Table of contents for December 2017 - January 2018 in OUT

AINGERU ZORITA Aingeru Zorita struggled to hide his crush when shooting British actor Samuel Barnett (“Samuel Barnett’s Long, Strange Trips,” page 21). “He has the most charming smile you could imagine,” says the Spanish-born, New York–based photographer. “Any angle is good on Sam.” Zorita lists a hair editorial for Harper’s Bazaar Brazil and portraits of rising actor Rami Malek among his favorite projects. His work has also appeared in Marie Claire and Wonderland. SHANA NAOMI KROCHMAL Shana Naomi Krochmal used to joke that her beat was straight men who eschewed the idea of rigid heterosexuality. In her piece exploring queer sex in YA novels (page 52), she returned to her old stomping grounds. “I loved how author Daniel Handler was both an older version of that mostly-straight guy himself and…

Looser silhouettes, throwback athletic brands, and fisherman hats are just a few recent menswear trends that have signaled the return of the 1990s. But our renewed fascination with Gen X doesn’t stop at clothing and accessories. With their long, tousled locks, the models in the fall shows for Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, and Coach made the slacker style of two decades ago seem chic once again. And this ruffled, skater-y aesthetic has extended beyond the catwalk, with celebrities like Zayn Malik and David Beckham flaunting full heads of perfectly unkempt hair, bringing to mind the hirsute, laid-back days when grunge rock ruled and Johnny dated Winona. “I think longer hair just has this carefree cool factor,” says Bumble and bumble stylist Erickson Arrunategui. “It’s attractive for a man to look like…

We know what you’re thinking. Gloves: those things you lose every year in the back of a cab or the booth of a restaurant. Why even bother with nice ones? But slip your hands into a luxe, buttery leather pair—like something from Louis Vuitton, Hermès, or Hestra—and we promise you’ll never let them go. Some tips: Make sure they’re warm enough, and stick with black—it’s sleek, goes with everything, and will forever conjure images of bikers and murder mysteries (two very cool things). Oh, and don’t bother with those silly little finger things that allow you to text. Just put your phone in your pocket and take in the glorious winter wonderland around you.…

“GIVE ME THE DETAILS,” Cole’s best friend, Alec, demands after Cole comes back from a date. Cole taunts him a little: “You want to know what movie we saw?” Like a practice round of phone sex—in this case, two 17-year-olds instant messaging—Cole won’t dish until Alec says what he wants: “The dirty parts.” Daniel Handler’s new novel, All the Dirty Parts, is true to its name, heavy on the short staccato reports of Cole’s sexual adventures, light on feelings from its fuckboi narrator. A certain wonder exists between its explicit descriptions, and though Cole’s more concerned with his litany of conquests, it’s clear he’s left a trail of carnage. Alec is Cole’s first challenge to this fucking-or-feelings bifurcation. They swap porn links they think the other will like, with Cole…

The release of Battle of the Sexes, a movie chronicling the iconic 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King (played by Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell), was something of a nostalgic head trip for legendary player King. “The film helped me stop for a few moments and really appreciate what we did back then,” she says of her pioneering crusade for equal salaries for female athletes and her role in founding the Women’s Tennis Association. (These achievements helped her earn the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.) If BOTS ’s gender pay-gap debate resonated with audiences today, King sees it as a sign of the work we still have to do to shake up the status quo. “There’s this old-boys network,” she says. “My whole life has involved…

“Queer life at its best represents individual freedom in search of beauty,” says Bill T. Jones. One of our greatest choreographers, Jones has been seeking and finding for more than four decades, and 2017 has been one of his most prolific years yet. His performances have included “Analogy/Dora: Tramontane,” which traces his mother-in-law’s childhood in Belgium during World War II; “Analogy/ Ambros: The Elegant,” a study, in part, of a romance between a German man and a Jewish man that ends in madness; and “A Letter to My Nephew,” which reflects Jones’s attempt to mend his relationship with a young relative. In other words, Jones continues his singularly provocative explorations of family, race, and sexuality via dance, pushing past the boundaries of form and narrative. He will soon debut another…

John Hanning’s images are impossible to miss: rainbow-bright photos of towheaded boys with the words I SURVIVED AIDS stamped beneath them. That’s what happened to Hanning, who came back from the brink of death in the mid-’90s and today makes art in Bushwick. (His 2015 book, Unfortunate Male, tells his powerful story.) Though harrowing, Hanning’s tale of loneliness and perseverance feels universal. “Our stories connect us—they make us who we are,” he says. “I feel lucky that I get to hear what people think about my work by participating in public engagement.” Hanning has spoken to hundreds of people with similar narratives of survival, and he feels a responsibility to give voice to their experiences. “It’s not just about me,” says the artist, who, presented work at the “Black Mirror…

From Absolutely Fabulous and The Comeback to Broadway’s Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Nathan Lee Graham has appeared in some of your favorite stage and screen romps. This year, as flamboyant bar patron Willy, he stole the show in Max Vernon’s off-Broadway triumph The View UpStairs, a boldly queer and multiethnic musical about the ill-fated 1970s gay bar the UpStairs Lounge. “I just hope my mere presence and continued professionalism make for a constant and positive influence for all,” Graham says. “My motto is, ‘Whoever you are, whatever you are—become more of it.’ ” The actor-singer will soon begin work on his first solo album, and in 2018 he’ll co-star in the new Fox comedy LA to Vegas, a gig that may just make him the first series-regular out flight…

