashedly out queer series star our age. When ABC canceled Michael Goff (who hired my brilliant late
My So-Called Life, I joined with legions of disappointed fans who friend, Sarah Pettit, in 1992 as executive
donated money to what became the first internet campaign to editor) to the longest serving editor,
try and keep a TV show airing. I had to forgo lunch for a week to British sophisticate Aaron Hicklin, to
do so. (“It almost worked!” Wilson tells me. ) the short-tenured but impactful Phillip
I was thrilled when we named Wilson Cruz to our annual Picardi. Each editor has felt an obligation
PHOTO BY LUKE FONTANA + ST YLING BY BENJAMIN HOLTROP

Out100 list, a collection of LGBTQ+ trailblazers, artists, to bring queer stories to the forefront so
leaders, and creatives who have used their talent and voices we can celebrate them and inspire the next
to influence change and visibility in the last year. He joins our generation. David will fit perfectly in that
other brilliant cover stars: Janaya Khan, Janelle Monáe, and tradition and bring his own innovations to
Joe Mantello, each amazing in their own right. And there are the magazine in 2021 and beyond. I’ll still
94 others inside, from 15-year-old trans musician Flyn Sant be here, shepherding this brand I love, but
(Flowerkid) to 99-year-old WWII veteran pilot Robina Asti. magazines — as our culture’s ultimate
Now more than ever, it’s important to highlight the storytellers — thrive on change and
monumental achievements the LGBTQ+ community has made innovation and editors who listen to what
against the backdrop of a giant cultural shift and an evolving readers really want to see in these pages.
landscape of entertainment, politics, social justice, industry, We both promise to listen in 2021.
and so much more. This list is critical. Before I was in charge
of Out, I long dreamed of making it on the list myself. I never DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL
did but it still pushed me to do better. CEO & Editorial Director

8 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ESCAPE
TO THE NEW
QUEER OASIS
IT’S DIFFICULT TO FIND THE BEST WORDS TO DESCRIBE
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE: a large town with a historic UNESCO
World Heritage site; a small city with a rich, artistic culture that
is found in everything from its impressive architecture to its
coveted gastronomy scene; a place that boasts one of the most
eclectic communities of diverse expats and locals in the world.
Whether you’re looking for a classic bar scene or want to day trip
with your partner (or partners), San Miguel is a city of openness
that accommodates LGBTQ+ travelers with optimism. Since most of
the expat community consists of artists and those who are heavily
influenced by them, everything from interior design to leisurely
walks around San Miguel is as alluring and quaint as the people
you will see throughout the cobblestone streets. As San Miguel PHOTOGRAPHY BY KENNETH R. ARRIETA FRAGOSO @RAFAELGRIGON
Pride grows each year in early July, queer travelers are able to
soak in San Miguel’s rich history and activities that accommodate
honeymooners and LGBTQ+ singles alike from mezcal tastings to
horseback riding. Whether you would like to visit San Miguel for a
Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebration full of go-getter travelers
and dazzling fireworks or for a summer escape to find inspiration in
an artist’s retreat, San Miguel is a unique and enigmatic destination
that is sure to capture your attention in the best possible way.
San Miguel isn’t just the bona fide cultural LGBTQ+ oasis that’s on
the rise—it’s a dreamy destination that is sure to have you longing
for authentic escape once again. So, what are you waiting for? ¡Visit
San Miguel as soon as you get the chance, quench that thirst, and be
a part of the SMA cultura with us, bébé!

Check out the rest of this article

at Out.com/SanMiguel
 C O N T R I B U TO R S

THE TEAM
Out November/December 2020
ALL FOUR OUT100 COVERS

MATT BOMER
Matt Bomer is a beloved and celebrated actor
known for his roles in television, stage, and
film. Starring in USA’s White Collar elevated
him to the A-List and since then, he’s
appeared in shows like Glee, American Horror MEY RUDE
Story, Doom Patrol, and The Sinner. He’s also Our new staff writer, Mey Rude, joined just
had acclaimed roles in films like the Magic in time for the Out100 (page 26). A lesbian,
Mike franchise, Ryan Murphy’s The Normal Latina, trans woman from Idaho, Rude is
Heart, and Netflix’s The Boys in the Band (he now living her West Coast dreams in Los
also starred in the 2018 Broadway revival of Angeles. She’s been writing about queer and
the latter). Bomer is a proud LGBTQ+ rights trans issues and pop culture for seven years
activist, and lives with his husband Simon and hopes to do it for 70 more. Aside from
Halls and their three children in Los Angeles. writing, Mey loves to cook for her friends,
In this issue, he pays tribute to writer, enjoy her terrible taste in music, worship
activist, and icon Larry Kramer, who died in Mexican folk saints and spend time with her
two girlfriends. If she could tell you just one

BRIAN BOWEN SMITH (BOMER); COURTESY SUBJECT (RUDE); JON DEAN (CHEVES)
May (page 99). @mattbomer
thing, it would be, “Bless.” @meyrude

ALEXANDER CHEVES
Alexander Cheves is a writer, editor,
copywriter, freelance illustrator, and sex
educator living in New York City. His work
has appeared in Plus, VICE, Them, The Body,
Hornet Stories, and many other publications.
In 2016, he launched the sex column “Sexy
Beast” in our sister publication, The Advocate.
He recently signed a two-book deal with
Unbound Edition Press, the first of which is
a collection of essays set to be released this
fall. In this issue, the author writes about
the nuances of dating, cruising, and digital
connection against the backdrop of the
pandemic (page 104). @BadAlexCheves

10 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
20 Lux
Holiday Gifts
You Should
Buy & Keep
IF YOU CAN STILL AFFORD IT AFTER
THIS YEAR, THEN TREAT YOURSELF
FIRST TO ONE OF THESE.

By Marco Medrano &

Diane Anderson-Minshall
 STYLE360 / HOLIDAY GIFTS

Ray-Ban goes queer with the latest edition of Ray-Ban Studios (their
series of limited edition music-inspired product collaborations), this
time with DJ Patrick Mason, who co-created the brand’s first custom
made product. This reinvention of the State Street model taken from the
Ray-Ban archives comes from Mason, the influential club kid, DJ, artist,
and half of SRVD (the band inspired by New York’s vogue scene), who’s
at the forefront of Berlin’s dance music, fashion, art, music, and LGBTQ+
scene. Inspired by “oblivion and the creation of the universe,” according
to Mason (left), his design includes obsidian black upper and amber lower
frame, lightly mirrored photochromatic lenses, magnetic balls at the
temples (with an oversized link chain) and an egg-shaped packaging. This
limited edition may be sold out by the time you read this (hello, eBay!)
but you can still get the original inspiration, the Ray-Ban Statestreet,
(above) which is nearly as sweet and easier on the wallet. (Mason’s pair:
$516, DoverStreetMarket.com; Statestreet: $215, ray-ban.com)
Kick it with our favorite new shoes (from top) like these
gorgeous winter-ready chunky DKNY oxfords ($169,
DonnaKaran.com). The must-have for well-heeled shoe
lovers (like this Tasca Camouflage Hair Calf Slip On
Pocket Loafer) comes from Mark
Schwartz Shoes for Men ($595,
markschwartzmensshoes.com).
Or walk the talk with these Yellow
Rage ZR V2 Urban Combat X9X
($89, mensluxuryboutique.com),
where cobbler couture meets
combat in the world of
sneaker must-haves.

Suit up and keep it warm this

season with a statement for
you — this classic but modern
Redemption Trench — and a
Vince Cable Knit Sweater for
your fur babe. Why can’t canines
wear cashmere, too? ($1,780,
redemption.com; $125, vince.com)
S T Y L E360 / HOL IDAY GIF T S

Even if they weren’t a financial supporter of LGBTQ+ media like

Out, we’d be gagging for the open-air exhilaration of the Lexus
2021 LC Convertible Inspiration, especially the limited edi-
tion with the bespoke Amalfi white leather–trimmed seats, the
13-speaker surround sound, heated steering wheel, climate “con-
cierge” upper body heating, SmartAccess card key — and the
bonus Zero Halliburton travel case set (and in case you were won-
dering: yes, you can buy the car and have Lexus send someone else
the travel case as a gift). ($120,000, lexus.com)
The Zeno Bench Pro with Squat Board is answering the call to
our new normal of homebound circuit training. Compact, chic,
This Rad Runner 1
tough and effective — without having to assemble
Electric Utility Bike
industrial-size steel gym parts — this is the fitness partner we
gets cruising 45 miles
needed. ($799, zenogym.com)
per hour — and has
330 optional accessory
combinations, including
a Passenger Package and
Center Console, so you
can accessorize to your
heart’s content. ($1,200, Freeee your minnnnnd…and the rest will follow! Powermask by
radpowerbikes.com) Silent Mode is a sturdy, true-blackout luxury headband that pro-
motes power naps, deeper sleep, mental fitness, and meditative
exercises via the acclaimed Breathonics App. This game changer
can take your everyday music to supersonic or your entire psyche
to another level — and a new you. ($179, silentmode.com)

ALL PRODUCTS COURTESY MAKERS (PAGES 12-15)

Can’t leave the house? The monthly membership (games, features,

integrations, and real-time feedback) and the craftsman
aesthetics make Ergatta much more impressive than traditional
rowing machines. And when the gorgeous cherry wood machine
is closed it looks like something you’d want to display in your front
room instead of hiding in your closet. ($2,199 + $29 monthly
membership, ergatta.com)

14 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 STYLE360 / HOLIDAY GIFTS

Bulldog Skincare For Men could actually Pasta & Love (shave + protect) by Davines MANTL has men learning to “embrace
be, in fact, man’s best friend (sorry, Spot). is your assurance that pure, rare, old-world the bald” with amazing skin. With Aloe
This miraculous product proves that “pure ingredients also are super hip. One of the Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Retinyl, and
and natural” can still be tough on wrinkles most emollient-based, professional luxury Squalane (olive) under the hood, their
and aging. Each range of Bulldog’s offerings lines is also known for its exceptional streamlined regimen with disappearing
focuses on normal, sensitive, oily, or mature “scentsory” nirvana. ($30, amazon.com) SPF is enhanced by their beautiful holiday
skin with ingredients that include willow box set. ($27 and up, mantl.co)
bark, aloe, juniper, and baobab. The large-
sized soaps and amazing smelling body
washes make Bulldog a no-brainer. (from Boy does the House of MOSCHINO ever
$13.99, bulldogskincare.com) deliver. Playful. Exotic. Elegant. With
top notes of Italian Bergamot, TOY BOY
Eau De Parfum Spray for men (left) hits
a home run here with a waft of clove buds
and a vetiver base. No question about it:
This very sophisticated parfum is next-level
great and it’s also housed in a memorable
collector’s item teddy bear carafe.
(from $82, sephora.com)

The formulating chemists SELF/ish (left)

are renowned and trusted, the packaging is
minimal, and their proprietary Active Acid
Complex gives your skin a punch of Vitamin
A, B, C, E, and F. SELF/ish’s Exfoliating Pads
and Face Scrub set the ingredients stage for
all the good stuff and none of the bad. Done.
($38 and up, selfishskin.com)

SkinBetter is a medically derived problem

solver for those with mature skin and/or
constant correcting of spots, sagging and
Jack Black has managed to make state-of-the-art skin science playful, results-oriented those approaching “regeneration slow-
and manly—with advanced hero products such as Power Peel Pads, CBD + HA Serum, down.” SkinBetter is a refined, compact,
Nighttime BAK-up Retinol Alternative and Dry Erase Ultra-Calming Face Cream potent product line that allows for luxury
(perfect for rough winter skin). Regardless of your age, there’s a cream, serum or body and simplicity. ($125 and up, skinbetter.com)
cleanser that can take you from the gym to a black-tie soirée. And Jack Black’s holiday gift
pack selections are epic. (Prices vary, getjackblack.com)

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 15
 THE ADVOCATE’S INTERVIEW
PODCAST IS HERE.

FEATURiNG
PETE BUTTiGiEG,
LAVERNE COX,
SHEA COULEé,
ROXANE GAY,
JAKE SHEARS,
AND MORE.

LiSTEN TO LGBTQ&A ON APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTiFY & STiTCHER.

@lgbtqpod
 STYLE360 / COVET

Luxury
Meets
Sustainability
TKTK Travel safely — but make it fashion.

Shop for the holidays with purpose.

The Tom Ford Ocean Plastic Timepiece ($995) is the first
luxury watch with components made of 100 percent ocean
plastic. With every watch sold, the equivalent of 35 bottles
of plastic waste is removed from our oceans. It comes in
three additional strap colors for spring in addition to the
current black and is in recyclable packaging.
“Our products are not meant to be thrown away; they
are made to hold onto. Our products are of the highest
quality and are produced in factories where the workers
enjoy excellent working conditions, benefits, and holidays.
Our products are timeless. Our customers hold on to our
products for years and when they no longer want them,
they go on to vintage resale shops where they often
actually sell for more than their original prices. I feel it is my
responsibility as a designer to provide the customer with
luxury pieces that last and endure.” —Tom Ford

Photography by Luke Fontana

Modeled and styled by Benjamin Holtrop

Find your timepiece at TomFord.com

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 17
S T Y L E360 / COV E T

Just Friends: Lil Nas X

+ Christian Cowan
When the U.K.-based designer and rapper broke the internet with their trailblazing fashion collab
at the 2019 VMAs, everyone wanted more. Now they’re giving it to us in a new punk-infused Spring
2021 collection that benefits Black queer youth in Atlanta — and they brought a few other A-listers
for the ride. The two creative pals recently talked shop with us about their own inspirations and how
they incorporate their unique points of view into their daily style.

By David Artavia Photography by Vijat Mohindra

18 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 STYLE360 / COVET

Opposite (from left):

Rachel Cargle, Hanne
Gaby Odiele, and Violet
Chachki. Above: Lil Nas X
showing off his guns.

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 19
S T Y L E360 / COV E T

Above: Lil Nas X (pink) and

Christian Cowan (gold) took cues
from queer iconography. Opposite:
Marc Jacobs and Heidi Klum

20 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 STYLE360 / COVET

Out: This collection is so much fun. How did you use this moment to do something for our out of my comfort zone, you know, day by
begin the creative process? community, you know? I wanted to give back day. Th ere’s a lot more to go. I feel like last
Christian Cowan: We first collaborated to the Black trans community and I feel like year was a big part of that — the past couple
at the 2019 Video Music Awards and it was this was the perfect time to do it. It’s two years themselves — and you know, getting
sick. Th en when it came to Fashion Week, I people that are big in the community coming involved with the [LGBTQ+] community and
wanted to do a collab with someone. It had together and doing this. being more comfortable with myself and not
to be Lil Nas, because I’m so inspired by so Cowan: I was a weird kid in the middle of the being afraid to try new things. It’s easy to
much that you do. You’re not only blending countryside in England and didn’t fit in. Then say, but once you actually face it, it’s much
these music genres but you’re also a proud when we fl ed to London when I was 16, my harder, especially when you have all these
trailblazer, which is everything we live for. It trans brothers and sisters are the ones who eyes watching. For a long time, I was a people
felt very natural on my end, and then we just made me feel celebrated and fab. It’s always pleaser. I wanted to make sure everybody
created. I felt like we didn’t hold back and we been an important cause for us. was comfortable. But, you know, I’m getting
had you in pink glitter and just serving all the rid of that.
different fantasies. Have you always been this free in expressing Cowan: I totally relate to the people pleaser
Lil Nas X: 100 [percent]. I feel like with yourselves through fashion and art? part. I used to be so on it to make everyone
the shoot, it wasn’t super held back. I hate Cowan: I was always super weird. I could around me feel comfortable. As soon as I was
when everything is all held back. Everything never work out how to fi t in, so I think it’s like, I don’t give a fuck, I’ve just been so much
came together, it was super exciting, and really important for role models — and happier and doing my thing. And I’ve been
things were fun and eye-catching. It was a I don’t feel like a role model — to just be way more successful because of it.
fun process. It had an amazing cause. It was unapologetically themselves and to not try
something I was super happy to be a part of. and blend and fit into something else. Nas Th e universe seems to reward people for being
is the perfect example of that within music. themselves, right? People are attracted to
Proceeds from the collection will benefit Black Th en for me, I’ve never really followed the authenticity and genuineness, so in a way your
queer youth in Atlanta via the Loveland path within fashion that most follow.… It’s audience finds you as a result.
Foundation, a nonprofit founded by activist about taking my own road. I’ve just always Nas: 100.
Rachel Cargle. been a bit funky. Cowan: Also, they’re attracted to that
Nas: Yeah. Th at was part of the discussion Nas: On my side, this is still a growing uniqueness and they find it endearing as
early on. It was like, OK, we could definitely process for me. I’m still 100 percent stepping well. I think people just love someone who

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 21
S T Y L E360 / COV E T

just marches to the beat of their own drum. And I feel like she really inspired everyone If we were to sneak inside your closets, what do
It’s a cheesy saying, but it’s true. within a certain age group because she was you think would surprise us most?
Nas: Yeah, it’s [about] inspiring them. It the sickest thing that was around. Cowan: People would be surprised by the
makes them be like, OK, maybe I should different array of gold chains I own. Th ere’s
do this. It’s working out well for them so I How would you describe your personal style? quite a large selection. But there’s also
should be more myself too. Cowan: I play characters. In the day, I’m embarrassing shit. I buy shit I never intend
like, Do I want to be ’50s suburban? Or do I on wearing just because I think it’s awesome.
Who are your fashion and musical inspirations ? want to be ’80s, like, tight black everything? If you go in my wardrobe now — I came to
Nas: As of now, I like the more wild side There’s always a different character, and that England in March and then they shut the
of fashion. Gaga, of course, you know, makes my day so much more interesting borders to America so I couldn’t come back
she’s crazy. I feel like, in my own opinion, because you can kind of act into it a bit more. — I got a closet that is two weeks’ worth of
nobody’s done it as crazy as her. Like, Some days, I’m way more fem and fabulous, clothes from L.A. So, it’s winter in England
Michael [Jackson]. He’s incredible. Rihanna, and then other days, I’m super preppy. I just and all I got are shorts.
of course. No brainer. On the fashion side, I’d play around. It isn’t really one thing. I love
say those are my top three. gold jewelry! That’s one thing that stays. Nas, the 2019 Video Music Awards solidified
Cowan: My top three: John Galliano was Nas: I say the exact same thing. I really like your status as a fashion icon. You channeled
my everything growing up — didn’t agree to play different characters. I like to jump Prince in such a beautiful way.
with some of the personal statements he into whatever I’m feeling at that moment, you Nas: Yeah. That was the moment people
made, but as a fashion figure, it was just the know? And it’s very experimental. started paying attention to what I was
pinnacle of what fashion has ever been. And wearing. Definitely.
Gareth Pugh, at the time, was everything to It’s all about never repeating the same day twice. Cowan: I think the look was so iconic
me. And then Gaga…I was like 13 when Gaga Nas: I agree. because (a) it was fabulous and Nas looked
came onto the scene and that shit blew my Cowan: Honestly, RuPaul spoke the wisest amazing in it. But also, I think people live
mind. I remember being in the countryside words: “You’re born naked and the rest is for Prince and we all miss Prince, and to
watching the “Alejandro” music video on drag.” Like, every day is basically drag. You bring that energy back.... Prince is loved by
repeat being like, This is the sickest shit can just make up whatever you want to be. everyone.
I’ve ever seen. She completely inspired me. It’s such a better way to look at life.

22 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 STYLE360 / COVET

“For a
long time,
I was a
people
How have your friendship and creative ventures
together evolved since that time?
pleaser.
Cowan: Nas is quite similar to me. I’m not a I wanted
texter. I drop in every now and then, and then
there’s a lull, or a funny thing [happens], and to make sure
then we talk about something else. I’m a very everybody
sporadic friend. I disappear for quite some time.
I think that’s just something with busy people. was
But then the other problem was, during all of
this, I was stuck in the U.K., so I couldn’t be
comfortable.
there. Th is [collaboration] has all been through But, you
Facetime and Zoom and all that shit, so it’s been
kind of, I don’t know, digital.
know, I’m
getting rid
How have y’all been handling digital collaborations
amid lockdown?
of that...”
Nas: It hasn’t been too bad for me. It could have — Lil Nas X
been worse. You can do things in the comfort of
your own home, so that’s great.
Cowan: Well, I’m legit wearing a top and boxers
right now. Life is great! I’m super comfy. Opposite (from left): Helena
Christensen, Khadijha Red
Thunder, Gus Kenworthy, Jari
Jones. This page: Isis King,
Nas, and Amanda Lepore.
Sho p this collection at christiancowan.com. All models are adorned in
Learn more about The Loveland Foundation at Christian Cowan’s Spring 2021
thelovelandfoundation.org. collection, which Nas also
helped visualize.

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 23
 THE 26TH ANNUAL

26 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
BY DAVID ARTAVIA, JACOB ANDERSON-MINSHALL, DESIRÉE GUERRERO,
DONALD PADGETT, MEY RUDE, DANIEL REYNOLDS, TRUDY RING,
JEFFREY MASTERS, TAYLOR HENDERSON, DEAN FRYN, JAVY RODRIGUEZ,
JOHN CASEY, TRACY E. GILCRHIST, NEAL BROVERMAN, JACOB OGLES, AND
DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL.

