GO! Presents 100 Women We Love: Class of 2024

THE CULTURAL ROADMAP FOR CITY GIRLS EVERYWHERE

Class of 2017

100 Women We Love: Class of 2017

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Every June, GO compiles a select list of talented tastemakers, influencers and all-around inspirational women who are making their mark on the LGBT community and on the world at large. If you aren’t seeing someone you feel should have been included, go back through our archives and you’ll probably find her listed there, or in one of our many round-ups featuring out entrepreneurs, or women at the helm of any number of organizations. With an abundance of incredible, interesting and innovative out women in the world, there’s always next year.

We don’t rank the women numerically—every single Woman We Love is tied for number one!

Nneka Onuorah

GLAAD-nominated filmmaker Nneka Onuorah has dedicated her career to “making the invisible visible and giving voice to the voiceless.” She founded the “We Are All Women Campaign” that aims to stop injustice in the black LGBT women community. Her film, “The Same Difference,” explores a specific injustice: lesbians who discriminate against other lesbians based on gender roles. The doc sold out theaters and won best documentary from HBO’s New Fest, setting Onuorah on a “path to diversifying the stories told in mainstream media.” Even early in her career, she showed signs that that was her mission. She got her start as a “super intern” at BET Networks, launching a sort of reverse-mentorship program that matched millennials with executives in need of some knowledge from the younger demographic. She worked her way up from intern to coordinator to producer, and is now basking in accolades as an independent filmmaker. The most rewarding part of her work, she says, is “the opportunity to help someone see their truth on screen” and “to educate and challenge the masses through the vessel of film.” “It is so infectious and powerful and it’s the key to making the world a better place,” Onuorah says. After exploring a divide in the LGBT community in “The Same Difference,” she is devoted to strengthening queer unity. “We are such a marginalized community already that we should not be spending our time separating the L, the G, the B and the T” she says. “We should find ways in which we can support one another and unify no matter the color of the rainbow or letter in the group.” —SJ

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Kayko Tamaki

Artist and hypnotherapist Kayko Tamaki is dedicated to helping women survive life’s challenges. Splitting her time between the Bay Area and her native Hawaii, Tamaki offers pro-bono healing sessions for women battling cancer, and has volunteered with minority girls, domestic violence survivors and women’s groups. Two of her other passions are photography and videography, which have taken her to India and Japan to create a visual “time capsule” of her elders’ stories. She’s now working on a documentary about death and grief, building on her experience of losing her own mother and managing a grief program for children and families at a hospice as a grief counselor. Tamaki is also a well-known figure in the LGBTQ community, boasting a strong following on Instagram and her personal blog. “As a population that has faced and is still facing the challenges of being treated as equals, we have come a long way from a history of pain,” she says. Having organized events and fundraisers where queer women connect and celebrate together, she recognizes that “we’ve made leaps and bounds on the road to equality, yet there is still more road to be walked.” On that road, she says, “we must take care of one another and support one another—even support those who don’t support us.” –SLO

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Judy Gold

Judy Gold is one of the hardest-working women in show business, and one of the most recognizable out comics on the planet. Most people know her from her stand-up specials (on HBO, Comedy Central and LOGO) or her off-Broadway shows (“The Judy Show – My Life as a Sitcom,” “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother”), but in the last year alone, she’s starred in the all-female version of “Taming of the Shrew” at Shakespeare in the Park, appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” popped up on Showtime’s “I’m Dying Up Here” and guested on POP TV’s new series “Nightcap!” “I love what I do,” Gold says. “I love being a part of the LGBTQ community. Comedy is the great unifier and humor is the most palatable way to get a point across. The most rewarding part of what I do is to be able to make people laugh and to make people think simultaneously.”  You can find her doing just that regularly on her podcast, “Kill Me,” available on iTunes. –TB

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Christina Wiesmore Roberts

Christina Wiesmore Roberts found her niche in nightlife when she attracted Chicago’s lesbians to the gay bar where she worked. Since then, nightlife has become her bread and butter. Alongside colleague Amie Klujian, Roberts created the all-women’s Pride party Back Lot Bash and also throws regular Girls’ Night Out events in Boystown, packing the week’s chosen bar with more than 200 women. “I think of everyone who attends my events as one of my friends, and my goal is for them to have a great time and forget about the stresses they have in the outside world,” Roberts says. “Our community deals with so much, whether it’s external pressures or internal divisions, and it genuinely makes me happy to bring a diverse mix of people together for a night or a weekend to listen to music, dance, meet people and just have fun.  I can’t tell you the number of people who met their spouse or significant other at one of my events, and I’m honored to have given them that opportunity.” Roberts also contributes as the Marketing & Community Development Manager for the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce, and from her seat on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association (CMSA). “Don’t be afraid to create something,” she says. “If you see a need within your community, find a way to fill it.  We never dreamed Back Lot Bash would grow into what it is today, but we worked hard and focused on what people wanted and the rest just happened.” —TB

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Poppi Kramer

“I’m like a thermometer,” says out comic Poppi Kramer about her success performing on gay cruises. “I’m constantly taking the temperature of the audience to see how far I can take it. But that happens regardless of sexuality. It’s about adaptability without compromising who I am. And the things that make me who I am, fantastic and horrible, are all great.” After winning Season 3 of “The Biggest Loser,” Kramer went on to perform on VH1, SNY, E!, Lifetime and Here! as well as appearing in several sitcoms and indie films. But on Friday nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Stonewall Inn at their long-running lesbian party Lesbo-A-Go-Go. “Having worked on the corner of Christopher and 7th for the better part of my life, I have seen the highest levels of joy and lowest levels of despair over the past decade,” Kramer says. “The one thing I’ve learned is that if we lock arms and stick together, all of us, noting is impossible. Be heard. Every one of us matters.” —TB

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Becca McCharen-Tran

“Being a part of the queer community in NYC is everything to me,” says cutting-edge fashion superstar Becca McCharen-Tran, a Virginia native who founded Chromat, a brand of swim and athletic wear designed for strong, powerful women. Drawing from her background in architecture, McCharen-Tran launched Chromat seven years ago as an architectural womenswear line. Using high-tech fabrics and performance-enhancing designs, Chromat collections are where fashion, architecture and technology converge. McCharen-Tran’s bold, innovative approach to clothing design focuses on perfectly fit garments that empower women—and the fashion world definitely approves. In 2015, Chromat was nominated for the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Just before that, McCharen-Tran made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of “People Who Are Reinventing the World.” Chromat has garnered considerable attention from the world’s hottest and most iconoclastic celebrities. Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj and Madonna, just to name a few, have rocked Chromat designs. But McCharen-Tran isn’t taking all of the credit—collaborations with engineers, artists and scientists help make the magic happen, she explains. When asked about the most rewarding aspect of her work, she says, “Collaborating with other artists, musicians, scientists and activists is definitely the best part of the job.” –SLO

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Elizabeth Ziff

“I was never in the closet,” Elizabeth Ziff says. As the front woman of the rock trio BETTY, Ziff has been a recognizably “proud lesbo” even before the band’s heightened visibility on “The L Word,” where Ziff was also a writer/co-executive producer and composer for five seasons. “When I spoke about my being queer and a lesbian in the early days it was hard and scary and not a boon to my career,” Ziff says. “But I’ve never given a fuck about that, and I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who have supported me in every way, shape and form throughout my life.” Following suit, BETTY’s new album, “On The Rocks,” is as political as ever, with social activist anthem “Rise” providing a song to sing and march to. “I’ve lived my life as a proud and activist feminist,” Ziff says. And that has given her what she’s looking for: “Power.” —TB

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Sinclair

Music is so ingrained within Sinclair that the artist says singing and playing one of her many instruments is the way she gets through the “rough shit.” “It’s the only thing I can to do to express my feelings or to heal from pain,” she says. “It’s kind of a gut reaction and very much a part of my bones, I suppose.” One of nine children born to a pastor in Upstate New York, Sinclair had a difficult coming out process (“I thought I could pray the gay away. So naive!”), but turned the hardships into music like her autobiographical track “This Too Shall Pass,” which has more than 11 million streams on Spotify. Sinclair decided to start over, moving to Nashville with her wife, Natalie Rose. (“It was exactly what I needed!”) Now she’s in the studio working on the follow-up to her EP, “CLR BLND.” “When people reach out to me and tell me how deeply my music has impacted them, or share special memories of them with their lover finding each other and my music is the soundtrack to so many of their moments,  it’s the most important thing to me,” she says. “That my music can reach people in ways that no other communication can, you know? Art is wild like this—and touching people through the music is the reward.” —TB

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Grace Bonney

Who really lives in those impeccably-designed homes that you see in top shelter magazines? For Grace Bonney, founder of the daily website Design*Sponge, the creators and artists behind the most stylish homes on the internet are just as interesting as the pillows or hand-printed wallpaper. “I’ve always been drawn to creative people, and being able to build a career dedicated to supporting them is a dream come true,” says Bonney, who founded the blog in 2004. She later served as an editor at House & Garden, Domino, Craft and HGTV’s Ideas magazine. Today Design*Sponge reaches more than two million readers a day, and Bonney’s latest book, the New York Times bestseller “In the Company of Women,” combines the site’s beautiful aesthetic with empowering insight from female entrepreneurs and makers. After 12 years in America’s DIY capital (Brooklyn, that is), Bonney now lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her wife and three pets. “Coming out changed everything for me,” Bonney says. “It taught me to be open, honest and to ask for what I really want and need. My work life has never been the same since—and I’m so grateful for that.” —KL

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Kristen McCallum

Kristen McCallum struggled to come out to her Caribbean family, but she was able to find some self-love and new siblings in QTPOC spaces. “Learning to love something about myself that I grew up ashamed of has been painful but I deserve to be my best self,” McCallum says. “That is my constant reminder to be softer with my community because we really need to be there for each other.” As the creator and host of the podcast #SafeWordSociety, McCallum offers listeners a chance to hear stories about themselves and others like them, focusing on queer, trans and non-binary people of color who are rarely represented elsewhere. Prior to the podcast, she was already doing this kind of work, conducting interviews with social justice leaders and QTPOC influencers for Afropunk and producing/managing content for Elixher, the GLAAD Media Award-nominated website and magazine for black queer and trans women and non-binary people. “There is a void that is vital to our progress and well-being,” McCallum says. “Being able to give my community something they can be proud of is everything to me. Our content is going to change lives and I’m here for it.” –TB

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Lindsay Hicks

Out writer/actress Lindsay Hicks loves working with women, and says that being on sets with women directors, producers and other crew members has been “the most rewarding part of any project or job.” The star of shows like “The Better Half” (which she also co-created), tello Films’ “The List” and the feature film “Suicide Kale,” Hicks has been fortunate enough to play queer roles in projects helmed by other queer women. “Working among empowered women and gender non-conforming individuals in an effort to help others become empowered and proud of who they are is the ultimate goal and so rewarding when it feels like it is happening,” she says. “I have had a few people reach out to me and tell me that watching a project that I have been involved in has made them want to create their own work, or feel more connected to the world. Being a part of that ripple effect is such an honor.” —TB

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Fawzia Mirza

There are many facets of Fawzia Mirza’s identity—actor, producer, writer, storyteller, Muslim, Pakistani, queer, woman—but what she doesn’t want to be is “the model minority.” “My mission as an artist is to use comedy and art to break down stereotypes,” Mirza says. “I wasn’t always a writer—I started writing because I was tired of waiting to be cast and I was tired of waiting for other people to tell my story. I wanted to create the stories of my family and communities and my different identities.” Chicago-based Mirza co-wrote, produced and starred in “Signature Move,” a QWOC-themed feature film that premiered at South by Southwest this March, and will be at fests this summer. She’s also working on the adaptation of her one-woman play, “Me, My Mom & Sharmila,” with screenwriter Terrie Samundra. What all of Mirza’s work has in common is that it’s as multi-faceted as the star herself. “The idea of ‘coming out’ to me isn’t the same thing as it may mean to a lot of people,” she says. “Like I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol or wear a bathing suit growing up. I wasn’t allowed to go to prom or date boys or even hang out with boys so suddenly, according to Western standards, I was supposed to say, ‘Mom, by the way, I’m having sex with women!’ It took me a while to realize that because I identify as South Asian and Muslim and queer and a woman, that my intersectionality creates a much more complicated conversation about how you may end up talking to your family or your community about who you are. And that’s OK!” —TB