Paula Vogel already has more than a dozen plays—not to mention a Pulitzer Prize for Drama—under her belt, but at 65 she seems to be hitting a new stride. In 2016, some 40 years after beginning her graduate work, she was awarded her Ph.D. in theater arts from Cornell University. Her thesis: Indecent, a play about the 1923 Broadway premiere of The God of Vengeance, a lesbian-themed drama by Sholem Asch that was considered so controversial, the cast and producer of the show were arrested for obscenity. When Vogel took her own work to Broadway this spring, the reception couldn’t have been more different: The New York Times called Indecent a story of “remarkable power,” and it won two Tonys, proving that its themes of anti-Semitism, homophobia, and censorship resonate…

Ned Price made the first big splash of the Resistance. On February 20, the former CIA analyst resigned via a Washington Post op-ed, saying he had planned to be a lifelong agency employee but could no longer stomach Trump’s disrespect for the intelligence community. “During my time in government, I was fortunate to work alongside, and for, some of the most courageous people I’ve ever met,” says Price, who also served as a special assistant to President Obama. “Taking a cue from their bravery, I didn’t find my choice to be all that difficult.” Today, Price provides analysis on MSNBC and hopes to rejoin public service after this “dark, but fleeting period” ends. “I have tremendous hope for the future,” he says. “The character of this country isn’t defined by—nor…

Before 2017, Mitch Grassi (right) and Scott Hoying (left) were best known as the cute gay members of the top-selling a cappella group Pentatonix. Now, after releasing a steady stream of peppy songs and videos as the spin-off act Superfruit, the singers and best friends have crafted a new musical identity. Both catchy and buoyantly queer, tracks like “Imaginary Parties” and “Worth It (Perfect)”—both off their debut EP Future Friends—are the kind of uplifting tracks that could make struggling LGBTQ kids dance around their living rooms with hope. “We’ve really learned to own who we are and not be afraid of what others think,” Hoying says. “We want to inspire queer youth, and we’ve had feedback from fans saying we’ve helped or saved them.” Grassi, who hints at an upcoming…

If you follow only one Twitter news feed, make it Kyle Griffin’s. The producer for MSNBC’s Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell expertly—and constantly—curates and analyzes all the significant political news of the day (and usually well into the night). More than 266,000 followers can’t be wrong. “I hope our community stays engaged and informed,” Griffin says. “It’s never been more important to arm yourself with the facts. You don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room, but you should be the most accurate.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT TRIBECA JOURNAL STUDIO, NEW YORK, ON OCTOBER 5, 2017…

“The most gratifying work-related experience of my life has been learning that people all over the world felt motivated, comforted, connected, and reassured by The L Word,” says Ilene Chaiken, the series’ creator, who is about to revive the cult hit series on its original network, Showtime. The return of her L.A. lesbian crew is one of the many irons in Chaiken’s fire, which also includes a creative deal at Fox, showrunning Empire, and raising two children. What’s more, the multitalent penned the original script sold to Hulu for The Handmaid’s Tale, eventually serving as one of the series’ executive producers. Once again, Chaiken can be counted among the cutting-edge TV visionaries giving voice to those in the margins. PHOTOGRAPHED AT HUBBLE STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2017…

“I think it goes back to visibility,” says DaShawn Usher, mulling over the biggest problem facing black queer men in America today. “We’re getting to a place where people can finally show up and be themselves, but we have to hold each other accountable. How do we bring other black gay men into the fold and continue to keep this community in mind?” To meet these challenges, Usher applied for a grant from the New York City Department of Health and, with the help of friends, started MOBI, the Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative. This past fall, they held a series of talks around the city, with prominent queer men of color offering words of wisdom and guidance. In May, the organization will present MOBIFest, a multi-day celebration of black queer…

When Jane Greenwood started her career in the early 1990s, she decided she was going to make room for women, ethnic minorities, and the LGBTQ community in the architecture and construction industries. One way she did this was by spearheading the creation of the first tourist map to document site-specific locations associated with lesbian and gay history in three NYC neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, Midtown, and Harlem. “I was proud to be out then, and I’m still proud,” she says. “There has always been a cause worth fighting for in our community. The topics may change, but the need to speak out has not. I’m still fired up after all these years.” The managing principal of the Kostow Greenwood firm, Greenwood was also recently named a “Woman of Influence” by New…

In competitive sports, you generally want to be first. Schuyler Bailar had spent much of his life accumulating firsts, but in 2015, after being accepted to Harvard, and transitioning during a gap year, the swimmer achieved one truly historic first: becoming the first openly trans athlete to compete on an NCAA Division I men’s team. Since then, he has traveled around the country speaking to schools and organizations about diversity and inclusion. “When I was coming out, I searched everywhere for someone like me, but I found no one,” Bailar says. “After that experience, I felt I couldn’t express myself and do the sport I love.” But Bailar persevered, and moreover, he’s fighting to make sure others find what he didn’t: “I want them to see a picture of me…

Richard Haines’s peerless illustrations capture fleeting glimpses of beauty and strength we could desperately use right now. He first won acclaim for his menswear and runway illustrations for the likes of GQ, but he’s expanded his purview from style icons of the ’60s to the cute boys of Bushwick (the focus of an exhibit this fall). It’s all viewable on his Instagram account, where he’s become unafraid to speak out politically. “With the election and events like the Pulse shooting in Orlando, I find it’s impossible not to address what’s happening—the loss of rights, the loss of life that we have been facing too often in the past 18 months,” he says. “It has reminded me of the power of art: to unite and heal.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT HAINES’S BROOKLYN STUDIO…

