100 Women We Love: Class of 2019

Amandla Stenberg won acclaim for her portrayal of a young African-American woman who witnesses the killing of her friend at the hands of police in last year’s “The Hate U Give.” Like her character in the movie that made her a star, Stenberg is not afraid to speak out. Her Twitter feed addresses weighty social topics like intersectional feminism, biracial and sexual identifies, and cultural appropriation, as with her satiric viral video, “Don’t Cash Crop My Corn Rows.” In 2018, Time Magazine hailed her as a “next generation leader.” In addition to Teen Choice and BET awards, Stenberg has been honored with NAACP Image awards and, this past February, became the recipient of the Human Rights Campaign’s 2019 Visibility Award. It may be easy to imagine that Stenberg has always been confident in her own skin, but as she said in an interview with Wonderland in 2018, “[t]he continual process of unlearning heteronormativity and internalized homophobia can be difficult, but one of the biggest blessings lies in the magic that comes from having to understand love outside of the confines of learned heterosexual roles… Once I was able to rid myself of those parameters, I found myself in a deep well of unbounded and untouchable love free from the dominion of patriarchy.” —RK

The first year the X Games featured female skateboarders was 2003, and Vanessa Torres showed the world how it was done. Torres placed first and won gold in the street event. “Skateboarding chose me,” says the powerhouse, who is considered one of the top female skateboarders in the world. “It owes me nothing and has given me everything.” Torres has been featured in several women’s skateboarding videos including “AKA: Girl Skater,” “Getting Nowhere Faster,” and “Quit Your Day Job.” She also shows up in video game form in Tony Hawk’s “Proving Ground” as only the third female playable skater to appear in this series of games. Her sponsorships include Meow Skateboards, Kingswell Shop, and CHPO Brand. But, “I am not just a professional skateboarder,” Torres declares. “I recognize my privilege and am here to utilize my platform and presence in this world to uplift, support, and empower all of you, as you have done so lovingly for me.” Torres has always felt inspired and encouraged to be her “most authentic self,” she tells GO. The most rewarding aspect of her work, she says, is all about recognizing the importance of her presence, the power and impact that has on her community, and the “the privilege of having a voice to shine light and bring awareness on what really matters,” she says. “I see you. I love you. Thank you.” —JDG

“When I came out into the ‘gay girls’ bar culture in the 1950s as a teenager,” says best-selling author and noted LGBTQ historian, Lillian Faderman, “there was no such thing as lesbian history. No one had dignified us with a history. All we knew was that what we loved was against the law.” Faderman changed this with two ground-breaking works, “Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present” and “Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in 20th Century America,” both of which made visible the long-neglected histories of gay and lesbian women. The former, which was written in 1981, was a product of the women’s movements of the 1970s. “I felt it was time to write the essays and books that would have made a difference in my life as a young lesbian.” She began writing and publishing prolifically and in two years she wrote six articles about lesbian history. “More than 40 years later, I’m still writing with a white-hot passion.” This passion has led her to become one of the most distinguished writers in her field. She has been awarded with numerous honors, including two American Library Association Stonewall Awards and the Anisfield-Wolf Award for Nonfiction Writing. Her most recent work, “Harvey Milk: His Lives and Deaths,” which explores how the gay icon’s Jewish upbringing in the mid-20th century shaped his understanding of the persecution facing the LGBTQ community, was released to critical acclaim in 2018.  —RK

“Food is culture. Cuisine is identity,” says renowned chef, restaurateur, and author Anita Lo. The holder of a Michelin star for nine consecutive years (no easy feat), the New York-based Lo, who originally grew up in Michigan, became a chef at a time when abuse was rampant and women at the helm of a kitchen were (and to a large degree still are) rare. Lo worked in revered restaurants early on in her career, but it was in 2000 when she opened Annisa (“women” in Arabic), that Lo truly arrived. The West Village restaurant was an instant hit; it earned a two-star New York Times review, and Food & Wine magazine named her one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America. Of her achievements, she says, “One of the most rewarding aspects was seeing diversity reflected in the clientele and in my employees. With Annisa, we created community.” Desire to conquer new territories led Lo, who is an “Iron Chef” alum (she defeated Mario Batali), to close Annisa in 2017. Her new adventures include her second book, “Solo: Easy Sophisticated Recipes for a Party of One,” which was published by Knopf last fall and named Cookbook of the Year by Eater. Lo is also in the documentary, “The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution” on Netflix, which focuses on the women who are changing kitchen culture around the world. “There’s a saying that ‘men cook for glory and women cook for love,’” Lo remarks. “And if we do, it’s because of how we were raised, and of that social construct. But as a chef, you really want to be judged on your work. You know, gender really has nothing to do with it.” —JDG