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Jen Richards

After co-creating and starring in the Emmy-nominated web series “Her Story,” trans writer/actress Jen Richards went on to appear in episodes of “Nashville,” CBS’s “Doubt” and FX’s “Better Things.” She was also a series regular on Season 1 of “I Am Cait,” co-producer of the upcoming docu-series “More Than T,” and the writer of its accompanying series “Trans 102.” “Being a writer was my childhood dream, and acting has always been what I do for fun,” Richards says. “It’s still surreal to me that I now get paid to live my dream and have my fun!” Being trans in Hollywood has its perks and its perils, both of which Richards has detailed in stories for places like The Advocate and NewNowNext. Still, she’s optimistic about the future of inclusion in entertainment. “This industry draws some of the most creative, intelligent, fun, and interesting people you’ll ever meet,” Richards says. “And I count myself further blessed that there’s an incredible community of very active queer women in Hollywood. [S]eeing the impact of my work on people who never expected to see their identities and experiences portrayed with beauty, sensitivity, and nuance. It changes their sense of possibility, and that’s profoundly humbling to me.” —TB

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Briana Benavides

Hockey player-turned-professional model Briana Benavides was plucked from her Detroit high school at the age of 16 when a stylist happened to be in the audience during a performance at her local theater. “I never looked at myself as a model,” Benavides says. “I always saw myself as awkwardly tall and lanky. But I decided to give it a shot. I had so much fun at the shoot that I chose to pursue it and see where it led me, so I guess it was something that I just sort of fell into.” Since then, Benavides has appeared on “Project Runway” and in print and commercial campaigns, while also being a visibly out and proud member of the LGBTQ community, which is what she finds “the most rewarding.” “I am very fortunate that the fashion industry has grown to be very LGBT-friendly so I think if anything it has affected my success in a very positive way,” she says. Benavides hopes that she can also be proof that there’s no one way to “look like a lesbian,” which is a comment she’s received too many times to count. “It’s really hard not being taken seriously or having people think that you’re ‘doing it for attention’ because of the way you look,” she says. “You don’t have to look, act or dress any certain way to fit any stereotype. No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning your authentic self.” —TB

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Keala Kennelly

In Hawaii, Keala Kennelly grew up around surfing. She was especially drawn to the more dangerous big wave surfing, in which only the most experienced surfers ride out into the ocean to take on waves at least 20 feet high. “I spent my entire life hearing how women couldn’t surf big waves,” Kennelly says. “There were all these preconceived notions about what women were capable of in the ocean.” Thankfully, she didn’t listen. Instead, she became one of the fiercest in her field, consistently beating out the best men in surfing and becoming the first woman to win an open gender category at the Big Wave Awards last year. Rising to the top of her sport didn’t come to her without hardship in the 20 years since she turned pro, however. Being out as a lesbian has caused her to be “less marketable,” losing her some sponsorships—but Kennelly, who also acts (“Blue Crush,” “John from Cincinnati”) and DJs around the world, hasn’t let the surfing industry’s notions of what’s acceptable stop her on this count, either. “‘Less marketable’ is just an old, outdated perception that needs to be shattered,” she says, “and I am in the process of doing that.”—SJ

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Bridget McManus

It may be hard to believe in 2017, but some casting directors and producers still tell comedian Bridget McManus to tone down the gay if she wants to snag bigger and better roles. “I’ve been out my entire career,” McManus says. “There was no way I was going to pursue my career as a performer and not be out. That was never an option.” A screenwriter, producer, director and award-winning comic, McManus has created and starred in two shows, “Bridget McManus Presents: That Time of the Month” and “Brunch with Bridget” on LOGO, and also created/starred in “We Have Issues,” tello Films’ “McManusland” and the romantic drama “Maybelle,” for which she earned a Best Actor nom at London’s Raindance Web Fest. Next up, a recurring role on the Season 4 of “Transparent” and a turn in Guinevere Turner’s “Post Apocalyptic Potluck,” playing film festivals this summer after a premiere in Provincetown.  And as one of the very few female warm-up comedians in TV, she gets to indulge in what she loves most: winning over a live audience. “I grew up idolizing Carol Burnett, so I’ve always known I wanted to be on stage,” McManus says, “performing live in front of large crowds and wearing as many wigs and costumes as possible.” —KL

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Amber Amour

After being sexually assaulted in 2014, Amber Amour found that the NYPD were unresponsive and unhelpful. So she created #StopRapeEducate, a project using chalk art to “educate the public about sexual violence.” A humanitarian and activist who hs worked for both Marriage Equality USA and the Human Rights Campaign, Amour took her work to London, Spain and England on a world tour. But when she was raped in South Africa and shamed publicly for sharing her story, she felt compelled to do even more. In January 2016, she founded Creating Consent Culture, “aimed at normalizing consent, communication, and supporting survivors while teaching safe boundaries, respect and holistic healing for survivors of sexual trauma.” CCC just opened their first Wellness Temple, “a safe space for survivors of sexual assault… offering events, classes, wellness services,” and has been a support system for survivors worldwide—including queer women like her. Being out, Amour says, has made her “more successful,” and she hopes the LGBTQ community will become “more inclusive of trans folks and people of color,” adding, “We still have a lot of progress to make.”—TB

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Kirsten King

“I think we’re used to seeing surface-level queer characters that aren’t complex and don’t accurately reflect the people in our lives,” says Kirsten King, a Los Angeles-based writer and editor who addresses the trials facing women, including queer women, today. Through her powerful essays about holding her girlfriend’s hand in Trump’s America or watching her ex fall in love on social media, King is trying to change those superficial portrayals. As a senior editor at Buzzfeed Motion Pictures, the digital media giant’s division for in-depth visual storytelling, King creates videos that examine queer relationships, rape culture, consent and mental health. “I got into digital media because it felt like the best way to connect with teens who are struggling with the same issues I did,” King says. “I want to write diverse narratives about real people”—paying their bills, falling in love, living normal lives—“and hopefully play some small part in helping someone better understand and accept themselves.” In addition to Buzzfeed, her work appears in the Huffington Post, Politico’s Weekend Reads, Cosmopolitan and Elite Daily. “I think when you’re visible and out online, that can be really terrifying,” she says. “The internet can undoubtedly be a mean and scary place, but it can also be a beautiful community if you find the right people.” —KL

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Rachel Berks

Sarah Lawrence grad Rachel Berks was working in corporate America when she decided to go DIY. “I was looking for an alternative to the subjectivity of a patriarchal, hierarchal work model for myself,” she says. “Otherwild is that answer.” Now the feminist and queer-based shop boasts two successful locations in New York and Los Angeles, as well as a thriving online boutique, made famous for their “The Future is Female” slogan Ts and sweatshirts. And that’s just one of the incredible goods one could buy from Otherwild, which offers clothing, natural bath and beauty products, publications, housewares, jewelry and other fun finds from “independent makers and craftspeople,” some of whom also offer workshops, classes and performances to the public. “Being out has deeply affected my mission,” Berks says. “I was determined to utilize all that I understand and know about the importance of community, the possibilities of visibility and language, the centrality of ethical struggles, and the oppression of economic paradigms. Otherwild is an outlet, as well as a place from which to continually learn.” —TB

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Shawna McNamara

“Be the role model that you needed when you were younger,” says Shawna McNamara. “I didn’t have a bisexual role model growing up, so once I figured out I was bi… I decided to take action, became visual and vocal to represent the bisexual community, and work every day to be the type of role model I needed for our queer youth.” Minnesota native McNamara works with LGBT artists as a talent agent, and she’s also a member of the Minneapolis High Femme Society as well as serving on the board of the Bisexual Organizing Project—BOP (“promoting femme visibility in the queer community”). From her place as a visible person in the community, she can often be found performing at special events like First Avenue’s Grown & Sexy Pride, and always advocating for bisexual visibility, especially for a new generation.  “I’m a strong believer that inclusivity should be a life goal, and this includes all groups,” McNamara says. “As a bisexual, I am often ostracized in the queer community because of biphobia and bi-erasure. I would love to see the LGBTQ community become more inclusive and supportive of each other.” —TB

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Elisa Kreisinger

Three out of four women on Facebook come across the videos produced by Elisa Kreisinger’s team at Refinery29, a staggering number that speaks to the power of visual content as well as the importance of telling women’s stories. As an executive producer at Refinery29, Kreisinger has lifted the site’s digital video growth into the stratosphere, delivering a huge increase in views during her time at the company. Her popular franchise and video channel, “Strong Opinions Loosely Held,” tackles topics like the science of virality, Instagram insecurity and feminism in the digital age. Kreisinger loves “hearing that someone showed my videos to their classroom, parents, friends or family and that it started a conversation about queer representation in media and why it matters.” When that conversation takes place on Facebook, even better—“I can read through it all like a stalker but also get important feedback,” she laughs. But with power comes responsibility, Kreisinger says: she is a frequent speaker about creating inclusive pop culture and digital platforms, most recently at MIT Media Lab, Harvard Law School and South by Southwest. Musing on her impact in this brave new world, Kreisinger says, “I always wanted someone to reflect my reality back to me and tell me I’m not crazy. And now that’s what I get to do every day through video.” —KL

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Aditi Hardikar

We didn’t just lose Barack Obama in the White House in the last election; we also lost Aditi Hardikar. As President Obama’s LGBT and AAPI Liaison, Hardikar was the national spokesperson on community-specific issues, policy proposals and strategic communications. She left only to work the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, which was rewarding up until the very end. “After the soul-crushing result of the election last year, I found myself excited about nothing,” Hardikar laments. “I had spent the entirety of my professional career passionately endeavoring to make lasting change through public service and enthusiastic self-sacrifice. But with the election of a racist, misogynistic, LGBT-phobic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant bigot, it was painful to pick up the pieces and think about what was next.” But she went back to work, helping “connect progressive grassroots leaders, heads of national organizations, elected officials and influencers to power the national resistance,” which got her excited again. “[I’m] ready to resume the important fight [for] social justice, especially for the most marginalized,” she says. “And being very intentional about which organizations and candidates I supported through my work (Is this organization led by a woman of color? Is this candidate openly LGBT and committed to racial and economic justice?) has allowed me to broaden my horizons and truly walk the walk.” Serving Obama and Clinton, Hardikar says, “were both life-changing experiences that provided me with invaluable skills and experiences.” “Now getting to step into my own power and using my talents to shape the progressive movement is an entirely different and thrilling side to my work.” —TB

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Gabrielle Korn

As the Global Editor-in-Chief of Nylon, Gabrielle Korn is making sure queer women feel represented in spaces that celebrate women looking, feeling and living their best. “Being a lesbian in the beauty/fashion/lifestyle media space means that I bring an alternative perspective to the table, which has been extremely valuable,” Korn says. “Mainstream media companies finally understand the importance of diversity and intersectionality in content, so I’ve been able to help attract a queer readership to the places I’ve worked.” Korn started as a senior editor at Nylon in 2014, moving up the ranks and expanding Nylon’s digital division before stepping up to her new position in May 2017. “When I was reading magazines as a teenager, it was like fashion didn’t know that lesbians existed,” Korn says. “But queer issues, in general, are now a top-performing category on NYLON.com and we frequently feature queer women on the cover.” And while she used to work in “queer/feminist media,” Korn felt she was “preaching to the choir,” and her work could be more beneficial in fashion coverage (which she says “is problematic, to say the least”). “I would much rather work to create change from within the industry than critiquing it from the outside,” she says. “There is so much work to be done, whether it’s around body positivity, racial diversity, sustainability, or queer representation. I think editors have an enormous responsibility to make sure they never lose sight of that.” —TB

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Torii Wolf

Breathy, simultaneously soaring and delicate, Torii Wolf’s voice has been described as “reminiscent of a Bjork” by her producer, DJ Premier, whose “weird, wicked style” provides the emotional thread to the famed DJ’s hip-hop tracks. Wolf is the first female artist whose album he produced in full, a point of profound pride for Wolf. It’s something of a breakout for the New York native, who swapped coasts to make music in California, and whose latest project has brought her back east. “I try to stay out of the way, mostly,” she says of her writing process now. “I’m trying to honor the fact that I might be a portal for this other power coming through—like a messenger or vessel. What I do like to do is let go and channel myself into this place of vulnerability—that may or may not be my own. It helps having compassion and being close with other human beings.” Her work, she says, is a message for the LGBT community “in the way of how special it feels to create a platform for expression and connection in some of the darkest and brightest of times.” Wolf encourages her LGBT listeners “to remember to be fluid. We are water in love, in life.” —SJ

