Indice dei contenuti per May/June 2025 in OUT

Dear Out readers, Every June, we raise our flags a little higher, dance a little harder, and celebrate the audacity of queer joy. Pride Month is a testament to our community’s resilience, from the first bold brick thrown outside the Stonewall Inn to the everyday acts of courage unfolding in living rooms, schoolyards, and statehouses nationwide. This year, I invite you to mark the moment by pressing play. The Out100 30th Anniversary Special — our time capsule of trailblazers, boundary-breakers, and unapologetic dreamers — is now streaming on Hulu. The special is a joyful reminder that our stories don’t just survive; they thrive on the biggest stages. As you revisit those unforgettable highlights, remember the throughline that binds every Out100 honoree to each reader turning these pages: an unwavering commitment…

For Pride events across America, the Trump administration’s federal funding threats have led to a minefield of new challenges. Public parks, school districts, and corporations alike are bending the knee to avoid losing financial resources, as the president strong-arms an unpopular agenda rooted in Christian nationalism. The message so far has been clear: Do as we say or be punished. Fortunately, the people who put together your local Pride each year are tough. Really tough. They have the type of “make it happen” energy and leadership it takes to gather communities and push back, qualities we need in abundance right now as LGBTQ+ erasure becomes part of the national political agenda. You want your local Pride leader in your corner, and this year, they want you in theirs too. I…

While hands and nails aren’t atop everyone’s list, others wouldn’t leave the house without filing or applying cuticle cream and hand serum. Especially if you live in a chilly climate. But today’s technology and elevated consumer goods have changed the game forever. Not only are the products, tools, and services readily available to men, they’re also fun! Not unlike getting a good haircut or finding the right shoes, people are judgy about hands, the condition of them, and whether they appear manicured or not. Aesthetics aside, sometimes we need serious remedies for dry, chapped skin or painful, corrugated cuticles. So, whether you’re a muscle head, a plumber, or drag royalty, honey, we’ve got some healing topicals, tools, and nail bling perfect for you. Writer Marco Medrano is a multistate-licensed cosmetologist…

Dear Advocate readers, Since 1967, The Advocate has chronicled our march from the margins to the mainstream — reporting through Stonewall, the AIDS crisis, marriage equality, and today’s renewed battles over trans rights and queer visibility. That history teaches us one enduring lesson: resilience is a team sport. In that spirit, I’m asking you to become an Advocate. By joining our membership program or making a monthly contribution, you safeguard fearless LGBTQ+ journalism that holds power to account, amplifies overlooked voices, and celebrates the victories that remind us why we fight. Your support keeps reporters on the ground where anti-trans bills are debated. It funds investigations that expose discrimination and shine a light on the creators reshaping our culture. Most importantly, it tells every queer kid picking up this magazine…

Since its founding in 2017, Navajo Nation Pride has grown into one of the largest annual Indigenous LGBTQ+ celebrations in the United States. One Navajo Nation Pride board member, Sister Navi Ho, has used his journey as a drag artist and Two Spirit person to become a community leader. As a child, Navi Ho never dreamed that one day he’d proudly stand before the Navajo community in Window Rock, Arizona (Tségháhoodzání in Navajo), and be celebrated as a Two Spirit person, he shares. It was a life-changing experience when he was finally able to “walk in that sacred circle, with all the dancers, being my own authentic, gay, queer, dragalicious self,” he says. This full-circle moment happened when he won the Miss Montana Two Spirit crown in 2023. “I would…

When I began working on LOVE: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality, I didn’t fully realize that the book would become a time capsule, not just of a movement, but of heart, courage, and quiet revolution. I knew my co-author, queer creative Frankie Frankeny, and I were telling stories of people who had fought for the right to marry, but what I discovered along the way is that we were also capturing the essence of love at its most defiant and most tender. This book, which comes out 10 years after marriage equality became law, was a labor of love in the truest sense. It was personal. It was emotional. It was urgent. I grew up when the idea of marriage equality felt like a distant dream, something reserved for…

