OUTの November/December 2023 の目次

Dear Valued Readers, As we close another year — a chapter marked by tremendous strides and sobering challenges — we stand united, ready to embrace hope and opportunity. This spirit of unity and resilience is displayed in this much-anticipated issue. As we unveil this year’s honorees, you’ll see an inspiring mosaic of changemakers leaving indelible marks, from the glitzy corridors of Hollywood to the hallowed halls of D.C. These are the faces that not only define the present but also shape the future, opening doors and fostering a world of diversity and inclusivity. In a time when hostility seems on an unyielding rise, the Out100 list is a testament to the breadth and depth of the LGBTQ+ community. It serves as a potent reminder that our vibrancy and strength come…

DUNCAN CRABTREE-IRELAND Duncan Crabtree-Ireland — the national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA — oversees the world’s largest entertainment union, which boasts over 160,000 members. And along with SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, he’s one of the faces of their strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. As one of the few out leaders of a major entertainment group, Crabtree-Ireland knows that the fight for labor and LGBTQ+ equality go hand in hand. “One of the things that we’re fighting for is basic equity, inclusion, and fairness in the industry,” he says. “And I’m proud to say that SAG-AFTRA has been at the forefront of making sure that the entire American scene is represented on film, television, and streaming — and that’s a…

MISS BENNY It’s been a banner year for Miss Benny. The influencer, singer, and actor launched into TV sets around the world as the star of Netflix’s Glamorous, in which she portrayed the assistant to a beauty mogul played by Kim Cattrall. Previously, she made history in 2018 by portraying Casey, the first queer character on Fuller House. Beyond bringing LGBTQ+ representation to the television landscape in 2023, Miss Benny also came out as a transgender woman. It is “a huge relief to finally be who I am,” Miss Benny says of the milestone. She had been “privately transitioning for a couple years, and the thing that I can now report is it’s just been better and better than I could have ever hoped for.” Miss Benny acknowledges she still…

WAYNE BRADY We’re loving the new era of Wayne Brady. Known for comedy, acting, and a mastery of TV hosting, he rose to fame on the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? He went on to host The Wayne Brady Show, Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, and Let’s Make a Deal, winning five Emmys throughout his career. He’s even a talented musical performer, starring in Kinky Boots on Broadway and receiving a Grammy nomination in 2009. These collective skills helped him win The Masked Singer reality singing competition in 2019. This year, Brady came out as pansexual, and he released a rainbow-filled video in which he lip-synched to Celine Dion in a wig to celebrate the moment. He says his coming-out checks off an item on “the bucket list that…

“You’re feeling nervous, aren’t you, boy? With your quiet voice and impeccable style,” Brandi Carlile sang in the opening lines of “The Joke” at the 2019 Grammy Awards. In that moment, I was watching TV at home, in awe of the singer as she strummed onstage in a black jacket sparkling with silver. I felt like she was right there, speaking to me. “Don’t ever let them steal your joy,” Carlile intoned. I knew what that joy was. I knew who “they” were too, those people who “kick dirt in your face” and “hate the way you shine.” I also knew in that moment that Carlile was an artist of very rare caliber and power. Her sound was timeless, an anthem that could comfort the Other of any era. But…

RONNIE WOO Out chef, author, and television personality Ronnie Who had an unconventional career path. At age 19, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a modeling career and later earned two master’s degrees. However, feeling unfulfilled in his professional life, in 2011 he attended a culinary program at the Northwest Culinary Academy, and ultimately decided to become a chef. Woo has since launched the Delicious Cook, a private chef company where he prepares delicious dishes for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Mindy Kaling, Jessica Alba, and Charlie Sheen. In 2015 he hosted a cooking reality show called Food to Get You Laid, where he helped everyday people make impressive gourmet meals with common ingredients. But being a private chef hasn’t been without its challenges. “The biggest…

World AIDS Day, a global event held every December 1 dedicated to awareness of the HIV pandemic, focuses this year on grassroots efforts, with a theme of Let Communities Lead. The goal this year is to strengthen groups focused on those living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV. But “communities are being held back in their leadership,” UNAIDS notes. “Funding shortages, policy and regulatory hurdles, capacity constraints, and crackdowns on civil society and on the human rights of marginalized communities, are obstructing the progress of HIV prevention and treatment services. If these obstacles are removed, community-led organizations can add even greater impetus to the global HIV response, advancing progress towards the end of AIDS.” The World Health Organization, a major driver of World AIDS Day, describes the annual…

VINCINT Vincint began their career in music at age 5 when their father, a gospel singer and “the reason I started doing music,” encouraged their talent through a church choir in Philadelphia. They came out as gay at age 16, graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in 2013, and first caught the mainstream spotlight as a finalist in the 2018 season of the Fox reality singing competition The Four. Through their own music — including their 2020 debut EP, The Feeling, and 2021 debut studio album, There Will Be Tears — Vincint found their voice as an out artist who uplifts experiences not often heard on the radio. “I get to go out into different parts of the world and [sing] about the men I fall in love…

Peak summer was fading into fall, but Brandi Carlile gave no indication that 2023’s heady months of post-pandemic concerts were over. In early September, the multiple Grammy winner performed at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. There, she and her wife, Catherine Shepherd, wowed with their churned-down version of the Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine,” hot off the Barbie soundtrack. A few days later, she joined a friend, fellow Washingtonian and country musician Brandy Clark (“the two gay Brandys”), at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles for a performance supporting Clark’s eponymous album that Carlile produced. Carlile traversed the country this year with live performances, several at stadiums with Pink. And she kicked off Pride Month with a history-making three-day festival at Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State. It was a…

ANTHONY BOWENS Anthony Bowens is a professional wrestler with All Elite Wrestling and the reigning title holder — along with Max Caster and Billy Gunn — of the AEW World Trios Championship. It’s his proudest accomplishment of 2023. “I have the honor of being AEW’s first gay champion when I won the tag-team title last year. But we got the gold back around our waist and I’m super excited about it,” Bowens says of his championship belt, just days after his win at London’s Wembley Stadium. The New Jersey native, who has been active in professional wrestling since 2013, came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in 2017. He’s excelled in an arena with few out figures, which makes being part of the Out100 particularly impactful. “There’s a…

Compiling the Out100 is no easy task. Out’s editors received thousands of submissions from candidates, readers, publicists, and fans. The pool really is an embarrassment of riches. There are so many LGBTQ+ people making a difference in the world that we could easily make the Out1000 if there were enough pages and time. First, thank you to everyone who voted online in our Readers’ Choice poll. That winner of that vote was Levi Chambers, the CEO of Rainbow Media. But the race was tight, and we must acknowledge the other amazing folks in the running: Allyson Newman, composer for The L Word: Generation Q; Andrew Gurza, an advocate for people with disabilities; Celeste Trianon, a trans rights organizer; Daniel J. Downer, executive director of the Bros in Convo Initiative; the…