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Hayley Kiyoko

Hayley Kiyoko’s authenticity, vulnerability and general openness about queer love is a breath of fresh air in a pop world that has been known to both ignore queer women and exploit their experiences to excite men. Her 2015 song “Girls Like Girls” is a very matter-of-fact song about stealing a guy’s girlfriend. The video, which has over 69 million views, was co-directed by Kiyoko, who boasts Japanese, Scottish and Welsh heritage. ATTN called “Girls Like Girls” “a huge win for LGBT youth,” and it was, unsurprisingly, quite a personal journey for the up-and-coming artist. “When we shot the music video, I felt like I was finally telling my story for the first time,” Kiyoko wrote in an essay published in Paper, “the yearning feelings I had and also the feeling of being so alone.” More recently, Kiyoko’s been signed to Atlantic, released the EP “Citrine,” embarked on a North American tour, and been part of a campaign that benefits the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “Most of the time,” she wrote, “you become confident after years of struggling during your young adulthood. I want to encourage the youth to find that confidence now.” —GH

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Natalie Rose

Artist Natalie Rose says that painting is the one thing she’s never quit. “I’ve been painting since I was a little girl,” she says. “It has always stayed with me. It’s where I find the ultimate natural high, other than making love.” Rose’s first commission came when she was 17 and still living in her hometown of Redding, California, where she was asked to paint a mural on a hospital building. Since then, her colorful, textured work has been seen in galleries, festivals and private art shows around her new home of Nashville, as well as on album covers and other kinds of illustrative work. “Seeing the way others perceive each piece, and how it affects them—I love the effect it has on me,” Rose says. “It’s my therapy, but there’s nothing better than the interpretation others receive from something you created.” As for how she sees her artwork reflecting her sexuality (or vice versa), she says being herself has “allowed me to be a voice for others who are not quite where I am.” “I am happily married, getting to do what I love and also very openly out,” she says. “It’s something I do not take for granted for a second.” —TB

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Carter the Body

Dancer and personal trainer Carter The Body does what she loves every day—getting paid for it is just a bonus. “Being out hasn’t really affected the success of my dancing,” Carter says. “It actually helped.” As a premier female entertainer (think: an androgynous “Magic Mike”), Carter regularly performs at clubs and events all over the world, making ladies swoon and spend their cash. (Fans of “Love and Hip Hop” might recall appearances she’s made on the Vh1 show, when she appeared alongside friend Rosa Acosta.) She’s also turned to acting, appearing in the web series “Lipstick Series,” the upcoming feature “Boomie” and the completed short film “A Simple Request.” Carter says that sometimes the industry can find her “too masculine” for certain roles, something she’s fighting against by refusing to change her appearance or fall prey to stereotypes. “Stay true to yourself,” she says. “Do not let anyone tell you that you should look like something else just to please them. Feel comfortable in your own skin—if they have a problem with it, then that’s their problem.” Feel free to borrow Carter’s mantra for when you might need a boost of morale: “I never lose, I either win or I learn.” —TB

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Ally Ferguson

It took traveling through Eastern cultures for Ally Ferguson to define a new style for fellow Los Angelenos. Her fashion label, Seeker, brings Middle Eastern and Asian clothing elements into everyday wear. On her travels, she had noticed “how civilization moves eloquently from day to night, work to play, praying and off to daily routine in one admirable outfit.” So she developed a style that incorporates these touches: a combination kimono and lab coat, a loose-fitting souk pant and other separates “for the modern monk.” Ferguson, who has worked with Ed Hardy, Kim Kardashian and Tyler the Creator, and counts Peaches as a friend, had a vision that these hemp cotton closet staples be gender- and age-inclusive. Seeker is now carried in boutiques in California, D.C., New York and Japan. Ferguson always knew she wanted to be a designer, and has found that being part of the LGBT community has helped her realize her dream. “It made me different from most other female designers, for sure,” she says. “It put all of the lovely gentlemen I’ve met along the way into the friend category so I could remain totally focused on my work. It was like I became everyone’s little sister and as my path became more clear, they lifted me up wherever they could.” Her industry has a reputation for being LGBT-friendly, and for Ferguson, that has meant support like no other. “Having a community in this world,” she says, “is crucial.” —SJ

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Chef Charleen

Chef Charleen was the first Filipino-American female chef to win Food Network’s “Chopped,” which has brought her even more notoriety and further solidified her already-favorable reputation. The Bay Area chef has built a following for her Oakland-based restaurant, Kainbigan Filipino Comfort Food, and fans will surely be lining up to try her new cannabis-infused edibles that are expected to hit menus within the next year. “The most rewarding aspect of my work is creating it,” Charleen says, “making something out of thought and idea, pretty much nothing, and coming away with a dope creation.” Charleen can also be seen on the Cooking Channel’s “Farmer’s Market Flip,” and has another restaurant in the works, hoping to keep adding some of her own flavor to the Bay. “Be who you are, know who are and love who are,” Charleen says. “We are all unique in our own way. Don’t let fear prevent you from showing the world what you are about.” —TB

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Eveleena aka Ivy Les Vixens

“Being an entertainer in the LGBTQ+ community comes with a great deal of responsibility—the responsibility to lead by example, to use our glittery powers for good and to stand up and be seen and heard,” says Eveleena, whose stage name is Ivy Les Vixens. As the out and proud ringleader of Les Vixens, a queer postmodern neoburlesque troupe based in Orlando, Fla., she performs and dances from coast to coast, “leaving a trail of sequins and glitter” in her wake. Eveleena plays the Princess at the wildly popular Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament, which also informs her YouTube channel, Lesbian Princess. But what she’s most celebrated for is hosting one of the nation’s longest-running weekly lesbian nights: Girl the Party at Orlando’s Southern Nights. It’s not just about glamour for Eveleena, though. She uses her platform to advocate for the community whenever possible, especially in the face of adversity. After the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub, she stood as a beacon of strength, helping “to heal the emotional body” of her peers. “I want my community to know that I will always fight for our rights,” she says, “that I will always be here to help shine a light when we need it most, and to never, ever stop dancing.” –SLO

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Kim Ford

Activist Kim Ford has worked with several non-profit organizations, most of them dedicated to making the world a better place for LGBTQ people of color. The founder of Kitchen Table Giving Circle: A Black/African Descent Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Women Philanthropic Initiative, and co-founder of Beyond Bold & Brave (who also organized the Black Lesbian Conference), Ford says she loves being able to bring people together in collaboration. “I believe that we all have what we need already and my role is to help you get it,” Ford says, “be it resources to continue their work, clarity around goals or connecting people to each other.” Now a power player in the non-profit world, Ford credits her time as a volunteer to her success, as it provided her the opportunity to see things from all angles. “What I began to realize is that I was coaching people along the way,” she says. “This is a deeper and more fulfilling approach for me and, I hope, to my clients.” —TB

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Kate Brown

Democrat Kate Brown made history when she became Oregon’s (and America’s) first openly bisexual governor in February 2015. LGBT rights are, as you might imagine, a huge passion for her, reflected in Oregon banning conversion therapy for queer youth, creating what the Human Rights Campaign called the “first of its kind” coordinator position serving LGBT veterans and introducing rules that make sure students are safe in schools. Brown has also raised the minimum wage to help working families, advocated on behalf of the uninsured and improved gun safety. Recently, she signed a measure into law that will make it easier for transgender and non-binary folks to change their birth certificates. Still, she believes there’s more to do for the queer community, considering our current political climate. “I know many LGBTQ Oregonians are concerned about the progress we’ve made both legally and in the hearts and minds across the state and nation,” Brown says. “There’s a profound sense of discord between the compassion and resilience of our communities and what we hear in national political rhetoric. As governor, I will continue to use my office to combat discrimination and hope to be a mentor and role model for LGBTQ youth who may be struggling.”—GH

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Faith Soloway

Faith Soloway splits her time between the coasts, as her work on the show “Transparent” has had her spending a lot of long hours in the writers’ room in Los Angeles. “Having my daughter embrace and understand the sacrifices, while watching her follow her dreams in the arts, has been an amazing gift,” says Soloway, whose teenager lives in Boston, Mass. But with the success of the Emmy-winning “Transparent” (including an all-new musical stage show Soloway wrote that will premiere in New York this summer) she also has another responsibility and child to help grow. “The place that [the show] has landed in the world, as story telling reaching out and creating safety for the trans community, has been a huge reward,” Soloway says. Prior to the series, created by sibling Jill Soloway and loosely based on their own family experience, Soloway worked in the theater, having written and directed for Chicago’s Second City and the Annoyance Theater, including “The Real Live Brady Bunch,” which starred friend and collaborator Jane Lynch. “It’s almost easier for me to be on stage with my stuff than to be in real-time with it,” Soloway says. “I suppose that’s where we creative types work it out.” —TB

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Jaimi King

Jaimi King made history this season as the first contestant to ever be out while appearing on  “The Bachelor.” (Australia’s Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon, as you may recall, became an item after the show, but have since broken up.) King may not have been a winner, but her inclusion was a win for bisexuals. It was also—thankfully—no big deal. King’s private coming-out, however, was another story: “I was dating my second girlfriend,” she recalls, “and my family knew about her, but they didn’t know that we weren’t platonic friends. And so when somehow my mom found out, we ended up having a fight about it and I just remember telling my mom ‘I love her.’ I grew up in a very religious household, so coming out just seemed nearly impossible.” Now, culinary school grad King is currently a chef at New Orleans’ Ace Hotel. Her goal is to become a cake decorator on a full-time basis. “Me being out doesn’t really have any effect on my success,” she says. “I see myself [as] successful in many aspects of my life. As far as relationship success, I would say that I have more possibility of being successful in that area because I can allow myself to fall for anyone, no matter his or her sexual orientation or race. Love is love.” —GH

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Riley Silverman

Riley Silverman may be one of the funniest comedians smashing the patriarchy, but to many fans, she’s known for her style. She got discovered for her frequent photo-based reviews on the site of online clothing retailer ModCloth. The company’s co-founder spotted Silverman’s photos of herself in ModCloth clothes in the Style Gallery, and pinned her for a modeling opportunity as #Fashion-Truth girl for April 2015, making her ModCloth’s first transgender model. Despite her budding fashion success, Silverman’s calling is still comedy. “I really like being able to connect with audiences and dig into what makes us laugh,” says the Midwesterner, who now lives in Los Angeles. “I especially like finding common ground in topics that might not seem like there is any.” Silverman has appeared on Comedy Central’s “Not Safe with Nikki Glaser,” and will be appearing on the upcoming second season of Seeso’s “Take My Wife.” This summer, she will headline the Portland Queer Comedy Festival. Coming out, for her, was “slow and meandering,” and she often thinks back on what kind of role model she needed as a kid. She hopes to be that role model for others. “As self-aggrandizing as this sounds, sometimes I just think being here is what matters,” she says. She loves it when parents of younger trans kids approach her after shows. “I think I help them see a future where their kids will be alright, and they help me see a future where kids won’t have to go through what I did.”—SJ

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Nabeela Rasheed

With a Ph.D. in biochemistry and a law degree, Nabeela Rasheed is well-versed in all things right-brained. “I love my job but even more rewarding than my day-to-day practice are the opportunities that being at the intersection of science and law has afforded me both as a mentor and as a leader in civic organizations,” says Rasheed, the Section Head of Intellectual Property at AbbVie Inc. A self-professed Pakistani “old Muslim and new lesbian,” Rasheed  emigrated to the USA from the UK more than 25 years ago, and embraced her new queer identity just recently when she met her partner. “My coming out was pretty much an ‘all-in’ process,” she says. “One minute I was merely a gay ally and the next I was out as a lesbian.” Rasheed says that falling for a woman was not the first time she’s experienced “cultural pitfalls” as a South Asian woman, and that it’s something she’s accepted for herself and her relationship. “I love my family, I love my girlfriend, and in my world,” Rasheed says, “these two spheres can exist happily and in harmony.”—TB

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Emily Hall Maresca

As the founder of Hot Rabbit Events, Emily Hall Maresca has been providing LGBTQ New Yorkers a chance to dance since 2011. What started as a party has evolved into regular events in Manhattan, Brooklyn and now Los Angeles, with weekly residencies, monthly pop-ups and other special events for the community, including popular parties for both Brooklyn and New York Prides. “The most rewarding aspect of my work is seeing people make connections, whether it be new friendships, or romances, or networking through events to help build each other up,” Maresca says. “[Hot Rabbit] believes that generosity, positivity and diversity are integral to success. And when community comes before competition everyone wins.” Alongside business partner Charlotte Glasser, the newly-married Maresca hopes to encourage all of us to continue supporting queer-owned businesses in spite of growing public acceptance, “and recognize that whatever we put in, we get back tenfold,” she says. “If you want LGBTQ spaces to keep thriving, help them thrive!”—TB