Death Becomes Her — the Broadway adaptation of the cult 1992 film featuring frenemies Madeline and Helen in their campy quest for eternal youth — begins with a showstopping number, “For the Gaze,” led by Megan Hilty as Madeline. It’s a veritable Pride parade of a song, in which Hilty, accompanied by a chorus of rainbow-clad male dancers, wows the crowd with a series of outfit changes and musical references. These conjure a lineage of divas: Liza Minnelli, Celine Dion, Cher, Lady Gaga, Julie Andrews, and even Judy Garland as Dorothy (and Toto too!). “I’d do anything for / We all know that this whole damn show is for / The gaze!” Hilty belts. The song, of course, is a double entendre. As a Broadway diva, Madeline longs for the…

It’s been nearly 10 years since Nyle DiMarco made history by becoming the first Deaf contestant to ever win two major competition reality shows back to back. First was America’s Next Top Model in 2015, and just five months later, he strutted his stuff on Dancing With the Stars season 22, eventually taking home the coveted Mirrorball Trophy. Since then, he’s published a New York Times best-selling memoir and attached his name to a variety of film projects as an executive producer, including Audible, a Netflix documentary that earned an Oscar nomination. But now the dashing Deaf and LGBTQ+ activist is adding another title to his impressive list of achievements: film director. With his directorial debut, the documentary feature Deaf President Now!, he and co-director Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman,…

EVEN THE MOST anti-LGBTQ+ presidential administration in history can’t take away Pride WorldPride is coming to Washington, D.C., this year, from May 17 to June 8. The theme for 2025 is “The Fabric of Freedom.” The first WorldPride was held in Rome in 2000. The event promotes international visibility and awareness of LGBTQ+ and intersex issues. It’s licensed by InterPride and organized by one of its members; this year that member is the Capital Pride Alliance. The only other time it was held in the U.S. was 2019 in New York City for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. This year’s WorldPride marks the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in D.C. Shakira will perform at a welcome ceremony and concert May 31 at Nationals Park. Another musical event will…

Looking to downsize the number of fellow passengers while upping the intimacy on your next cruise? Small ship and river cruising might be the more personalized cruising experience for you. Carrying up to a few hundred passengers, the amenities pale when compared to their larger sister ships. But their smaller size opens possibilities for remote destinations, unique itineraries, and personalized service. Brand G Vacations (www.brandgvacations.com) offers five-star luxury river and small boat cruising to various destinations for the discerning LGBTQ+ traveler. Brand G’s renowned service begins when you arrive at the airport with transfers to the ship, where the elevated cruising experience awaits. This is not a circuit party on the water, but a refined cruise with intellectual and cultural excursions designed to enlighten travelers. Back on board, you’re surrounded…

This spring, when I spoke at a fundraising event supporting LGBTQ+ art in southern Massachusetts, I brought with me a hot commodity – a stack of the latest issues of Out / The Advocate. The queer artists and local allies in New Bedford were delighted to see the faces of our March/April cover stars, Luke Macfarlane and Dylan Mulvaney. They eagerly flipped through the pages, elbowing each other as they discovered fascinating new articles. I was struck by their passion for interesting queer stories, and I never want to take that passion for granted. I hope you thumb through this Pride issue with similar enthusiasm. And that’s why I want to learn more about what you care about within these pages. We have put together a survey on what our…

Jonathan Van Ness has been working on his first fiction book, Let Them Stare, for three years. The Queer Eye star originally got the idea for the young adult novel in the summer of 2022, and then spent years collaborating with author Julie Murphy (“she’s so incredible,” he says of the bestselling Dumplin’ and Side Effects May Vary writer) and stretching a new artistic muscle before releasing the book this May. His timing is perfect, as there’s never been a better time for a YA book with a gender-nonconforming, nonbinary teenager as its hero. Let Them Stare is about Sully, a graduating high school senior who can’t wait to leave their little town of Hearst, Pennsylvania, where they feel like they’re the only queer person for miles. After they lose…