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 27
WILSON
Actor & Stargazer
CRUZ
Wilson Cruz is fresh off a Zoom call with the cast of like to have literally a second lease on life. When
the 1990s cult hit My So-Called Life. “They’re part you’re given a second chance, I think, you say, what
of my chosen family,” he explains of his costars. wasn’t working before? How can I live and create the
The Gen-X cast (including Claire Danes and Jared kind of life that I always wanted now that I’ve been
Leto) and particularly Wilson’s character, Rickie, given a chance to do it?”
continue to resonate with fans a quarter of a century For Dr. Culber, that involves stepping into a
after he became the first out gay actor to play an out leadership role and caring for the crew, especially in
gay leading character on TV (in the U.S. at least). moments of crisis. It’s a blend of strength and empathy
“The whole point of that role was so that people that Cruz wishes we saw more of in the Trump
could see themselves and own how beautiful their administration. “We need to be able to be strong
lives could be,” he says, adding that what he took because we have to be resilient… [but] the only way
from that role was literally his character’s arc: “I’m that we’re resilient is if we’re vulnerable as well.”
enough just as I am. I spent so much time, if you After the second presidential debate, Cruz
want to get honest, trying to make up for what I tweeted that Trump was “a white supremacist
thought was broken as a teenager, to please people who has no empathy for over 200,000 dead or the
and make up for the shame that I was carrying children he’s locked up. 500 whose parents are lost
around about being a gay boy.” forever.”
Now, Cruz has brought Ricky’s lesson — and the The reality of that still chokes him up. “There are
self confidence the veteran actor personally gained 500 kids at the border right now who will never see
over the years appearing on dozens of TV shows their parents again.” He pauses to let that sink in.
(including Noah’s Arc) and serving a leadership role “Someone said yesterday, ‘I’m not a parent, but I’ve
at GLAAD — to Dr. Hugh Culber on the queerest taken care of my nieces and nephews. If I have lost
Star Trek yet. (Trans actor Ian Alexander and non- one of them for 10 minutes, for 10 minutes, I would
binary artist Blu del Barrio join queers Cruz, Tig be uncontrollable, inconsolable.’ What world are we
Notaro, and showrunner Michele Paradise.) living in where we allow 500 children to go without
The Black, gay, Latinx activist can’t help but their families? In the name of what?”
compare the Star Trek: Discovery universe, 1,000 Cruz is hopeful that the past four years, and those
years in the future, with America today. “I have to children’s trauma, haven’t been in vain. “I hope
tell you — and it’s going to sound corny — it’s about that…we better understand how connected we are
how Star Trek makes me look at the world. Because and how much we need each other. That we spent so
in order for any of us to play these roles as people much time and so much wasted energy on the ways
of color on this show, we have to imagine who we that we’re different and divided. That we could have
would be and what our lives would be if we were used that energy to find common ground and get to
allowed to live up to our potential because we aren’t work on these issues that have kept us apart for the
dealing with all of the ‘isms’ that are obstacles in entire history of our country.”
our lives.” He hopes his legacy will also be part of that healing,
After spending all day in that world, Cruz says, one in which he used “whatever talent and ability I
“You leave work wanting to figure out ways to make had to tell the story of my community so that people
our world a bit closer to that one.” would see us for the life-affirming, love-expanding
After reading the book Caste, what he realized “is community that we are, as opposed to the decades
that we’ve done this to ourselves. Nobody did this of misinformation and lies that were told about us.”
to us. We chose to dismiss the humanity of other He admits he uses television “to invite people in so
members of our own species. We’ve chosen to do they actually know us. And if they know us, they’ll
that. And we have to find a way to un-choose that.” understand us. And if they can understand, they’ll
The challenge for Cruz on the third season of accept us and celebrate us. And that’s all any of us
Discovery “has been to imagine what it would be want.” —DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL

28 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
Photography by
The Riker Brothers @rikerbrothers

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 29
Photography by Danielle Levitt @daniellelevitt
Styled by Sean Knight @seanknight
Hair: Vernon Francois at The Visionaries Agency @vernonfrancois
Makeup: Jessica Smalls at The Wall Group @jessicasmalls
Prop stylist: Carl Hopgood at Celestine Agency @carlhopgood
Nails: Sreynin Peng @sreyninpeng
Production: The Pull Inc @thepullinc

Earrings: Alison Lou

Coat: Helmut Lang
Hat: Stetson
Shoes: Kenneth Cole

30 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
JANELLE MONÁE
Artist, Activist & Icon
“The table ‘bout to turn,” Janelle Monáe decrees the people tearing it down...to see something
in her recent anthem “Turntables.” The video new. ‘Turntables’ is just adding energy to the
features Monáe clad in ‘40s neo-military garb movement. There’s a lot of fatigue emotionally
while archival images of civil rights battles around protesting, around going online and
converge with modern-day Black Lives Matter asking people to vote, or asking people to sign a
protests, illuminating the through-line from petition. There’s fatigue that happens, but we’re
the past to the present. History repeats, but in not giving up.”
“Turntables,” Monáe declares, “We kicking out To fight that fatigue, Monáe would like the
the old regime.” narrative about Black experiences to include more
At a time when so many artists were sidelined, joy. She’s ready for stories that have yet to be told.
Monáe’s timely projects kept coming. In May, “My hope is that we can continue to showcase
she starred in the acclaimed second season of the spectrum of storytelling around Black voices
Homecoming as a queer military veteran caught and around Black human beings, stories that
up in a sinister deal between big pharma and the humanize us. We can go beyond trauma, showing
U.S. government. The modern horror Antebellum how powerful we are as Black people to persevere
(released in September) starred Monáe as an through trauma. I’m ready to see us in the past,
empowerment author terrorized by America’s the present, the future truly experiencing joy on
continued refusal to reckon with its roots in white screen and what it means to just exist.”
supremacy. She also appeared as the legendary While Monáe proclaimed her identity as a
activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes in The Glorias. “Black queer artist” on the Oscars’ stage earlier
But it was in early February, just before 2020 this year, she first gave an interview about her
went sideways, when Monáe set a mood. identity in 2018.
“I’m so proud to stand here as a Black queer “I knew because of my art, I would have to talk
artist telling stories,” Monáe said on the Academy about these things,” she says. “So that put more
Awards’ stage. She was in the middle of singing pressure on me. The most important thing was
“Come Alive,” from 2010’s The ArchAndroid me having conversations with my family. It was
when she made the declaration. She’d already important that my family be reintroduced, not
captivated the audience when she entered, to the little girl they grew up knowing that they
donning a cardigan reminiscent of Fred Rogers called ‘pumpkin’ or they knew was into this or
and singing the theme song from his beloved kids’ into that, but they knew who I was today — that
show, before launching into a meteoric rendition they knew that I was a free-ass motherfucker.”
of Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” with Pose’s Still, not all subjects are up for public scrutiny.
Billy Porter. “I don’t talk about who I’m dating. That’s not
The five-minute-plus performance was anybody’s business,” she says. “There are certain
a masterclass in artistry and empathy. She things that I feel artists, human beings should not
shouted out to Black History Month, the queer feel pressured to talk about.”
community, and women directors the Academy That notion of respecting a person’s public and
voters snubbed. But as Monáe tells it, “I don’t private life extends to others, and Monáe would
think I did anything super unique.” like to see us moving away from a focus on public
“[There are] so many people who have graced announcements of personal truths. “[Something]
stages, who are out protesting and who are I identify with more than ever is the concept of
fighting to have their voices heard. I just happened coming in — and people coming into your life
to have a mic,” Monáe says. “To get on that stage — and not coming out. I think there’s so much
and do anything other than that, would not have pressure put on people that can’t afford to announce
felt right to my spirit.” to the world that, ‘I am queer’ or ‘I’m gay.’”
While the pandemic pressed pause, Monáe’s Monáe hopes that when people “talk about
finely-crafted, perfectly-timed, culturally- their sexuality and being queer, being gay, or being
essential projects kept the world turning. “We are who they are, they can talk about it, not out of fear,
in the middle of watching tables turn, boomerangs but out of love and celebration for who they are. If
booming back, and the rooster coming home to people look at me as that beacon of hope, that’s
roost,” she says. “White supremacy and racism, great, but I always tell people don’t feel any
and those who abuse their power, we’re seeing pressure to be me. Take your time.”
— TRACY E. GILCHRIST

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 31
JANAYA KHAN
Activist & Organizer
As cofounder of Black Lives Matter Canada, a Khan has also been vocal about their queer,
program director for racial justice organization nonbinary identity and their thoughts on
Color of Change, and speaker for the Keppler coming out or exactly what being “out” entails.
Speakers Bureau, Janaya “Future” Khan has “Saying I’m queer, I’m trans, nonbinary, sure,
emerged as one of today’s most influential is a part of it,” Khan says. “But really, what it is, is
leaders of the Black liberation movement. I am no longer going to live in fear. I’m going to
In an essay Khan recently penned for Time, live in power…. And I think that’s what we need
the queer, nonbinary artist and author writes, more people to understand, really, everyone, is
“Activism is being for someone else who you that it’s time for everyone to come across.”
needed most in your most vulnerable moment.” Khan, who is also an amateur competitive
Khan reflects on a difficult period in their own boxer as well as a burgeoning fashion muse,
life when they witnessed the power of this thanks to their effortlessly cool style sense,
concept in action. explains how our personal identities are directly
“I didn’t know that it was activism.I only connected to the state of the world. Our
knew that it was care. I only knew that it was strength as individuals has a direct correlation
kindness,” Khan says of a time in their early to the dismantling of evil and unjust systems,
teens when they and their family resided in a Khan says.
women’s shelter. They explain how the women “Identity can and should be an entry point
there would go out of their way to protect and into movement,” they say. “I understand that
support them — even pretending to be “aunties” Black liberation, for example, is integral to the
when answering the shelter phone to help Khan liberation of all people. And so I believe that
and their sister avoid embarrassment. identity can actually be our entry point into
“At a certain point, those women caught movements, but it shouldn’t be our exit point. I
on,” says the Toronto native who’s now based believe that our exit point should be informed
in Los Angeles. “They started to call themselves by shared values and by our belief system —
our aunties as well…. A lot of them were fleeing because we’re not fighting an administration….
domestic abuse, dealing with poverty, and many What we’re fighting is a belief system.
other societal elements and ills — and here they “When you look at some of the legislation
are carving out time for this 13-year-old that that’s being used to attack trans people and
needed more care. Taking me with them to the particularly trans women, it’s the same language
store for walks, just to give me a little talking that was used to keep Black people out of public
to, just to give me a little bit more attention…. spaces [during segregation]…. They really don’t
So that fundamentally rearranged how I saw have to recreate new ways to oppress us; they
people showing up for each other. These were just recycle them.”
poor women, white women, Black women, East Though Khan admits that 2020 has certainly
Asian women…. Th is house was full of people been difficult and exhausting for activists, they
who had been left behind — and refused to say the progress made keeps them motivated
leave anyone else behind as a result. And that and focused on the ultimate goal.
stayed with me; it taught me what advocacy “At varying times throughout the day,
could look like.” everything feels possible,” Khan says. “And then
Khan, who is married to BLM cofounder at other times, winning seems impossible in our
Patrisse Cullors, has an amazing gift for lifetime . And then I remind myself, at the risk
speaking — and somehow manages to inject of losing myself again, that losing this fight is so
an inspiring dose of Zen positivity into a much greater than any risk that’s presented by
movement packed with trauma and pain. In this administration, by the ilk….”
addition to their ability to uplift folx at the Khan doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.
darkest of times, Khan is also masterful at “We fought so hard to be here, especially
explaining abstract ideas and complex systems as the queer and trans community, and I’ll be
in terms anyone can understand. To illustrate damned if we lose ground because some people
this point, just check out Khan’s YouTube have temporarily out-resourced us.”
video on defunding the police, in which they —DESIRÉE GUERRERO
break down the problems with our current law
enforcement and prison systems — and gives Photography by Nabil Elderkin
concrete solutions for changing them — in @nabil
about two and a half minutes.

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OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 33
Photography by Luke Fontana @lukefontana
Hair by Adrien Alcantar @adrianalcantar_
Styled by Max Cadillac @itsmaxcadillac
Suit: Topman
Shirt/Shoes: Joe’s own
Watch: Tom Ford
Sunglasses: Raen
 JOE MANTELLO
Actor & Director
It’s a typical Hollywood story. A bright-eyed exponentially larger than that of a tight black-box
young man from Rockford, Ill., makes it to theater. It felt too far-reaching for the New York
Los Angeles with high hopes, big dreams, and theater artist. That is, until Ryan Murphy offered
the talent to take him all the way to the top. him his role in Hollywood.
Not everyone can say they’ve had two huge “I was a little baffled by it,” he says humbly.
blockbusters in a single summer, but if you know “But you know, when you’re around Ryan long
Joe Mantello’s backstory, you’ll know the actor enough, you learn to trust his instincts. He’s
and director is no overnight success. got an impeccable eye. The main reason I did it
Mantello’s body of work in theater over the was because he thought I could do it. That’s an
last two decades is nothing short of legendary. incredible gift for someone to give you.”
His award-winning performance as Louis Working on a long-form miniseries is different
Ironson in the original Broadway cast of Tony from working on a film or episodic television,
Kushner’s Angels in America, a two-part play which Mantello quickly learned. “We didn’t
about HIV in 1980s New York City, is still have an arc of a season to look to, and so in the
revered and discussed in acting classes across early scripts, I was really kind of thrown and I
the country. Of course, acting in the play was a just kept saying to [Murphy], ‘I think you’ve got
prelude to what ultimately became a long and the wrong person. I don’t know how to do this.
rewarding directing career. Let me give you the names of people who would
The director’s résumé includes the original do better,’” he quips. “And because he said, ‘No,
Broadway productions of Terrence McNally’s no, no. I’m writing this for you’ and ‘There is an
Love! Valour! Compassion! and Frankie and arc to it’ and ‘You’re going to get there, but you
Johnny in the Clair de Lune, the smash musicals have to trust me. Where we’re starting may be
Wicked and 9 to 5, the film adaptation of Larry uncomfortable for you, but I know where I’m
Kramer’s play The Normal Heart, in which he taking it.’ Then he said the Carrie Fisher quote:
also starred on Broadway, and much more. ‘Instant gratification takes too long.’ Then I was
This year, Mantello entered the world of like, OK. I trusted him.”
television, which he admits is still “unknown Without a doubt, Mantello, a lapsed Catholic,
territory,” in a big way, giving a breathtaking seems to always find himself in the right place at
performance in Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood as a the right time. His curiosity and moral compass
closeted gay studio executive who slowly comes have placed him alongside some of the most
to terms with his sexuality. He also directed groundbreaking artists of the 20th century,
Netflix’s film of Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking including McNally and Crowley, both of whom
play The Boys in the Band, about a group of gay died this year. He smiles remembering the night
and bisexual men who gather for a birthday party he witnessed Crowley accept the Tony Award for
where bitchy quips explode and emotions collide. Best Revival of a Play for The Boys in the Band, a
The film stars the original cast of the 2018 work that over the course of 50 years has divided
Broadway revival, which Mantello also directed. the LGBTQ+ community over its portrayal of gay
Even as a young actor, Mantello had a people. For the director, it was a reminder “to not
director’s eye. “I don’t know that I would have get caught up” in what society’s initial response
called it that at the time,” he reflects. “There is, adding that “we live in a world where everyone
was always this sensibility that was outside feels compelled to have an immediate response.
of myself, that was looking at the whole and That doesn’t take into account humility.”
concerned about the whole, which was not As out LGBTQ+ people in Hollywood solidify
my job.” Still, for the sake of professionalism, their place in front of and behind the camera,
he chose to keep his “silent opinions” about Mantello once again is right where he belongs.
costumes and sets to himself. “When you have a platform like Netflix that
Great directors like George C. Wolfe, who has an international reach, you offer a story like
directed both parts of Angels in America, were The Boys in the Band to people who live in New
more receptive to Mantello’s opinions than York, Chicago, Los Angeles,” he says. “If you live
others. “I think we’re very different directors,” in a country or come from a religious community
he says of Wolfe, who encouraged him to take that still has issues [with accepting LGBTQ+
the leap into directing, “but there were certain people], the story has an enormous impact on your
things he did, that he gave to us as actors, real life. I know that when I was growing up, if I
that were significant and meaningful. I’ve had seen nine out gay actors in a movie, it would
carried them with me.” Still, Hollywood is a have accelerated my own [coming-out] process.
long way from Manhattan, and its audience is — DAVID ARTAVIA

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 35
 ALL STARS

THOMAS BEATTIE BILLY BEAN ERIN PARISI QUINN

Athlete & Entrepreneur Retired MLB Professional Explorer and Highpointer Soccer Player
“Since coming out I have had the Billy Bean has been hitting Erin Parisi is on a quest to be Quinn is the type of player you
opportunity to speak publicly homeruns all his life. The the first transgender woman to want on your team. Tough.
on the importance of LGBTQ+ only living out gay person to climb the Seven Summits, the Smart. Unyielding in pursuit of
equality and inclusion in have played Major League name given to the highest peak victory. So rather than accept the
professional football and sports Baseball retired in 1995 before on each continent. Summiting lack of trans visibility in their
at-large,” says Thomas Beattie, returning to the game in 2014, all seven is a brutal feat, first sport of soccer, they came out this
who made history earlier this when he was selected as the accomplished in 1985. Before year “to increase representation
year when he became the second league’s inaugural ambassador she transitioned, Parisi bagged of trans athletes in sports and
professional soccer player from for inclusion. He’s now vice Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro. to further engage in trans
the United Kingdom to come president and special assistant Now she’s reconquering the advocacy.” They also saw the
out. Since an injury forced him to the Baseball Commissioner, mountain once again. Next up is need to provide identifiable role
to retire, the brawny athlete working to make the league more the dangerous Himalayan peak models for young trans athletes.
has been living in Singapore, welcoming for queer athletes. of Mt. Everest. She’ll be climbing “Growing up,” they say, “I didn’t
where he’s created companies “I’m proud of MLB’s unwavering not just to reach the top but also see someone who identified as I
COURTESY (BEATTIE, QUINN); COURTESY MLB (BEAN); WYNN WILEY ( PARISI)

that span sectors from health to commitment to supporting and to inspire others within the trans did in the career that I wanted to
mobile technology, real estate promoting LGBTQ inclusion community to conquer their own pursue and so I hope through my
development to e-commerce. and acceptance,” Bean says. personal summits. “We empower representation young folks can
“This year has been one of the “It’s our mission to foster an ourselves to live and write our feel a little more hopeful about
most significant of my life so equitable and fair workplace, free best stories when we find the pursuing the sports that they
far,” he says. “If we are ever going of discrimination and prejudice courage to stop running from love” despite the many barriers
to tackle the issue of the closet for every player, coach, umpire, and fearing ourselves,” Parisi says that still exist. The International
in [soccer], we must address employee, fan, and stakeholder. to other trans people with big Olympic Organizing Committee
the institutional and systemic I appreciate the opportunity dreams. “Stand high and be proud has yet to make a ruling on the
issues head on. I’m committed to impact our players through of your voice.” (transending7.org) inclusion of trans athletes in the
to being at the table and part of education, and it is inspiring to Olympics, so Quinn is in limbo
those conversations to help create see them embrace their platform for the upcoming Tokyo Summer
change so no LGBTQ+ [soccer as influencers during this Olympics. They played in the
player] is forced to live their life in unprecedented year.” 2016 Olympics and helped the
silence.” @iamthomasbeattie @billybeanball Canadian National Team qualify
for the Tokyo games. Regardless
of the IOCC’s decision, Quinn is
a champion. @thequinny5
36 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
Now that
you see me,
you can meet
the real me.
Being seen is the beginning of everything.
That’s why we’re giving our transgender and
non-binary customers the choice to update
their first name on their eligible Citi-branded
credit cards that match who they are.

Update your first name at citi.com/updatemyname

© 2020, Citibank, N.A. Citi, Citi and Arc Design and other marks used herein are service marks of Citigroup Inc.
or its affiliates, used and registered throughout the world.
 INNOVATORS

RICHARD GRAY
Senior VP, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for Greater Fort Lauderdale
Richard Gray’s biggest accomplishment this year was supposed to be 2016), Gray established himself as a visionary in the travel industry.
pulling off the first-ever Pride of the Americas, a five-day celebration And the bureau continues to innovate, unveiling ads earlier this year
expected to bring 300,000 visitors from two continents and 53 featuring disabled, plus-size, and older models.
nations to Greater Fort Lauderdale, Fla.’s beaches — before it had to The agency’s latest campaign, “Celebrate You,” is another global
be postponed in the face of a global pandemic. first. “It is our best campaign to date and underscores Greater Fort
“It is such a pivotal time for travel,” Gray acknowledges. But in Lauderdale’s diverse community and welcoming vibe,” he says.
that he sees “a great opportunity to satisfy this pent-up demand for “In this campaign, we include trans, drag, lesbian, gay, nonbinary,
wanderlust.” When travelers are ready to return, he’s determined his disabled, straight, and minorities in a very nonresort way. These are
city will be ready and able to welcome “everyone under the sun.” locals that live here, and they are not models. It is truly a historic,
Gray, who identifies as gay, leads the Greater Fort Lauderdale inclusive, and diverse global campaign.”
Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion As part of this campaign, the bureau added hues representing
department. “Inclusion means that all individuals are respected, people of color to its Pride colors “to show our commitment to
accepted, and valued,” he explains. “Diversity means recognizing and and belief in Black and brown people.” It is the first destination
respecting everyone’s unique qualities and attributes. Diversity in the marketing organization to add these colors to the f lag. “The icing
DENNIS DEAN IMAGES

business environment is about more than gender, race, and ethnicity. on the cake for me has been to see the impact my work has had on
It has evolved, and it now includes employees with diverse religious the global LGBT+ community,” Gray says. “You can’t be invisible.
and political beliefs, different socio-economic backgrounds, sexual Visibility creates awareness and awareness leads to acceptance and
orientation, culture, people of size, and people with disabilities.” acceptance ends discrimination. It’s essential for all of us to use our
In helping the bureau launch the world’s first global marketing and own personal platforms to speak out. We are not free until we are all
mainstream advertising campaign featuring transgender models (in free.” @rwbgray

38 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 KIM CULMONE
Senior VP & Head of Design for Barbie and Fashion Dolls, Mattel
Kim Culmone oversees all aspects of product design for some of the
world’s most iconic toys. “I loved Barbie growing up, and little did I know
that I would one day be head of design for a doll that was so important and
influential in my life,” Culmone says. “She was and is a source of endless
inspiration to me, as she is for many in the fashion and design community.
Barbie is literally a tool for imagination that transports you, dreaming of
who to be and how you want to live your best life. Or at least she was for
this only child from New Orleans.”
For Culmone, it’s important that diversity is found on the doll aisle,
and over the past five years, she has helped the line evolve to be more
reflective of the world by introducing more than 170 new looks, including
expansive skin tones, new hair colors and textures, various eye colors, body
diversity, and dolls reflecting permanent disabilities.
Outside of the Barbie world, Culmone serves on the board of
directors for the Wright Institute Los Angeles, a mental health nonprofit
organization, and Chickenshed NYC, a nonprofit inclusive children’s
theater company. @kculmone
TERI WEBER

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 39
 BRANDON D. ANDERSON
Activist and Tech Developer
After Brandon D. Anderson’s partner was killed by a police officer during a routine
traffic stop, Anderson discovered that the officer had a history of physical abuse,
particularly during traffic stops — abuse that was never reported. Each of the 18,000
police departments in the U.S. has its own unique, often complicated process of
reporting misconduct, and as a result, fewer than 5 percent of people report police
violence when it occurs. “This leads to a lack of transparency about officer behavior and,
more importantly, dangerously shortsighted policies governing our safety, as it is hard
to write comprehensive policies meant to fi x experiences that are never documented,”
Anderson says.
So Anderson created Raheem, a tech company working to hold officers and their
departments accountable by making it easier to report police violence. Raheem helps
people fi le complaints, find a free lawyer, and publicize their stories. Raheem’s research
is already being used in cities across the country, and Anderson points out that things
are changing.
“This year, at least 13 cities are defunding their police departments, including New
York City, Austin, Los Angeles, and Baltimore, mostly due to the defund the police
movement, which has sparked the largest protest in world history,” he says. Reports
can currently be submitted on Raheem.org. A mobile app, the first for reporting and
livestreaming police violence, is on the way. @raheem_org

CHIUN-KAI SHIH
Creative Director, CKS
After 20-plus years as a photographer and editor at Condé Nast, Chiun-Kai Shih
was ready for a new challenge. “While working with rising stars behind the camera, I
discovered I was even better suited to create opportunities for them,” he says. “That was
my inspiration for launching my company, CKS Creative Management Inc., in 2014.”
CKS connects celebrities, talent, fashion designers, and more with Asian clients in
their field, creating “business ventures, joint collaborations, and intellectual property
development” for an often overlooked group. “Th is company has allowed me to help
individuals attain their dreams by utilizing my expertise in branding and international
marketing,” Shih says.
Despite the pandemic, Shih maintains an optimistic worldview and continues “to
GIONCARLO VALENTINE (ANDERSON); NICK ONKEN (SHIH)

see the demand for business collaboration as the Asian and Western entertainment
continues to have broader crossover appeal.”
Th roughout his own work and personal life, Shih knows the value of gratitude,
community, and giving back. He’s currently working with Rainbow Railroad, an
organization that helps LGBTQ+ people escape state-sponsored violence. “They
focus on providing solutions and resources for LGBTQI people who need immediate
assistance, facing a serious threat to their lives and safety because of their sexuality,”
he says. “Getting involved with Rainbow Railroad’s critical mission has been so
rewarding.” @mrchunkyexpress