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Gina Young

“As a lifelong performer, I was always dissatisfied with the limits placed on women,” says Gina Young, a Los Angeles-based writer, director and songwriter who aims to create “new roles and stories that people haven’t seen before.” Following studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Young has penned performance pieces and plays including the dance/comedy “Tales of a Fourth Grade Lesbo” and the satire “Femmes: A Tragedy.” Her work has been presented by venues including the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), USC Visions and Voices, the Hammer Museum and the Women’s Center for Creative Work. Now she’s producing SORORITY, an experimental series featuring LGBTQ performers in a late-night salon, and Feminist Acting Class, which explores the intersection of feminist theory and theater. “So many women that met in my Feminist Acting Class are now making new work together in so many different genres, it’s incredible,” Young says, adding that seeing the participants meet new friends, lovers and artistic collaborators at her classes and events is what she enjoys most. “Don’t just find a girlfriend and stay in watching Netflix forever,” she admonishes. “I mean, do that too—but don’t forget to keep one foot in activism and art. Community is an active verb.” —KL

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Rain Dove

Model/activist Rain Dove has become the face of androgyny, and not only is that fine by her, it’s helped to put her on the map. In addition to being featured in magazines like Vogue, Elle, Cosmo and W, Dove has appeared in campaigns for Dove, Illamasqua and Calvin Klein and has an upcoming gig with Sisley. She says her coming out story was pretty “funny,” in that she completely misunderstood what her first girlfriend meant when she said “open relationship.” “I thought it meant ‘openly gay,’” Dove says. “This person was Muslim [and] their family was very conservatively Muslim. So I thought, ‘If this person can be openly gay to them, then I should at the very least be openly gay to my modestly Christian family.’” So, she says, she immediately  “called everyone.” “‘Grandma. I’m gay. I just wanted you to know because I’m in an open relationship and it’s important to be open with you!’” Dove recalls. “Meanwhile I was just one of a few people they were dating at the time!” Dove remains “openly” herself and is currently planning a college tour to speak about “identity and self-truth” in the next year. —TB

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Anna Goodman

Anna Goodman is a born connector. In her roles spanning event production, marketing, graphic design and logistics, she has brought some of Los Angeles’ top LGBTQ community and charity events to fruition. “It makes me so incredibly happy to see others happy—to see people out making new friends and connections, enjoying each others’ company over drinks, games and conversation, or experiencing a special occasion or cultural ceremony together,” she says. After breaking into the industry by helping to produce a fundraising event for JQ International, an LGBTQ/Jewish programs and services non-profit, the organization hired her to run all of its programming as well as the Teen JQSA (Jewish Queer Straight Alliance). She also assists Milk Milk Lemonade LA, B.O.Y. LA, Mothership Festival and Lezathlon with acquiring sponsorships and other development tasks. Goodman’s planning prowess led to her current position as the L.A. city lead for HER, a social networking app for queer women. “I think when you’re a part of a marginalized group, you can’t expect that most events and safe spaces are going to appear out of nowhere,” Goodman says. “As an activist and an event coordinator, I find it extremely rewarding to provide these spaces, keep the community alive, collaborate with other LGBTQ individuals, spread inclusion and continue to raise awareness within our community at large.” —KL

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Izzy Pellegrine

Out feminist and sociologist Izzy Pellegrine lives in Starkville, Mississippi, a part of the country not necessarily known for its LGBTQ friendliness. But Pellegrine, who came out at the age of 15, has worked to change that for queer youth and the rest of her community through her work as one of the founders of the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition. The MSCC helps establish Gay-Straight alliances in Mississippi schools, documents the experiences of LGBTQ youth around the state and hosts an annual summit and prom “to create safe networking spaces for Mississippi’s LGBTQ kids.”  “I want LGBTQ folks to know that we are actively making progress toward LGBTQ equality in the Deep South,” Pellegrine says. “While our movement is doing a great deal of work on the national stage, we can’t forget about kids, families and communities in deeply red states and need to work to direct resources to these areas. I’ve been excited to see the tangible gains we’ve made in Mississippi, and I am looking forward to our state’s continued progress for sexual and gender minority folks.” —TB

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Jo Lampert

Playing feminist icon Joan of Arc is a tall order, but Brooklyn-based performer Jo Lampert not only accepted the role, she owned it. As the star in the world premiere of David Byrne’s rock-pop operetta “Joan of Arc: Into the Fire,” Lampert received rave reviews from Vogue, The New Yorker and fans alike. Despite being the show’s major presence, she says that collaboration is key to her success. “I’ve found that the reward, alongside the beautiful rush of live performance, is in the coming together,” she says. “The gathering of ideas, creating alongside others, communing with fellow artists and also with an audience, is what makes the work feel the most full.” Lampert, a Tisch School of the Arts grad, has been performing professionally since 2010 as part of traveling acts like tune-yards and in New York, where she is an associate artist of the investigative theater collective The Civilians. “It’s incredible to realize how strong our community can be if we each come to it as our strongest individual selves,” she says. “There is such power in that. Our self-acceptance, and thus, our ability to reflect others, can allow us to have greater momentum and electric connection in our personal relationships, our fields of work, and our capacity to be leaders, should we choose to be.”  —TB

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Jenna Wortham

As a staff writer and podcaster for the New York Times magazine, Jenna Wortham has covered Whitney Houston, “The Bachelorette” and “Baywatch” with a critical eye—and that’s just in the last few months. Most of what she has to say reflects her commitment to inclusiveness and pointing out missed opportunities in entertainment and pop culture. “I got into writing and journalism because I wanted to make sure there were more queer black stories in the media,” Wortham says. “Growing up, I rarely saw myself on screen and on the page, and I remember how satisfying it was when I came across that reflection. I want to offer that up to others, so they know they aren’t alone.” Wortham can be heard regularly as the co-host of the Times’ podcast, Still Processing, and is working alongside artist Kimberly Drew on an art project-turned-book “exploring black creativity” called “The Black Futures Project.” “Visibility isn’t necessarily enough,” Wortham says, “but it’s still so important.” —TB

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Maro Hagopian

“I once had an ex-girlfriend say ‘You’re in a relationship with your photography,’” says Maro Hagopian. That kind of dedication has served the Detroit-born photog well, as she’s created a career for herself in celebrity portraiture and taking shots for the Village Voice over the last 12 years. Hagopian says she was “in awe” the first time she saw a woman—her older cousin who had come to visit her family in Las Vegas—wield a camera; previously, the photographers she’d encountered were predominantly men. That experience inspired her to want to pick up a camera herself. “I convinced my parents that I was serious about photography and they finally bought me an entry-level camera. I was shy and had no friends so I’d just quietly walk around the desert suburbia taking photos of landscapes and rocks.” It didn’t take long before Hagopian realized she preferred shooting living, breathing beings. “I realized how much I enjoy connecting with people and making them feel good about themselves,” she says.“It was important to me to give [my subjects] that [experience] as I really yearned for it myself. I’d needed to connect as a teenager but had so much trouble doing it.” Now, she finds herself in deep connection with her subjects. “For me, photography is about capturing emotional moments in time with a distinct composition filtered through the photographer’s mind’s eye,” Hagopian says. “It’s also about connecting with another person’s energy in that moment to bring out the beauty I see in them.” —TB

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Sloane Cameron

“Once you start training and you have a goal in mind, you stop at nothing to achieve it. That’s what martial arts has taught me,” says Tae Kwon Do athlete Sloane Cameron, who achieved a world record in women’s power breaking in 2015. This was her second win, however, as she first had to win the right for women to be able to compete at power breaking events at the global Tae Kwon Do championship in the first place—a victory that came after years of petitioning. “Once you reach your goal, you set a new one—a better one, one that helps more people,” Cameron says. “This way, you always are moving forward in your life and you have a list of accomplishments behind you. This is the key to success.” Not one to rest on her laurels, Cameron still has a ton to keep her busy, like a new business (the martial arts/ninja warrior gym Northwest Ninja Park in Oregon) and her plan to audition for the reality show “American Ninja Warrior.” “I think most people assume I am gay,” she tells GO. “I don’t have to ‘come out’ very often. It has never affected my success. You do get the occasional hater, but those are vastly outnumbered by the supportive people, who are then again vastly outnumbered by the people who don’t care one way or the other; they just want you to be a good role model for their children.”—GH

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Diona Reasonover

Originally from Detroit, Mich., Diona Reasonover started her performing career as a classically trained actor. There was only one problem—“[I hate] corsets,” she says. “No one would let me do Shakespeare in an Adidas hoodie, so I got into comedy.” Now living in L.A. with her partner, Reasonover has written for several television series, including Amazon’s “I Love Dick,” Tru TV’s “Adam Ruins Everything” and the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards on IFC. As an actor, she’s popped up on “Grace and Frankie,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Superstore,” “Girl Meets World” and “Comedy Bang Bang,” as well as having starred on the TBS sitcom “Clipped.” She’s also got a spot-on Whoopi Goldberg impersonation, and has been featured on Vh1, Disney and Funny or Die. Reasonover says her coming out is “still happening—#largefamily,” but she truly believes that for LGBTQ people, “it does get better.” “But it also gets more expensive,” she says. “Subarus are not cheap.” —TB

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Angela Failla

Angela Failla started her summer off with some happy tears. On June 5th, The Harold Robinson Foundation, a non-profit providing the funding and resources to send Los Angeles’ less fortunate children and families to camp, raised over one million dollars at their annual fundraiser, Pedal on the Pier. As the program director for the foundation’s Camp Ubuntu, Failla was emotional, having seen how the camp can transform lives firsthand. “Day one [the kids] come off the bus filled with trust issues, and many of them with an inability to receive love from others,” she says. “Three days later, they have overcome obstacles by way of conquering some of their fears, opening themselves to sharing their personal stories and are most open to receiving love and support from not only our counselors at Camp Ubuntu but from each other, which is one of our primary goals.” Although Failla says she’s never had a “coming out,” she has “always been embraced,” but knows that’s not the case for so many others. “I am proud to be a part of this the LGBT community as it grows and breaks down barriers,” Failla says. “Be comfortable with who you are, true to who you are and feel free to love whoever you want to love. In the end, that’s what truly matters. You are a warrior—be proud.” —TB

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Karen Tongson

A USC Professor by day and pop culture podcaster by night, Karen Tongson is an ideal trivia night teammate. An expert on race, gender, sexuality, literature and pop culture, Tongson says she originally “entered academia without knowing exactly what it was.” “I knew I loved to write criticism and non-fiction,” Tongson says. “I also knew I loved literature, and thought ‘teaching’ would be a reliable gig, not quite understanding that’s only about a third of what most scholars at research universities actually do.” But as a fan of the kinds of entertainment that most would refer to as “guilty pleasures,” Tongson worried she’d have to “relinquish [her] passion for pop culture” to be taken more seriously. In her 12 years as an academic, she’s managed to create a career track for herself that successfully fuses the two. “I feel tremendously lucky I get to research, write, and profess about the full spectrum of cultures that interest me,” says Tongson, who has three forthcoming books: “Why Karen Carpenter Matters” (a dedication to her namesake), “Normal Television: Critical Essays on Queer Spectatorship after the ‘New Normalcy’” and “Empty Orchestra: Karaoke in Our Time.” She’s also the co-editor of the Postmillennial Pop book series at NYU Press, and as a co-host on the highly-entertaining Pop Rocket Podcast, she gets to do all the “trash” talking she wants. “When it all came down to it,” she says, “I managed to figure it out.” —TB

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Fortune Feimster

Fortune Feimster was just trying to make friends when she took a class at the famed comedy school The Groundlings, but she ended up finding a new career. “Before I knew it, I was a comedian,” she says. Feimster is now one of the most recognizable comic actors working in television and film as a series regular on “The Mindy Project” and recurring appearances on “Life in Pieces” as well as having appeared on “Chelsea Lately,” “Glee,” “Two Broke Girls,” “Workaholics,” “Mulaney” and the all-star 2016 film “Office Christmas Party.” Even more impressive, perhaps, is that she’s been out the whole time. “I’m not sure how being out has affected my success other than never getting to be on ‘The Bachelor,’” she says. “I basically came out of the closet and started doing improv the same year, so I don’t have a pre-gay career. Since then I’ve just worked really hard to be good at what I do so that my sexuality or my gender or whatever doesn’t even factor in. I hope I’ve gotten to the point where people hire me based on whether or not they think I’m funny.” Next up, she’s looking to star in “Bad Cop, Bad Cop,” a comedy she co-wrote, which has been purchased by Amblin Entertainment, a DreamWorks offshoot owned by Feimster fan Steven Spielberg.—TB