With her comedy, acting, music, and writing, Lane Moore is starting multiple dialogues, both rich and hilarious. The songs the onetime Cosmo editor performs with her band, It Was Romance, address struggles with mental illness, as does her new book, How to Be Alone. Meanwhile, Moore’s celebrated improv comedy show Tinder Live has hit the road, allowing more people to experience the dating-app mishaps of a bisexual—and thus “extra-single”— 20-something. Now, Moore is setting her sights on the screen, and on roles that matter. “I’m really hoping to get cast as queer characters more often,” she says, “because those spots always seem to end up going to butch women or Maxim models. Obviously those aren’t the only two ways queer women can look.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT TRIBECA JOURNAL STUDIO, NEW YORK,…

For Kyle Abraham, the personal is always universal. His work—a synthesis of hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary dance that he calls “postmodern gumbo”—is painfully, blazingly relevant. His 2012 piece, Pavement, explored life and death in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of his youth. In last year’s Untitled America, he addressed the impact of America’s prison complex on black families. And for Dearest Home, a 90-minute show that premiered in New York this past July, he took on love and mourning through the prism of his own wrenching dislocation following the loss of his mother and the end of a relationship. “Work that speaks to those experiences of isolation and longing helps audiences find a kind of commonality,” he says. A 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Abraham has had a busy 2017—a year he characterizes…

Just Peachy For our November cover story, novelist André Aciman, director Luca Guadagnino, and actor Armie Hammer offered their insights into bringing Aciman’s modern queer classic Call Me by Your Name to the screen. The piece offered readers a unique look at the art of adaptation (and keeping a work’s gay spirit intact), and the movie has since become the year’s must-see queer film. And yet, when our story broke, the description of one scene in particular—wherein actor Timothée Chalamet’s teenage character Elio masturbates with a peach—had everyone buzzing. Citing Guadagnino’s confession to Out that he had tested the pleasure method himself, Vanity Fair wrote, “He decided to go Method by grabbing some fruit and giving it the old American Pie try.” People took a more PG approach and tied…

What is it about leopard print? Its associations with a dangerous, predatory wilderness? Or the fact that so many indomitable divas—from Liz Taylor to Eartha Kitt to Peg Bundy—have worn it like a second skin? Whatever the reason, the saucy pattern endures. It screams confidence from a hundred yards away, and while it’s the riskiest of risky fashion choices, it’s no longer reserved for casino-dwelling aunties and ’80s heavy-metal bands. In fact, it’s never been bigger in menswear. This season you’ll find it on tees, bombers, and elegant tuxedo jackets. Pounce on any of these pieces, and you’ll be letting the world know you’re ready to play and slay.…

The Lower East Side’s Pyramid Club was home to New York City’s underground performance scene, fostering the early careers of icons like RuPaul, Lady Bunny, and Anohni. It was a rare safe space for LGBTQ creative types (freaks, punks, drag queens) in the 1980s and ’90s, and photographer Clayton Patterson was there to document it all. Armed with his camera (and an eye for the gritty and glamorous), Patterson vividly captured the surreal Avenue A scene, as evidenced by his new portrait series at Groupe NYC in New York, on display through January 18.…

“I’ve trained my eye to see only black and white,” writes Greg Lotus in the introduction to his new monograph, Shadows & Light, in which the fashion photographer has gathered images from his 25-year career that epitomize his talent for stripping away color to create graphic shapes and patterns. In the foreword, Eva Longoria, one of the many famous subjects Lotus has shot, contrasts his “soft-spoken, gentle” manner with the electricity of his work—“so full of life and noise, sex and allure.” But Lotus also looks to nature for inspiration, finding an elegant harmony between his nudes and the environment. In his sun-bronzed men, in particular, there’s a Homeric quality that is at once seductive, intimate, and tender. Shadows & Light (Gatehouse Publishing, $64.95) is available December 30.…

“The bathroom bill has turned into a battleground, but trans people didn’t start that battle—it wasn’t an issue until it was turned into one, and it’s a way to undermine our ability to even exist.” At her lowest moments during her seven-year incarceration for passing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning would turn to music to find the strength to persevere, even when it meant singing a favorite song to herself—such as Rihanna’s “S.O.S.” That track, from 2006, conjures another difficult period in Manning’s life. “I was out in Chicago living homeless, but it reminds me of good moments even during hard times,” she says. Indeed, it’s often the hardest times from which Manning has drawn the most penetraing insights. In Iraq as an intelligence analyst, she…

Phillip Picardi recognizes his privilege as “a cis, white gay man who works in media and lives in New York.” Says the digital editorial director of Teen Vogue and Allure, “I try to live my most authentic life for my queer family who might not be able to right now.” He also brings a variety of LGBTQ perspectives to his publications, from a video series with intersex subjects to stories about transgender teens. Now, Picardi, with the help of journalist Meredith Talusan and writer Tyler Ford, has launched Condé Nast’s first queer publication, Them, which he hopes will be a “thought-provoking platform created for and by our community.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT TRIBECA JOURNAL STUDIO, NEW YORK, ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2017…