40 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 INNOVATION

MICHAELA MENDELSOHN
CEO, Pollo West Corp.
Back in 1986, Michaela Mendelsohn founded Pollo West Corp., which now operates
six fast-casual chicken restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Admittedly, 2020 has been
a tough year, but “a focus on drive-through, takeout, and delivery helped us make a
comeback,” she says. “We have also added patio dining to all of our stores, so customers
have a safe way to dine out.”
Mendelsohn, who was the first transgender board member for the Trevor Project,
says her nonprofit work hasn’t seen the same kind of bounce. After recognizing an
opportunity as a business owner to hire other trans people, she founded Trans Can
Work to develop opportunities for prospective gender-diverse workers. But she
acknowledges that now a “considerable amount of our time is spent helping our job-
seeker clients through the emotional and physical difficulties they are experiencing
during the pandemic. We continue to help our clients become job-ready and are
now placing them in industries that are still hiring. Competition for jobs is fiercer
now, however. Funding is also a challenge for us during a time when so many people
are struggling.”
Through a new partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, Trans Can Work
is helping to increase diverse hiring nationwide with a series of regional job fairs — the
next happening in Dallas in early 2021. The organization is also partnering with the city
of West Hollywood this year to create an anti-transphobia campaign aimed at breaking
down the numerous barriers trans people face when seeking employment. Plus, “going
virtual has helped us reach more people nationwide,” she says. “Our gender-diverse
community is an intersection of all colors and ethnicities. We hope this new spotlight
will increase and create real and lasting change.” @MichaelaSpeaks

VALERIE BERLIN
Cofounder and Principal of BerlinRosen
Having founded BerlinRosen, a strategic communications firm, with Jonathan
Rosen 15 years ago, Valerie Berlin has elevated marginalized voices through targeted
campaigns, initiatives, and elections across many intersections, including racial and
criminal justice, women’s health, and immigration reform. This year, BerlinRosen
played an integral role in supporting Democratic candidates like Pete Buttigieg, helping
recruit 500,000 new poll workers ahead of the election through its work with the
nonpartisan initiative Power the Polls, shaping the national communication strategy
for the multiyear Flint water crisis litigation, and much more.
AFUPRODUCTIONS.COM (MENDELSOHN); CEOPORTRAIT (BERLIN)

“I’ve learned a ton in this moment about resilience, creativity, and humor,” she says.
“First, people are incredibly resilient — in spite of everything, our team shows up, gives
their all, and supports each other, and the outpouring of compassion in the face of evil
is sustaining. Secondly, crises force us to be creative. If someone told me a year ago that
we couldn’t leave our homes and will need to do our work from 200 separate locations,
I would have said it couldn’t be done. But here we are, doing it, and finding new ways
for clients to reach their audiences, tell their stories, and move their issues forward, all
while being there for one another in this isolating environment.”
As for what lies ahead in the communications industry overall, she says it’s never been
more important to meet people where they are. “Communicators need to be versatile,
well-rounded pros who know how to tell stories across every platform — from The
New York Times to an individual journalist’s Substack account to a niche podcast to an
Instagram Live with a celebrity in another field,” she says. “We need to look everywhere
to tell stories and tell them well.” Of course, one should always make time for a laugh.
“Without finding something to laugh about amidst all the pain, I don’t know how we
would survive. Thank the lord for Sarah Cooper videos!” @ValerieBerlin

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 41
 CREATORS

MARK PASNIK
Architect and Activist
When asked to describe himself, Mark Pasnik
is humble. “I like to think of myself as having
several interconnected roles — as an architect,
educator, and advocate who champions the
voices and legacy of other eras.”
In truth, Pasnik, who is gay, is also an expert
and published author on brutalism, the “legacy
of concrete modernist buildings,” as he defines
the term. He cites Boston’s City Hall as “one
of the most widely recognized” examples of the
type of now-vilified structures “once celebrated
for their bravado.” In his role as chair of the
Boston Art Commission, Pasnik has been
reminded of the “value of meaningful public
discourse in communicating across divides.”
Earlier this year, the commision unamiously
voted to remove the Emancipation Memorial
in Park Square that depicted a freed American
Black slave kneeling before Abraham Lincoln.
He and others have implemented such

TIM COOK
discourse to address larger issues facing an
increasingly polarized society suffering the
effects of systemic oppression, which are often
CEO, Apple represented in historic statues that are out of
step with today’s ethos. “I have been learning
Despite its stress and strife, 2020 was the
from many voices in Boston’s communities
year when people turned to their devices for
about symbolism and racial justice in public
connection. It turned out to be a good year for
art,” he says.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. In June, the leading
Despite the current cultural divide,
tech company hit a historic high when its
Pasnik remains hopeful for the future and
market value reached $1.5 trillion only two
the positive impact architecture can have in
years after first hitting the trillion-dollar mark.
effecting change. “Architecture is a particularly
A couple of months later, Apple’s market value
fascinating art form because it records ideas
surpassed the $2 trillion mark. Talk about
from one era and transmits them across
progress. Cook, the first chief executive of a
decades. Advocating for works of architecture
Fortune 500 company to publicly come out
means understanding those messages and
as gay, has doubled the company’s revenue and
sharing their lessons with new generations.”
profit and increased its market value from $348
(Boston.gov)
billion to $1.9 trillion since taking the reins in
SAM ROSENHOLTZ PHOTOGRAPHY (PASNIK);
PIETRO D’APRANO VIA WIREIMAGE (COOK)

2011. In the process, he became a billionaire

and one of the richest gay men on the planet.
@tim_cook

44 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 DIEGO MONTOYA
Designer and Visionary
A testament to how much the mainstream is Although the finale of season 5 of RuPaul’s
embracing queer artistry, Diego Montoya’s Drag Race All Stars saw Shea Couleé walk away
opulent and ornate looks were all over our TVs with the crown, it was also a winning moment
this year. Thanks to RuPaul’s Drag Race taking for Montoya. Contestants Jujubee, Miz
the art form to the world stage, the Peruvian- Cracker, and Blair St. Clair each took to the
born, New York City-based designer has made final runway wearing his designs in looks that
a name for himself as a go-to for many of the were among the most exciting to ever appear on
biggest names to come out of the show. the long-running show.
For many, Montoya first landed on It’s no surprise that when Lady Gaga needed
the collective radar when he created the a mask for her performance at this year’s MTV
unforgettable white dress that Sasha Velour Video Music Awards, her team sought out
wore during her winning final lip-synch to Montoya. For the socially distanced telecast
Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right But It’s held amid the ongoing global pandemic,
Okay” against Peppermint in season 9 of the pop star wore a variety of masks to make
Drag Race. Last year, he made history when her stance clear: Wear a mask. With Gaga
Shangela became the fi rst drag queen to walk committing to covering her face even during
the Oscars red carpet in drag wearing his her performance, Montoya was tasked with
lavender and gold design. “I love that people making a mask that was just as functional for
are paying drag queens, finally, because this has singing live as it was beautiful.
been a very underpaid thing even though it’s a “I’m proud of that collaboration because it
very expensive thing to do,” he says. “Now the was fast and it was demanding, but it looked
girls are being able to have big costumes made great onstage,” Montoya says. “The message that
and plan big shows, and there’s a market for that she was trying to convey with that performance
because they’ve been seen by the world.” really worked and was spot on.”
As a costume designer on the HBO’s We’re “If I look back, I can’t believe I get to just
Here, starring Shangela, Bob the Drag Queen, make costumes all day long. And there’s enough
and Eureka O’Hara, Montoya helped spread of a demand for these costumes that are unusual
the gospel of drag to residents in small town and opportunities to work on just that all the
America who received drag makeovers — time.” @diegomontoyastudio
making us ugly cry in the process.

ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY

Fashion Editor, Author, and Visionary
With a career that spans more than 50 years, André Leon Talley is
one of the most influential forces in fashion. Period. 2020 was an
eventful year for the industry icon, who’s never one to be boring.
COLIN GRAY (TALEY); RICARDO HORATION NELSON (MONTOYA)

The former editor at large and creative director of Vogue released

a second memoir (and third book), The Chiff on Trenches, which
focuses on his experiences and insights from five decades immersed
in the worlds of art and fashion. He also writes candidly of his
relationship with longtime Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour.
Talley, who has been vocal about racism within the industry
and has historically advocated for Black women in fashion,
recently defended Wintour when a New York Times article
criticized her for being complicit in systemic racism: “Anna
made history by making me the fi rst African American male
EVER to be named as creative director of Vogue, in 1988. She
crashed the glass ceiling,” he wrote on Instagram.
Talley’s unique expertise and points of view continue to
inspire writers, creators, and connoisseurs at all intersections of
art. “You must always share your knowledge with people, especially
the future generations,” he says. @officialALT

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 45
 THINKERS

RACHEL MADDOW
Journalist
When you get right down to it, the year 2020 made no sense — absolutely
no sense — because there was never any time to stop and think about it.
You couldn’t keep your balance between all of the earthquakes of news,
each with their own aftershocks: impeachment, COVID-19, lockdowns,
unemployment, retail bankruptcies, George Floyd, racial unrest, nightly
protests, COVID-19, hurricanes, record fires, climate change, Trump’s taxes,
Trump’s lies, Trump’s minions, Trump’s COVID-19, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
and Amy Coney Barrett (just to name a few). Oh, and as icing on this moldy
cake of a year, there was a presidential election.
In a world gone mad, in a surreal environment of utter chaos, confusion,
and conflict, if you turned your TV on to MSNBC at 9 Eastern each night,
there was someone on your screen who could make sense out of all the
bewildering news. Although she’s had her own show in this time slot for 12
years now, Rachel Maddow was needed more than ever in 2020.
You didn’t have to be queer to appreciate this lesbian’s calm, collected,
careful manner and the way she prosecuted her case each night, with steely
deliberation, point-by-point clarifications backed up by painstaking research, TAYLOR MILLER (GELWICKS); AMANDA EDWARDS FOR WIRE IMAGE (MADDOW)
and a laser focus on telling the truth. From 9 p.m. to 9:20 p.m., her opening
monologue, well, opening statement in this case, cut through all the insanity,
the instability, and the incompetence. Each night during this turbulent year,
she provided a road map of clarity to America.
And she did it with what appeared to be natural conversations with her
viewers. But that’s not what happened. There was surely exhaustive effort on
her part. She lived and breathed her show, and threw herself headfirst into
the subjects and her script each night. How did she get it right all the time?
Always zeroing in on her target and hitting a bull’s-eye every time. (Did she
ever sleep?) We all need a rest and a slow news year in 2021. And no one needs
that more than Rachel Maddow. @maddowshow

46 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 ANDREW GELWICKS
Activist and Author
It was little surprise when Andrew Gelwicks,
a gay former Condé Nast editor, became a
celebrity stylist. “Working in the fashion
department at GQ and doing celebrity booking
at Teen Vogue laid the foundation for me to
venture into celebrity styling,” he says. “The
exposure was vast, and I was fortunate to learn
from some of the most brilliant, accomplished
editors. However, I had long been enamored by
iconic editorials and red carpet moments that
live on in perpetuity. I moved on to be a part of
that.” Today, the 26-year-old counts Catherine
O’Hara and Lisa Rinna among his clients,
and on top of his many accomplishments
in publishing and fashion, his first book,
The Queer Advantage: Conversations With
LGBTQ+ Leaders on the Power of Identity,
hit shelves in October. The Queer Advantage
is a collection of firsthand stories of renowned

JENNI OLSON
LGBTQ+ trailblazers (including Dan Levy,
George Takei, Billie Jean King, Margaret Cho,
Lee Daniels, Adam Rippon, Boy George, Troye
Sivan, and more). It explores how their queer Filmmaker and Queer Historian
identities have positively impacted their lives
and careers, offering an intimate celebration of One of the world’s leading experts on queer cinema history, Jenni Olson is an independent
queerness still too rare today. fi lmmaker and former co-director of the San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival. This
“I connected most with the creatives and year her extensive collection was acquired by the Harvard Film Archive, preserving hundreds of
artists I interviewed in The Queer Advantage,” queer moving images from feature films, TV commercials, educational films, home movies, trailers,
Gelwicks admits. “At the same time, I felt an and more — and making them available to a wider audience.
innate bond with all 51 leaders. While each Olson offers this summary of her work: “I am completely engaged in themes of memory and
of their experiences were so gloriously unique, nostalgia and history but with the goal of helping the viewer (and myself) to arrive in the present
the shared understanding of being able to use moment. I am very sincere in this aim…to create a cinematic experience that approximates stopping
what society defines as a weakness as your time — I mean this in a very spiritual way. I really just want my viewers to pause and be in the
superpower resonated with me deeply. There is moment.”
something for everybody, regardless of how you The cofounder of the Bressan Project, Olson describes its restoration and re-release of works by
identify, within the pages. It has been a thrill pioneering gay fi lmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr. — including Buddies (1985, the first feature fi lm
working with innovative queer leaders from about AIDS) and the 1977 documentary Gay USA — as “one of the most rewarding undertakings
around the globe and helping to amplify their of my career.”
powerful stories.” Her latest book, The Oxford Handbook of Queer Cinema, is forthcoming in 2021, and she is in
From fashion to writing to public speaking, development on her third feature-length essay fi lm, The Quiet World, and a memoir of the same
Gelwicks has blended his professional passions name in which she reflects on growing up queer, butch, and gender-nonconforming in Minnesota.
together, and the turbulent year we’ve had has She says Quiet will “grapple with a diverse array of topics ranging from Prince to George Floyd to
given him “an opportunity to reflect on my the brutal French colonial history of the state.”
goals, what makes me most happy, and the Reflecting on 2020, Olson muses, “Like a showdown in a classic Western, the pandemic cleared
change I wish to see in the world.” The book, the main street of our proverbial frontier town for an encounter between the good guys and the
which could change how young people and bad guys (though often it has seemed the sheriff is the villain and the outlaw is our hero). The
their families see LGBTQ+ people, changed police murder of George Floyd brought on a level of collective societal consciousness-raising around
Gelwicks even more. “For many years I actively systemic racism which I believe can never be erased despite the violent backlash from fearful
tried to suppress memories of my own struggles conservatives and extremist white nationalists.”
related to understanding my identity,” he “To cite a line I wrote in The Quiet World, riffi ng on one of my favorite cis-het-white poets
says. “In writing this book, I was compelled [T.S. Eliot]: ‘May human voices wake us, lest we drown.’” @jenniolsonsf
to not only confront the past, but also to
dissect, analyze, and ultimately embrace those
COURTESY

moments. I would not give up that process for

the world.” @andrewgelwicks

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 47
 THE FIRSTS

PARIS BARCLAY
Director and Producer
In 2013, Paris Barclay became the first Black and the first
gay president of the Directors Guild of America. Though he
stepped down in 2017, his work toward creating a safer work
environment and growing opportunities for artists of color
has only expanded. Alongside director Steven Soderbergh,
Barclay cochaired the “Return to Work” negotiations, in
which major unions and producers determined a way to
reopen film and TV production under new safety guidelines
amid the pandemic. In short, he helped get Hollywood back
to work.
“I have two families: the one I have at home with my
husband and sons, and the one I have at work with the
cast and crew of Station 19,” he says of the Grey’s Anatomy
spin-off that showcases two leading LGBTQ+ characters.
“Both have needed my focus to shift to making their safety
a priority in the midst of this raging pandemic. I’ve learned
that caring for them both is truly difficult, but a real source
of joy.”
The respected producer and director of nearly 200
episodes of television is also an ardent musical theater
creator. Barclay has written 17 musical plays that have been
produced around the country. He’s hoping to bring one of
them, One Red Flower, based on soldiers’ letters written
during the Vietnam War, to the small screen soon.
While Barclay says the days of “40 million people watching
ER” are over, today’s television offers a new opportunity to
“tell particular stories, that highlight characters who don’t
get their chance to shine — transgender women and men,
bisexual men, lesbian and gay Black people. We can tell
their stories now, with depth and reality, in this increasingly

SHARON-FRANKLIN BROWN fragmented landscape.” @harparbar

President of the Board of Christopher Street West/LA Pride

In September, Sharon-Franklin Brown made history when she became the

first Black transgender woman elected president of the board of Christopher
Street West/LA Pride, the 50-year-old organization that oversees one of the
nation’s largest Pride celebrations. And Brown doesn’t take the role lightly.
“The job allows me the opportunity to give back to the community, which
then echoes into dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller LGBTQ+ organizations
BETSY MARTINEZ (BROWN); DUSTIN SNIPES (BARCLAY)

and communities across the country,” she says. Brown and her team are
committed to establishing “safe spaces that are not only diverse, equitable,
and inclusive but also create a sense of belonging for everyone,” she adds.
Brown is also chief human resources officer at the Los Angeles LGBT
Center, where she oversees 800 employees in areas including organizational
development and personnel policies. While the pandemic has changed
how Pride and the workplace operate, she’s observed a tangible shift toward
inclusion in both.
“The time for change is now, and I am a part of that change,” she says. “I’ve
also been reminded [of] how resilient we are as a community. We are all trying
to fi nd creative ways to deal with the coronavirus pandemic as well as the
attacks on LGBTQ+ civil liberties under the Trump administration. We will
prevail.” @lapride

48 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 PUNKIE JOHNSON
Comedian and Writer
Saturday Night Live just got a hell of a lot funnier earlier this year when Punkie
Johnson became the NBC staple’s fi rst Black lesbian cast member. The New
Orleans native describes herself as a “brutally honest Southern lesbian.” She joins
other current LGBTQ+ cast members Bowen Yang and Kate McKinnon. She’s
been happily married to her wife for over 17 years and has used their relationship
as part of her comedy sets, like at Just for Laughs when she made a relatable joke
about how role-play saved her marriage. @punkiejohnson

DAMIEN NAVARRO
Executive Director, Outfest
Damien Navarro is the first gay Latino executive director of Outfest, a 40-year-old nonprofit that
produces two annual world-class queer fi lm festivals and several educational programs. Navarro’s
ability to excel on the creative and business side of movie making is probably why Outfest is thriving
despite the global pandemic, hosting a festival and a drive-in series of screenings in Malibu, Calif.
“Our mission is to create visibility to diverse LGBTQIA+ stories and empower storytellers,” he
says. Building empathy to drive meaningful social change is more meaning now than ever.” The
flexibility Navarro has brought to the prominent organization had its genesis in his belief that
Outfest’s events should not be confined to a movie theater but can be shared across platforms and
found spaces. Just as crucial was the creative space his leadership brought to normally marginalized
voices, with more than 70 percent of the Outfest’s slate directed by female, trans and POC
fi lmmakers. @damiennavarro

ILONA VERLEY
Drag Race’s Two-Spirit Queen
When Ilona Verley became the fi rst Indigenous and
two-spirit contestant to ever compete in the now-global
Drag Race franchise as a part of Canada’s Drag Race,
she knew it was an opportunity. “It’s really important
JEFF KRAVITZ WITH FILMMAGIC FOR KLUSTERFEST (JOHNSON);

to have that visibility because I went through years of

ZOE URNESS (NAVARRO); FERNANDO CYSNEIROS (VERLEY)

thinking that I had to be white-passing to fit in and

to make it in media, and that’s not true,” she says.
Her exploration of gender continues to evolve. “I’m
experiencing this very crazy fluidity right now,” Verley
says. “I don’t want to put my foot down too much with
any label. Because who knows, in a few months from
now, when I’m in a better mind-set or a better situation,
how I’m going to feel.”
Verley, in her “head-to-toe monochromatic, pastel
perfection,” is one of the most exciting queens working
today. Queens everywhere should be worried. “I do have
my American citizenship, so look out bitches. As soon
as that border is open, I’m coming. I’m taking all your
gigs.” @ilonaverley

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 49
 THE FIRSTS

SHEVRIN JONES
Florida Legislator
Shevrin Jones, a preacher’s son, won election to Florida’s House of
Representatives in 2012. Eight years later, he became the first out
gay member of the state Senate — and the chamber’s fi rst queer
person of color. Looking back, making history proved easier than he
realized. “I kept getting in my own way,” says Jones, who represents
a Democratic district populated by socially conservative Bahamian
immigrants, including his own family. Now, one of 40 Senate desks
in Florida’s capital city of Tallahassee bears his nameplate. “People
could care less about what you are doing in the bedroom,” he says.
“They’re more concerned about what you are going to do for them.”
@shevrinjones

CHARLIE MARTIN
Auto Racer
Auto racing is not a sport for the faint of heart.
For Charlie Martin, a transgender woman
breaking barriers on and off the track, the race
to inclusion in the sport has had its hairpin
turns. So far, she has raced in the Ginetta GT5
Challenge, the Michelin Le Mans Cup, and
the German VLN Championship, where she
raced in the 2020 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
She is the first out trans person to take on that
challenge. Her ultimate racing goal, though, is
to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the
gold standard for endurance motor racing. “I’m
using my platform in sport to educate people,

MY FLORIDA HOUSE (JONES); COURTESY SUBJECT (MARTIN); TODD FRANSON (JOHNSON)

increase acceptance and empathy for the trans
community, and inspire positive change in the
world,” she says. @gocharliem

KIERRA JOHNSON
Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force
In September, Kierra Johnson was named to tell the stories that are all too common
the National LGBTQ Task Force’s first and largely unheard of — nonbinary and
Black executive director after it was trans people who are not being hired,
announced that in 2021 Rea Carey would queer young people living on the streets,
exit her long-held position. Johnson is one and LGBTQ+ people of color [who] are
of just a few queer-identified women of color targeted by the police. We are dying from
leading a national LGBTQ+ organization. diseases and ailments because our full
“I am excited about our work to better humanity is often unrecognized, and it is
articulate the impact of issues that people entirely legal to refuse us quality, culturally
rarely think of as LGBTQ issues on people competent care. This is the work I was born
of our community,” she says. “There is much to do. This is the future of the Task Force.”
work to be done to get the needed data and @kierradc

50 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 CONGRATULATIONS TO
THE 2020 HONOREES

FOR THEIR WORK ADVANCING THE

LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY THROUGH
VISIBILITY AND REPRESENTATION,
PHILANTHROPY AND ADVOCACY
 ADVOCACY