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Lane Moore

Lane Moore once suggested she had 35 jobs—and that wasn’t much of an exaggeration. A comedian, writer, actor, musician, podcast host, soon-to-be author and social media gadfly, Moore manages a nonstop cycle of creativity that has earned her multiple accolades. Her critically-acclaimed monthly comedy show “Tinder LIVE!” brings the dating app to awkward life, and she is a prolific writer for top humor outlets like the Onion, McSweeney’s and the New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs. In addition to live comedy, she performs with her band, It Was Romance, which has been compared to classic Sleater-Kinney. She had a hilarious cameo as a blasé thrift shop clerk on the fifth season of “Girls.” And did we mention she won a GLAAD award for bringing queer visibility to Cosmopolitan.com, where she was the sex and relationships editor? “Pretty much since birth, I was doing accents and impressions, writing sketches and stories, singing and writing songs,” Moore explains. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else. When I was growing up, and even now, the only real friends and family I had were TV shows and comedy and music and books. If I can now create [those things] so other people can feel less alone, that’s my favorite thing.” All in a day’s work. —KL

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Dilone

23-year-old model Dilone was raised on Long Island in a “very crazy Latin household” with nine siblings. At a young age, Dilone got comfortable being the center of attention. “I was a dancer growing up,” she says. “I always enjoyed entertaining and putting on shows for family and friends.” While still only a teenager, she moved to NYC to pursue modeling—and it paid off. A year and a half ago, she signed with DNA, one of the world’s top three modeling agencies. Since then, her career has blown up (she was featured as part of a same-sex pairing for an American Eagle campaign that could be found on billboards in Brooklyn and plastered all over subway stations), and she’s looking forward to “diving into acting” as a way to better express herself and her creativity. Although out and proud, Dilone defies labels. “The way I identify myself has changed, continues to change, and I imagine always will. There’s no one who knows better than myself who or what it is that I want. Listening to my heart—rather than to the labels and stereotypes that have been used to define my preferences—has brought me love and happiness that no one can ever take away from me.” —SLO

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Angela Davis Fegan

Angela Davis Fegan doesn’t mind if you steal her posters off the wall. Her art/activism series, The Lavender Menace Poster Project, is something she wants to be shared. Using gorgeous, colorful typeface and backgrounds, the printmaker displays queer and POC-focused messaging (i.e. “We Want Agency and Voice Beyond The Dance Floor,” “Assimilation is Violence,”) and hangs them up in bathrooms, bars and other public spaces around Chicago. “I want the Lavender Menace posters to teach you that you’re not isolated,” Fegan says. “We’re constantly being sold the idea that you’re isolated, you’re alone, that your voice is small. There are people out there who agree with you or are in the same position and I really just wanted to counter fear of occupying public space.” Next up, a book compiling her work from the project, which has also been on display in several galleries, museums and universities. “I went into art because I loved drawing and over time I have learned many means of reproduction and expression,” Fegan says. “I like using my hands and putting physical labor into desirable objects that amplify my voice.” —TB

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Laura Zak

As the co-creator and star of the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning web series “Her Story,” Laura Zak credits a lot of her success to being out. “There’s a certain alchemy that can occur when you live truthfully and confidently,” she says. The success of “Her Story” (which also won Gotham and GLAAD awards) largely has to do with the characters in it living both truthfully and confidently, and Zak says one of the reasons she got into acting was because she wanted to help tell stories of honest and self-loving queer characters. “Being out in the entertainment industry today can bring about more opportunities, especially among LGBTQ creators interested in hiring within the community,” says Zak, who will appear on Season 2 of Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher’s Seeso series “Take My Wife.” “It also helps that I came up in the indie world where there are fewer voices dictating how to market yourself, and authenticity is not only encouraged, it’s demanded.” —TB

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Michele Karlsberg

Publicist and activist Michele Karlsberg has a “purpose and a passion” for what she does, and it’s fueled by a larger want to create more progress and peace. “[I have a] passion for helping others out,” she says. “A passion for creating change in a positive fashion. A passion for visibility. A passion for getting rid of racism, classism and sexism. A passion for saving lives. Bottom line, a passion for community.” Karlsberg has received many awards throughout her lengthy career, including the 2017 Lambda Literary Publishing Professional Award. She’s also been awarded the Publishing Triangle Leadership Award, Community Health Action Advocacy Award and was inducted into the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall Of Fame in 2011. She’s worked to create visibility for LGBTQ authors over the last 29 years, wearing many hats including publisher, event planner, curator, agent and consultant and by launching the Lesbian and Gay Book Month in 1989. She’s also had a long-standing column, “Words,” in the San Francisco Bay Times. “As a publicist, I get to convey my personal messages to a larger forum through my colleagues,” Karlsberg says. “My relationships with my colleagues goes far beyond contractual. At times I am a therapist, a friend, a confidant. Their works means something unique to each and every one of us. I believe they save lives; they preserve history, they educate and have constant devotion to their craft, and a willingness to keep learning. I am dedicated to them because of that.” —TB

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Mel Wells

An avid surfer, Mel Wells found that swimwear lacked wearable options for androgynous and masculine-of-center people like those she knew in Portland, Ore. After researching unisex designs from the 1920s and switching up some fabrics and necklines and getting feedback from real people (read: not fit models), Wells launched a Kickstarter for Beefcake Swimwear, which exceeded its goal by 300%. The response has been incredible. “Just hearing that someone feels confident in a swimsuit for the first time in her adult life has been super rewarding,” Wells says. “I’’m stoked to help all types of folks feel confident and excited to go to the beach and the pool.” Wells also writes and illustrates an online project called “My Underwear Will Save Me” about her previous life as a devout Mormon. “I had to come out to my family twice; first as a nonbeliever, and then as a lesbian,” she says. “Coming out made me realize the power of authenticity, both in work and in life. I hope that people respond to my work, whether my writing or swimwear or nonprofit work, because they recognize that I genuinely want all of us to feel unashamed about who we are, especially when our identities and/or life paths don’t align with the dominant narratives. I have some issues with the term ‘disrupt,’ but I’ll happily disrupt gender norms, religious patriarchy and body shame.” —TB

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Deirdre Novella

After coming out in the ’90s, Deirdre Novella started bartending in NYC lesbian clubs Meow Mix and WOW Bar, cutting hair on the side. “I always wanted to open a salon,” she said, and in 2012, she did just that. Now the owner of Brooklyn-based Badlands, she has a mission of “providing a safe space for fellow LGBTQs.” Novella refers to herself as “an artist, healer and alchemist,” as she’s recently delved into developing Bandlands Organics, an organic skin and haircare line, as well as energy healing and homeotherapy. “I’m learning to diagnose and treat chronic illness that allopathic doctors have had minimal success with,” she says, “like Parkinson’s and Lyme Disease. … I’ve treated a lot of my staff, clients at the salon, and referrals from friends.” Novella credits much of her thriving to “good survival skills and creative tenacity,” but also being a part of something bigger than herself. “I feel so lucky to be a part of a strong community where helping others is a priority, especially in this climate of greed and lack of integrity,” she says. “If we don’t help each other, we’re all going down.” —TB

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Taleen Kali

On her website, Taleen Kali describes herself as “a Los Angeles multi-hyphenate to the core” who “plays cosmic femme punk.” The musician premiered as a solo artist at LA’s Echo Park Rising music festival last summer, played the all-women’s festival Mothership in the fall and released two demos, “Who The Fuck Is Taleen Kali?,” on Bandcamp in March. She is also an instructor of what she calls “Kali Punk Yoga,” a writer whose work has appeared in SPIN and the Onion (among other outlets) and the editor-in-chief of the DUM DUM Zine and Press, which distributes other queer, feminist and punk self-publishing. “I love music, visuals, writing and yoga, and I’m grateful I get to express all these loves in my interdisciplinary art practice,” she tells GO. “As an Armenian child of immigrants, it’s a huge part of my identity to embrace the intersectionality of culture and different art mediums. Whether I’m on stage, coming up with a new zine [or] teaching a [yoga] workshop, I can bring this practice with me to support me wherever I go.” For those still reeling from the election, she offered this bit of advice on an Urban Outfitters’ blog post: “The world is terrifying right now, and if we keep having tough conversations, cultivating empathy for ourselves and others, we’re going to get through this horrific cycle of nature, revolt, and transcend to what inevitably comes next.”—SJ

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Lydia Polgreen

This past December, Lydia Polgreen was hired as the Editor-in-Chief of HuffPost (formerly The Huffington Post) following the departure of Arianna Huffington, and immediately, it was clear she was more than capable of filling the founder’s shoes, having worked as a West Africa, South Asia and Johannesburg bureau chief and deputy international editor for the New York Times. However, Polgreen’s rise to the top has not always been smooth. She’s had to face the obvious challenge of making it in a business where queer women of color are not in the majority. She told Out that as a young journalist, she couldn’t afford her unpaid internship at Washington Monthly, so she had to take a waitress job on the side. She also had to keep her relationship with photographer wife Candace Feit under wraps when both were on a dangerous assignment covering a Sudanese warlord. There are further challenges likely awaiting Polgreen during a time of change for both HuffPost and America: “As we launch a brand-new name and look for HuffPost,” she recently wrote in an editor’s letter, “I’ve been thinking a lot about these questions. How can we become better listeners? How can we serve you, our audience, better? … We aim to make this extraordinary platform the news source of choice for people everywhere.” —GH

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Jana Shortal

Jana Shortal didn’t set out to break every mold. The television news reporter for KARE 11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, the local NBC affiliate, tried to fit into the absurdly narrow definition of what women should look like in broadcast journalism. “I spent a good number of years trying to tame my otherness while I was on the clock, and that only stifled my work, and my happiness,” Shortal says. After almost 17 years, she decided to be herself—and that choice has paid off. Today the three-time regional Emmy winner is the co-anchor of her station’s “Breaking the News” and has won over viewers with her candor, individuality and willingness to share her own story. She moves effortlessly from a no-frills interview to a roundtable discussion with six-year-olds about astronauts. “In a society so dedicated to interacting only digitally, there is a thrill for me still in basic human interaction, and then presenting that” to the public, she says. Sure, the trolls still come out in the comments section to leave rude remarks about her appearance—but fans also say she’s an inspiration. “I guess I will never know what [being true to myself] did or didn’t do to my path in my career,” she says. “But I can say with complete certainty now, I wouldn’t change a thing.” —KL

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Chloe Caldwell

Chloe Caldwell took an unusual approach to coming out as queer. Instead of telling people, she wrote a book about what she was going through. It was “Women,” a 2014 novella about a 20-something who has her first same-sex relationship with an older lover and tries to figure out what that means about her sexuality. Lena Dunham called it “a beautiful read/perfect primer for an explosive lesbian affair/an essential truth.” Readers took to it in a way she never expected. “When I was about to publish ‘Women,’ I remember feeling like it was going to be this obscure or taboo book,” Caldwell says. “But the way it was embraced by women of all backgrounds and sexual identities has touched me to my core.” It also helped her profoundly. “Writing ‘Women’ helped me process my identity and feelings around it,” she says. Exploring her emotions through her craft, it seems, was what she was meant to do. The prolific upstate New York-based scribe is also the author of two essay collections, “I’ll Tell You In Person” and “Legs Get Led Astray,” and she’s also written for Lenny Letter, Hobart, Salon, the Rumpus and Vice. “In my twenties, I was failing at everything except for writing,” she says. Instead of going to college, she took writing classes, and never looked back. “Writing,” she says, “was the only thing that motivated me.”—SJ

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Holly Rilinger

Former GO cover girl Holly Rilinger popped up on national television as the star of Bravo’s “Work Out: New York,” but she’s been a celebrated fixture of the fitness game for 10 years. The certified personal trainer and motivational coach just published her first book, “Lifted: 28 Days to Focus Your Mind, Strengthen Your Body, and Elevate Your Spirit,” which offers advice based on her popular meditation-infused boutique fitness program, Lifted, an hour-long class that “fuses the gap between the mind and body.” “What I love most about what I do is that I have the ability to help people change their lives,” Rilinger says. “I chased down an impossible dream with professional basketball and I haven’t looked back since. I can now share that same drive and determination with my clients, not only helping them change their bodies, but helping them change their lives and achieve their biggest boldest dreams.” —TB