Exploring life, love, and being broke in Brooklyn may sound familiar, but Emmett Lundberg’s Brothers was no Girls. The transgender writer-director’s web series about transmasculine friends tackled testosterone and top surgery when it debuted in 2014. Now, he’s back with the boys for an upcoming third season when we need it most. For Lundberg, who grew up not even knowing trans people existed, serving as a voice for his community has been an opportunity for which he is incredibly grateful. “It’s increasingly crucial to be vigilant and speak out against injustices,” he says. “Being able to add to the narrative has been life-changing.” PHOTOGRAPHED IN CHINATOWN, NEW YORK, ON OCTOBER 17, 2017…

For Colton Haynes, 2017 has been a light at the end of a tunnel. Last year, he came out to Entertainment Weekly, shared his tumultuous journey in a cover story for Out, and gave a tearful speech when accepting the HRC’s Visibility Award. “Even after that, I initially found myself lowering my voice and not making eye contact with people,” he says, “but over the past year I’ve been able to fully open myself up.” Haynes’s self-actualization has reaped him benefits onscreen and off. He returned to MTV’s Teen Wolf for its final season; had a major queer role in this fall’s American Horror Story: Cult; and got engaged, beachside, to his boyfriend, florist Jeff Leatham. In addition to reprising his role as Arsenal in The CW’s Arrow, the actor…

Though 2017 saw the end of HBO’s Girls, and thus the end of Andrew Rannells’s memorable portrayal of petulant, sharp-tongued Elijah Krantz, the actor won’t be left wanting for screen time. He was the voice of quippy gay middle schooler Matthew in Netflix’s hysterical animated series Big Mouth, and he’ll next star opposite Don Cheadle in Showtime’s Ball Street, and in the new Amazon series The Romanoffs. Meanwhile, he’s at work on a book of essays about his early years in New York. “I am learning that it’s not about taking opportunities that are given to you,” Rannells says. “It’s about making those opportunities for yourself.” PHOTOGRAPHED IN UNION SQUARE, NEW YORK, ON AUGUST 30, 2017…

At 22, Julien Baker already has a very clear vision of the kinds of songs she wants to write. “I rely most on the idea of radical vulnerability,” says the Memphis, Tenn., native. “I hope that by willing to be vulnerable about brokenness, I can also communicate the possibility of healing.” Baker has been outspoken about her struggles with addiction and coming out in a Southern, Christian household, and if her second album, this fall’s Turn Out the Lights, is a haunting meditation on the ways our internal demons affect our personal relationships, it is also anchored by a steadfast belief that with hope and empathy comes catharsis. “It’s been a pretty emotionally charged year,” she says. “But I think when we’re immersed in social disquiet and injustice, our positive…

Parker Kit Hill’s appearance on this year’s season of Broad City—in an episode that allowed him to work with RuPaul—exposed him to countless new fans. But the actor, singer, ballet dancer, and comedian had already amassed vast followings on Twitter and Instagram after blowing up on Vine. Hill is the leggy, bendy embodiment of a social-media success story, and his saturation of users’ feeds has led to a slew of new opportunities, from brand endorsements and magazine editorials to a starring role in the music video for queer duo Superfruit’s song “Sexy Ladies.” Says Hill, “I hope the things I’ve created will inspire not only LGBTQ people but people of any race or sex. I try to act as a pair of goggles for people to see that it’s OK…

Bisexual actress, filmmaker, and activist Lina Esco is currently starring as the only female team member on CBS’s S.W.A.T. But since directing the doc Free the Nipple in 2014, Esco has made women’s equality her top priority. Her initiative, The Human Campaign, aims at passing the Equal Rights Amendment, which would etch gender equality into the American Constitution. “One hundred thirty countries have language in their constitution that states men and women are equal—we don’t,” she explains. “Free the Nipple was the beginning. The Human Campaign is next.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT SMASHBOX STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2017…

Best known as the nerdy, charming—and missing—sidekick Barb on Netflix’s Stranger Things (a role that nabbed her an Emmy nom), Shannon Purser will look back on 2017 as a pivotal year, one in which she came out as bisexual. “I hope I can use my privilege to help anyone who is questioning their sexuality or gender identity,” the actress says. In addition to having guest-starred on another hit series, The CW’s Riverdale, Purser will appear in NBC’s high school drama Rise and as the title character in the forthcoming film Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. PHOTOGRAPHED AT NEUEHOUSE, NEW YORK, ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2017…

Leave it to a visionary like Bryan Fuller to take on the herculean task of making a great TV show out of Neil Gaiman’s epic novel American Gods. The gay writer and producer, who was also behind Pushing Daisies and Hannibal, tackled the story of Gods (and American culture) in a way that was wild, refreshing, and unapologetically queer. But it’s in a plot involving the romance between two Middle Eastern men that he takes the most pride. Says Fuller, “I hope men who have been shamed about their sexuality watch this love story and see that they are not only deserving of love, but that it is their basic human right.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT HUBBLE STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2017…

For Charles Rogers, co-creator of the hit TBS series Search Party, queer storytelling is about more than featuring LGBTQ actors and characters. “As a former imaginative kid who grew up in the closet, I often feel like my queerness is in my sense of irony and this bird’s-eye view of life that being ‘other’ affords you,” says the 30-year-old writer-director, whose sharp, offbeat sensibility helped earn the comedy-mystery its second season, which Rogers describes as “darker and more daring.” Next up: prepping for Men Don’t Whisper, a feature-length version of a short film he and his boyfriend made in which they play a gay couple who try to sleep with women to prove their masculinity to each other. Says Rogers, “We decided we need to start working out now if…