MONDAIRE JONES
U.S. Representative-Elect
“For me, policy is personal,” says Mondaire Jones, who is set to become
RITCHIE TORRES one of the first two Black gay men in Congress. He grew up poor in Spring
Valley, N.Y., a suburb of New York City. “Now I get to run to represent
U.S. Representative-Elect the same people whose houses my grandmother cleaned,” Jones says.
Ritchie Torres is no stranger to breaking new Jones won the June primary for U.S. House of Representatives in New
ground. In 2013, at age 25, he won a seat in York’s 17th Congressional District, over seven candidates. In a largely
the New York City Council, making him the Democratic district, he’s likely to win the November election. He and
youngest elected official in the city and the Ritchie Torres, from a neighboring district, will be the first members of
first member of the LGBTQ+ community Congress from the Black LGBTQ+ population.
elected from the Bronx. Now Torres, who is Jones is committed to making a difference for low-income Americans.
gay, is poised to become the first Afro-Latinx He supports universal health care, a program to assure that all Americans
LAURA JANE BRETT PHOTOGRAPHY (JONES); COURTESY (TORRES)

person from the LGBTQ+ population to serve have housing, a $15 minimum wage, tuition-free public college, cancellation
in Congress. of student debt, sweeping criminal justice reform, and combating climate
Torres is running for the U.S. House in New change. “I will fight tooth and nail for those things Democrats say they
York’s 15th Congressional District, and was believe in,” he says. @mondairejones
practically assured a win in the most heavily
Democratic district in the nation. But in the
Democratic primary in June, he was one of a
dozen candidates including homophobe and
fellow City Council member Rubén Díaz
Sr. Torres led the field with 32 percent of the
vote. Torres, who grew up in public housing in
the Bronx, is committed to fighting poverty,
expanding health care, and reforming the
criminal justice system. He believes he can do
more in Congress because “that’s where the
future of the country is largely determined.”
@ritchietorres

52 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 MALCOLM KENYATTA
Pennsylvania State Representative
Malcolm Kenyatta has had a landmark year, being one of the first LGBTQ+
speakers to give a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
At one point he was joined by his fiancé, University of Pennsylvania professor
Matthew Miller. Later he got a shout-out for his hairstyle from former
President Barack Obama. He also ran unopposed for reelection to the
TIFFANY CABÁN Pennsylvania House. Initially elected in 2018, he’s the first out LGBTQ+
person of color in the legislature. Kenyatta hopes his visibility will provide a
Activist and Politician “look what I can do” moment for young LGBTQ+ people, inspiring them to
Tiffany Cabán — a public defender, politician, and political pursue their own dreams. “It’s so difficult to be what you can’t see,” he says. Of
organizer — ran for New York’s Queens County district being out, he notes, “Bringing our full selves to the work that we do is not a ‘nice
attorney last year, only to lose by a handful of votes. A to have it,’ it’s critical.” @malcolmkenyatta
victory would have made Cabán the first Latina and first
queer person to hold the position. In September, Cabán
announced her candidacy to represent the 22nd District
on the New York City Council in the 2021 election. She’s
COREY TORPIE (CABAN); COURTESY (KENYATTA)

also been working as a national organizer with the Working

Families Party.
“I started this work after my 2019 campaign for Queens
district attorney, where I ran on a radically decarceral
platform calling for less policing and incarceration,
and more investment in the true source of safety — our
communities,” says Cabán. “We are fighting to shrink the
reach of our carceral systems that brutalize Black, brown,
queer, immigrant, and poor communities. More broadly, this
work is about paradigm shifting as we redefine public safety.
Changing the narrative around who and what keeps us safe.”
@cabanforqueens

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 ADVOCACY

MARY TRUMP
Psychologist and Author
Too Much and Never Enough aptly describes Donald Trump, and is a
perfect title for the best-selling book written about him by his lesbian
niece Mary Trump. The psychologist wanted people to understand,
particularly during an election year, her uncle’s character and
psychopathologies. Plus, she says, “it is my honor to do everything in my
power to get Joe Biden and Kamala Harris elected.”
“I’ve learned that the American people and people around the world
were starving for information that could help them understand not
just Donald but his supporters,” she says. “I think that’s been one of the
most demoralizing aspects of this fiasco — the extent to which elected
Republicans were so eager to support a man who is clearly unfit and
working Americans were willing to ignore his racism, misogyny, fiscal
irresponsibility, and willingness to lie to them about everything.”
The book, which has been on The New York Times’ and Amazon’s best
seller lists and remains the best-selling nonfiction book of 2020, benefits
from Mary Trump’s training as a clinical psychologist. Addressing mental
health issues is the next challenge ahead for Americans, the author says.
“This country is headed towards one of the greatest, if not the greatest,
mental health crisis in our history, in part because of the seemingly
endless stream of crises we’ve been subjected to over the last four years
as well as the severity of the health and economic crises we’re currently
living through,” she says.
The rise of extremism and creeping authoritarianism, the increase
in income inequality, the destruction of norms, and the betrayal of our
institutions, all traceable to her uncle’s actions, have had a massive impact
on the American psyche, she adds. “Helping the American people recover
from the trauma of COVID and the attendant economic hardships it has
exposed the American people to will require a re-imagining of a system
that has too often failed us.” @maryltrump
COURTESY

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 MARK S. KING
HIV+ Blogger
It took a minute, but Maryland-based blogger Mark S. King is now the hottest thing
in journalism, being named NLGJA’s LGBTQ Journalist of the Year and garnering
the 2020 GLAAD Award for Outstanding Blog. King — the man behind My
Fabulous Disease — is finally getting some long deserved recognition.
“I am an aging gay white man living with HIV, and proud of it,” says the long-term
survivor (“I will be 60 this December. If my calculations are correct and I became
HIV-positive in 1980, that’s 40 of my 60 years.”). “I’m a guy with HIV and a keyboard.
Both of those things are a source of power. It takes a certain shamelessness to write
so much about, well, me. But our stories as older LGBTQ people and as long-term
HIV survivors are fascinating and funny and sexy and complicated. I don’t diminish
that anymore, but yeah, winning a GLAAD Award doesn’t hurt. I’m still the gay kid

DR. RACHEL LEVINE looking for validation.”

As COVID-19 took away resources previously spent on HIV in 2020, King came
Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health away with a lesson for us all. “It isn’t always about us. We all have our shit, every group
and every generation. I survived AIDS, and there are plenty of people reading this who
As Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, Dr. Rachel Levine survived a lot worse. Let’s take our skills and our trauma and our gratitude…and go
leads a coordinated effort between the administration of help other people, for God’s sake. Otherwise, what was it all for?”
Gov. Tom Wolf and other agencies against COVID-19. “I realized something awful this year,” says the long-time advocate. “All these years
She does so in the face of conservative opposition as well as of activism, and I always thought, at least subconsciously, I’ll do the gay thing and
transphobic attacks from critics. Her mantra: “Stay calm, stay the HIV thing. Someone else will do the race thing. My God, the privilege of that
GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA (LEVINE); MATT ROTH (KING)

home, and stay safe.” mindset! I have to call out the shit I see other white people say and do. And I’ve learned
But Levine’s work isn’t confined to the Keystone State. As that we’re dangerously stubborn, we liberals, because we get offended at the very idea
president of the Association for State and Territorial Health that we benefit from white supremacy and systemic racism. We need to shut up and
Officials, she helps coordinate pandemic responses among find humility and examine ourselves. The call is coming from inside the house, y’all.”
all the states, helping to save lives across the country. This @myfabdisease
big-picture, cooperative approach to public health is needed
now more than ever, she says, as is addressing America’s
health disparities. “Our vulnerable populations have been hit
particularly hard by this virus. This includes seniors and…
minority populations such as [Black], Latinx, and LGTBQ+
individuals. The social determinants of health, such as one’s
income, their living situation, their education, where they
live, also are critical elements of health equity.” Protecting
the vulnerable will require a community effort from all
Americans “We have learned that we must be united in order
to stop the spread of this virus.” @secretarylevine

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 ADVOCACY

WANDA SYKES & PAGE HURWITZ

Comedian and Producer
Th is was a year of queer women and women of color pushing boundaries in Hollywood — like
how lesbian writer, actress, and comedian Wanda Sykes and lesbian Jewish veteran producer
Page Hurwitz have done with Push It Productions. The production company received Emmy
nominations for two separate Tiffany Haddish vehicles — her stand-up special Black Mitzvah
and Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, which highlights trans and cis female comedians in a
white/male-dominated industry. Push It is also behind Fortune Feimster’s latest hilarious (and
wonderfully queer) stand-up special, Sweet & Salty.
The Emmy nods, confirm “that our approach to stand-up specials, which is different from how
most producers tackle them, is on point,” says Hurwitz. “We are very hands on…because these
specials are now calling cards for comedians; they are incredibly important for their careers. The
opportunity to stand on stage and say anything to a worldwide audience is too important these
days to treat casually. The best comedy is powerful in its ability to unite, change minds, and elevate
the audience.”
Sykes adds that she’s also proud of Push It’s other productions that got less recognition, including
“our hilarious series Talk Show The Game Show…hosted by out gay comedian Guy Branum and
was based on his live show of the same name…. We’re also extremely proud of our Epix show
Unprotected Sets…. The cast is so diverse and talented. Each comedian delivers a killer performance
and a compelling interview. Scout Durwood, Paris Sashay, and Daniel Webb — all out LGBTQ
comedians — were among the 12 comedians handpicked for the first season.”
@iamwandaskykes @pagehurwitz
COURTESY (BOTH)

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 ADVOCACY

ADAM OUAHMANE

58 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
JO MAMA & LUCY STOOLE JO MAMA: It was the murder of George
Floyd that really activated me and I think a lot
before. It was phenomenal. I had already been on
my journey of activism and trying to figure out
Drag Activists of us. We’ve dealt with this a lot, especially as the best way I can be of service to my community
Black people, and we’ve grown up seeing it. I and my people, but that was the thing that really
Over the last year, a series of grassroots pushed me over the edge. We have got to make a
remember my father pointing out these things
movements have pulled Chicago’s history of firm change starting right now.
on the news and stopping me, saying, “Look I
discrimination and erasure of queer people of
want you to see this and understand this.” This JO MAMA: I knew we needed to have
color into focus. As tens of thousands of Black
one just really hit different for a lot of people. I 12 [speakers] to mirror the 12 apostles to
Lives Matter protesters demonstrated across
saw this fire happening throughout the city. I bear witness to what we’d all gone through.
the world, local drag queens of color rose up to
felt extremely helpless. I woke up the next day Everything about it was very intentional. I always
challenge the city’s racist club culture that has
thinking, I have to do something. So I led my own repeat that because it’s so important when you
historically excluded and mistreated them.
march by myself from my home up in Edgewater are creating anything expressively and you want
This summer, the “Drag March for Change,”
led by Chicago’s own Queen Jo Mama (opposite on the North Side, all the way to downtown. I to get your point across. I’ve learned to do so with
left) and co-organized by Lucy Stoole (right, Jo’s ended up in front of Trump Tower and saw that intention. There’s also a lot in Black spirituality
drag mother), Lúc Ami, Miss Toto, RuPaul’s the bridges were still raised. I couldn’t reach the about intention. It goes back to our own hidden
Drag Race stars Shea Couleé, The Vixen, and other side but I could hear the screams, I could history and our hidden religion that we had to
Dida Ritz, as well as activists Zola and Tatyana hear the sirens, I could feel the horns. I felt even hide back in the slave days. It’s so important to
Chante, brought in over 15,000 protesters. All more helpless. I woke up the next day and found keep it present in your mind and to have that
of them showed up demanding accountability a march that was organized by Tatyana Chante, intention, put it right on the forefront, to get
for racist policing in the city and accountability which brought about over 5,000 people. They something done. That’s always helped me.
for the mistreatment of Black performers by bar organized the whole march in a day. I went in [At the march], there were little fights with
owners and managers. drag. I threw on this neon green lime pantsuit keeping the police out of the situation because
Jo Mama has witnessed this mistreatment and went at it. People were like, “Oh my God, the mayor kept trying to butt in and we we’re
firsthand as a bartender and performer. She we came to find you. We saw that you were going like, “We’re not really doing this with you. You’re
and Chante played integral roles in founding in drag. We want to march with you. We want kind of public enemy number one, so just back
the new Chicago Black Drag Council, which to do this.” And that’s what sparked the idea off and let us self-govern because we can. Your
holds forums to address racism in Boystown’s of using our platforms as drag queens to shine policing is literally killing us.” That became a
drag scene. The council recently organized a attention onto the issue and how we can really huge thing, as well as keeping everyone safe and
conversation with over 20 general managers use that part of our voice to center what really hydrated and healthy, especially in the time of
at several North Side venues about their needs to be centered right now. I contacted COVID. You played a huge role in helping to
discriminatory behavior and continue to ignite Tatyana and was like, “Am I crazy that I want ground me and bringing more people in.
dialogue across the city about the nuances of to do this?” But once I realized it was really just LUCY: I’m so excited what the Drag March
micro-aggressions that Black drag queens, some about moving people from point A to point B has led to. It has started great things, like the
of whom depend on their performance earnings safely, I just used my background with events as a Chicago Black Drag Council. I don’t know if
to survive, face every night. To commemorate drag queen to make that happen. You really don’t that would have happened or if we would have
their induction into the Out100, Jo Mama and know how prepared you are for something until come together in that way if it wasn’t for you
Lucy Stoole sat down to discuss the genesis you face it, but usually you’re more prepared than and Tatyana kicking that off.
of the movement and the future of Chicago’s you think. The network I’ve gained through
nightlife. knowing people like you and all the other JO MAMA: I think community is the key.
performers helped me to create this whole event Also, history repeats itself if you don’t correct
it and move forward. I built off of what we’d
LUCY STOOLE: I’ve always viewed Chicago that brought out 15,000 people. already done before with the Civil Rights Act
as home. It’s probably the first place in all my and looking back at the march for gay rights,
years of living that has actually felt like a home. LUCY: 15,000 people. It’s always crazy to hear
that number. I’ll never forget that moment of and everything that was done before us with
JO MAMA: I can relate to that. It became a looking out in the crowd and going on that stage. Marsha P. Johnson and how they organized it
safe home away from home for me. I moved here It was monumental and important, especially — even reaching out to the circuit queens to use
12 years ago from Atlanta. I wanted to move to that the drag community was doing this in their big, huge white bodies for good.
a city that was similar in pace and also was just Boystown. As we all know, racism permeates LUCY: Exactly.
as accommodating and welcoming. I’ve always every part of our culture and being Black queer
loved that part about being in the Midwest, JO MAMA: I think there’s a responsibility that
people, it’s two times as hard. So it was really
particularly in Chicago. comes with so much privilege that we get as drag
important to be having this conversation in that
queens. We have to give back. I’ve learned that
LUCY: You are one of the main reasons the neighborhood, which is also another one of the
if we give people the opportunity, people are
“Drag March for Change” even happened. It’s most affluent neighborhoods in our city right
more than happy to take it. It’s been rewarding
a huge point of pride in our relationship because now. To have us marching in that way and being
to help that in any way and to take part.
that was a huge feat. I got to watch you take this seen in a way we had not been seen before and
on and really nail it. being heard in a way that we had not been heard @jomamafunny @tyislucystoole

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 ADVOCACY

QWEEN JEAN
Activist and Costume Designer
If you marched for Black trans lives or watched
footage of a protest this year, you may have seen
Qween Jean dressed to kill with a megaphone
in hand. The queer designer made sure her
message was heard loud and clear: “We have
been excluded, and we are demanding equal
rights, equal representation, and equal support
across the board.”
Jea n says she wa s work ing toward
“dismantling the systems and work models
that did not include and honor everyone’s
contributions.” prior to the shutdowns.
“Before the pandemic, our success was always
adjacent to whiteness. Ain’t nobody got time
for that!” Jean explains. She is hopeful that in
the coming years we’ll see more “authentically
diverse representation on stage and behind the
scenes” that will connect with audiences not
bound to a white and patriarchal past. “We
have such young, talented BIPOC artists who
need that opportunity to display their strengths
and magical gifts. The change I’m envisioning
for the industry will be permanent. The age of
appeasement is over!” @qween_jean

RAQUEL WILLIS
Activist and Organizer
Raquel Willis is a Black trans woman, and “a
writer, activist, and cultural organizer dedicated
to uplifting the dignity, power, and work of people
on the margins, particularly Black transgender
people.” She’s worked at the Transgender Law
Center, served as executive editor at Out, and now
works as director of communications for the Ms.
Foundation. This year she was one of the organizers
of the largest action in history for Black trans lives,
a rally and march where over 15,000 people took
to the streets of New York City, something that
earned her, along with the other organizers, the
MADISON SWART (JEAN); TANYA TAYLOR (WILLIS)

Stonewall Foundation’s 2020 Vision Award.

Willis says she’s learned that “people on the
margins have even more resilience inside of
us than we could ever imagine,” and that “our
community will never truly be free until the
most marginalized of us have full control of our
narratives and livelihoods.” Willis has started
writing her memoir, which will feature “some of
the lessons I’ve learned being involved in various
social justice movements for several years.”
@raquel_willis

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 WALELA NEHANDA
Cancer Activist and Organizer
This year, Walela Nehanda helped get needed supplies to 200 immune-
compromised people during the shortages caused by the pandemic. The 26-year-
old Black queer disabled trans nonbinary femme organizer and creative with
advanced leukemia has also gotten 6,430 people registered with the lifesaving
bone marrow donor list through Be the Match (text “ItsWalela” to 61474 to
register and send in a swab kit to see if you’re a match). They’ve also dealt with
the disappointment of finding a bone marrow transplant match for themselves
only to see it fall through at the last minute. And yet Nehanda says their biggest

WEST DAKOTA accomplishment this year has simply been staying indoors.
“I’ve been in isolation with my partner, Akili, since March because I’m
Drag Activist immune-compromised,” Nehanda says. “It may be small, but it’s a feat to me
because it truly has tested me in so many ways.” While in lockdown they have also
When West Dakota, a prominent Brooklyn, N.Y., drag performer
been able to initiate some long-awaited projects “and now I’m starting to bring
and social activist, first got the idea to organize a march to draw
them to reality. It’s very exciting to see them begin to materialize — my younger
attention to the disproportionate rates of violence against
self would be proud too.” We certainly are. @itswalela
WILLIE NORRIS (DAKOTA); AKILI BALOGUN (NEHANDA)

Black trans women, they had no idea it would be one of the

biggest demonstrations ever for the cause. What became the
Brooklyn Liberation March drew 15,000 participants dressed
in white marched through the streets of the borough in June.
She says “witnessing the strength and interconnectedness of my
community” was a highlight of 2020.
“Being out to me means being honest with myself,
acknowledging and working through the layers of shame and
honoring my truth,” says Dakota. “Living honestly with myself
and sharing that with others means deeper, more fulfilling
connections. It means allowing myself to feel cute, to feel strong,
to feel sexy and safe and tender.” @iamwestdakota

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 ADVOCACY

RASHAD ROBINSON
President, Color of Change
Color of Change was created in response to
the lack of federal aid to Black communities
devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Since
becoming its president in 2011, civil rights
leader Rashad Robinson has helped grow
the nonprofit into the largest racial justice
organization in the U.S. During his tenure, the
organization has added 1 million members and
four new offices.
“At Color of Change, we’re working to SCOTT WIENER
create consequences, accountability, and a State Senator
new set of rules for decision makers when it
comes to issues that affect Black people’s lives,” California State Sen. Scott Wiener fought hard this year, having
says Robinson. “In all, we are creating a more played a huge role in passing a law requiring health care providers
human and less hostile world for Black people to start collecting sexual orientation and gender identity data for
in America. And when Black people win…all all communicable diseases. He also learned firsthand the dangers of
oppressed people win.” disinformation campaigns and agitated conspiracy theorists when
This year, especially, “proved once again he sought to close a loophole in state law that treated queer people
differently from straight ones convicted of the same crimes. “I got over
COURTESY (ROBINSON); CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE (WIENER)

that the fight for racial justice can motivate

and mobilize people like few other fights can,” 1,000 death threats and tens of thousands of comments slandering
he says. “In early May, people were saying that me,” he says. “It was a terrifying glimpse into the future.” Never one
protest was over — there could be no protest to back down from the good fight, Wiener sees an opportunity to
in the age of COVID-19. And then look what bring disinfecting transparency to the deeper, underlying problem
happened when racial justice became the of far-right radicalism and online misinformation. “As progressive
issue.… The uprisings we saw this year were elected officials, we need to be prepared to fight back against
the culmination of the last decade of a new misinformation by encouraging media literacy, holding social media
approach to organizing for racial justice, and companies accountable, and making sure correct information is out
the next step is converting that energy and the there and available,” he says. @Scott_Wiener
new consciousness into real power. That’s what
I call moving from presence to power.”
@rashadrobinson

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 SHANNON MINTER
Legal Director, NCLR
In fighting the Trump administration,
Shannon Minter, legal director for the National
Center for Lesbian Rights, sees Trump’s attack
on transgender service members as particularly
“vicious and shocking.” Minter argues, “If they
can get away with banning transgender people
from the military, the same arguments will be
used to justify discrimination against trans
people in civilian [spaces].”
NCLR has responded aggressively to this
threat, and its efforts are working. “Before the
ban, most people had no idea that transgender
people were serving in the military,” Minter
explains. “Now they do and the great majority…
support transgender people’s right to serve on
equal terms.”
This year Minter also continued fighting for
federal legislation to protect LGBTQ+ people
from discrimination and building bridges with
conservative religious Americans. But what
Minter says he’s most proud of in his 25-year
career is his work to stop conversion therapy, an
issue he credits with first drawing him to NCLR
as a law student back in 1992. NCLR’s Born
Perfect campaign to end conversion therapy
is now “by far, the most successful legislative
campaign” in the history of the LGBTQ+
rights movement, he says. In just eight years
NCLR has helped pass 20 state and nearly
80 local laws banning use of the devastating
practice on minors. @shannonminter5
TRISH TUNNEY

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 ADVOCACY

PATTIE GONIA
Sustainable Drag Queen
“My work, at the end of the day, is advocacy,”
says nonbinary sustainable drag persona Pattie
Gonia. “Figuring out how to take action and
encourage others to do the same is just about the
most important thing…[but] I have never felt
more at a loss of knowing what to do in my own
life to make a difference. Time and time again,
though, a question that’s helped me find where
to start is ‘What is the work that’s available to
me and only to me?’ and then chasing the hell
out of the answer to that question.”
“Reduce, reuse recycle, bitch!” Gonia says
of their environmentalist approach to fashion
and drag. “Sustainable drag means applying
the ethics behind sustainability and applying
it to my art form of drag. What it looks like
is normalizing outfit repeating, buying less,
reusing more, upcycling pieces from old looks
and making it work with what I’ve got instead
of thinking the solution is buying something
new.” Looking past this year, Gonia says “I am
excited to fall down many different rabbit holes;
I am excited to get lost. Let’s see what we can
find, shall we?” @pattiegonia
KAREN WANG

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 CODY RENARD RICHARD
Stage Manager and Educator
A successful Broadway stage manager who has worked on Cirque du Soleil
productions and with folks like Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda,
Cody Renard Richard is also an educator and advocate. In addition to being
named one of Variety’s 10 Broadway Players to Watch in 2020 (the first stage
manager to receive this honor), Richard received the Young Alumni Award from