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Patricia Todd

In 2006, Patricia Todd became a representative for Alabama, making her, at the time, the only out queer politician in her state. As NBC recently noted, her election was a pleasant surprise and taken as evidence that there may be more LGBT politicians in Alabama to come. For now, though, Todd is still the only one. “I wanted to change the world and make it a better place for future generations,” she tells GO. “And I wanted to stand up for all queer people, and have a seat at the table.” The position is a natural fit for Todd, who has spent a huge chunk of her non-political career serving the public, but being passionate about LGBT rights is a challenge in her state. “My legislative agenda does not include a lot of LGBT-focused issues. I mean, we’re in Alabama—I’m not going to get anything passed,” she told NBC. Instead, she focuses on keeping anti-gay bills from passing, and on other issues, like opioid addiction. Currently, she’s creating a nonprofit that aims to prevent overdosing in high school and college students. When asked what is the most rewarding aspect of her work, she says, “Having a young person tell me I am their hero. And serving with some wonderful people—even some of the Republicans.”—GH

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Alicia Oeser

“I love being a queer person in this work,” says Alicia Oeser, UCLA’s Director of Campus Assault Resources & Education (CARE) Program. “When you think about the prevention of gender-based violence, obviously gender has to be talked about. And we cannot have conversations about gender without talking about gender beyond the binary. And we cannot talk about healthy sex and relationships between folks of all genders if we don’t also talk about sexual orientation.” Oeser has been working in gender-based violence prevention for the past 11 years as  Volunteer Trainer for the Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline, LGBTQ/Hate Crimes Specialist for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Coordinator of Sexual Violence Support Services at DePaul University and Director for Harvard University’s Office of Sexual Assault Prevention & Response. Through her work, she hopes to “create systems-level change by helping organizations develop trauma-informed practices and policies.” “My queer identity makes me hopeful and on some days it is what gives me life,” Oeser says. “This work makes sense to me the way linear algebra makes sense to mathematicians. Which is to say, sure it is hard, but I can very clearly see the path to the prevention of gender-based violence and if I can do that, why would I do anything else?”—TB

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Sara Medd

When people tell Sara Medd they hate shopping,  she feels lucky to be able to offer her services. “I love shopping—and I’m even good at it!” she says. As the creator of Greyscale Goods, a carefully-curated brand of gender-neutral clothing and accessories delivered to clients, Medd is able to help LGBTQs display their own sense of style. “I find great reward in seeing a person’s transition into greater self-confidence through clothing that fits both their body and their identity,” Medd says. “I love receiving feedback from clients that we found them a pair of pants that fit them better than any pair they have ever tried on—ever! I’ve even been called a magician.” With a background styling shoots for magazines like W, Elle, Italian Vogue and GQ and working with celebrity clients on red carpets, Medd says these things “quickly lost [their] glamour” when she “realized that her true passion was helping LGBTQ friends and community find greater confidence through their wardrobe.”  “There are so many opportunities to improve the offerings for gender-neutral clothing and I am dedicated and determined to fill those gaps to the best of my ability,” Medd says. Although she’s had to fight the “lesbians aren’t fashion-forward” stereotype, she takes it in stride. “At my first styling job, I was subject of the age-old rhetorical joke ‘Don’t let the lesbian choose the shoes!’” she says. “But besides that, for me, being out in the fashion industry has been seamless.” —TB

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Raquel “Rocky” Pennington

“I grew up being a huge tomboy,” says Raquel “Rocky” Pennington. “Always very athletic and into my sports. [I] wanted to box at a younger age, but my parents wouldn’t allow me to, so I focused on basketball, softball and my academics. … One day I watched MMA [mixed martial arts] on TV, which led me to training. [I] fell in love and haven’t stopped since.” The 28-year-old is currently the number four-ranking UFC women’s bantamweight and is, according to the UFC, the “fourth fighter in UFC history to win a fight by technical submission using a bulldog choke.” She’s emerged the champion in battles against Jessica Andrade, Miesha Tate and Beth Correia, among others, and, tells GO she’s planning on opening a gym that will focus on “all aspects of fitness, not just MMA.” Both Pennington and fiancée Tecia Torres, also a UFC fighter, are out, but coming out was not so easy for Pennington. “I was raised Catholic and my family always knew I was a tomboy, but when I started to come out, it took a huge toll on my relationship with my mother. … After that episode [Pennington’s coming-out episode in the reality series ‘The Ultimate Fighter’], thousands of people from around the world wrote me, sharing their stories. … I think after my family saw the positive responses they knew it would be OK to let me finally be me.” —GH

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Tracy Baim

Publisher Tracy Baim has been covering the Chicago LGBT community since 1984. As the co-founder of the city’s LGBT weekly Windy City Times, she feels fortunate to be in a career she’s dreamt of since she was a kid. “I have wanted to be a journalist since I was 10 years old,” Baim says. “I know it can’t last forever, but so happy to have done this now for 33 years.” In her lengthy career, Baim has written a film (“Hannah Free”), published a handful of books (including “Barbara Gittings: Gay Pioneer” and “Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America”), won several awards and has been inducted into the  National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame. She achieved all of that despite having come into journalism at a time when men were primarily the gatekeepers of printing and publishing. “Sexism within the LGBTQ community is just as fierce as in the mainstream, so I think being a woman for sure has impacted the trajectory of my career,” Baim says. “But I am extremely lucky to still be doing what I love, so everything that was a barrier has made me more resilient. And persistent.” —TB

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Nellie Fitzpatrick

Philadelphia-based lawyer and activist Nellie Fitzpatrick served her city for six and a half years as an Assistant District Attorney for the City of Philadelphia, spending “the majority” of her career in the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit. That work led her into training new cadets at the Police Academy and law enforcement and correction officers (at local, state and federal levels) on hate and bias crime and serving the LGBTQ communities, something she then did herself as Director of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Michael Nutter.  Fitzpatrick has won several awards, but she’s also had some major wins with the creation and implementation of policies that help LGBTQI individuals, including the Gotta Go! Guide, an interactive Google map virtually hosted by the City of Philadelphia to track and identify all gender and gender-neutral bathrooms, rooms, non-gender-segregated spaces. “I am a natural advocate and love trial practice, but one of the best parts of my job is being able to give my clients answers, even difficult ones,” Fitzpatrick says. “These can be complex systems that are challenging to navigate. Helping someone find their footing in an otherwise obscure and uncertain situation is incredibly rewarding.” —TB

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Deborah Stanton and Anni Saludo

Former New York-based chef Deborah Stanton and wife Anni Saludo have been together almost two decades, and three years ago, they made the move south to North Carolina to open Rockabilly Farm in Hillsborough, North Carolina. “Keeping our chickens, sheep and Pearl, our donkey, healthy and happy requires constant attention,” the couple says. “But we love getting up with our roosters, getting dirty and, best of all, building our business and our lives outside.” Together, they created Outdoor Culinary Adventures, fueled by their love of growing organic vegetables without the use of pesticides or other pollutants, resourcing “local ingredients, transporting, preparing and serving our great food to hikers, mountain bikers, campers and kayakers.” “We strive to be positive role models in our community, showing by example that living sustainably, working hard and loving others is not only possible,” the couple says. “It’s a blast!” —TB

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Robin Cloud

Robin Cloud was hooked on comedy after her first open mic. “Stand-up allowed me to wrap everything into one,” she says. “You have to write, do characters, sing if needed—there are no limitations on what or who you can be as a stand-up comic.” After years perfecting her stage craft, Cloud started to write and direct her films, too, including “Out Again,” which was chosen by Refinery29 as part of their Shatterbox Anthology, receiving more than 1.2 million views. “Now, I’m honing my skills as a director and that feels like the ultimate culmination of everything I’ve ever studied,” Cloud says. “I’ve gone full circle.” Up next: taking “Out Again” to film festivals around the world, a docu-series called “Passing While Black,” and a new podcast, “Dear Queer” on BRIC Radio. “[Being gay is] only one part of who I am but it is a very important part,” Cloud says. “So I embraced it, did tons of gay shows and grew a fanbase. There is still nothing like performing for your community. They get you from the jump and that’s a beautiful thing.” —TB

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Mira Krishnan

Mira Krishnan’s favorite part of her job is “setting the bar really high for what happy LGBTQ people can look like.” “When I get it right, straight people I work with really get that we can add a layer of richness to their world,” Krishnan says. “And LGBTQ people and the people who love us are like, ‘Yes! Nobody ever talks about us that way; this makes me proud to be who I am!’” A neuropsychologist and consultant based in Grand Rapids, Mich., Krishnan works with state and federal government agencies, non-profits, for-profit corporations and organizations to “thrive through celebrating diversity and empowering people with differences and disabilities,” an opportunity for her to marry her work as a psychologist with helping to make communities more inclusive. “Just as I was coming out, Grand Rapids was launching a first in the country LGBTQ professional development program, through its mainstream chamber of commerce,” Krishnan says. “So the amazing thing was, for me, coming out didn’t hurt my professional network at all—everybody’s been so supportive. But then I have this whole new professional network of LGBTQ professionals, who I wouldn’t have gotten to know if I hadn’t come out. I’ve actually had so many opportunities I wouldn’t have had. Now the trick is to get it so everybody has that experience.” What she hopes is that LGBTQ people will see is how lucky they are to have been given such an incredible opportunity to share with humanity. “I think we have a gift to give the world,” she says, “and we shouldn’t give it because they deserve it—they don’t always—but we should give it because it’s why we’re here. We make the world a better place.” —TB

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Ali Liebegott

Ali Liebegott’s three books—the Lambda Literary Award-winning novels “The Beautifully Worthless” and “The IHOP Papers,” plus her most recent work, “Cha-Ching!”—tell the stories of young queer people on the margins of society yearning to break free. One can’t help but see the author, who once worked in a food co-op stacking cat food as she carved out a career as a creative writer, between the lines. Now based in Los Angeles, Liebegott currently writes for the Emmy-winning TV series “Transparent,” in which she had a cameo as a butch security guard named Tiffany. She also had roles in “Maron” on IFC and in the upcoming ABC series “Ten Days in the Valley.” As a member of the legendary queer literary tour Sister Spit, Liebegott performed across North America with other gender-nonconforming writers, filmmakers, poets and activists. In all of her work, Liebegott hopes to bring about a day when all LGBT people feel safe and represented. “There’s no one dyke experience, one trans experience, and so on,” Liebegott says. “I look forward to the day where LGBT people are not pigeonholed and can play a multitude of roles, not just those that reflect their own experience.” —KL

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Debbie Helsel

As the Executive Director at Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge in Orlando, Fla., Helsel has her dream job: “seeing animals be given their freedom.” A licensed wildlife rehabilitator, Helsel says she joined Back to Nature simply because she loves wildlife, “and someone has to stand up and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.” “It is an honor to care for God’s creations,” she says, and under her helm, the refuge has grown from “3.5 acres behind an automotive garage” to “a lush 20-acre Green Place property that is part of the wildlife corridor, in partnership with the local county government.” Now eagles can build their nests without worry, and other wildlife can traverse the space without feeling closed in. An out lesbian, Helsel wants that feeling of freedom to extend to humans as well. “We are all in perfect divine perfection, just as we were designed to be,” she says. “It is so important to be who you are and not who everyone else thinks you should be.” Luckily, Helsel has had only positive experiences in her work. “I have been very supported and worked extremely hard to get where I am today,” she says. “I’ve held leadership roles in almost every job I have had. My personal life has never been questioned or thrown in my face. I’ve been allowed to be free to be who I am.”—TB

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Nicolette Mason

“I’ve always been drawn to fashion, but didn’t necessarily know my place in the industry—I mean, I’m a fat Middle-Eastern dyke. I didn’t exactly think I belonged!” says Nicolette Mason, who works to make the fashion industry more inclusive through her role as a body diversity advocate. A former contributing editor and columnist at Marie Claire, where she championed body acceptance, liberation and personal style, Mason now acts as a consultant on diversity initiatives for brands like Barbie and Target. She has also collaborated with ModCloth and Addition Elle on capsule collections. But Mason says her industry still has a number of hurdles to overcome. “Several brands have approached me to work with them [as an ambassador] only to later tell me they cannot proceed with a relationship because I’m openly gay,” she reveals. “I can now say no to brands or companies that are not aligned with my values, but that is not a privilege everyone has. Being out can be a real threat to many in their professional lives.” For that reason, Mason considers it an obligation to lift others up. “It’s the job and responsibility of many of us in positions of relative power or influence to do what we can,” she says, “for us to all be free and equal.”—KL