In the second half of Broadway’s Come From Away, the 9/11-themed musical takes a brief pause from its ensemble to spotlight Jenn Colella. Dressed in a pilot’s uniform, the actress takes a step toward the audience, then sings about the difficulties of becoming a commercial airline captain in a male-dominated industry. The conviction with which Colella delivers each stanza feels wickedly personal—like a war cry for gender rights dolled up in show-tune pomp. This year, Colella’s accolades for the performance included a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, but she says her highlight of 2017 was having Hillary Clinton in her audience: “Singing a song about women breaking glass ceilings directly to this powerhouse leader is a moment I’ll never forget.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT NEUE HOUSE, NEW…

If there were ever a way to bring back our emotional connection to MTV, it’s through Total Request Live. Chris McCarthy had the same idea when he took over as MTV’s president last year, and his TRL revival is just one way he’s helped usher in a new, diverse era for the network. Besides removing gendered categories from awards shows, McCarthy also worked to amplify the marginalized voices of immigration advocates and transgender service members, as reflected in the telecast for August’s Video Music Awards. For McCarthy, it’s all part of the ongoing struggle for equality. “Our progress has been tremendous, but it’s so fragile,” he says. “We have to fight for it here and abroad every single day.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT MCCARTHY'S MTV OFFICE IN NEW YORK, ON SEPTEMBER 19,…

“My strangest ideas always end up being the things I’m the most satisfied with,” says Will Wiesenfeld. The beautifully strange albums the 28-year-old Los Angeles–based singer and producer records under the name Baths have been equally satisfying for listeners, offering an off-kilter, uncompromising, decidedly queer take on pop. “Out,” a highlight from this year’s Romaplasm, details his complex feelings about being both out at a club and an out gay person, proving that he isn’t afraid of exposing his insecurities or celebrating his otherness. “I’d hope that if nothing else, I inspire queer artistic people to be themselves,” Wiesenfeld says. “It has worked for me in spades.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT HUBBLE STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON OCTOBER 9, 2017…

Stephin Merritt turned 52 this past winter, and rather than just blow out some candles or buy himself a new pair of shoes, the Magnetic Fields front man released a five-disc concept album detailing, in chronological order, the first 50 years of his life. Much like 69 Love Songs, the indie-pop band’s 1999 magnum opus, 50 Song Memoir is a sprawling, genre-spanning, heartbreaking, and often hilarious collection—one so rich in imagery and observation that listening to it, you start to wonder if it’s a record about your own life. From his childhood pet (“A Cat Called Dionysus”) to the origins of disco (“Hustle 76”), to the AIDS crisis (“Dreaming in Tetris”), Merritt, singing in his signature deadpan baritone, leaves no stone unturned. How, after nearly two decades in the business,…

The highlight of Benj Pasek’s year wasn’t the Tony Award that he and his songwriting partner, Justin Paul, won for their score for the Broadway smash Dear Evan Hansen. It wasn’t even the Oscar and Golden Globe they won for Best Original Song for “City of Stars,” the theme from Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood love letter La La Land. It was attending the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., with his mother. “Being there was a wonderful reminder that even when you feel powerless, you can always find your tribe, come together, and create a chorus loud enough that it demands to be heard,” says the 32-year-old Pennsylvania native, who, along with Paul, also composed songs for the new movie musical The Greatest Showman and Fox’s upcoming A Christmas Story Live! “Even…

Sixteen months. That’s how much time passed between the Pulse nightclub tragedy and the Las Vegas massacre. It’s how long it took for headlines to declare a new “worst mass shooting in American history.” In a little over a year, Gays Against Guns, the advocacy group John Grauwiler and Kevin Hertzog co-founded with Brian Worth in the aftermath of Pulse, has become an unmistakable force. It mobilized more than 100 protesters in a single day to march through Manhattan in the name of Las Vegas—though that came as a bittersweet victory for Hertzog. “I only wish that it didn’t take a mass shooting to get the attention this issue deserves,” he says. “The stakes are literally life or death.” His sentiment echoes the heyday of ACT UP’s activism against AIDS.…

Max Vernon spent five years perfecting his musical The View UpStairs, and when it finally premiered off-Broadway this past February, it had taken on added poignancy. The show tells the story of a gay man transported back in time to UpStairs, a real-life New Orleans gay bar that was destroyed by an act of arson in 1973. This attack, which killed 32 people, was considered the deadliest LGBTQ massacre in history—until the shooting in Orlando last year. “It was a shock to the system, like it was 1973 all over again,” says Vernon of unveiling the production in the wake of the Pulse tragedy. “But it ultimately reaffirmed the core message of the show—that there is no utopian time period. The world will always be flawed, but we have to…

WHite GOld BLack SIlver…

We tAlk A lot in this age of mass distraction and shrinking attention spans of a growing disconnect with the past—of the histories and legacies that are lost in the hum and thrum of the now. With so much information, and misinformation, coming at us, who is able to remember what happened last year, let alone in the last century? And yet, how extraordinary it is to look through this issue and see how the very media that appears to be compressing everything into a mush has been co-opted by our diverse community to amplify and illuminate our lives. So many of those celebrated in this year’s Out100 are people who have taken it upon themselves to build a platform to share our stories, whether it’s the creators of the…