KEITH PARRIS Webster University, delivered the keynote speech at the National Collaborators
Conference, and worked on MTV’s Video Music Awards. He recently founded
Activist the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program, which helps support BIPOC
theater students. “I have been really focusing on initiatives and programs that
Keith Parris, a 21-year-old amputee, influencer, activist, and
will move the needle forward for the next generation of Black and brown folx,”
author, shows that “body positivity is a necessary movement
he says of this year. “We must love on each other and show up for each other in
now,” and encourages folks to “love the body that they’re in
any way that we can.” @codyrenard
AUSTINYOURFACE (PARRIS); ELLIS DAWSON (RICHARD)

and show off their amazing shape, size, and curves.” The gay
Gen Z activist overcame an eating disorder and self-harm
(he’s been in recovery for five years) and used this adversity
to build a platform for himself. His Amputee Story, earned
thousands of views on Wattpad, and readers were moved by
Parris’s transparency. (Not just anyone can make charging
your artificial leg like your iPhone sound as commonplace
as Parris does.) Next on his list is acting and modeling, as he
continues to “advocate for my LGBTQ+ community and
amputee community.” While he’s dreaming of diving into the
“reality world next year so I can show more of my life,” never
discount this guy’s abilities. “I was told I would never make it
in this industry and never be in a magazine — but look at me
now!” @keithteboy_
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 ADVOCACY

ELLE HEARNS
Executive Director, The Marsha P. Johnson Institute
Elle Hearns might be best known as a co-founding member
of Black Lives Matter, but her work and activism goes well
beyond that. She is also the executive director of The Marsha
P. Johnson Institute, which works to end to violence against
all trans people. The organization is credited for arranging the
first ever National Day of Action for Black Trans Women in
response to the murders of Amber Monroe, Kandis Capri,
and Elisha Walker. Hearns has been honored with the
Young Women’s Achievement Award for Advocacy and
Organizing by the Women’s Information Network, the
Black Feminist Human Rights Defender award by Black
Women’s Blueprint, and was named a Woke 100 honoree
by Essence magazine. Hearns’ operates politically from the
perspectives of Black nationalism, humanist theory, and black
trans theory and practice. ““My greatest lesson this year has
been to trust the standards that I’ve been creating for myself
over a lifetime,” she says. “And to trust that despite the darkest
moments of this time and this life that life’s greatest moments
are still in store and on the way for me.” @soulfreedreams

CEYENNE DOROSHOW
Founder and Executive Director, G.L.I.T.S.
GQ describes Ceyenne Doroshow as a “one-woman Swiss Army
knife for those who’ve needed help of virtually any kind,” and it’s an
apt characterization. The founder and executive director of Gays and
JOHN LAMPARSKI FOR GETTY IMAGES (DOROSHOW); COURTESY (HEARNS)
Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (G.L.I.T.S.), Doroshow is
aiding and empowering trans sex workers by offering harm-reduction
strategies and respecting their rights and dignity. “It’s about bringing
real answers to real problems,” she says of her work. “We are a resilient
people.” The organization acquired a 12-unit building in Queens, N.Y.,
to provide stable, safe housing for Black trans people. “We’ve never had
something specific to us,” she says. “It is a landmark moment in history.”
The location will also offer case management services to residents with
specific needs, such as those who’ve been incarcerated and are building
a new life on the outside. While remodeling the building, Doroshow’s
added interior decorating to her list of skills, which already included
writing, performing, and culinary arts (she’s also the coauthor of the
Caribbean cookbook Cooking in Heels). @doroshow

66 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 ROBINA ASTI
Trans Activist, WWII U.S. Navy Fighter Pilot
Ninety-nine-year-old Robina Asti, a transgender
woman, flew combat missions over Midway Island
and elsewhere in the Pacific theater during World
War II long before she transitioned. She returned
home and married at age 40, helping create a family
with two children. After the accidental death of her
9-year-old son, Asti was forced to reevaluate her life,
and realized, “I wanted to transition…[so] that I
could live my life as an authentic woman.”
Asti transitioned in the 1970s and remained
relatively under the gender spectrum radar until the
passing of her husband in 2012. When the federal
government denied her standard Social Security
survivor’s benefits (claiming she was not legally a
woman at the time of their marriage), she fought
back — and (eventually) won. She now operates the
Cloud Dancers Foundation, an LGBTQ+ wish-
fulfillment charity seeking to inspire and empower
one wish at a time. (CloudDancers.org)
COURTESY (ASTI)

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 67
 AMERICA’S DREAM TEAM

REGGIE GREER
LGBTQ+ Engagement Director, Biden-Harris Campaign
Before becoming the first Black disabled gay man in history to lead LGBTQ+ outreach for a
presidential campaign, Reggie Greer already had an impressive résumé as deputy director of public
engagement at the U.S. Department of Transportation during the Obama administration. These
days he’s basking in gratitude after spending nearly all of 2002 speaking directly to queer voters
about their concerns and hopes for the future.
“The LGBTQ+ community is extremely diverse — spanning the complete spectrum of America’s
social, racial, and cultural landscape,” he says. “It was important to me that our campaign lifted up
every segment of our community, reflecting Vice President Biden’s desire that every American be
seen, heard, and included.”
Through the Out for Biden initiative, which is made up of an incredibly thoughtful and diverse
crew of people, Greer helped build partnerships and launched queer coalitions that included several
first-ever events for a presidential campaign, celebrating LGBTQ+ Arab-Americans, Two-Spirit
people, Black people, Latinx, AAPIs, and people of faith. Out for Biden also worked to include
and center trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer voices in campaign-wide programming. “There is
no substitute for real, genuine human connection and that extending grace to people, including
oneself, is extremely important.” @rwgreer

JAMAL BROWN
National Press Secretary, Biden-Harris Campaign
Wrapping up perhaps one of the most monumental campaigns in recent history, Jamal Brown’s
role was equal parts spokesperson, messaging strategist, policy wonk, and avid researcher for the
Biden-Harris campaign. But most importantly, as national press secretary, it was his responsibility
to ensure the American people knew they had a fighter and champion for them in Joe Biden.
“When I was younger and my mother and I were on welfare for a period, I learned during that
time to turn your grief into purpose,” Brown says. “I was reminded of that lesson this year as the
epidemic of racism and racial injustice came to the forefront of the American consciousness. It
wasn’t anything new for Black and brown people, but it exposed the everyday trauma we live, cope
with, and overcome.”
CASSIDY DUHON (GREER); CASSIDY DUHON (BROWN); TRAVIS W. KEYES PHOTOGRAPHY (JEAN-PIERRE))

Still, the fight is never over — especially for Brown. “As a country we are ever evolving. We’ve
never fully lived up to our founding ideals, but we’ve never stopped reaching for them either. Over
the next three years, I see our country continuing the march towards our promise of equality, equity,
and justice, no matter how arduous the journey may be.” @JTOBrown

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE
Chief of Staff to Kamala Harris
This political activist and author is helping to move the nation forward — and she’s making history
in the process. Karine Jean-Pierre played a key role as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ran for the
White House, joining the campaign initially as senior adviser and then becoming chief of staff
to Harris, making her the first Black woman and first lesbian to hold that position for a vice-
presidential nominee.
Jean-Pierre knows that America has a long way to go toward becoming an inclusive nation that
works for everyone. But she and other women of color are pushing it in the right direction. More
women ran for office in 2020 than ever before, and more than a third of them were women of color.
“America is progressing towards a stronger, more inclusive future — and I know women of color
are a driving force in that evolution,” she says. “Soon, I believe our politics will start to show it a
bit more too.”
The author of the appropriately titled 2019 book Moving Forward wants to help others make
their voices heard. The book is both a memoir and a guide to political involvement. “I wanted
to demystify the political process and make it accessible to everyone who wants to get involved,”
she says. “Helping open the door for other people will always be something I’m proud of.”
@k_jeanpierre

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 68
 Open space. Open minds.

What brings thousands of LGBTQ visitors to Key West every year? Is it

the gay tours, the clothing-optional guest houses, the we-were-out-before-
it-was-in ideology? Maybe it’s our vibrant cultural scene: the eclectic art,
the gingerbread architecture or the colorful history on display at every
turn. Either way, with our open minds and wide-open spaces,
Key West truly is an island unto itself.
Stay safe when visiting The Florida Keys:
Wear a Mask, Wash Hands, Social Distance.
fla-keys.com/gaykeywest 305.294.4603
 FILM

BRIGETTE LUNDY-PAINE
Actor
In November 2019, Atypical star Brigette Lundy-Paine made headlines when they
came out as nonbinary on Instagram. In their life and career, Lundy-Paine has
been a guiding light to LGBTQ+ young people. Their Atypical character, Casey,
is a queer teen navigating coming out and young love. Thousands have lauded the
positive impact of Casey’s relationship with classmate Izzie (Fivel Stewart) in the
#CazzieNation hashtag.
On the big screen, Lundy-Paine continues to break the mold in films like
Bombshell, about sexual harassment at Fox News, and Bill & Ted Face the
Music, the surprise hit of the socially distanced summer. As Billie, the daughter
of Ted (Keanu Reeves), Lundy-Paine brought a “genderlessness” to the part that
defied tropes while literally representing the next generation of Hollywood. This
representation is essential when, as GLAAD reports, no fi lm from a major studio
featured trans or nonbinary characters in 2019. Off-screen, Lundy-Paine fi nds
other ways of being creative. “I’ve been painting lately,” they share. “Currently
working on a nude of my upstairs neighbor inspired by Botticelli’s Primavera.”
Lundy-Paine is also a cofounder of Waif, an alternative art magazine for “waifs,”
described as “whores,” “prudes,” “nudes,” and “dudes.” The magazine recently
held a fundraiser hosted by artist Sina al-Qamar for the top surgery of one of its
community members, Mia. In a year marked by much fear and division, Lundy-
Paine stands by the Golden Rule. “Th is year I’ve learned how important being
gentle is, both to yourself and to beings around you.” @briiiiiiiiiig

JEN RICHARDS
Actress and Writer
Self-described “cottage lesbian” Jen Richards has been making the most of
the isolation of quarantine. In addition to getting engaged, the writer and
actor seen in Netflix’s Disclosure and the indie film Gossamer Fields says she’s
“learned the profound satisfaction of installing your own ceiling fan” and “that
homemade pickles are one of life’s easily earned, but great, rewards.” She’s also
spent the months “actively reorienting” herself to tackling the systemic racism
that was laid bare in the protests calling out violence against people of color.
Despite the darkness of the times, though, Richards sees a silver lining to the
lockdown.“As writing rooms become remote, the industry is going to open itself
to more writers than the handful who can afford to live in Los Angeles,” she
says, identifying the potential for more “diverse perspectives” which make for
better more representative stories. “My hope is that it creates a positive feedback
TONI SMALLS (LUNDY-PAINE); MATT SAYLES (RICHARDS)

loop where more audiences feel represented and therefore engage more, leading
to higher demand for new kinds of stories and incentives to provide them.”
@smartassjen

70 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 P. DAVID EBERSOLE & TODD HUGHES
Documentarians
Partners in life and in business, P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes
have developed their own niche of documentaries profiling creative
pioneers who break rules, forge new ground, and change the way we
live.
Over the past decade, the husbands have done six feature films,
including Alaska Is a Drag and Mansfield 66/67. Their most recent,
House of Cardin, follows iconic designer Pierre Cardin at age 98
for nearly a year and includes interviews with Jean-Paul Gaultier,
Naomi Campbell, Sharon Stone, Dionne Warwick, and others. The
art of cinema, they argue, has never been more critical. And it’s the
filmmaker’s role to challenge the status quo.
“In times like these, the art of film should be willing to be
controversial, sometimes confrontational, and whenever possible,
at its finest,” Ebersole tells Out. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it
needs to be loud; it just needs to be good and culturally observant.
Entertainment is quietly becoming a monopoly again after a long
struggle to break it up. That should be a call to all artists to create
and define our truth through our work and to find new ways to get
it out there to the public in an increasingly corporate environment.
Otherwise, Netflix, Apple, and Amazon are going to do it for you.”
Outside of their cinematic ventures, Ebersole and Hughes are
also award-winning tablescapers, which for the layperson, is the art
of creating a thematic dinner table. Together they’ve won the grand
prize ribbon at the Los Angeles County Fair three times. Clearly, a
couple who tablescapes together stays together. @EbersoleHughes
ANTHONY MASTERSON

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 71
 FILM

GERARD BUSH AND CHRISTOPHER RENZ

Writers and Filmmakers
OUT: First of a l l, than k you for this
film. Projects that spark dialogue and
conversation like this are keeping us engaged
with each other during the pandemic.

GERARD BUSH: Thank you. We’re trying to use this

time in a way that can be most productive to our
sanity and also our art. I think those two things
are inextricably linked. We create because it’s
cathartic and that is really helpful, so the whole
time we’ve just been writing and we feel like
that has anchored us.

The process in creating this film started as a

horrifying nightmare. Christopher, Do you
remember the first time Gerard told you about
his dream?

CHRISTOPHER RENZ: He was casually telling me

about it the next morning. I was sitting on the
couch and he’s making coffee in the kitchen.
He’s not looking in my direction. He’s telling
me, you know, the bullet points of the story. He
turned around and I already got the laptop out.
I’m like, “We’re writing this. Today.” And we
wrote the short story, which we then based the
script on.

BUSH: We have a lot of respect for the written

word. We’re voracious readers, but we also did
not imagine at the time that we were going to
be taking it from short story to script. We really
had an appreciation just for the short story, and
then when some people in town got ahold of
it, specifically [producer] Zev Foreman, it was
when they looked at us. We’d only been [in
Los Angeles], at the time, like six months. Our
friend Kenny had gotten the short story over
to a company. We said, “Kenny, I think you’re
crazy. Looking at this. It’s not a film. It’s a short
story.”
One of the most innovative films this year is Antebellum. Written and directed by boyfriends and
creative partners Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, the film follows a character fully embodied by RENZ: At the time we were excited because we
Janelle Monáe (our cover star) as she is seemingly transported to the antebellum South and assumes were in talks with The New Yorker about it and
the identity of an enslaved woman named Eden. that would have been incredible for us. That was
The film draws from a short story written by Bush, a gay Black man, which itself was inspired by what we saw.
a vivid nightmare he had about a frightened woman who reached out to him through time and
space for help. Bush and Renz — whose careers span advertising and social justice work, including BUSH: After conversations with people in town, I
17, a visual EP inspired by the murder of Trayvon Martin — ultimately came together to write the think we had sensed enough to know we should
screenplay for Antebellum, which can now be streamed on demand. We sat down with the couple respect their opinion. That was the only reason
to talk about their creative process and why the polarizing film struck such a nerve. we moved forward.
RYAN DEFOREEST

72 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 wasn’t the case for this character we wrote. She to live harmoniously in concert — that you’re
It was clearly meant to be. is kind of the real mastermind behind it.... seeing the beauty and the resilience and the
power of these women with the juxtaposition of
BUSH: I don’t think that we would have said, BUSH: And because of our background in the determination of a certain faction of white
“Let’s make a movie!” out of something that social justice activism, in terms of the art, we supremacy that finds it as a direct insult to their
didn’t feel like it came from a place that was were becoming increasingly fascinated by the person to see this kind of achievement in Black
in some way ancestral at the time. I thought potential for a collective psychopathy that people. Because when they see it, they have to
that it was from the past. And now I think that can metastasize through a society. I think confront the fact that they had gone out of their
maybe it was an SOS from the future. Because about how our rights as gay men, everything is way to dehumanize us in order to justify the
of that, we felt, OK, we’re protected in some really temporary. There is a need for constant subjugation. And so the psychology around it
way, because in this world, when you have vigilance and an optimization of approach became a much deeper and bigger conversation
the audacity to say something that can prove and strategy because your rights, they don’t in our research and where we were trying to go
disturbing or can ignite a conversation, it’s not feel, for me, permanent. And because of that, with the movie.
a pleasant experience for artists. You’re thrown Christopher and I wanted to better understand
into this spin cycle. white supremacy, its origins. And then in Janelle Monáe’s performance certainly
getting to the origins of white supremacy, the brought that to life.
As a genre, the short story is often overlooked. shock that it was right in front of us the entire
time, that the country was founded on a white RENZ: Oh, we were just blown away by the passion
BUSH: There’s something about sitting in the supremacist idea. That was really difficult to her team had for it, that she had for the script.
privacy of a nook or cranny where you feel really have to confront as an artist because you need She desperately wanted to bring Veronica to the
comfortable with being alone and with your to be authentic and honest about what you’re screen. It was interesting because this is our first
thoughts and your imagination and reading putting on the screen. Some people are not feature fi lm, and it was her fi rst leading role.
words on a page and allowing it to take you ready for that. Some people are not comfortable And so it was this adventure that we got to go
somewhere. In fi lm, we’re creating the visual with the truth. on together that was crazy and scary and fun.
representation, the experience of the written
word. We still like to leave space within the There’s also a clear juxtaposition you lay out Tell us about your next project.
film where the audience can use their own in the fi lm as well.
imaginations, because oftentimes, it’s much RENZ: It’s funny because I guess the thing now
more powerful than what you could create. BUSH: Christopher and I find ourselves enveloped is that we write a short story and then adapt
by some really dynamic Black women, and it into a script, which we’ve done for our next
What was it like writing and directing the women of all sorts, because that’s who’s in our fi lm. It’s called Rapture. We should be going
project as a couple? gaggle of friends and family. Outside of the into preproduction in a year or so. We wrote
context of what is seemingly the antebellum a television series as well that we’re incredibly
RENZ: It was a lot of research and reading, South, it was imperative to us that we also excited about that.
diving into white supremacists and Civil War demonstrate the nuance of the experience of so
reenactments, and a lot of research into white many ultramodern, successful, high-achieving, BUSH: Our determination is to tell a very specific
women and their role [in American slavery] well-traveled, well-read Black women who are kind of story. If you think back in movie
for Jena Malone’s character. We shared a book mothers and sisters and friends and pillars of history to the ’70s and the ’80s, some accused
with her called They Were Her Property that community. And what does that look like in Hollywood of desensitizing audiences to
really shows an honest view of white women’s the juxtaposition with the antebellum South? violence. And now the opposite has happened,
complacency. Because in all of our research, it was really where there is this expectation of a theme
difficult to identify where and what happened park ride, rather than something that really
BUSH: Some white women! to Black Americans prior to the kidnapping engages you to think about the world that we
and forced labor. You know, where were these live in, the reality of what that is. For us, we
RENZ: Some white women. [Laughs] communities they came from? What husband are engaged in the filmmaking process and
or wife or partner were they stolen from? cinema and television, because we are looking
BUSH: Just to be clear. [Laughs] And what was annihilated and disappeared? to do our part in contributing to the dialogue
We didn’t want to only focus on the white and the conversation to shift the collective
RENZ: But a lot of times they get a pass like it’s, supremacist component of it, albeit that’s a consciousness and understanding that he, she,
“Oh, you know, they just went along,” or larger point of what we’re trying to say with they who control the narrative have the power.
whatever. That was not [always] the case. That the fi lm. We think that those two things need @gerardbush @christopherrenz

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 73
 FILM

STEVEN CLAY HUNTER

Animator
For 30 years, Steven Clay Hunter has worked
as an animator, helping to bring others’ tales to
life in productions like Finding Nemo, Toy
Story 2 , and The Incredibles. But with Out —
his groundbreaking 2020 short that is the first
Pixar film to feature a gay lead — Hunter finally
got to tell his own story. Like his protagonist,
the queer animator came out to his parents as
an adult, albeit without the magical help of the
fi lm’s fairy god-pets.
“I’ve been surprised at what an emotional
journey it’s been,” Hunter says. “I’m especially
moved by all the folks who were there along the
way who helped me tell it.”
Although LGBTQ+ representation has
grown in leaps and bounds in recent years,
animated productions have lagged behind —
particularly those under the Disney umbrella.
However, Hunter sees his short as the wave of
the future.
Making Out “is just part of a continuum
of storytelling that came before me and will
continue afterwards,” he says. “Queer stories
have been on the fringes for a long time, but
we’re becoming more mainstream every year.
And as we become more mainstream, I sure
hope that it doesn’t mean we lose the fighting
spirit that got us here. We need to keep pushing
for all of our stories to be told.”
“Don’t assume that it’s somebody else’s
problem that you can put off or ignore,” he adds.
“Know that you’re a part of something bigger
than you and you can’t hide from the world.”
When not animating, Hunter enjoys sitting
in his rocking chair “with a good book. And a
cup of tea. And my baggy sweater. Does that
make me old?” His holiday wish this year would
be “hugs from people I haven’t hugged in a long,
long time, and the warmth of their company.”
@thunderbubble
MAX SACHAR

74 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
SPREAD LOVE. FIGHT STIGMA. BUY A MASK.

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WRYXOQHUDEOHSHRSOHLQQHHGPDQ\RIZKRPDUHOLYLQJZLWKDQGDIIHFWHGE\
+,9$,'6XQVWDEO\KRXVHGDQGKDYHH[SHULHQFHGVWLJPDDQGGLVFULPLQDWLRQ

To purchase a face mask, visit distanceyourselffromhate.org.