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Lindsey Byrnes

L.A.-based photographer Lindsey Byrnes has had her shots in Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, but what she loves most is helping her subjects to see themselves as beautiful. “Letting them see their best selves is rewarding,” Byrnes says. “I know I’m really lucky to do something every day that I actually think is fun.” She’s been hired for high-profile ad campaigns for Wildfang, Hard Rock Cafe and Good Dye Young, and is often brought in by brands to take shots of celebrities, musicians and festivals. “I cannot say whether or not I would have achieved more of my professional goals if I wasn’t out,” Byrnes says. “However, I can say that I have met many amazing people through other amazing people who are part of the LGBT community, so in that way, I have become more successful. And if it has kept people from hiring me on jobs, then that is also a success because I don’t want to work with people like that anyway.” —TB

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Wanjiko Eke

The daughter of African immigrants, Wanjiko Eke grew up deep in the heart of Texas (Austin) and launched a career in comedy “on a whim” after buying a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. Her impulsive move proved to be a courageous gamble that paid off. Since then, she has appeared in comedy shows and festivals all over the country. Now a successful stand-up comedian and writer based in NYC, Eke has been featured in TimeOut New York and performs regularly at New York Comedy Club, where she co-hosts (and co-produces) the monthly Witch Hunt, a predominantly female comedy show inspired by the Salem witch trials in Colonial Massachusetts. “This show is in memory of those women and all the female comedians who, when they see an all-male lineup, want to set themselves on fire,” reads the show’s description. For the entire month of August, Eke will be performing in Lasers in the Jungle at UCB Theatre in the East Village. She hopes other LGBTs will find the same kind of success in being unabashedly themselves. “Embrace who you are, and go do whatever it is you choose to do,” Eke says, “and help as many people as you can along the way.” –SLO

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Yunique A. Saafir

“The most rewarding aspect of my work is discovering myself through the journey of creating mediums that represent me,” says photographer Yunique A. Saafir. A self-described queer, black femme, Saafir is dedicated to making sure others like her are able to see themselves because she knows how important visibility can be to self-image. “We can’t be validated by anyone but ourselves,” she says. “My validation … does not lie in the validation of society, or anyone around me. I see myself as a worthy vessel and try hard every day to see my value for being.” Saafir’s work “explores personal experiences with mental health and the idea that depression can illuminate the self and spark clarity,” aiming to bring “power [to] ambiguity and darkness, an unappreciated ability to run directly into the void, to become undone, and to rebuild again.” Her latest series, “My Body: Not for Consumption” is on display at the Dixon Place Theater as part of the Annual Hot Festival on July 12, and speaks to the idea that “sedative feelings can bring healing and that vulnerability is sacred.” “A place of enlightenment can actually look strange for us of the LGBTTQQIAAP community,” she says. “It is important to create your own merit with that, because you deserve it.” —TB

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Amie Klujian

Chicago’s queer women owe a lot to Amie Klujian. As co-founder and co-producer of Back Lot Bash, the Midwest’s largest outdoor pride festival for women, Klujian has been working for 14 years to make sure lesbians and their friends have a place of their own to celebrate Pride. “I’m passionate about creating opportunities for individuals to express themselves and to recognize their voice, tell their story and know their life is important and valued,” says Klujian, who is also on the Executive Board of Directors at Girls in the Game, a nonprofit that helps girls to become empowered, confident leaders and “game-changers.” A Princeton grad who earned her master’s from Northwestern, Klujian says she loves “seeing how people connect and become engaged and fulfilled as community members.” “Be real with each other,” she encourages. “Be present for each other. Act out of love, not fear.” —TB

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Chef Rossi

“In the ‘90s when gay couples would inquire about my catering their wedding they would whisper, ‘Um, do you have an issue catering a gay wedding?’” Chef Rossi recalls. “I would shout back, ‘Hurray! You get the family discount! Welcome home!’” Chef Rossi is not only a master of the kitchen, but at dishing on the process, as she has done for The Daily News, The New York Post, Time Out New York and Mcsweeney’s, just to name a few. Her 2015 memoir, “The Raging Skillet/The True Life Story of Chef Rossi” received countless critical accolades and has been turned into a stage play by Jacques Lamarre, premiering this summer at The Theatre Works in Hartford, Connecticut. (A screenplay is also in the works, as is a second memoir.) “I’ve had a wacky life and I love to write about it and talk about it on the radio,” says Rossi, who hosts the show “Bite This” on OMR and WFMR in Cape Cod, and also co-hosts “Mouthing Off” on Transformation Talk Radio. “I put it all out there. Being out loud and proud has been the fuel for my fire.”—TB

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Paula Vogel

If you watched the 2017 Tony awards, you saw Paula Vogel introduce her critically acclaimed play “Indecent” (which won two Tonys). Inspired by a true story, the play recounts the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance”—controversial, in part, because of a love scene between two women. Vogel is the Playwright in Residence at Yale Repertory Theatre. She has taught for 24 years at Brown University and for five years at Yale School of Drama. In 1998, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her play “How I Learned to Drive.” Other notable works include “The Baltimore Waltz,” “And Baby Makes Seven” and “Desdemona,” to name a few. Among her awards are a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dramatists Guild, the 2015 Thornton Wilder Award, a Guggenheim and several NEA fellowships. This year, she’s been honored with a Special Citation as playwright and mentor from the New York Drama Critics Circle, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Obie Awards. What impact has being an out lesbian had on Vogel’s success? “If we use the word success to mean financial gain and visibility in entertainment, [being out] has been an obstacle in terms of short-term recognition,” she says. “But if we use the word success to mean artistic truth, risk, happiness and staying in love with my life, my partner/wife, and my own peace with myself, being an out lesbian is the most important thing I did as a person and an artist.” —SJ

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Emily Rubenstein

When divorce lawyer Emily Rubenstein walks into a courtroom, she’s oftentimes representing someone who’s going through a lot of pain. “Divorce is stressful, emotional and scary—there is a whole new legal language dictating your family’s future and that’s intimidating, disorienting,” she says. “Being a client’s leader through the storm and bringing them to a place of relative peace and closure gratifies me every day.”  The Los Angeles native is one of two women attorneys at Lavinsky Law, and previously served as the Co-President of the LGBT Bar Association of Los Angeles, the youngest co-president in the organization’s history. “I’ve found that being out has positively affected my success—certainly more than I could have imagined as a self-conscious teenager,” she says. “Being out means people know I am being myself, which allows my clients and staff to be themselves as well. In a field where we deal with such personal issues, it is so important for people to feel comfortable and free from judgment. Anyone who comes into my office knows they can give me the real talk.” Part of Rubenstein’s work is taking on pro-bono cases representing survivors of domestic violence in low-income communities. All this feeds into the most “rewarding” aspect of her work, which is “getting a client to that point where they can see the end of the tunnel.” “Winning trials is pretty fun, too,” she says. As for how she stays winning? “Be the purest version of yourself—that’s your unique gift to the world; be intimidated by no one, and remember, not all lady lawyers wear heels.” —TB

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Ingrid  X. Galvez

A Business Management Consultant specializing in Organizational Development, Ingrid X. Galvez is helping to make Fortune 500 Corporations more hospitable for the diverse LGBT community. Often asked to speak on the value of diversity and inclusion (or D&I), Galvez says there’s “no greater honor” than to be asked to go in front of companies, educating them on the importance of both. “I’m absolutely thrilled to share my personal experiences, express the easy ways to identify microaggressions and how everyone can activate inclusion.” Recently, Galvez was the keynote speaker at TD Bank’s Legal and Compliance D&I Week and a featured panelist at American Express’s The Value of Diversity Event. Additionally, Galvez curated and moderated Changing the Conversation: The Power of Female Voices in Shifting the Business Landscape at Empire Wealth Strategies/Penn Mutual and New York Life’s Annual ERG Roundtable. Galvez lives her personal and corporate mantra “Cultivating Collaborative Communities” as she builds bridges between business and the community through her work as Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Outreach at NGLCCNY.  “I absolutely love business,” Galvez says. “Working with the next generation of business leaders is the beautiful evolution of my corporate work.” She is a supporter of LGBT-focused organizations like Bailey House, The Center, GLAAD, Live Out Loud, Rainbow Fashion Week, NewFest and I’m From Driftwood. Surely, they all benefit from her being a part of their shared missions—embracing individuals of all identities.—TB

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Luna Tristá

“When I decide to photograph a woman, the first things that catch my eye are her audacity, insolence, determination and beauty,” says photographer Luna Tristá. “When I connect with the person that I take pictures of, I also connect with myself, and her story is my story and vice versa. It’s like a wild dream.” Before becoming a professional photographer, Tristá spent seven years learning how to play the violin. “I began studying photography because of the need to express myself,” she says. “It was the beginning of a personal quest to find a way to communicate without using spoken language. Photography became visceral; it changed the way I see the world for good.” Her work has been exhibited widely, and she has photo collections for view on her website, including “She’s My Man,” portraits of her partner that challenge the idea of gender as fixed. Tristá says her birthplace of Havana, Cuba continues to fuel her work. “I am convinced that I couldn’t create the same photos [if] I wasn’t born in Cuba,” she says. “The memories I have of Havana, its decay, its women and the strength that characterizes the Cuban people—these things are what lead me to work as I do.” —GH

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Krista Sturgeon

Author and activist Krista Sturgeon has been surviving with anorexia for two decades, and her own experiences inspired her to become a researcher and advocate for others just like her, especially in the LGBT community. In her memoir “An Angry, Distorted and Exhaustive View of My Body Image,” Sturgeon details what it’s like to recover from the eating disorder in the long term. “Eating disorders are an equal opportunity destroyer,” says Sturgeon, who works closely with the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). “It does not discriminate against sexual identity, gender, age, race, socioeconomic status or religion. The LGBTQ community, up until recently, have been ignored when it comes to these deadly diseases.” Sturgeon hopes that her work, developing a resource of non-profit organizations to partner with to start peer groups in the U.S. and frequently speaking at middle schools, high schools and colleges about eating disorders, will help provide much-needed information and inspiration for others living with the condition. —TB

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Eli Erlick

“For me, becoming an organizer wasn’t a choice,” says Eli Erlick, who revealed she was both trans and queer at eight. “I was facing a lot of violence in my rural hometown [Willits, California] and couldn’t attend school without harassment or threats. I had to do something.” That “something” was, at 16, co-founding Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER), a national organization devoted to changing the educational experience for transgender students. “I used this platform to help build a network of young trans activists, create educational material, and institute policy locally, statewide and across the country,” Erlick says. She has also written (and been the subject of) trans-related articles, and was instrumental in getting California’s School Success and Opportunity Act passed. Since January 1, 2014, the Act has been helping schools provide a positive educational environment for trans students. “Often, trans leaders are scared to express our queerness due to the politics of respectability,” Erlick says. “However, I hope that through my own openness about my identities, I can inspire others to have critical conversations around our community and gender expressions.” Next month, TSER will host its second annual Trans Youth Leadership Summit. Learn more at www.transstudent.org/tyls. —GH

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Jill Kushner

Emmy-winning writer, producer and stand-up comic Jill Kushner writes jokes for other people when she’s not telling them herself. Currently the consulting producer on ABC’s game show “To Tell The Truth” (hosted by “Blackish” star Anthony Anderson), Kushner has worked with Ellen DeGeneres, Amber Rose, Michaela Watkins, Cheri Oteri, musical duo Garfunkel & Oates—and that’s just to name a few. “Making people laugh is the most rewarding part of what I do,” she says, “whether it’s at work on a TV show, or at night at a comedy club or while sitting in my eye doctor’s chair—which is a smaller audience, but still fulfilling, because that guy knows funny.” Kushner says she was lucky that when she came out, her family was both “supportive and not all that shocked.” “Now, I talk about being gay all of the time,” she says. “I should really try to come up with other things to talk about, as being gay is ever so normal. I think I’m going to switch to constant chatter about my fear of fish touching me. You’d be surprised how often that could happen to you. I’d also prefer if bees don’t touch me. But one thing at a time.” —TB

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J. Muse

J. Muse, a visual artist based in Los Angeles, began a career in art just three years ago. The Florida native, whose wife is also an artist, says she got so inspired watching her wife paint that she decided to explore her own talents. “I would study her process from beginning to end,” Muse explains. “One day she saw that I was very attentive to her craft, and she decided to teach me.” At that point, Muse committed herself to “practicing and gathering all of my ideas to create the imagery that floated in my mind.” “Over time,” she says, “I developed my style of painting as pop realism using bold colors and unique blending techniques.” Her first publicly-shown painting was a portrait of Michelle Obama in October 2016, which was featured in The Huffington Post. And now she has even bigger plans: “After battling homelessness and overcoming obstacles on my journey, I have learned that I am unstoppable,” she says. “My wife and I are planning our first art exhibit together this year in Los Angeles, so my goal is to continue to create art with what I feel. I want to inspire others to be true to themselves. Utilize your creativity to build a future that guarantees happiness within yourself while doing what you love.” —SLO