“It’s like the folly of youth that I thought I was important enough for anyone to give a shit about my sexuality.” SAMUEL BARNETT settles into a sofa in The Library lounge at New York’s Nomad Hotel, orders a decaf almond milk latte, and wonders aloud if the books on the shelves lining the room are real. He examines them more closely. “OK, they are,” he says, satisfied. The 37-year-old British actor is in town for Comic Con, where he’s been promoting BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, loosely based on the books by novelist Douglas Adams (best known for the sci-fi phenomenon The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). Barnett plays the titular offbeat detective, whose belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of everything drives the show’s frequently absurdist story…

We all know the importance of a good après-ski look. But what about what you wear before you hit the lodge and start nursing bourbon by the fire? With more designers turning their focus to the slopes this season, you’ll have no shortage of fashionable options for careering down that snowcapped mountain. Fendi and Louis Vuitton aim to keep your fingers warm and stylish, while Etro and Tommy Hilfiger have crafted puffy jackets and vests as suitable for the runway as they are a steep run. So toss on a scarf and strap on those planks—because it’s all downhill from here.…

THE THIGH GAP—that space between the upper thighs that has come to symbolize yet another fabricated beauty trend—is attractive and desirable to some, but make no bones (femur, or otherwise) about it: There’s nothing sexier than a pair of tree-trunk thighs that threaten to bust your trousers. Not only do powerful legs complement a well-balanced physique, they’ll come in handy when you have to run from whatever new calamity these trying times may throw at you. Stick to these tips from personal trainer Daniel Rice (DanielRiceFitness.com), which will limber up those quads and hammies, and you’ll never want to skip leg day again. Eat Big If you’re looking for bigger muscles, you have to feed the machine. “I always recommend eating something big before the workout and 45 minutes after…

Beneath his elegant kaftan, the older gentleman who procures trim young men reveals a gay man’s fully recognizable inner life. ACTOR MARK KEYLOUN plays a piece of ass in Mike’s Murder, the 1984 film set on the fringes of Hollywood in which director James Bridges reveals how much he knew about Los Angeles’s gay underworld—its attractions, tragedies, and personalities. The unforgettable opening scene features Keyloun on a tennis court, a posterior view of him in short shorts that fit like briefs, his glutes taut and set high; they cup as he moves about. His athletic haunches advertise the fetching possibilities offered by a young sports instructor who is also an available erotic object. This image was a breakthrough for Bridges, who had directed the hits The Paper Chase and The…

“If I wasn’t a queer black woman, I don’t know if I would have been standing on that stage. I hoped that they could see through me that when you tell your story, when you live your authentic life, only good things will come from it.” For the most part, awards don’t mean anything, particularly awards that come with elaborate ceremonies and decades of tradition. Those awards rarely hold significance except for the people who win them—the culmination of a concerted effort around a singular vision, embodied by a glistening gold statuette that will spend the remainder of its days on a shelf somewhere, away from the public eye that afforded it its significance to begin with. But 2017 has been an odd year. Awards shows have taken on renewed…

Best known for directing the film adaptations of the musicals Hairspray (2007) and Rock of Ages (2012), Adam Shankman is helming the upcoming sequel to Enchanted and, this year, released his YA novel Girl About Town: A Lulu Kelly Mystery. The multihyphenate is also one of the minds behind the new streaming site YouTube Red, for which he’s co-producing the platform’s first scripted drama, Step Up: High Water, which features a young gay black dancer as the lead character. Of creating art in such dark political times, Shankman says, “I think all we can do is use our voices to speak our truth and stand up for ourselves and our beliefs—but we also have to listen.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT HUBBLE STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2017…

It took the presidential election for Alia Shawkat to truly grow into herself. In a May interview with Out, in which she announced she’s bisexual, the Arrested Development and Broad City standout said she’s been newly inspired to talk about being a woman, an Arab-American, and a member of the queer community. And she’s become more emboldened since. “I honestly feel very turned on,” Shawkat says. “Though our rights are at risk, I also feel this stronger wave of acceptance and sexuality that’s very exciting. I’m turned on by a lot of people right now.” Speaking of which, the actress, who recently returned for the second season of TBS’s acclaimed comedy Search Party, is looking forward to her 2018 film Duck Butter, about two women (Shawkat and Laia Costa) who…

“I didn’t make a choice to go dark, but I did make a choice to really honor how I was feeling,” Jonny Pierce says of his latest album. For Abysmal Thoughts, the Drums singer went solo—having split from his longtime collaborator, keyboardist Jacob Graham—and put to page the titular thoughts that plagued him after his recent divorce sunk him into a deep depression. Through the process, he rediscovered himself, crafted an excellent ’80s-inspired indie pop record, and learned one vital lesson among many: “There’s no real point in anything if you’re not being yourself,” Pierce says. “No more, no less.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT CANDY STUDIO, NEW YORK, ON OCTOBER 17, 2017…

New York City–based stand-up comedian Matteo Lane has been making the late-night rounds, appearing most recently on Stephen Colbert’s stage. “They were so warm and welcoming,” he says of the experience, “and never stopped me from being who I really am.” As a queer entertainer in today’s climate, he thinks “people who have been marginalized their whole lives are starting to be heard” and that it will ultimately bring us together. “I sometimes feel like an X-Man—Storm, if you’re wondering—trying to get the humans to see that mutants are not to be feared.” He is also currently producing an IFC series, Janice and Jeffrey, as well as an animated show about a chubby 13-year-old named Princess Cupcake. Says Lane, “It’s basically Sailor Moon meets Freaks and Geeks.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT TRIBECA…