&RWWRQ_+DQGVWLWFKHGLQ1<&_'HVLJQHGE\-DVRQ:X
 TELEVISION

JAMAL SIMS
Choreographer
Jamal Sims first danced onto the scene in
the late ’90s, choreographing hit hip-hop
videos for artists like Usher and Dru Hill.
Since then, he has become one of the hottest
choreographers in Hollywood, parlaying his
talents into the world of fi lm and television.
Sims, who says being out “means freedom,”
has remained dedicated to creating LGBTQ+-
inclusive content throughout his 20-plus-year
career. He’s dabbled in producing and acting
— and became an award-winning director
with 2018’s documentary When the Beat
Drops. His dazzling choreography in last year’s
Aladdin live action reboot starring Will Smith
blew audiences (and critics) away.
These days, Sims is probably most recognized
as a longtime resident choreographer (along
with Todrick Hall) across several of the
RuPaul’s Drag Race franchises. Though
2020 has been a challenging year, he says
there were some wonderful highlights, like
“reintroducing me to myself, spending quality
time with my family, and falling in love.” Sims
says his hope for 2021 “is that we all can heal
from 2020.” @jamizzi

DASHAUN WESLEY
King of Vogue
It’s been a legendary year for Dashaun Wesley. After portraying Shadow Wintour
on Pose, the “King of Vogue” burst onto the reality television runway as the master
of ceremonies on HBO Max’s Legendary, a competition between eight voguing
houses. Wesley is no stranger to this scene; he has danced and commentated in the
ZACH DILGARD FOR HBO MAX (WESLEY); NICK GILLIAN (SIMS)

New York City ballroom arena since he was a teenager. He’s since showed off his moves
on America’s Best Dance Crew, BET’s Hit the Floor, and Magic Mike XXL. Wesley
describes his job as being “one of the best pilots in the flyer’s seat for the style of
voguing” who helps “guide passengers on the path of success with performances,
education, and knowledge of the underground ballroom scene.” His most recent
productions have brought the world of ballroom to living rooms around the world,
garnering a new generation of fans and practitioners. Wesley predicts ballroom
culture will continue to grow over the next few years, “not only in numbers but in
visibility.” He expects changes to the competitive format as well. “I see more of a fi xed
and structured playing field for the newcomers and spectators. The rule system to be
adjusted to give a better understanding to the lingo, categories, and titles given to the
hard-working participants,” he says. He also hopes to see the creation of a “marked
historical location for the scene like a museum or building that we store our history
and archive our legacy.” @dashaunwesley

76 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 LILI REINHART
Actress/Producer
Lili Reinhart has always been transparent,
CHEYENNE JACKSON sharing her struggles with anxiety, depression,
and body dysmorphia; but there was one
Actor, Singer subject she hadn’t shared until this year when
A bona fide Broadway star, Cheyenne Jackson made a transition to the Riverdale actress came out to her 25
the small screen, eventually becaming a part of Ryan Murphy’s world, million followers on Instagram as “a proud
appearing in Glee and American Horror Story. bisexual woman.”
This summer Jackson played a charmingly pernicious apparition in “I was afraid of coming out,” she later
the teen-oriented Netflix series Julie and the Phantoms, which featured explained on our sibling podcast, LGBTQ&A.
a sweet gay storyline in addition to its general queer sensibility. “I didn’t want people to tell me that I was lying
Regarding the series’ subplot about teen boys in love, Jackson, who is to get attention or something. I think that’s
gay, told our sibling publication The Advocate, “I’m 45. I came out when why I didn’t come out as bisexual until I was
I was 19. It was a different world.” not in a relationship anymore. Because it’s easy
“As a 15-year-old queer kid in Idaho, to be able to turn on the TV and for people to question, ‘Oh, but you’re with a
see a representation of just two cute boys liking each other — [and] that’s man — that’s straight.’”
it? Like, no pain, no angst? It would have been really powerful.” Although Reinhart has been lauded for her
JONNY MARLOW (JACKSON); COURTESY (REINHART)

In October, Jackson played pioneering gay liberation activist Dale openness, she isn’t sure such praise is warranted.
Jennings in HBO Max’s docuseries (with reenactments) Equal, about As she writes in her new collection of poetry,
the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Also, his version of Katy Swimming Lessons, “I’ve only told the world/
Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” which he dedicated to “my man” on The Seth what I feel,/ not how to overcome./ It feels
Concert Series in August, is a marvel. fraudulent to be given/ a pat on the back/ for
In a year marked by so much change, the married dad of twins says he simply telling the truth.”
found solace in the work of another pop star: “I didn’t know how much When asked what accomplishment she is
I needed Miley Cyrus singing ‘Heart of Glass.’” willing to accept praise for, Reinhart tells Out,
As for what life will be like moving forward Jackson says, “It’s going “I’m very proud of the fi lm Chemical Hearts,
to be a meditation in innovation and simply being malleable.” where I served as a first-time executive producer
@mrcheyennejackson for Amazon. It was such a creatively fulfi lling
experience and I hold the movie so close to my
heart.” @lilireinhart

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 77
 AMRIT KAPAI
Lawyer and Reality Star
Though 32-year-old Amrit Kapai had example I am striving to set, all the
already achieved success practicing law while promoting the central message to
in Miami, he “found another incredibly live our most authentic lives.”
meaningful calling — serving as a “ T h e C OV I D -19 p a n d e m i c
voice for the South Asian LGBTQ hammers home the importance of
community” through his role on Family personal sacrifice for the greater
Karma. The Bravo reality show follows good of humanity,” Kapai adds. “The
a tightknit group of immigrants from pandemic has also tempered my view
India, and the inevitable culture-clashes of my own success by showing me that
that ensue now that they live in the I am simply one of many…the Black
United States. Lives Matter movement continues to
“Fa mily K a r ma embod ies my teach me empathy… [and] has forced
opportunity to shine the spotlight me to face the truth about oppression,
on the challenges and distinct issues discrimination, and unequal civil
Indian LGBTQs face,” Kapai says. “My liberties in our country. Looking the
unique role as the only gay cast member other way simply is not an option.”
highlights my own struggles and the @amritkapai

BRANDON KYLE GOODMAN

Actor and Writer
Brandon Kyle Goodman has made the most of the global
quarantine, using the visibility they’ve gained as an actor
and writer to advocate for the Black Lives Matters protests,
shining a disinfecting light on the violence suffered at the
hands of police by people of color. Their viral video messages
and activism netted over 80,000 followers in just a few days
on social media, and brought much needed awareness and
hard dollars to groups like The Innocence Project, The Bail
Project, and NAACP. Goodman identifies as nonbinary.
While they find their gender status doesn’t necessarily
make life harder in Hollywood at present, “being Black and
queer definitely does. Always fighting to be seen as human, JONNY MARLOW (GOODMAN); ANDREW GLATT PHOTOGRAPHY (KAPAI)
as more than just the ‘gay assistant’, the‘ sassy best friend’,
but instead someone with a full life, that is complicated,
nuanced, flawed, joyful, painful, messy, and aspirational.
Black people, and especially Black queer people are often
positioned as a punch line, and if you’re not willing to
participate in that, it cuts you off at the knees since those
are mostly the parts available.” Goodman is penning the
punchlines now after joining the writing room for seasons
4 and 5 of the irreverently hilarious Netflix animated series
Big Mouth. They’re writing for laughs for a more strategic
purpose.“I hope that TV and film will recognize and
honor the fact that Black people, queer people, POC, and
women are beyond capable of telling our own stories and
that audiences are hungry for it.” Next up for Goodman is
Human Resources, a spin-off of Big Mouth. He’ll be voicing
Walter, a queer Black voice he wishes he’d seen on the
shows of his youth.“I’m excited for the world to meet him,”
he gushes. @brandonkgood

78 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 TELEVISION

FRANÇOIS ARNAUD
Actor
The Borgias actor who also appeared something together again. Hearing
in Schitt’s Creek, François Arnaud, someone in the audience laugh at the
came out as bisexual this year in an wrong time,” Arnaud says. He calls
Instagram story in advance of Bi that kind of in-person experience, “so
Visibility Day. The 35-year-old French awkward,” and yet so important.
Canadian posted that he was sharing Aside from the arts, Arnaud
his story to help combat “assumptions admits, “the only thing I’m actually
of straightness.” Musing about why genuinely passionately interested in is
he’d previously kept silent about food. And wine. I’ll eat anything and
his sexuality, he wrote, “Probably everything. I’m only ever thinking
JULIE PERREAULT (ARNAUD); MANFRED BAUMANN (BENNETT); MICHAEL SCHWARTZ (PERLMAN); JONATHAN BENNETT PHOTO BY @MANFREDBAUMANN MAKE UP @NELLYBAUMANN

because ‘masculinity’ is a most fragile or talking about my next meal.”

currency, ready to nose-dive at the first @francoisarnaud
sign of vulnerability or difference. And
because it’s really fucking scary to give JO ELLEN PELLMAN
up your privilege. Without a doubt, Actress
because stigmas of indecisiveness, Jo Ellen Pellman was the only unknown cast
infidelity, deception, and trendiness are in Ryan Murphy’s film adaptation of the Tony-
still clinging to bisexuality.” nominated musical, The Prom. She stars alongside
Arnaud is fresh off filming the heavy-hitters like Meryl Streep, James Corden,
indie romantic thriller The Winter Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells. “Working
House, with Lili Taylor. Earlier this with this phenomenal cast and creative team to
year, his anticipated return to theater share this story with the world has been the greatest
after almost ten years fell through joy,” says the queer-identified Pellman.
in the face of the pandemic. “I can’t Pellman describes The Prom as “a love letter
wait for the day we’re able to be in a to Broadway, a queer coming of age story, and a
room full of strangers experiencing celebration of many worldviews coming together
to make something magical happen.” She says it
was the perfect film for 2020 because, “It offers a
kind of hope that’s rooted in reality, an optimism
that persists in the face of inequality. The Prom
embraces the idea that if we meet people where
JONATHAN BENNETT they are and have those tough conversations in
search of a better, more just world, we all have
Actor and Host the possibility of a happy ending.” @jellpell
Jonathan Bennett is a veteran of film and
television, from the soap opera All My
Children to movies like Mean Girls and
Cheaper by the Dozen 2, but his latest role
in Hallmark Channel’s The Christmas
House might be his most important.
It’s the first openly gay character in the
network’s fare of original holiday movies.
“I’m incredibly proud to be a part of this
moment in history,” Bennett say, noting
that a “family film at the holidays with
a love story that includes two men in a
healthy loving relationship about to adopt
their first child…is progress.” The former
host of Cake Wars is glad the LGBTQ+
community finally has affirming storylines
in traditional holiday programming. “For
years we just wanted a seat at the table.
And this year, thanks to the progress and
support of Hallmark, we have that seat
when it comes to feel good Christmas
stories.” @jonathandbennett
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 TELEVISION

MELISSA KING
Top Chef
Top Chef: Boston finalist Melissa King not only won 2020’s Top Chef All-Stars:
Los Angeles, in the process, she racked up more challenge wins than any other
competitor in the history of the Bravo cooking competition. But as the show
aired, the pandemic raged, leaving the restaurant industry devastated. “My
revenue streams disappeared overnight,” King recalls. But she was up to this
challenge too. “The pandemic has inspired new beginnings,” she explains. She’s
broadened her business model to include an apparel line, a small batch sauce line
(which sold out online in 3 minutes), and virtual cooking classes.
“When the pandemic first started, I found many people struggling to cook
for themselves and their families,” King says. “These virtual classes have been
a way for me to offer my skills and bring flavorful, yet approachable dishes into
the comfort of your home.”
Activism is a central consideration for King, who donated her entire $10,000
Top Chef Fan Favorite prize to Black Visions Collective, Asian Americans for
Equality, The Trevor Project, and Asian Youth Center in Los Angeles. She
donates money from each cooking class to similar causes.
“I stand proud representing my communities and showing that no matter who
you are or where you come from, you can accomplish amazing things,” says the
Chinese-American, queer, gender-fluid chef. @chefmelissaking

JAMEELA JAMIL
Actress, Podcaster, Activist
The Good Place star, Jameela Jamil has paid a price for being a
mouthy woman of color. When she speaks people react. Th is
year alone, the British-South Asian activist and artist has held
her own at political rallies, shared conversations on stage with
feminist icons like Gloria Steinem, spoken about her disabilities,
and navigated controversy about being a judge on the vogue-ball
series, Legendary that led her to come out as queer — something
she hadn’t disclosed publicly previously.
The “feminist in progress” says now, “It’s easy to just be silent
and pretty and mysterious and inoffensive. But who do you help?
What do you learn? What does anyone learn from you? What’s
the fucking point?”
Instead, Jamil says she “would rather be scrappy and authentic
and grow in public and be an example to others that it’s never
too late to work on yourself. I’m someone who refuses to feel
embarrassed about having a lot more to learn. I feel as though
if we felt less shame around needing to be educated, we as a
collective, would know more by now.”
On The Good Place, her relentlessly optimistic and seemingly
perfect character Tahini learns that lesson too, and over the four
seasons of the show, she becomes a better person.
As the show ended in January, Jamil moved on to a slew of
projects including TBS’s The Misery Index. Fellow queers Sam
Smith and Lizzo have appeared on Jamil’s anti-shame platform
and podcast, I Weigh, talking about body image and more. “I
fi nd freedom and safety in being honest with myself and with
others,” Jamil says.
Jamil is using I Weigh to “ask people much smarter and
better than me, to take my place on my platform and teach all
of us. I am not doing them a favor. They are doing all of us the
favor.” @jameelajamil
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 HARVEY GUILLÉN
Actor and Musician
Harvey Guillén is everybody’s
favorite human familiar on FX’s
What We Do in the Shadows, and
recently signed to show off his
musical talents in the second season
of NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary
Playlist. There he’s set for a multi-
episode arc as George, a new
programmer in search of approval
from the titular character. He
just wrapped production on
the upcoming film Werewolves
Within, based on the popular

SAM FEDER multiplayer Ubisoft game. The

out queer 30-year-old Latinx star
Director from Orange County, Calif., used
to watch television as a child and
Sam Feder’s Disclosure is the documentary that lament the lack of characters and
everyone in media was talking about this year. From its storylines that paralleled his own.
hugely successful world premiere at the Sundance Film Guillén is now that role model
Festival, to streaming on Netflix, to making Indiewire’s for a new generation of Latinx
“Academy Awards Contenders” list, Disclosure (about youth seeking affi rmation of their
trans representation in film and TV), was everywhere. identity and ethnicity in a media
The film’s success, and the rest of 2020, came as a shock environment usually dominated by
to Feder, a self-described introvert who “can spend white faces and stories.
days repotting my plants.” As the trans director of the @harveyguillen
biggest trans documentary of the year, Feder is hoping
their fi lm doesn’t just resonate with viewers, but can
usher in real change. “I hope we see power given to and
taken by more trans people in telling trans stories,”
they say. Feder required cisgender members of their
SUSAN YE @ENPOINTE (KING): TK (JAMIL): OLIVER WHEELDON (GUILLIEN); TEXAS ISAIAH (FEDER);

documentary crew agree to train a trans person who

ADAM KENT PHOTOGRAPHY SHOOT PLANNING/DESIGN BY WINK! WEDDINGS (TAYLOR-KLAUS)

is trying to break into Hollywood. In doing so, Feder

created new opportunities and connections for trans
storytellers. And now, whenever someone argues that
there’s nothing wrong with transphobic jokes or tropes
on TV and it’s okay to have cisgender folks writing and
playing trans roles, we have Disclosure as a clear and
concise clap back. @samfeder_1

BEX TAYLOR-KLAUS
Actor
Not surprisingly, Bex Taylor-Klaus says their recent wedding to The Fosters’ Alicia Sixtos was the
highlight of 2020. A Jewish kid from the South, the actor (Arrow, The Killing, Scream) describes
their gender “as an elusive forest gecko with hidden genitalia and asexual reproduction. I love the term
nonbinary because it feels like a good umbrella for a gender that constantly feels fluid and evolving.”
That made playing the nonbinary character Brianna Bishop on Deputy an “extraordinary”
experience for Taylor-Klaus. “Growing up, there was never an explicitly trans or nonbinary character
in any media I consumed,” the actor says. “I craved representation of something I didn’t even know
I was. When I got the opportunity to help create an actual nonbinary character whom I would have
obsessed over as a lost child trying to find myself, I cried.”
Up next for the actor is a medical drama Triage, in the meantime, we can fly with them (as Keo
Venzee) in the Star Wars: Squadrons video game. @bex_tk

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 TELEVISION

SHAKINA NAYFACK
Actress
The character Shakina Nayfack plays are still being told by cis people,” Nayfack
in Connecting… wasn’t originally trans. says. “There are a lot of seats that need to
But Nayfack still booked the part — be fi lled by trans folks before we are truly
making her the fi rst out trans person to in charge of how our stories get told.”

WILLIAM RUSAN (GERMAINE); MOJO DISCO (NAYFACK)

have a starring role in a network comedy Connecting… solidifies Nayfack ’s
— which was then re-written for her. place in television history, but it’s also
THEO GERMAINE Anyone who’s seen Nayfack in the
Transparent musical finale, in Difficult
been a monumental year in her personal
life because she had a revision to her
Actor People, or onstage in her one-woman gender confi rmation surgery. “We need
After breakout roles in Netflix’s The Politician show, Manifest Pussy, can understand to normalize GCS revisions for trans
and Showtime’s Work in Progress, Theo why: she’s a star. women,” Nayfack argues. “It’s a major
Germaine’s career may stand as proof of “We’re seeing trans characters move operation and it often takes more than
what is now possible for a nonbinary actor beyond stereotypes and our stories move one step to get right. If you’re reading this
in Hollywood. While trans and nonbinary beyond tropes, but fundamentally, when and you’re a post-op trans woman with
representation has dramatically increased you consider who the producers and execs pussy problems, your experience is valid
in the past two to three years, Germaine are, who’s literally behind the camera and and I support you going in for that second
says, “I’m discouraged by how we sometimes in the cutting room, most trans stories round.” @shakeenz
pat ourselves on the back during the times
we’ve done the bare minimum in regards to
inclusion in the industry. A lot of people are
being kept out.” For example, they say, “I’m
not seeing enough trans people being hired in
other aspects of the industry yet. And those
of us who are hired — many of us are thin
and able bodied. That needs to change now.”
Germaine uses their platform to ensure that
when we turn on our TVs, we don’t just see the
select few trans people that Hollywood has
deemed “palatable.”
With the success of their two shows,
both of which were picked up for multiple
seasons, Germaine’s life has changed with a
fierceness and intensity they’re still adjusting
to. Experiencing housing and financial
instability prior to being cast on The Politician,
they struggled to get their basic needs met
through periodic theater gigs, food service,
burlesque performances, office temping, pet
care, occasional escorting, selling art, “and
basically just taking any gig I could to pay all
my bills and try to keep working towards the
goal I had for acting.” They wanted to be a series
regular before they turned 40; their talent,
drive, and work ethic got them there before 25.
@theogermaine
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 KEKE PALMER
Actress and Singer
Since actress, singer, and TV personality starred in the wildly popular Hustlers with
Lauren Keyana “Keke” Palmer made her Jennifer Lopez. These days you won’t want to
debut in 20 05’s Barbershop 2: Back in miss Palmer flex her comedic chops in the new
Business, she’s become one of the hardest streaming series Turnt up with Taylors, in which
working women in Holly wood. Palmer she single-handedly portrays multiple members
has been featured in countless films and of a dysfunctional reality TV family.
television shows while also balancing a The multi-talented star has won numerous
successful career as a recording artist. awards for her contributions to both the arts
LAWRENCE ROBINSON (PALMER)

Palmer continued to push boundaries with and the Black community. This year she has
her riveting performance in 2018’s Pimp, in also hosted major virtual events, like the 2020
which she played a queer pimp struggling Video Music Awards on MTV— and (more
to free herself and her girlfriend from the importantly), the Nickelodeon special, Kids
dangerous ties that bound them. In 2019, she Pick the President. @kekepalmer

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 JEREMY POPE
Actor
Actor Jeremy Pope burst onto the scene in Ryan Murphy’s hit Netflix
series Hollywood, playing gay Black screenwriter Archie Coleman.
The series pulled back the curtain on Tinsel Town’s historical queer
subtext and his performance earned him an Emmy nomination,
to pair with the two Tony Award nominations he earned last year
for Choir Boys and Ain’t Too Proud, winning the latter. Pope is
representative of a new, more diverse class of artists coming to the
fore. He describes his work as “telling stories I always longed to hear
growing up” and “making people feel seen and heard through the
characters that I choose to embody.”
The rising star sees the industry evolving in the next few years,
“making space for the voices and stories this industry and the
country have historically silenced. Black and brown voices, queer
stories, women’s stories. Stories that shed light on what this society
has repeatedly deemed unworthy.” When he’s not giving voice to the
unheard through his work, Pope has been centering himself with the
family he was born into and the one he chose. “Love while you can,”
advises Pope. @jeremypope

GINA YASHERE
Comedian
British-Nigerian lesbian stand-up comedian Gina
Yashere came to the U.S. as a finalist on NBC’s
Last Comic Standing in 2007 and never left. As
adept on stage on a Olivia cruise as she is on a
Hollywood backlot, Yashere was tapped by Chuck
Lorre (creator of Mom, Big Bang Theory, et al)
to co-create, produce, write, and act in the CBS
comedy series, Bob Hearts Abishola. The first series
to feature a Nigerian family, its second season
debuts in November.
“Stand-up is, and will always be my first love, as
the freedom of live comedy can’t be beaten, but I
also love bringing my characters to life,” Yashere
says about her Abishola character Kemi.
The 46-year-old has two Netflix specials (Skinny
B*tch and Laughing to America), is a commentator
SOPHIE ANDREASSEND (POPE); STEVE PEIRCE (YASHERE)

on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, and has a

memoir (Cack-Handed) out next year.
For now, Yashere admits she’s stopped watching
or listening to the news. “Never thought I’d look
back at Bush as the good old days of Republican
racism,” she jokes. But she’s hopeful that 2020
will actually be a turning point for racial equality.
“Th is year has been a perfect storm — the whole
world at home watching George Floyd being
murdered, and this time being unable to turn a
blind eye, coupled with the worldwide protests. It
just feels different. People are finally listening to us.
I don’t know how long it will last, but I’m going to
get as many through that open door as possible.”
@ginayashere

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 TELEVISION

DAVID COLLINS, MICHAEL WILLIAMS, AND ROB ERIC

Scout Productions
If part of your self-care routine during this rocky year has been binging episodes of Queer
Eye on Netflix or discovering HBO Max’s reality series about drag houses, Legendary,
then you have Scout Productions co-founders David Collins, Michael Williams, and
chief creative officer Rob Eric to thank. The team behind the juggernaut reboot of the
queer makeover series isn’t stopping there. This September, Scout Productions launched
a documentary unit after the company received orders for the four-part docuseries
Equal (HBO Max), about the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and Get Real
for Quibi, about the rise of reality TV.
“I’m a producer in title on many scripted, unscripted, and doc projects, but first and
foremost I’m a storyteller,” Collins says of his work. ”I’m especially interested in people
who are unable or haven’t had the opportunity to share – whether it’s the marginalized
communities in Legendary, the unsung LGBTQ activists in Equal, or the individual
heroes of each Queer Eye episode.”
“Whether it’s the story of five gay men helping out a straight man and realizing their
differences mean less than their similarities or celebrating the unique LGBTQIA+
family structures of ballroom culture, each story we tell at Scout should push a social
dialogue forward,” Eric adds.
It’s been a year of evolution for Scout Productions, Williams says. “Our company has
been blessed with many opportunities in the past few months, so we’re thankfully hard
at work. I’m coming away from this year feeling more grateful than ever.”
The men behind our favorite escapes have their own ways to unwind. Williams loves
to cook while Eric became obsessed with The Great Pottery Throwdown.
But, Eric stresses, it’s not all about checking out, saying, “A divided country, rampant
racism, escalated violence towards our brothers and sisters in our community, a global
STEPHEN BUSKEN

pandemic, essentially every nightmare scenario come to life. 2020 should have taught
all of us that we need to work harder and be far more diligent in creating a better future
for ourselves and for our children.” @scoutprod

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 MUSIC

GIA WOODS
Pop Singer
Back in 2015, Gia Woods made a huge splash by coming out in her music
video for the catchy bedroom pop song “Only a Girl.” Since then, she’s
amassed over 300,000 viewers for a Twitch performance, appeared in
Calvin Klein’s Pride campaign, become a Savage x Fenty ambassador, and
released her debut EP Cut Season. Woods describes her music as “honest,
sensual, moody, alt dark pop” that reflects who she was growing up as a shy
and closeted teen, and who she is now.
“I want my music to be understood and relatable to anyone,” she says.
But she also knows who her biggest fans are. “I feel that with my words and
even sound, it makes it diverse enough to not even feel like a ‘lesbian’ song
to some. Although, my music definitely may hit harder for another lesbian.”
Cut Season has cemented Woods as one of the most exciting young singers
today. The EP is both pop and personal and sends a clear message to anyone
ALEX THE ASTRONAUT listening. “I have finally learned to cut ties,” she says. “What doesn’t help
you grow isn’t important to hold onto, from people to habits. I didn’t call
Singer-Songwriter my EP Cut Season for no reason, duh!” @giawoods
“I make songs about the things I see around
me. It’s strange to me that it’s my work now,
it was something I did when I was little to
understand those things happening around
me.” A rising Australian singer-songwriter,
Alex the Astronaut’s music doesn’t fit into a
specific genre as much as it creates vivid worlds
for the listener to live in. “Music and story-
telling is such a powerful way of connecting
everyone and I’m really proud to be able to do
it every day.”
Their fi rst album, The Theory of Absolutely
Nothing, which debuted earlier this year,
captures growing pains in song, as an angsty
yet jubilant exploration of identity and self.
But while they were celebrating the release,
much of the world was thrust into chaos.
“I’ve learned more about racism and the white
supremacy I hold than I have in all the years
before and I wish I had started doing more
work earlier,” they say. “I hope to see more
JESS GLEESON (ALEX); MARSHALL FIELDS (WOODS)

people of color in decision making positions

in the music industry. It’s long overdue and
it’ll make our industry a better place to work.”
@alex.the.astronaut