Izzy Cerullo may have been born a premature triplet, but she certainly grew to be quite the mighty woman. The daughter of two Brazilian immigrants who moved to the U.S. after fleeing military dictatorship in the 1970s, Cerullo is currently the co-captain of the Brazilian women’s national rugby team. She is also a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, where she studied biology and human rights and wrote a thesis about the evolution of women’s reproductive and sexual rights before shifting and becoming a full-time athlete. Cerullo, who is a 2015 Pan-American bronze medalist and four-time South American champion, was also a Rio 2016 Olympian. It was there that she and her then-girlfriend (now wife), Marjorie Enya, did something unprecedented at the end of the medal ceremony for the women’s rugby sevens match: she proposed. The news of their engagement went viral, and, since then, Cerullo has used her platform to speak up about LGBTQ and women’s rights by starring in a United Nations “Free and Equal” Campaign video; being vocal in publications about combating homophobia in sports; and participating in university panels and symposia to champion diversity, inclusion, and women’s empowerment. “You deserve to be happy, to be successful,” Cerullo says. “To build a family if that is what you want, to love and be loved, to be who you are and to be proud of it.”—JDG

“I’m thankful for the folks who have fought long and hard so I could eventually be where I am today.” So says Layshia Clarendon, vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, the labor union for pro-players in the WNBA. A poised leader with an unshakeable presence and currently the point guard for the Connecticut Sun, Clarendon has an impressive record as a player, from being University of California, Berkeley’s leading scorer while in college (she led the Golden Bears to the first Final Four in the school’s history), to being an All-Pac-12 first team selection and the Pac-12 women’s basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. When Clarendon was a guard for the Atlanta Dream, she broke the franchise record for assists in a single season. She went on from there to become a solid contributor to the Indian Fever in the 2015 WNBA finals. In 2017, Clarendon was named a WNBA All Star, leading the league in total assists for the 2017 season. She captured gold with Team USA in the 2018 FIBA World Championships. The athlete is just as formidable off the field. She is often asked to lend her voice and thoughts on various topics. “For a long time, I was told that being gay would hurt my success and I know that to be true for a lot of people who came before me,” says Clarendon, who in the off-season provides color commentary for the Pac-12 Network. “I’ve found that by showing up as my whole self, I’ve been able to perform better as an athlete and ultimately have been able to build a brand around being an outspoken queer person.” —JDG

Bryanna Copeland garnered attention last year for a reason few of us would want: she said she was refused a ride from an Uber driver after he saw her wheelchair. The Long Island native, who has been a bilateral amputee since she was a child, decided to turn the incident into a chance to talk more openly about how we as a society respond to those with disabilities. “I can’t just sit back and watch others be mistreated because they are different,” says Copeland, who has been advocating for those with disabilities since she was a teenager. An active member of her community, Copeland is currently working on a project to improve public transportation for people with disabilities and mobility limitations. She is also a volunteer mentor at a youth camp for children with limb loss/difference. Although she notes that much of her advocacy is directed for those with disabilities, she speaks out on behalf of the LGBTQ community as well. “The one message,” she says, “that I want to share with the LGBTQ community is to love yourself just as you are.” —RK

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Pamela Chavez describes herself as a queer Costa Rican illustrator. “As an artist,” Chavez says, “I have an opportunity to decide how I make the most profound impact on the world as I can.” Chavez was originally an advocate for youth and family non-profits in the San Francisco Bay area after graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She shifted gears in 2012, going to school to study illustration and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design, then launching her career as a full-time artist and animation writer/director in 2015. “This is a luxury I don’t take for granted,” Chavez says. “Being an artist goes beyond the aesthetic; my Queer Latinx community inspires me to find new and exciting ways to share our experiences… I’m pushed to adding to that voice in the most authentic ways I can.” Chavez’s first animated short, “Caracol Cruzando” (“Snail Crossing”), was part of the PBS Online Film Festival, its production made possible by a New Media grant from Latino Public Broadcasting. It tells the story of a young girl who has to decide if she’s going to bring her best friend and pet turtle with her across the U.S./Miami border. Chavez has kept busy since that first creation: she has animated work in “Un Nuevo Sol” (“A New Sun”), a short documentary following the lives of three undocumented Latinx men on a trip to see their first eclipse; “Transfinite,” a sci-fi feature film composed of seven standalone short stories that feature supernatural trans and queer people of various cultures; and “La Serenata” (2019), a short film about parents who struggle with musical tradition when their son requests a song for another boy. Intersecting and combining is a Chavez hallmark andx what she considers to be the most exciting way to contribute to the world. “We deserve to tell our stories,” Chavez says. “To cry, to share, and to laugh!” —JDG