Few national institutions are as irreverent as John Waters, but don’t ever mistake that irreverence for insouciance. His most definitive moment of 2017 was seeing President Trump throw paper towels at the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. “It proved once and for all, for the entire world to see, that he’s the biggest asshole in the universe,” Waters says. At 71, the filmmaking legend is busy crisscrossing continents to promote several projects, including Make Trouble, a 7-inch record of his 2015 commencement address at the Rhode Island School of Design (his book of the same name was released earlier this year). He’ll follow that up with an 18-city Christmas tour and a new book, Mr. Know-It-All, which he promises will “tell you exactly what you should do in…

The death of Poussey Washington, Samira Wiley’s beloved Orange Is the New Black character, was one of the toughest blows for binge-watchers last year. Luckily, Wiley was back on television in no time, playing the thick-skinned lesbian activist Moira in this summer’s dystopian thriller The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu’s adaptation of the Margaret Atwood classic. The performance earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, while the show itself walked away with eight wins, including for best drama. “The work that I’ve been part of during the course of my career has made me who I am today,” says Wiley, who married OITNB writer and producer Lauren Morelli in March. “Visibility is incredibly powerful, and I feel very blessed to be exactly who I am at…

The third season of Jill Soloway’s Transparent garnered seven Emmy nominations this year, marking the enduring power of a show that overhauled trans representation on TV. (The fourth season premiered in September.) Meanwhile, its creator has become an ardent and authoritative champion of blurring the lines of gender in society. In May, the same month Soloway’s feminist series I Love Dick hit Amazon, the writer, director, and producer spoke with commentator Van Jones in an Out cover story, addressing, among many other things, a personal identification as non-binary. It’s an idea the world is still struggling to grasp and embrace, which makes Soloway’s perspectives—and, by extension, creations—doubly important. “I see storytelling as an empathy machine,” they say. “When you see characters who are unfamiliar, they become familiar, and you have…

Casey Spooner will forever be associated with the electroclash phenomenon of the early 2000s—something he proudly acknowledges, given the impression the gaudy, gritty, sex-positive movement left on the pop landscape. “Now everyone is a performance artist, and everyone’s wearing a weird outfit,” the Fischerspooner front man says. “The challenge is to continue forward while respecting our past.” That’s what he set out to do this summer when he presented his exhibit “Sir” at the Mumok contemporary-art museum in Vienna. A collaboration with photographer Yuki James, it included various shots of Spooner nearly naked with friends and ex-lovers, and served as a prelude to Fischerspooner’s upcoming fourth album, also titled Sir. Produced by Boots and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, the record will offer a taste of the new-and-improved, “aggressively homosexual” Spooner. “I’m…

It’s been 30 years since Amy Ray and Emily Saliers released Strange Fire, their debut album as the Indigo Girls, launching their career at a time when female singer-songwriters like Tracy Chapman, Sinéad O’Connor, and Suzanne Vega were beginning to enjoy international success. Their activism and queer sensibility have always been in plain sight, sometimes to their detriment—in the late ’90s, high schools in South Carolina and Tennessee canceled some of their scheduled gigs after parents complained about having lesbians near their children. But their gutsy determination to put music to the service of social progress has influenced a generation of musicians, including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, who appeared on Ray’s 2014 solo record, Goodnight Tender. Now working with Ray on their 15th studio album together, Saliers also found time…

Kristin Beck has a way of speaking power to power. When President Trump tweeted that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve in the military, the trans Navy SEAL tweeted back at him, YOU just opened a can of WHOOP-ASS!!!! MEET ME & tell me I’m not WORTHY to my face. That’s a meeting we’d like be in the room for. “I am not your rainbow-farting unicorn,” says Beck, who earned a Purple Heart for being wounded in action, one of 27 medals she was awarded for bravery in battles stretching from Bosnia to Iraq to Afghanistan. Since retiring in 2011, just a few months shy of the capture of Osama bin Laden, she has published a memoir, run for Congress, and worked with the Pentagon on 29…

“All I know how to do is fight,” says military veteran Connie Rice. “But being an activist requires more than just being angry.” That sentiment strikes at the heart of what more than 134,000 U.S. transgender service members began to grapple with when the president announced a proposed ban on trans troops in July. For many, Trump’s three tweets on the matter became confirmation that the current administration is not on their side. “We have Trump and then the hateful GOP, who are doing all that they can to make us disappear from society,” says transgender vet Donna Price. Yet, despite “efforts by a spiteful minority,” as activist Ann Murdoch puts it, trans service members still have hope for, and, most important, pride in their country. For this brave group,…

Wrabel’s debut EP, We Could Be Beautiful, represents the singer-songwriter’s journey toward writing same-sex love songs—a triumph that meant breaking free from his evangelical upbringing and learning to love himself. “I remember the first time I wrote ‘man’ in a song,” says the artist, whose full name is Stephen Wrabel. “I was so scared, but it was so freeing. I never thought I’d make it out of the closet.” Now, he’s begun telling others’ stories, from co-writing Kesha’s recent female-empowerment anthem “Woman” to penning “The Village” in response to Trump’s trans military ban. “My biggest goal is to give people hope and offer understanding. We’re all just trying to love and find ourselves.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT HUBBLE STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2017…