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 HAMED SINNO
Singer/Advocate
Hamed Sinno — frontman of Mashrou Leila,
one of the most influential queer-led bands in
the Middle East — is no stranger to speaking out
about societal atrocities that affect marginalized
people. He’s been vocal about the ongoing civil
wars in his homeland, and this year he was
especially poignant speaking about the death of
Egyptian queer activist Sarah Hegazi, who died
by suicide this June after suffering three years of
systematic torture since being arrested for flying
the LGBTQ+ Pride flag during a Mashrou Leila
concert in Cairo. Sinno was deeply affected by
her death and performed a moving musical
tribute to the late activist on social media.
Sinno now says, “We are who we mourn. F**k
the police. We are a lot stronger than we think
we are — and shouldn’t have to be. Gratitude is
everything. Friendship is survival.”
@hamed.sinno

S.G. GOODMAN
HOJUN YU (SINNO); SAMUEL ENGELKING (NYSSA); MEREDITH TRUAX (GOODMAN)

Musician
Emerging from the small Mississippi River
town of Hickman, Ky., S.G. Goodman is a NYSSA
refreshingly original voice that pays homage to Rocker
her Appalachian roots while stepping away from
When you listen to queer indie rocker Nyssa’s music, you immediately start seeing colors
its bigoted past. The young queer singer’s songs
and landscapes. Her sound conjures images of vast sunsets, long roads, and adventures
speak to those often overlooked in her socially
with close friends. If you ask Nyssa herself, she’ll say it sounds like “the soundtrack to
conservative state and she hopes to see “a lot more
a queer road movie. Monster meets Desert Hearts.” With her soaring rock vocals and
diversity and representation across genres.…The
plenty of reverb, this is definitely a movie you’ll want to see.
music industry needs to read the room and realize
Nyssa released her debut album Girls Like Me earlier this year, and has been defying
that we need to see more women, people of color,
definition and expectations since. Her songs “Hey Jackie” and “The Swans” contain bits
and LGBTQ+ folks rising on the charts.”
of Springsteen, parts of the Pretenders, and hints of early 2000’s era indie rock greats like
@s.g.goodman
The Strokes and Bloc Party, but all of it is decidedly queer. “Starting a song from a queer
foundation presents me with the opportunity to imagine a utopian alternate reality,” she says.
“Or to explore the no-so friendly past with a fine-tuned and specifically freaky viewfinder.”
It’s this unique viewpoint that makes her music stand out. Nyssa is presenting us not
with rock as it is, but rock as it could be, how she wants it to be. Nyssa’s excited for the
future of queer rock, and when she looks at it, all she sees is a “total takeover” and we
hope she’s right. @thisisnyssa

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 MUSIC

PABLO ALBORÁN
Spanish Singer
In June, for Pride month, 31-year-old
Spanish singer-songwriter Pablo Alborán
came out as a proud gay man in a video
message posted to his Instagram account.
“Today, I want my voice to be louder and
for it to have more value and weight. I’m
here to tell you that I am homosexual and
it’s okay,” he told his millions of followers.
“Life goes on, everything will remain the
same, but I’m going to be a little happier
than I already am.” This year, the Grammy-
nominated artist, who broke through with
his 2010 hit “Solamente Tú,” also released
his fifth studio album Vértigo, and received
an outpouring of support from fans and
his peers, including Ricky Martin. “You
don’t know how many men and women
you have helped with this video,” the
superstar wrote in his comments section.
With his coming out, Alborán says he
hopes to help other LGBTQ+ people
who are struggling to share their truth.
“That’s why today, without fear, I hope I
can make somebody’s journey easier with
this message,” he said. “But above all, I do
this for me.”
@pabloalboran

COURTESY SUBJECT

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 LIZZO
Pop-Rap Star
It’d be easy to call on the usual tropes of the Even queer folks tend to call Lizzo an “ally,” try to keep it black and white. That’s just not
badass Black woman when talking about Lizzo even when she’s wearing a rainbow dress, working for me.”
— her embodiment of her own sexuality not standing in the Stonewall Inn, singing her ass At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards,
despite her size but because of it — could call off about acceptance. Lizzo got eight nominations, the most of any
for it. But the 32-year-old flute playing, pop- People did the same with Lady Gaga in her artist, and she took home awards for Best
rap goddess should be celebrated just as much early years, but that’s dismissive of an important Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo
for her music as her persona, forcing a music part of the LGBTQ+ umbrella that Lizzo Performance for “Truth Hurts,” and Best
industry that tends to celebrate women only and Gaga both fall under, whether they call it Traditional R&B Performance for “Jerome.”
within strict confi nes to adapt just so it could biseuxal, queer, pan, or no-labels. Lizzo’s made She’s won a Billboard Music Award, a BET
embrace her, in all of her brash and busty glory, it clear that while she may not like labels, she’s Award and two Soul Train Music Awards. Time
inclduging her vocalness about sexuality andr anything but straight — and in 2020, she’s been magazine named her “Entertainer of the Year”
mental health struggles. one of the most powerful icons for LGBTQ+ in 2019, a year she also made the leap to the big
The music industry has long thrived on folks everywhere. screen (Hustlers, UglyDolls).
perpetuating the kind of glass closets that allow “When it comes to sexuality or gender, I Who knew that a band nerd from junior high
music execs to package LGBTQ+ artists for personally don’t ascribe to just one thing,” could grow up to be the hottest queer musician
mainstream America’s consumption without she told Teen Vogue in 2019. “I cannot sit here on the planet and suddenly make the flute hot
LUKE GILFORD

ever acknowledging that part of what makes right now and tell you I’m just one thing. That’s again, sparking a woodwind renaissance that
them so fabulous is their queerness.That’s why the colors for LGBTQ+ are a rainbow! hasn’t been seen since the saxophone enjoyed a
PR101 and artists often comply. Because there’s a spectrum and right now we revival in the 1990s. (@lizzobeeating)

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 YOUTH REVOLUTION

JAMIE MARGOLIN
Climate Activist & Film Student
At just 18 years old, Jamie Margolin has cofounded the international
youth climate justice movement Zero Hour and written a guide to
becoming a young organizer for any cause, Youth to Power. A New

LEO ROCHA York University film student, she says she has a “determination to make
Hollywood a place where LGBTQ+ people of all backgrounds can see
Journalist our stories represented on-screen.” Her life motto nods to an Ayesha
Erotica song: “I do it for the girls and the gays — that’s it,” she says. “I
Leo Rocha, a reporter at KOMU TV in Columbia, Mo., am fiercely protective and caring for my LGBTQ+ community, and I
gives voice to the voiceless, especially those whose experiences am devoting my life to making sure movies and TV shows actually fairly
tend to be ignored, like queer BIPOC and those with HIV. and accurately tell our stories and represent us.”
Currently working on a documentary about the late MTV Margolin says “she wants to see the film world become a place
star and activist Pedro Zamora, the gay Colombian-American where people or all backgrounds, genders, races, religions, sexualities,
journalist has worked in local news, digital media, and ethnicities, and abilities can tell their stories without being seen as
print. “No matter where I go, it’s my personal goal to make automatically ‘pushing an agenda.’ I want to stop seeing the same old
sure marginalized people are properly represented both in destructive tropes over and over again. I want to see lesbian Disney
newsrooms and in the content we produce,” he says, arguing princesses, queer superheroes and supervillains, and a world where
that Gen Z journalists should break outdated traditions in the norm isn’t the straight white male perspective. I want to see the
the newsroom. “We don’t believe in the traditional notion industry change so that it’s no longer the norm and people come to
of ‘objectivity,’ which inherently punishes journalists who expect diverse stories told by the members for their communities.”

ALYZA ENRIQUEZ (ROCHA); COURTESY SUBJECT (MARGOLIN); BLYTHE THOMAS (MXMTOON)

belong to marginalized groups for speaking up against racism @jamie_s_margolin
or homophobia. Every day, I wake up as a visible Latino man.
That’s how the world sees me. Every interaction I have is rooted
in my identity. It’s not something I can turn off. So instead of
focusing on a journalist being ‘objective,’ it’s really the work
itself that should be objective. And you do that by using facts
and outlining the process of how you got them, which good
journalists should be doing anyway.” @leonardodrocha

MXMTOON
Musician
Singer-songwriter mxmtoon rose to fame with her debut EP, Plum Blossom, which
she recorded on her laptop in her parents’ guest bedroom. It’s been streamed over 100
million times, proving the power of social media.” So much of the industry used to be
kept behind glass doors and feel unreachable to most people,” she says. “But now, I think
it’s become something where anyone can venture in.” The bisexual 20-year-old sees it
as her responsibility to “stand up for issues I believe in and for the people who take the
time to support me.” Still, she knows change can be slow. “Life happens at its own pace,
and while it can feel like a race to have all of the solutions to problems out of our control,
you’re one individual. Not everything can be controlled by you, and while that can be
terrifying, it’s OK to let go and allow things to just happen.” @mxmtoon

90 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 FLYNN SANT A.K.A. FLOWERKID
Musician
Hearing Flowerkid, the musical project of 19-year-old Flynn Sant,
grapple with emotions born from childhood trauma offering a through
line to his life as a young trans man, it’s hard not to be rattled. How many
young trans teens have struggled with the same issues, only without the
propellant drums and distorted synths forcing us to face those same raw
emotions? Sydney-based Flowerkid’s single “Miss Andry,” which he wrote
and produced, was born out of a hatred and distrust for men, feelings that
became more complex when Flynn came out as trans man.
“I will always feel this inadequacy with any cisgender man,” he admits,
“but when I made this song, I needed to regroup and basically take
responsibility. I’d say, you know, ‘It isn’t healthy to be thinking these things. KIDD KENN
I feel this way because of the events that happened in my life and childhood Musician
trauma I’ve experienced. But it’s not an excuse to hate all men.’”
“When I made the song, I was terrified because it was so truthful. It Th is year, the 17-year-old gay rapper Kidd Kenn lit up the fi rst online
was so raw. It was like ripping myself open for everyone to see. There’s this MOBIfest (alongside artists like Mila Jam and Saucy Santana) and was
whole new level of anger to it that I don’t necessarily like to show. But I named to the GLAAD and Teen Vogue 20 Under 20 list. His recent
think being honest about it will help me resolve those feelings.” mixtape, Child’s Play, proved the unapologetically queer artist has
LEVON BAIRD (FLOWERKID); BIANCA GRCIA (KID KENN)

The song is evocative of something we’ve heard from other trans men, something to say, opening doors for queers in hip-hop. He’s the next big
especially survivors of sexual assault. “I think that feeling of hatred and thing, simply for being himself. “In my music, my young age helps because
inadequacy is a universal feeling felt by not just trans men but also trans I’m still experiencing so many new things, so it gives me more content to
women too,” says Sant. “I wanted to explain that feeling — and give us rap about,” says Kenn, one of the few out queer Black rappers. “I don’t
all an anthem to cry to.” think my young age hinders my music. I do what I do. My fans can relate
Songs like “Boy With the Winfields and the Wild Heart,” uses to my music. And even with me being young, I’m so mature.”
the same type of raw and brutal lyrics to speak about mental health, Kenn’s new EP, Problem Child, features tracks with Asian Doll, Dai
depression, grief, and “the weight of the world on your shoulders.” Burger, and Delli Boe. Creating the album was thrilling, Kenn says. “I
As a child, Sant sang first into the voice memo app on his iPod. Soon enjoy it so much that it really doesn’t feel like work most of the times,”
he was in his bedroom making real, gut-punch music like “Late Night he says. “My music is feel-good music. It’s empowering and uplifting.”
Therapy,” his first single. Now that he’s inked deals with Warner Music He promises more in 2021 and maybe his most emotional unreleased
Australia, Atlantic, and the U.K.’s Parlophone, Sant is set to blow song “I’ve always wanted to make a personal song about getting
up. He’s got a new single out in December and an EP early next year. yourself together and focusing on your goals before trying to pursue a
@flowerkidmusic relationship.” @kidkenn

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 FASHION & BEAUTY

KADEEM ALPHANSO FYFFE

Muxe New York Founder
Jamaican-A merican Kadeem A lphanso Fyffe defines himself as “an artist first, widely diverse group of models including Black,
Fyffe was just 19 when he signed with the fashion designer second, and a fierce advocate nonbinary, trans [people] to represent my own
elite modeling agency Wilhelmina. He’s for my community, always.” He says his work intersectional identity as a Black queer gender-
since appeared in TV, film, and theatrical “fuses social commentary, fashion, and gender fluid individual, with the hope of inspiring
productions but is best known as the founder fluidity to help push our culture towards a others to live their lives authentically and to
and creative director of Muxe New York, a world that is free of so many of the shackles that pursue their dreams fiercely.”
gender-free label that started with streetwear we all are subject to on a daily basis. Part of my “Th is year has been strange, to say the least,”
but is expanding into ready-to-wear next year. mission is to ensure that young people growing Fyffe reflects. “But it has reminded me who I
The brand ’s “Equality” T-shirt was up today feel freer to be themselves and express am, why I do what I do, and the significance of
everywhere in 2020, which Fyffe attributes who they are.” my work within the LGBTQ+ community.”
to the fact that “now more than ever, people Fyffe serves as a committee member for Live He says he hopes the outpouring of support
understand the need for equality. The shirt Out Loud, a New York-based LGBTQ+ youth for his and other Black-owned businesses will
is political, fashion-forward, and a perfect organization, and donates a portion of Muxe continue, but more importantly, “it is critical
conversation starter, because it champions a sales to support queer minority youth. that we all continue to make it clear that just
universal message. So often inclusive clothing He says he started Muxe “to disrupt because everyone’s social media feeds might
can be co-opted by large Pride campaigns traditional streetwear — by centering social not be full of #BLM content anymore, Black
or well-intentioned brands. This year, justice and LGBTQ+ issues and bodies lives still matter and the fight isn’t over. Real
and especially on the heels of the intense within the context of fashion and streetwear. change takes sustained advocacy that isn’t a
corporatization of WorldPride, I think that I want the people who wear my clothes to fad. Keep buying from Black-owned brands.
MARK SHAW

people are looking to send a clear message of feel like one of the ‘cool kids’ no matter their Keep featuring Black creatives. Keep centering
equality and acceptance that feels a little more race, sexuality, body size, gender identity, or and celebrating Black narratives. Keep
authentic.” expression. I purposely show my designs on a marching. Keep protesting.” @k_alphanso

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 PATRICK CHURCH
Designer and Artist
Patrick Church’s pieces — featuring his
signature graphic prints of hand-painted, often
crying faces — have become a must-have for
global superstars and Instagram baddies alike,
who await the latest bodysuits, caps, swimwear,
handbags, masks, and more. For the artist and
designer, who works with models of all genders,
body types, and races, there was never a doubt
that his brand was going to be for everybody.
“It’s really important for me to be inclusive,”
Church says. “I want to remain very aware,
especially with what’s going on around us at
the moment.”
Disrupting the velvet rope mentality of
fashion week, Church has kept everyone
guessing by opting for innovative ways to
present his collections. He has staged weddings
in which models of all genders kissed against
painted backdrops, and one season he invited
the public to model the clothing. “Fashion can
feel really elitist and exclusive,” he explains. “I
just never would want anyone feeling like it’s
something they couldn’t be a part of.”
Hailing from England, the artist moved
to New York to be with his husband, Adriel
Church-Herrera. Unable to work for about 10
months because of his immigration status, he
homed in on the loneliness he was feeling in the
big city. “To feel so alone was very alien to me,
because you’re surrounded by so many people,”
Church says. “So I wanted to make a pattern
that was everlasting or an artwork series that
was never-ending, like a family of people that
keeps growing and growing.”
Thanks to his growing customer base —
including Megan Thee Stallion on Saturday
Night Live — he has created the community
he longed for. “People are often like, ‘Who is
your favorite celebrity you dressed?’ and to me
that isn’t so important,” he says. “It’s often when
I’m scrolling through Instagram and seeing
these kids in small towns, because I was a kid
in a small town looking at these designers and
thinking it was so impossible for me to be able
to be a part of that world.”
Next, Church says, “I would love to do
another art exhibition, because to me the
artwork is the heart of everything I do. Without
the artwork, there’s no prints for the clothes,
and it’s so personal to me.”
@patrickchurchny
MIKAEL SCHULZ

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 FASHION & BEAUTY

NANCY MAHON
SVP, Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability, Estée Lauder
As senior vice president of corporate citizenship and sustainability at
the Estée Lauder Companies, Nancy Mahon has helped the beauty
and fragrance leader launch industry-first initiatives: building on-site
solar arrays, developing biodiversity action plans, switching to more
sustainable packaging by 2025, supporting low-income women in
global supply chains, doubling the amount spent with Black-owned
IVAN BART
businesses, and dedicating $10 million to support racial and social President of IMG Models & Fashion
justice initiatives in the next three years. As president of IMG Models & Fashion, Ivan Bart is helping to revolutionize
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating impact it has had on the fashion industry by treating the models he represents as people instead
communities least resourced to combat the virus has underscored and of assets and more reflective of the broader public.
deepened so many of the inequities across the world,” Mahon reflects. “We want the most inclusive, diverse roster,” Bart says, explaining it’s a
“It has also underscored the inextricable link between climate justice “huge bonus to us to…see their potential and to elevate the kinds of work
and the many social equity issues we face — particularly racial and that they do.”
gender justice.” Bart says his “big aha moment” was the conscious decision to start signing
The 56-year-old lesbian, who has been married for 25 years and has nonbinary talent. “That has been a huge shift for us, and an exciting one.”
two children, says she’s proud to work at a company “that understands As much as Bart is looking to the future, he also remains very aware of the
that having leaders with diverse experiences and perspectives builds past. “1969 was very much like 2020,” Bart says, noting the similarities in
a more successful and humane business. As a person from a minority the “feelings and emotions” of the current times and those of the Stonewall
community…I believe we now have a historic opportunity and era, and how historically marginalized people in both periods finally tired
responsibility to together build a more equitable, resilient, and just of oppression and made a stand.
world. Let’s make the most of this moment.” @EsteeLauder “All those feelings are going on until finally ‘enough is enough,’” he says.
The response that night was to fight back, and that marked the beginning
of the modern struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance. As Bart sees it,
Stonewall was the LGBTQ+ Battle of Lexington and Concord, except the
colonial rebels were replaced by drag queens and a bunch of fed-up queers.
“It’s like our Independence Day,” he says. “It’s the closest I can come to it.
It was the start of it.” @ivanmbar
COURTESY SUBJECTS (BOTH)

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 SIMON PORTE JACQUEMUS
Fashion Designer
One of the most ubiquitous and coveted labels of the past two
years, Jacquemus has had a meteoric rise to internet stardom and
tastemaker popularity from a synergy of branding: chic, tiny bags
that have gone viral on the internet, an arsenal of A-list celebrity
muses including Bella Hadid and Barbie Ferreira, and a tailored
twist on the 1980s Côte d’Azur aesthetic that is as blissfully
nostalgic as it is strikingly modern. To say that Simon Porte
Jacquemus — the man behind the phenomenon — is taking the
fashion industry by storm would be an understatement.
By making a high-end fashion brand feel like the most needed
dose of escapism and authenticity in 2020, Jacquemus has been
able to bridge the gap between gay sensibility and camp, something
that is extremely rare. And he’s done it for years. From bringing
back dramatic oversize straw hats with nude models to using
the Jacquemus Instagram page as a lush travel and design diary,
PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN FOR GETTY IMAGES

Jacquemus has made fashion feel fun again. His designs and savoir-
faire remind us that fashion used to be shamelessly queer, tongue-
in-cheek, and innovative.
And it doesn’t stop there: Jacquemus has made strides toward
sustainability by combining menswear and womenswear shows
going forward and by showcasing his latest collection, L’Anée
97, with a diverse range of models, raising the bar for what a true
lifestyle and fantasy brand should be. @jacquemus

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 FASHION & BEAUTY

PATRICK STARRR
ONE/SIZE Founder
When beauty content pioneer Patrick Starrr launched his new line of
beauty care products ONE/SIZE, the larger-than-life gay Filipino-
American sought to “redefine beauty by elevating voices of the
unheard and creating space for everyone to belong in our movement

BRETMAN ROCK for radical expression.” Starrr is the queer community’s plus-size
everyman, and ONE/SIZE reflects his “personal mantra that
Beauty Entrepreneur makeup is a one-size-fits-all” proposition. Starrr seeks to “manifest
beauty” through his work and claim space for those marginalized
Bretman Rock is the digital superstar of the new generation. His by the industry.
outlandish and unabashedly queer personality displayed in the “Ever since I was young, I’ve been told I was a Renaissance man,”
fashionista’s entertaining beauty videos have quickly made Rock says Starrr, but he’s not stuck in the past. He prefers to remain
SIMONE KIMONE (ROCK); PETER SIMONDA (STARRR)

into an internet sensation. But his multiple talents have pushed focused on the future. His wish list for 2021? “Freedom of expression,
him beyond just online fame. Born in the Philippines and raised freedom to love, freedom to be seen and heard. I think freedom is the
in Hawaii, the 22-year-old has found huge success in the beauty theme for 2021.” @patrickstarrr
industry, already having collaborated with brands like Morphe and
ColourPop.
Th is year, Rock partnered with Wet n Wild to create his Jungle
Rock collection, which sold out online within minutes after its
release. The young beauty guru landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30
list, but he’s not letting it go to his head. Rock is passionate about
many environmental and children’s causes, and he regularly helps
raise funds for nonprofits like the Ocean Conservancy and the Make-
a-Wish Foundation. @bretmanrock

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 JONNY COTA
Making the Cut Winner
Though he has over a decade of fashion retail
experience with his first label, Skingraft, Jonny
Cota became a household name this year when
he won the first season of Tim Gunn and
Heidi Klum’s new fashion competition series,
Making the Cut. And to Cota, the future of
fashion is nonbinary.
“A philosophy that has always governed my
fashion is to be gender-inclusive,” he says. “I’ve
sent down countless male-identified models in
dresses without even thinking about it. To be
honest, I never want to brand my aesthetic as
being gender-free or unisex. That’s just a given.”
Cota has spent much of the year speaking
out against industry racism and supporting
the Black Lives Matter movement as well as
preparing to open a storefront in downtown
Los Angeles.
“It’s an interesting challenge to keep your
business running — to continue to be able to
called Helmut Language, included pieces pay your team, you need to make sales but to not
emblazoned with the phrases “The Words Are sound tone-deaf while you are announcing new
Right in Front of You” and “Confess Conceal.” promotions with your brand,” says Cota. “So
“What I’m doing is looking at business and for us, we teamed up with Tom of Finland. We
apparel in a different way than how most people did this big mask promotion…. Of every mask
are, and I’m also uplifting queer people through sold, we donated one to the L.A. LGBT Center.
my work,” Norris says. So it’s like, OK, you can continue to be a small
For the Brooklyn Liberation rally and march, business. You can continue to promote to your
Norris and a team of volunteers screen-printed customers. But you better be talking about
and handed out about 600 “Black Trans Lives what’s happening right now, and you better be
Matter” T-shirts for free. finding a way to help.” @jonnycota
Answering the call of his close friend and
lead organizer West Dakota (a fellow Out100
honoree this year), he and a team of organizers
and volunteers put out an open call for
hundreds of T-shirts, which they would have
one week to print. “The whole genesis behind
it was a really queer way to look at how to
make clothes for a crowd,” he says. “There was
nothing new sourced; it was us using resources
that we have as a community now to make our
project a reality.”
WILLIE NORRIS “That event showed the power that what you
HEATHER STEN (NORRIS); AMAZON STUDIOS (COTA)

put on your body can contribute to an overall

Founder of WILLIENORRISWORKSHOP movement,” Norris notes. “Such a huge part of
A self-described “queer fashion designer with the impact and the virality of that moment was
a thing for words,” Willie Norris, founder the aerial pictures of seeing everyone in white.”
of W ILLIENOR R ISWOR KSHOP, has Norris says he declined many requests to sell
mastered the art of the fashion statement the T-shirt after the historic day, because the
— literally. This year, the Brooklyn-based tees were beside the point. “It was a symbolic
designer relaunched his web store, with his placeholder that you came out, you showed
coveted tees with bold slogans like “Promote up, and you’re doing the work on your own,”
Homosexuality” and “What Exactly Is he says. “Find a Black trans woman yourself,
Heterosexuality and What Causes It?” befriend someone, befriend an artist group of
Spreading the word of queerness further, his Black trans women and support them on your
collaboration with Helmut Lang, brilliantly own accord.” @willienorrisworkshop

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 FASHION & BEAUTY

VIKTOR & ROLF

Fashion Duo
The amazing creations by fashion duo Viktor
Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, branded simply as
Viktor & Rolf, have always been otherworldly
— but this year the fashion designers brought
new meaning to the term “going viral” with
their latest collection directly addressing the
global pandemic.
They’ve also adapted to the changing times
by putting on virtual fashion shows and
including a very artistic video introduction
of the new collection on their official site.
“We all deserve to be loved, regardless of age,
color, gender, race, religion, or sexuality,” says
a voice-over in the video.
The collection includes three mini
wardrobes made up of a negligee, dressing
gown, and coat that are “meant to represent
pandemic-related emotional states.” Large
STEPHANE CARDINALE CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES

spikes on oversize coats represent social

distancing, while a halo of hearts on another
design represents our unity in this time
— and the collection overall evokes the
emotional roller coaster we’ve all experienced
this year. @viktorandrolf

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 OU T L EGACIE S/ ICONS

Remembering
Larry Kramer
The writer and activist’s confrontational style
shocked America into dealing with the AIDS
crisis and demanded equality for LGBTQ+
people. His legacy will forever live in his work
and the community at large.