Tarayn Sanders is a 26-year-old mega-babe living in Brooklyn, New York. After working freelance production and starting her own company, she decided to go back to 9-5 to grow and learn as a producer. At North Six Productions, Sanders coordinates with the production team on fashion and commercial photo and video shoots. Coming out for Sanders was rather unceremonious in a good way. “I can say with confidence that I was one of the lucky ones. It was as seamless as bringing my first girlfriend home, someone my parents had known for years. Without blinking, my parents opened themselves up to me and her and accepted us. Their daughter was gay, this was her girlfriend and it really didn’t change anything,” she tells GO. Since coming out, she says that her success has only gone up. “Confidence is the key factor I attribute to my success and the biggest part of my confidence is being out and proud of who I am and how I’ve come to accept and love from within.” —DT

Diane Anderson-Minshall was honored this June as one of Folio’s 2019 Top Women in Media, something she did not expect at the beginning of her career. “I officially came out and moved into LGBTQ media from mainstream media literally the same month,” Diane Anderson-Minshall tells GO. “I was told then that being out was the death knell for my career as a journalist and that working in queer media was even worse.” That was the beginning of a queer media success story that Anderson-Minshall defines. Currently the CEO of Retrograde Communications, a partner of Pride Media (the country’s largest LGBTQ media company) where she serves as editorial director of the Advocate, Plus Magazine, Out Traveler, Chill, and TinyLivingChic.com, Anderson-Minshall seems to be a woman in perpetual motion. She’s also the author of multiple books, and co-author—with her husband, Jacob Anderson-Minshall, of the 2014 memoir, “Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders.” It’s an unflinching look at their relationship together through his gender transition. All the effort has reaped rewards, including the 2018 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBTQ Journalist of the Year as well as the 2018 Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards for Best Editorial Team of the Year, and Best New Magazine Launch. “I’m often asked if being out impacted my career adversely,” says Anderson-Minshall, “but really, I wouldn’t have the career success I do without coming out and jumping into LGBTQ media.” —JDG

Zolita is a 24-year-old independent artist based in Los Angeles whose music blends R&B and dark pop and lyrically draws on her experiences as a queer woman. “I am so grateful that I get to create art about girls loving girls in an authentic way, and that with social media so many people have access to it,” she tells GO. Zolita graduated with a film degree from New York University, and she’s built a loyal fanbase and widespread industry respect through her self-directed/produced music videos, each of which have garnered over 25 million combined views on YouTube and have gone viral. Zolita is known for her powerful message and avant-garde aesthetic, which has resonated with LGBTQ+ kids around the world. She is proud of the much-needed visibility she brings to her industry. “The most rewarding aspect of what I do has to be the messages I get from other queer people who can see themselves clearly in the stories I tell through my art. Growing up, I didn’t have any femme lesbian role models in pop music or in the mainstream media to look up to, so to be that for a young person growing up now is everything to me.” She recently won GLAAD’s “Rising Star” award, played L.A. Pride, and is looking forward to a summer touring with XYLO and playing at several other Pridefests. —DT

If you ask Samantha Irby, she’d tell you her bio is pretty short: she writes a blog called “bitches gotta eat.” But she writes books, too. Good ones. Her non-fiction book “We are Never Meeting in Real Life” made the New York Times Best Sellers list, and her memoir, “Meaty,” is being developed into a television show on Comedy Central. She also wrote an episode for the show “Shrill,” starring Aidy Bryant. But, she says, it’s the blog people remember. Started in 2009, “bitches gotta eat” is a chronicle of Irby’s personal life touched up with her particular brand of sharp, honest humor. “No matter how many times my books end up on the New York Times Best Sellers list, people are like, ‘Hey, remember how you have a blog?’” Still, her success does have a bright side. It’s landed her a “smoking hot wife.” Plus, she takes some pride in the fact that her humor has brightened readers’ days. “The best part of having poured my feelings into the black hole of the internet for all these years,” she says, “is the feedback from people who have read my work and feel a kinship with me. It’s just good to know that I’ve made someone laugh or have made a person’s day even the tiniest bit better.” —RK