Long before fitness influencers pervaded social media feeds, Shaun T was a staple of living rooms across the country with home-workout programs like Hip Hop Abs, T25, and Insanity on DVD. The trainer was there to guide viewers to fitter bodies with explosive push-ups, endless burpees, and lots of sweat pouring. Today, Shaun T remains at the top of the fitness game by stressing not just exterior transformation; he’s long been a believer that true health starts from within. For him, mental and physical health aren’t separate journeys. They’re one and the same. Now Shaun T is gearing up to launch the second season of his podcast T Is for Transformation, where he digs deep into what it really means to evolve. It’s not just about reps and routines —…

talent IDINA MENZEL @idinamenzel MEGAN HILTY @meganhilty LEA SALONGA @msleasalonga KRISTIN CHENOWETH @kchenoweth MALEAH JOI MOON @maleahjoimoon model JORDAN HALL @boy.radio photographer SAM WAXMAN @wamsaxman digital tech AUSTIN RUFFER @austinyourface kristin and idina stylist DEBORAH WATSON @debswatson kristin and idina stylist assistant HANNAH KRALL @hannahkrall megan, lea, and maleah stylist KERRI SCALES @kerri_scales with ART DEPT @artdeptagency megan, lea, and maleah stylist assistant WHITNEY LEFF @whitney_leff megan, lea, and maleah stylist assistant LIAM KENNEY @liamkonline tailor MARK BURNETT @badboyburnzee kristin and megan glam BRUCE WAYNE @brucewaynemua kristin and megan glam assistant KATHY BENGANHAM @kathybgemini idina glam GENEVIEVE HERR @genevieveherr with SALLY HARLOR @sallyharlorartists idina hair GEO BRIAN HENNINGS @geobrianhmu with EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS @exclusiveartists lea glam YUKO TAKAHASHI @yukoonthego maleah glam LB CHARLES @lbcharlesbeauty maleah hair GREGORY ALEXANDER @greg0ryalexander videographer STUART SOX @sox_andthecity ROOTS AND WINGS REDWOOD STAR IDINA MENZEL GIVES LOVE TO THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY THAT CONNECTS WITH AND UPLIFTS HER Idina Menzel lists some of the many…

NO ONE TAKES the motto of “Pride is a protest” to heart like Sydney. The 47th Annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade in Australia, which takes place every March, is unlike any other LGBTQ+ celebration in the world — and it offers valuable lessons to visitors. While American lawmakers are actively attempting to erase transgender people from history (an impossible task), Sydney’s LGBTQ+ community has taken honoring its people and history into its own hands as an example to the world. Hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ people (and their allies) hug the rails of Sydney’s Rainbow Precinct in anticipation of the Saturday evening parade, impatiently waiting for 200 floats and 12,000 participants. A bike ride and a blessing kick off the 2025 festivities. The historic protectors of the…

After seven years as a browser-only cruising platform, Sniffies officially launched an iOS version March 3. As an app, it joins the ranks of competitors like Grindr and Scruff. But unlike those, with their moderated profile pics (no nudity allowed) and “looking for” options ranging from networking to relationships, Sniffies is still focused on being a tool for finding real, in-person sex. After I left Grindr and its ilk for good — detailed in a recent Last Call post in this magazine — this news made me conflicted. Was Sniffies off-limits now too? Like the browser version, the app shows the approximate location of nearby users in real time. “We wouldn’t have launched an iOS app if we couldn’t keep the magic of Sniffies intact,” says Eli Martin, the platform’s…

ARE YOU PROUD? I am. This Pride season, I’m the proudest I’ve ever been to be queer. It’s not an easy time to be. Queer and trans rights are under attack by our government. “Don’t say gay” policies continue to affect schools across the country, and our history is being erased from government archives. The Trump administration has given a vocal, hateful minority the freedom to be openly and aggressively anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant, misogynist, racist, and more. But for those who can be out and proud, now is a time to show up and speak out. It’s time to remind people that the first Pride parade was a protest. More importantly, it’s time to remind people that Pride is still a protest. I’m also proud to have stepped into The Advocate’s…