BY MATT BOMER

It’s impossible to overstate the importance and impact of cardigan over a shirt. Still an artist on fire, he was surrounded
Larry Kramer in the LGBTQ+ community. His years of tireless with thousands of pages of his current writing, workshopping
advocacy, organization, and, yes, acrimony, effected changes a reading of one of his plays, and completely dedicated to his
in our collective landscape that we are all the beneficiaries of amazing husband, David Webster.
today. From being one of the founding members of Gay Men’s There were books everywhere — books that had been read
Health Crisis to starting ACT UP, which has been responsible and absorbed, books with broken backs. In my experience, he
for the development and release of almost every lifesaving was a dream collaborator, quietly confident and trusting of the
treatment for HIV/AIDS, Larry truly changed the world. artists tasked with bringing The Normal Heart to the screen.
Larry, who died in May, was a pioneer in our march toward He, like The Boys in the Band playwright Mart Crowley, knew
equal rights, and I believe we would all be at a different place that the effectiveness of what he had written would transcend
today if it weren’t for him. To see his fire on full display, I highly interpretation. One of the highlights of my professional life
recommend the documentary How to Survive a Plague. was seeing Larry and Mart, who we also sadly lost this year
It was through his art that what I love so dearly about (see opposite page), reunite at the 2018 Broadway opening of
Larry came to the forefront: his passionate, beautiful, open The Boys in the Band. Larry was as passionate as a man could
heart. Born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1935 to what he called be and of course had opinions about everything. He was also
“the generation psychoanalysts tried to change,” Larry very funny. But mostly I remember sitting before him like
attended Yale and began his career working in film, and he was a welcome disciple and laughing as he, ever curious about
nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay for Women in Love. life, asked me questions while we both ate the cupcakes I had
While his 1978 novel, Faggots, made him a polarizing figure brought for him. He was the rebel who taught me how to save
in the gay community, it was in the theater that Larry found his my own life and the wise uncle who was curious about and
true voice. He wrote with the urgency and political perspective loving toward the life he saved.
of Shaw and Brecht. He wrote plays that made a difference, that I will always love you, Larry Kramer. As an artist and as an
changed hearts and minds, that catalyzed our community and activist. We are so grateful to you for fighting the good fight for
our allies. His writing is urgent, economical, and grounded in us all. Thank you for your refusal to be silent or polite. Thank
reality, rarely using metaphor. It doesn’t allow the audience you for your rage. Thank you for teaching us how to be resilient.
to look away. And though his greatest works were largely Like all great artists, Larry lives on forever in his work —
autobiographical, they could never be described as solipsistic. the personal and the political, the tragedy and the triumph,
They were for the greater good of all of us. the individual and all of us collectively. Underneath the words,
Though Larry doubted whether one could be both an artist however, will always be his beautiful, inexhaustible heart.
CATHERINE MCGANN FOR GETTY IMAGES

and an activist, he most assuredly was. I’ll never forget reading I’ll leave you with a quote from Mr. Kramer. I find that his
The Normal Heart and The Destiny of Me as a teenager in Texas, words are especially true for us all in 2020: “Life doesn’t
and being awakened to all that was going on in the world around make sense. But change does. And there is no change without
me. Because of Larry, I realized that “I belong to a culture that tenacity. And change is usually very hard, with precious few
includes Proust, Henry James, Tchaikovsky, Cole Porter, Plato, gratifications along the way to encourage you to carry on. And
Socrates, Aristotle,” among others. The warnings and clarion some change is good. And necessary. And some change must
calls were tempered with pride and self-acceptance. not be allowed.”
By the time I met Larry, I saw little of the firebrand I was
expecting. There he was, in his uniform of overalls with a Matt Bomer is an actor, activist, husband, and father. @mattbomer

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 99
OU T L EGACIE S / ICONS
BY NEAL BROVERMAN AND TRUDY RING

Phyllis Lyon
Terrence 1924 - 2020
McNally This heroic woman is
remembered by many as one
1938 - 2020 of the first lesbians, along with
Playwright Terrence McNally wife Del Martin (seated below),
was one of the first celebrities to to legally wed in California.
die of COVID-19 complications, But the advocacy of Phyllis
passing in March. He wrote Lyo n e n c o m p a s s e d m u c h
many pioneer ing plays, more. In 1955, Lyon, along
including The Ritz, Frankie and with Martin and three other
Johnny in the Clair de Lune, The Mart Crowley female couples, launched one
Lisbon Traviata, and Love! Valour! of the first modern lesbian
Monica Roberts C ompassion! He won Tony 1935 - 2020 organizations, the Daughters
Awards for the latter as well Mart Crowley (above), who died of Bilitis. Together they swayed
1962 - 2020 as for Master Class and for the powerful figures to the queer
in March at 84 after undergoing
Ten years ago, the pervasive books of the musicals Ragtime heart surgery, was best known causes like then-Mayor Dianne
violence against transgender and Kiss of the Spider Woman. He for his groundbreaking 1968 Feinstein. Their gay news and
p e o ple wa s n o t a n i s s ue also received a Tony Award for off-Broadway play The Boys in culture magazine, The Ladder,
recognized outside LGBTQ+ lifetime achievement in 2019. the Band, which portrayed a debuted in 1956 and lasted until
circles. We can thank Monica His works were notable not group of gay and bisexual men 1972. Their later work covered
Rober ts for elevating that only for their high quality but gathered for a birthday party LGBTQ+ health, elder care, and
c o n ve r s a t io n . B e fo r e h e r for introducing gay characters where the alcohol flows freely feminist causes. The couple
death in October at age 58, to a wide audience. McNally and the insults fly. It was a hit sued for marriage equality in
the Houston-based activist- is survived by husband, Tom and an eye-opener for straight the case that resulted in the
journalist tracked the grim Kirdahy. audiences, but some LGBTQ+ C alifor nia Supreme C our t

DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL (ROBERTS): AL PEREIRA FOR GETTY IMAGES (MCNALLY); SHUTTERSTOCK (CROWLEY);
milestones of anti-trans people thought it depicted the striking down the state’s ban
violence on her blog TransGriot. community in a negative light. on same-sex marriage in 2008,
Launching in 2005, the website But later view ings make and they were one of the two
was an essential source for it clear the characters’ self- first same-sex couples to marry
coverage of the lives — and loathing is largely a response as soon as that ruling went into
sadly, the many deaths — of to societal homophobia, and effect. Martin passed away two
transgender people particularly their drinking a means of self- months later, before California
trans women of color, who medication. The Boys won a voters rescinded mar r iage

DEANNE FITZMAURICE WITH SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE VIA GETTY IMAGES (LYON)
face shor ter lifespans and Tony Award for Best Revival of a equality with the passage of
much higher rates of violence. Play in 2018, and a Netflix film Proposition 8 (which itself was
Roberts’s reporting pushed adaptation with the full cast later struck down).
back a g a in s t de ad na m in g of the revival (all out actors)
and challenged erasure by premiered in September. The
law en for c ement a nd the writer penned other plays,
media alike. In addition to her including a sequel, The Men From
groundbreaking, award-winning the Boys, and he was a producer
reporting, she cofounded the on the popular TV series Hart to
National Transgender Advocacy Hart, starring Robert Wagner.
Coalition and organized Wagner was married to of one
L o u i s v i l le ’s Tr a n s s i s t a h s - of Crowley’s closest friends, the
Transbrothas Conference in great actress Natalie Wood, who
2005 and 2006. She was a he recalled encouraged him to
warm and engaging presence, write The Boys in the Band. Seeing
mentor ing young queer Boys come to Broadway and win
journalists and serving as a role a Tony “was the highlight of
model for all, especially Black [Crowley’s] life,” Wagner told
LGBTQ+ youth. Roberts was also The New York Times upon the
a sports fan, a proud Houstonian, playwright’s death.
and up to her last days, politically
engaged, suppor ting trans
candidates and the removal of
Donald Trump.

1 0 0 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 A F T ER HOUR S / COCK TA IL S

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A DRINK?
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OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 101
OUT J U LY/A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 101
A F T ER HOUR S/ S CA RY MOV IE NIGH T

Badass
Hair
How director Justin
Simien wove hair
and the lengths
Black women have to
go for success
into a horror film.

BY DAVID ARTAVIA

There are some scary truths about weaves and hair extensions, but nothing is ABOVE Elle Lorraine
(center), with costars Lena
scarier than being demonically possessed by them. That’s the major anchor in Waithe (right) and Yaani
director Justin Simien’s latest horror comedy, Bad Hair, now streaming on Hulu. King Mondschein (left) in
The film, set in 1989 is a long-overdue project that is an allegory about how false the comedy horror Bad Hair
beauty standards placed on Black women can have a lasting effect. BELOW LEFT Laverne Cox
surveys her handiwork on
The campiness of Bad Hair is as delicious as its log line sounds. The film follows Lorraine’s new weave
an ambitious young Black woman named Anna Bludso (played by Elle Lorraine),
who, after being criticized for her hairstyle by Vanessa Williams’s character
(Zora with the “good hair”), gets a weave in the hopes of succeeding in her job
at Culture TV, an MTV-like channel. Laverne Cox plays Virgie, the beauty salon
owner recommended to Anna. In a gory scene of the killer weave being sewn into
Anna’s natural hair, the sinister Virgie jump-starts the plot that takes Anna down
an evil — and witchy — road.
Cox found a deeper and more personal message in the campy film, remembering
a time when she was navigating life as a young actress trying to make it in New
York City.
“I thought, If I want to be successful, I need to look like Halle Berry or I need to look
like Beyoncé or Angela Bassett, or What can I do to make myself marketable, to make
myself shape-shift? ” Cox recalls. She didn’t look like any of those women. “I look
like Laverne,” she says. “And the world has changed, and luckily there’s a space
COURTESY HULU (BOTH FILM STILLS); RICK PROCTOR (SIMIEN)

for me to be a working actor, which is amazing, but I think we often still get
messages, particularly Black women and particularly around our hair, that we
have to do something that’s not the way the hair grows out of our heads if we want
to be successful. I think that is really the intersection of capitalism and white
supremacy. [American author-activist] bell hooks uses the [phrase] imperialist
white supremacist capitalist patriarchy to note the intersectional nature of how
these systems operate together. In Bad Hair, we see the collision of capitalism
with white supremacy, and we also see it with patriarchy with some of Anna’s
relationships with men.”
For Simien, whose 2014 film, Dear White People, won the Special Jury Prize at
the Sundance Film Festival, and went on to become a hit series on Netflix, the
fascination with hair horror began when he discovered several Asian films about
possessed wigs and hair — specifically 2005’s The Wig from South Korean director
Won Shin-yeon. An epiphany happened when Simien discovered that while hair is
often a horror motif in that part of the world, it seemed to be missing as a trope
in the States.

102 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 A F T ER HOUR S/ S CA RY MOV IE NIGH T

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP,
MANAGEMENT & CIRCULATION
1. Title of Publication: Out
2. ISSN: 1062-7928
3. Date of Filing: 09-24-20
4. Frequency of Issue: Bi-monthly
5. Number of issues published annually: 6
6. Annual Subscription Price: $ 19.95
“There wasn’t really anything like it speaking to an American 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of
experience,” Simien says. “I mean, there’s an episode called Publication: Out, Pride Publishing Inc., PO Box
‘Hell Toupee’ about a toupee from hell on [the 1980s TV 241579, Los Angeles, CA 90024.
8. Complete Address of the Headquarters of General
series] Amazing Stories, and then The Simpsons, but there wasn’t
Business Offices of the Publisher: Out, Pride
anything Black. And certainly there wasn’t anything about Publishing Inc., PO Box 241579, Los Angeles, CA
Black women.” 90024.
This led Simien to do more research, where he discovered 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Address of
Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor: Publisher:
that 1989, the year in which Bad Hair is set, was a pivotal year
Diane Anderson-Minshall, Pride Publishing Inc.,
in the life of the weave. PO Box 241579, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Editor in
“That was, really, when Janet Jackson’s new look for Rhythm chief: David Artavia, Pride Publishing Inc., PO Box
Nation hit the public consciousness,” he explains. “That also 241579, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Managing Editor:
Desirée Guerrero, Pride Publishing Inc., PO Box
was the year where Black musical artists were able to be pop
241579, Los Angeles, CA 90024.
artists for the first time without being perfect the way Michael 10. Owner: Pride Publishing Inc., PO Box 241579, Los
Jackson or Whitney Houston had to be a few years prior. You Angeles, CA 90024.
could just be able to dance and have a cute sound and be able 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and Other
Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or
to come in there, show your attitude, and become a pop star
More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or
in that way. Yet these same pop stars that invented new jack Other Securities: None
swing, you couldn’t find them on the radar just five years later. 12. Has not changed during the preceding 12 months.
As Black White people were singing that music — and it was called pop 13. Out
14. Issue Date for Circulation Shown Below:
— and why talk about Karyn White and Bobby Brown and Keith
people, Sweat and Janet Jackson? ‘It’s Britney Spears. We invented it!’
Sept/Oct 2020
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation:
It just felt like the same kind of raw deal that Anna is getting
we’re cut off in the movie, like, ‘Get this and your dreams will come true.
Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding
12 Months:

from ancient Oh, and you might kill a few people. And it might take you over A. Total No. Copies (net press run): 197,435
B. Paid Circulation:
completely. But that’s fine. You know, that’s in the fine print.’”
wisdom There’s also an ancestral component in the film, which was
1. Mailed Outside County Paid Subscriptions:
172,693
important for Simien. “As Black people in this country, we’re 2. Mailed in County Paid Subscriptions: 0
that other completely cut off from our history. It’s why we go by ‘Black,’ 3. Paid distribution outside the mail including
sales through dealers and carriers, street
cultures because most of us don’t know what nation or origin we’re
from. A lot of those early slave folklore stories, I was never
vendors, counter sales and other paid
distribution outside USPS: 987
get to hold exposed to that stuff. I was just told it was racist. I never read 4. Paid distribution by other classes of mail
through the USPS: 0
that stuff, and I started reading it and doing research for the
in their film and realized there’s actually so many really good lessons
C. Total Paid Distribution: 173,680
D. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
families for me as a Black person trying to survive in a world that wasn’t 1. Outside-County: 19,851
made for me in this folklore that I’ve also been cut off from.” 2. In-County: 0
and in their He continues, “I just wanted it to feel like if Anna had a way 3. Other Classes Mailed through USPS: 0
4. Outside the Mail: 0
to connect with the wisdom of her ancestors sooner, maybe
family lines. she could have navigated this a little bit easier. And just the
E. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 19,851
F. Total Distribution: 193,531
tragedy of that and the Black experience, how much we’re cut
I don’t think off from ancient wisdom that other cultures get to hold in their
G. Copies Not Distributed: 3,904
H. Total: 197,435
I. Percent Paid: 89.74%
most of us families and in their family lines. I don’t think most of us even Actual No. Copies of Single Issue Published
really recognize what a loss that is.” Nearest to Filing Date:
even really A. Total No. Copies (net press run): 195,403
B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation:
recognize 1. Mailed Outside County Paid Subscriptions:
171,921
what a loss 2. Mailed in County Paid Subscriptions: 0
3. Paid distribution outside the mail including
that is.” sales through dealers and carriers, street
vendors, counter sales and other paid
— Justin distribution outside USPS: 871
4. Paid distribution by other classes of mail

Simien through the USPS: 0

C. Total Paid Distribution: 172,792
D. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
1. Outside-County: 19,821
2. In-County: 0
3. Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 0
4. Outside the Mail: 0
E. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 19,821
F. Total Distribution: 192,613
G. Copies Not Distributed: 2,790
H. Total: 195,403
I. Percent Paid: 89.71%
16. This Statement of Ownership will be printed in
Nov/Dec 2020 Issue.
I certify that all information furnished on this form is
true and complete. Diane Anderson-Minshall, CEO.

OUT N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 103
 A F T E R H O U R S / SWIPED

THE YEAR OF
DANGEROUS SEX
The consequences of lockdown has us gagging for normalcy.
By Alexander Cheves

ON JUNE 26, 2015 — the day Obergefell became relics of an underground past. Friends were hospitalized; others lost
v. Hodges established marriage equality Instead, we found unprecedented family members. Yet one by one, many
for same-sex couples across the nation access to each other online. Some of us of the most careful among us have
— I was drunk in a Savannah, Ga., gay lamented about this, but mostly we saw broken the rules and made exceptions.
bar with Destiny Myklz, the drag queen it as inevitable progress as the world How long can you live without touch?
emcee of Club One. She sauntered up in barreled ahead — until 2020. It’s the strange lesson of the year. With
a red dress and kissed me on the cheek. The pandemic has given us a real over 230,000 Americans dead and new
We started talking, as friends do, about taste of what we thought things had spikes in cases across the country, we
bathroom blow jobs. I told her I was become. Lockdowns resulted in fewer still need skin against skin.
surprised there wasn’t a “back room” sex partners, strained relationships, Can we be surprised? Even in the
of the club. She rolled her eyes. and sometimes purely virtual sex. darkest days of AIDS, underground sex
“Honey, there was one,” she said. Data had previously shown that young parties continued. Today, many gay
She pointed to the bathroom. “This people are having less sex than past bars in New York — the city hit hardest
entrance to the bathroom is new. Back generations, so 2020, in its way, may by this pandemic and the one before
in the day, the entrance was over there” have been the result of our increasingly it — are closed, and the best may not
— she panned a jeweled finger across disconnected culture, delivered early. reopen. The remaining queer sex clubs
the empty dance floor — “and you went Sex parties became naughty group and bathhouses in the country may not
down this long dark hallway with one Zoom meetings. Grindr, designed to survive. And yet 2020 might be the
red light bulb hanging in the middle. foster IRL hookups, suddenly had to be year we reverse course because most
Use your imagination.” enough on its own. But could it? of us have concluded digital sex is not
I asked why it changed. “We could At the start of the pandemic, I was enough.
no longer rely on gays,” she said of the stringent. Sexts and slutty video calls Already, gay public cruising grounds
venue’s move to diversify its audience. were possible, but I mostly committed are back in the parks. “How 1979!”
“We had to get more straight-friendly. to focusing on other parts of my life an older friend said. Is the face mask
Gays used to line up around the block outside sex that needed attention. At the new condom? Public shaming —
to get in here. They have Grindr now.” first this felt very easy to do. Two months mostly online — of those who flout
I started college in 2010, the year later, I was on Fire Island with my social distancing and continue to
Grindr hit the app store, so my entire boyfriend. The six-person party became host gatherings appears similar to the
sex life — from first erotic fumblings a 50-person party, then a 200-person campaign against gay bathhouses in
to my HIV diagnosis — happened party — and we stayed. At some point, the ’80s, largely led by activists like the
on apps. Of course, mine is part of a he pulled me onto the porch of the late Larry Kramer. Those resulted in the
larger story of what many queer people house and said, “I feel guilty. Should we city’s forced closure of legacy places like
DAVID RAMOS FOR GETTY IMAGES

describe as a cultural shift to digital be here?” I said, “We’re already here.” Mineshaft and the New St. Mark’s Baths
space. As landmark queer venues Later, I was grateful not to have been in ‘85. It seems punitive at this moment
closed, driven out by rising rent costs photographed. to speculate about the aftermath of this
and shifting urban landscapes, cities Even in our so-called digital age, pandemic, but it’s worth asking: What
got cleaner and more expensive. we were never cut of f f rom IR L will queer gatherings look like in the
Surveillance technology improved and connections. Until we were, and it years ahead?
police increased patrolling, restricting was — it is — excruciating. Everyone I
park and bathroom cruising. Cultural know believes the scientists, reads the Alexander Chves is an author and sex expert
opinions of queer people shifted with number of deaths, and despises the way working on his debut book, out in 2020 from
increased media exposure. Bathhouses the government has handled the crisis. Unbound Edition Press. (lovebeastly.com)
104 N O V E M B E R / D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 0 OUT
 Premiere • Awards
Fundraiser

LEGACY
WEEKEND
NOVEMBER 21-22
An annual event honoring our bold,
courageous, and creative LGBTQIA+ community

FOR TICKETS AND STREAMING INFO | OUTFEST.ORG/LEGACY2020

FEATURING