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Nisha Ganatra

It’s highly possible that Nisha Ganatra may have directed one of your favorite episodes of television. After making her highly-successful debut lesbian-themed feature, “Chutney Popcorn,” Ganatra went on to direct and produce the first seasons of “Transparent” and “Better Things,” as well as episodes of “GIRLS,” “Shameless,” “Mr. Robot,” “You Me Her,”  “Last Man on Earth,” “Dear White People” and “Brooklyn 99.” Ganatra has received several awards and film festival placements for her projects, including her short “Code Academy,” which has recently been optioned for a television series. An Indian filmmaker, Ganatra says she got into directing and producing “to change the world,” and that the most rewarding aspect of her job is “that it doesn’t feel like work.” “I get to collaborate with so many talented artists,” she says. Ganatra says that being out in her career has only affected her “positively,” and that she hopes queer viewers will see that kind of positivity reverberating through anyting she’s had a hand in. “You are loved,” she says. “You are not alone. Watch these movies and all of these episodes of TV that were created almost entirely by members of the LGBT community and know that is true.”  —TB

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Angela Dimayuga

“Cooking is something I was born to do,” says chef Angela Dimayuga, “and the narrative of how and why I cook today continues to unfold.” Shortly after moving from San Jose to New York in 2012, she became executive chef at Mission Chinese Food NYC, which led The New York Times to celebrate the “Sichuan-laced” eatery as Restaurant of the Year. Since then, Dimayuga has garnered numerous awards, nominations and accolades, including being named New York Magazine’s Best New Chef in 2015 and a Zagat 30 Under 30 winner in 2016. An acute sense of design informs her work, and she views her culinary achievements as a form of “interdisciplinary, intercultural expression.” A first generation Filipino-American, Dimayuga is deeply influenced by her heritage cuisine and says that her cooking is community-minded, “where the context of serving food is just as important as the flavors themselves.” She believes it’s now more important than ever to give emphasis to community through food. “Post-election, it’s been vital to vocalize my personal values and the inspiration behind my work,” she says. “I feel lucky to participate in feeding people via an expression that is all sensory and brings people together in a space and place that represents modern American intercultural cooking.” —SLO

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Michele Irimia

As the Development Director at Heritage of Pride, Michele Irimia plays a huge role in putting on New York’s annual Pride festivities. “The most rewarding part of my work is knowing that I am part of a wonderful group of individuals that help make a difference in the world,” says the Cuban-American scholar. “The events that NYC Pride provides for the community allow LGBT folks to experience their first Pride, express themselves in their vision and march with a group of people that are all fighting for our equality. It is a task that I have been proud to undertake year after year.” Irimia wants women to feel not only included but celebrated and heads up,  Pride’s annual events Teaze and Femme Fatale, bringing in women from all over to congregate, create community and dance their asses off. “NYC Pride reaches far beyond our city,” Irimia said. “Our events send a tidal wave of freedom and acceptance throughout the world.”—TB

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Christine De La Rosa

Party producer and business owner Christine De La Rosa was diagnosed with Lupus in 2009, and after almost dying from a pulmonary embolism, she decided to try CBD. The plant “changed her life.” Not only was she able to quit chemo, the use of medical cannabis helped her to quit walking with a cane and her symptoms have been relieved—“I have never felt better,” De La Rosa says. The discovery led to her opening the Benefit Health Collective, a cannabis consulting and delivery service specializing in patients with chronic illness, in addition to her other businesses including Town Biz, a retail shop specializing in showcasing Oakland-based artists, artisans and craft people; two large scale events companies, EDEN Events in San Francisco and fiveTEN Oakland Events; and Queer Fashion Week, the first ever fashion week dedicated to queer designers and models. “I have mostly created opportunities for myself and others [in my work],” De La Rosa says. “My motto is if you don’t see what you need or want, then create it yourself.” —TB

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Lynette Molnar

If Provincetown had an MVL (Most Valuable Lesbian), it would be Lynette Molnar. She’s helped make the seaside LGBTQ village of Ptown the Go-To destination for women by creating annual events such as Single Women’s Weekend, Women of Color & Friends Weekend, Girl Splash, and Holly Folly (an all-LGBT holiday festival), as well as a high-energy line-up for Memorial Day Weekend and during Women’s Week. Her creative contributions are based on political convictions as well as matters of the heart. “Women are just as important as men,” Molnar says. “I’m always trying to make sure women are represented; that we in all of our range of ages, sizes, colors and relationship statuses have a place.” An activist, entrepreneur, photographer and event planner extraordinaire, Molnar has received numerous awards for her advocacy from organizations like GLAAD, HRC, The Task Force and Fenway Community Health. She recently was named Provincetown’s Woman of the Year.—TB

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Cynthia Russo

Party promoter Cynthia Russo came from a big Italian family that loved to perform. “So entertainment was in my blood from day one!” Russo says. “I always loved music, loved to dance, loved people, and of course loved to socialize. However, I came of age in an era where inequality and discrimination towards the LGBT community, was the law of the land.” Working as a bartender had Russo in the thick of nightlife, but, wanting to create a space for women like her, she saw an opportunity. “Leaving bartending behind to take the plunge as a promoter of women’s events in NYC was born out of the realization that nightlife for women of color was marginalized back then,” she says. “There was a significant lack of frequent parties, offering the various music genres that mattered! I went with the age old idea that if you give people what they want, they will appreciate you, and they will come out in support.” And they have, to Pandora’s Box, Hatfields, Taboo, The Octagon, Hershe Bar and KRASH NYC. And decades later, Russo is proud to still be “going strong.” “Our parties may move from place to place,” she says, “but the emphasis on providing safe and attractive venues for the women of our community, remains a top priority.” —TB

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Samira Wiley

The stunningly talented and gorgeous Samira Wiley captivated us on “Orange is the New Black” as sweet, intelligent, androgynous Poussey Washington, but that was before she was killed by a prison guard, a moment many fans have likely still not recovered from. Following “Orange,” Wiley played Justine in the FXX comedy series “You’re the Worst” and can currently be seen as Moira in Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In March, Wiley married Lauren Morelli, the “OITNB” writer who wrote Poussey’s death episode. In a sign of the times, their wedding was covered in Martha Stewart Weddings and the picture liked—as of this writing—over 425,000 times after Wiley re-posted it on her Instagram. Post-wedding, Wiley is making married life work. She tells People her new wife “loves coffee, so I try to make coffee for her—but now she has an espresso machine! And I have zero idea how it works, so I’ve got to work on that.” Master barista or otherwise, Wiley has certainly boomed in the last year, and with good reason.—GH

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Lacey Baker

“I was really young when I discovered skateboarding. I fell in love with it and the more I learned, the more I wanted to skate,” says 25-year-old Lacey Baker. Skateboarding since age two, Baker is, as Rolling Stone noted, the only out queer woman on the Nike SB team. Impressive, but hardly surprising. At 14, Baker took home the Women’s Skateboard Street bronze at the X Games, and a decade later became the 2016 Street League Skateboarding Nike SB Super Crown World Champion for the women’s division. She’s also received heavy praise from the media: Thrasher Magazine says her “My World” video part “shatters every preconceived notion of girls vs. boys.” Rolling Stone simply calls her “one of the best skaters on the planet.” Now, Baker wants to go to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, though the most rewarding part of the sport for her is not the glory. “The most rewarding aspect of skateboarding is the ability to keep progressing no matter how far you’ve come,” she says. “It’s also helped me find a community of other women and LGBTQ folks that I feel comfortable with; we all connect through skating, and often create bonds that are much deeper and carry far beyond skating.” —GH

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Mary Emily O’Hara

NBC News writer Mary Emily O’Hara has been reporting since she was a teenager. “I decided to pursue journalism after years of self-publishing zines and writing for small indie publications,” she says. “As soon as I began writing, I knew it was what I was meant to do with my life.” O’Hara has had her work featured in the Daily Dot, VICE, Rolling Stone and The New York Times, to name a few, and is often covering topics that affect marginalized communities (LGBT and otherwise). “I always feel most proud of my work when I see it contributing to some form of social or policy change,” she says. In 2017, O’Hara broke the story of the movement to gain legal recognition for non-binary, agender and intersex people. “It’s truly incredible to see two U.S. states now preparing to offer a third gender marker on ID cards and driver licenses, and although that’s the result of many efforts from many people, I do feel like my reporting has contributed to growing awareness of the need for such a move,” she says. “It’s like watching history being made while you’re still writing it down. An incomparable feeling!” —TB

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Clay

“I sing and make music because it’s the way I express myself, use my voice and feel most alive. Music is the most transcendent, unifying force in the universe—for me it’s the vehicle to deliver the message of self-love and empowerment,” says CLAY, a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter who boasts model looks, an independent spirit and purple hair. The artist has been called a “rising star,” and her music “sultry” by W Magazine, and been compared to Adele by Hello Giggles, “but with a style all her own.” Though accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music, she left before graduating and just started playing, releasing her first single, “Wild Thing/3’s a Crowd” in September 2016. Formed by influences as diverse as Greek mythology and R&B, CLAY enjoys experimenting with music outside of a traditional song structure. She also sees herself as an activist and offers this inspirational message to her LGBTQ fans. “Be yourself, above all else,” she says. “Be proud of who you are, where you’ve been, where you’re going. Honor and cherish your experiences. You are who you are and being yourself is essential to the fabric of the world and beyond. Be courageous and live your truth and just know that you are not alone.” —SJ

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Chelsea Fairless

Although she refers to herself as a “professional fashion victim,” Chelsea Fairless has had her fingers on the pulse of forward-thinking style since long before she followed her dream of moving to New York. “I have had an interest in fashion for as long as I can remember so moving to New York and pursuing it was the logical next step for me,” Fairless says. “No regrets!” There, she became an image researcher for clients including Revlon, V Magazine and Frederic Fekkai. She then joined the multimedia fashion conglomerate Vfiles where she served as Fashion Director and co-founded Vfiles Runway, a biannual fashion show which showcases emerging talent from around the globe. She’s since relocated to Los Angeles, where she became the co-creator of the @everyoutfitonSATC Instagram, which boasts more than 330,000 followers (including Sarah Jessica Parker herself) and is currently working on a book about red carpet fashion, as well as a line of home goods (called Female Trouble) that will debut in this summer. “I’m femme, so most people assume that I’m straight,” Fairless says of being out in the business. “And if they find out that I’m not straight it doesn’t matter—fashion isn’t a particularly homophobic industry.” Her main advice to other LGBTQs in any area they work in: “Don’t assimilate!” Fairless says. “It’s basic.” —TB

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Sarah Pappalardo

Have you ever rolled your eyes at some ridiculous personal essay? Sarah Pappalardo feels you. She, along with Beth Newell, co-founded Reductress, a site full of Onion-esque “articles” that make fun of outrageous clickbait culture and “take on the outdated perspectives and condescending tone of popular women’s media, through the eyes of the funniest women in comedy today.” Though Reductress is now a very popular humor destination, no one involved with its early beginnings could have anticipated how successful it’s become. “For the first year, we never really thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be a business,’” Pappalardo explained in a Cosmo essay. “We thought, ‘Oh, this, at best, will be a cool blog that we can have fun with.’” They also thought it would allow them to work “with other women we know that don’t really have a place to do this kind of comedy.” Pappalardo tells GO she is “celebrated” for being an out writer and creator. “That definitely can’t be said about every industry, so I consider myself lucky!” Her message to the LGBT community? “We all have very different degrees of privilege in the queer community in 2017. Check yours, and consider it your responsibility to lift up those who have less of it than you.” —GH

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Elaine Harley

DJ and activist Elaine Harley has found incorporating her gay and racial identities into her work and social life to be particularly rewarding. As a promoter of women’s events on both coasts, Harley has won awards for her service, including the LGBT Heritage Award by Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council for her political and social outreach in communities of color. Harley spent the last eight years living in Los Angeles working with Evan Wolfson’s Freedom to Marry campaign, where she was also part of a Time Magazine cover story, “How Gay Marriage Won,” as well as a Black Enterprise feature on “the economic inequalities experienced by same-sex unmarried couples compared to different-sex couples who could legally marry.” Now she’s back in New York with her wife and two young children, and runs her own graphic design business, which she enjoys “because it combined her artistic talents with her interests in supporting entrepreneurs.”—TB

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