“I am a gay, Muslim, Arab-American man,” Haaz Sleiman said in a video he posted to his Facebook page on August 22. The post, in which Sleiman also proudly divulged his sexual preference as a bottom, served as a militant coming out for the Nurse Jackie actor, who spoke up in response to a recent study about the rising rates of LGBTQ murders. “It’s very exciting to finally see Americans fighting for each other against racism, sexism, and homophobia,” he says now. “It means I have to make sure my voice is heard.” Hailed for his work in films like The Visitor, Sleiman has also appeared in TV dramas like ER, 24, and 2017’s The State, and can next be seen opposite John Krasinski in Michael Bay’s Paramount/Amazon series Jack…

When Hole drummer Patty Schemel came out in a 1995 Rolling Stone cover story, the declaration was considered radical. “But after that, kids would come up to me to say thank you for being someone they could relate to in mainstream media,” Schemel says. Decades later, the 50-year-old musician has chronicled her journey in Hit So Hard, a new memoir about sexual discovery, addiction, and navigating the music industry as a queer woman in rock. “Entertainment was a doorway to people who seemed similar to me,” Schemel says. “It’s important for [queer people] to express who we are and not edit ourselves—to create art, make films, write music, and sing songs about our experience.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT HUBBLE STUDIO, LOS ANGELES, ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2017…

“There have only been a few black ready-to-wear designers, even fewer that are genderless, and even fewer that are independent and able to stay in business,” says Telfar Clemens, whose New York–based label, Telfar, was nominated for this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. For Clemens, most fashion is “very much a function of separating people by class” and gender, but his goal as a designer is to influence the way we dress, regardless of who we are. “I want my clothes to be normal,” he says, “not because I change them but because the idea of what’s normal changes.” Clemens came closer to “normalizing” his brand earlier this year when he unveiled his collaboration with White Castle, for which he helped redesign uniforms for all 10,000 of the chain’s employees. PHOTOGRAPHED…

Amit Paley wants you to know that more LGBTQ youth are reaching out to the Trevor Project’s crisis hotline now than in any other time in the past 20 years. Paley, who became the organization’s CEO in June, wore many hats before assuming his new position. He was president of Harvard’s undergraduate newspaper, The Crimson, a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post in Iraq, and a consultant at McKinsey—but he sees his work with the world’s largest suicide-prevention organization for young LGBTQ people as his most important mission yet. Along with advocating for them in D.C., in the courts, and in the media, Paley is launching the TrevorSpace safe-space social-networking site, and bolstering the 24/7 lifeline. Its number: 866-488-7386. PHOTOGRAPHED AT CAPSULE STUDIO, NEW YORK, ON AUGUST 30, 2017…

This year, Hulu’s Difficult People joined the ranks of the funniest shows on television, its success due in no small part to Shakina Nayfack. As the trans conspiracy-theorist waitress Lola, Nayfack offers a postmodern spin on the wisecracking sidekick archetype. When she’s not shooting the series, Nayfack is writing her own projects: her solo show Manifest Pussy and a new play titled Chonburi International Hotel and Butterfly Club, about “all the amazing women I met in Thailand while recovering from gender confirmation,” she says. Despite the professional momentum, her standout moment of 2017 hit a bit closer to home. “I moved in with my boyfriend this summer,” Nayfack says. “I know that’s not like winning an Emmy or solving climate change, but learning how to give and receive love in…

Gavin Rayna Russom will remember 2017 as a year of new beginnings. In June, LCD Soundsystem, the previously defunct dance-punk group for which she’d been a synth player and technician, announced that it had reunited for a tour and new album, American Dream. Then, just weeks later, Russom came out publicly as a transgender woman. “If there are people struggling with some of the things I’ve struggled with, I hope that by telling my story I can help them find their own truth,” she says, “perhaps more quickly than I was able to.” Currently back on the road with LCD, Russom has also released 3 Love Songs, an EP under her alias Black Meteoric Star that addresses her early experiences transitioning. She says she’s been writing more now than ever…

Jeremy Peters is one of The New York Times’s leading lights in the paper’s Washington, D.C., bureau. As a politics reporter and MSNBC analyst, he provides sharp, informed context to news that seems to break by the millisecond. “We’re witnessing the kind of fundamental realignment in U.S. politics that comes along once in a lifetime,” says Peters, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in 2009. “It could forever change our perception of Republican and Democrat, right and left. And I hope to chronicle it in a way that gives people a satisfying answer when asking ‘What happened?’ 20 years from now.” PHOTOGRAPHED AT TRIBECA JOURNAL STUDIO, NEW YORK, ON OCTOBER 5, 2017…

FOR THE FOODIE CLARIDGE’S: THE COOKBOOK The august London hotel puts out its first cookbook—recipes run the gamut from breakfast to dinner, with critical stops in between›for lunch, afternoon tea, and cocktails. (Mitchell Beazley, $40) FOR THE BIKING ENTHUSIAST CITY CYCLING USA This handsome, handy boxed set of guides is geared to two-wheeling travelers visiting New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.›(Thames & Hudson, $34.95) FOR THE CLOSETED LUMBERJACK THE LOG CABIN: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY Nowhere is the classic, cozy wooden dwelling more elemental than in America. So argues Andrew Belonsky in his thoughtful, witty history of this iconic symbol of national values, revered and fetishized for centuries by Hudson River School artists and horror auteurs like Sam Raimi. Much more than a coffee-table adornment, The Log Cabin is…

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