“To be LGBTQIA+ inherently makes us innovative, creative, and resilient,” opines Adja Gildersleve, the filmmaker, futurist, and educator who’s based in Minneapolis. Having spent years on the frontlines as an organizer and self-described agitator, Gildersleve co-founded Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and is “fully committed” when it comes not only to fighting oppression but to also supporting youth and adults in accessing tools that help them build as well as maintain agency and power. Reflecting Gildersleve’s belief that media is a powerful tool to imagine and inspire, Gildersleve is also the co-director of Free Truth, a media company that uses art as a tool for liberation. While their dream is to work on a sci-film with Issa Rae (preferably one where two Black women time travel to save the world from the zombie apocalypse, aka colonization), Gildersleve is poetic in their philosophy. “It is a blessing to be queer/trans,” they say. “Our struggle leads each of us to uniquely move in ways that create so much beauty. In just surviving and existing, we transform spaces and culture in ways that are unimaginable.” In addition, “we must continue to boldly hold space for ourselves, our elders, our youth,” Gildersleve advises, “and especially uplift and protect Black Trans Women. There’s hope that we can build towards collective liberation for all oppressed people and thrive.” —JDG

Ever since her unabashedly hilarious and honest tweet this past January announcing that she was getting a divorce, queer feminist journalist Lauren Duca has been on the minds of many LGBTQ people. Best known for her viral Teen Vogue essay “Donald Trump is Gaslighting America,” penned shortly after the 2016 election as that publication went mega-political, the funny and opinionated Duca is a bright light during these dark political times. “Our current political moment has forced us to ask who makes the rules as the norms and values dictated by the white supremacist patriarchy are increasingly revealed to be a crock of shit,” she says. “This is our time to overthrow the status quo, insisting on the truly equitable democracy we all deserve.” She’s taken on the patriarchy that is Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, discussing Ivanka Trump at length and turning into a feminist icon overnight. Her writing is also found in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and New York Magazine, as well as her regular Teen Vogue column “Thigh-High Politics.” Her spirit of resistance is so pervasive that she’s written a book, “How to Start a Revolution: Young People and the Future of American Politics,” published by Simon & Schuster this September. “Keep pushing back on ‘the way things are,’ and refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer,” she says. “I have no doubt that love will win.” —AE

For Rochelle Diamond (left), the road through microbiology and chemistry hasn’t always run smoothly. Early in her career, she was asked to leave one biochemistry research team, she says, after a colleague learned that she was gay. Fortunately, she didn’t let the incident deter or shame her. She found a supportive community with the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Scientists and soon after landed an interview with the California Institute of Technology. “I came out in my interview,” she writes, “and the rest is history. I have found a supportive champion who has allowed me to blossom and be all that I can be.” She is now the director of Caltech’s Flow Cytometry Cell Sorting Facility, which measures the properties of cells by suspending them in liquid and “flowing” them through laser beams. (The data, widely applicable across the biological and chemistry sciences, helps researchers better understand the properties of cells and abnormalities.) She is also the chair of the board of directors of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technological Professionals (NOGLSTP), intertwining both her science and her activism. She has brought the NOGLSTP to national attention through such innovations as the Out to Innovate Summits, which every two years bring together LGBTQ scientists, researchers, and students nationwide. “The most rewarding part about my activism,” she says, “is helping to change the climate for LGBTQ people in classrooms and work environments.” Thanks to the efforts of Diamond and others like her, LGBTQ scientists everywhere can be out and proud. —RK

Faye Driscoll is into the humanness of this worldly life experience we’re all having. The American dancer and choreographer, who has won a Bessie Award and Guggenheim Fellowship most recently, premiered “Space,” a performance that confronts sensations of absence. “Space” is the final work in her five-year trilogy “Thank You For Coming,” an exploration of real person-to-person human connection. For Driscoll, she’s most excited about “creating spaces where we come together in real-time ritual,” she said. “Being together in shared physical space is becoming rarer and rarer—like handwriting and physical books.” Defying categories, Driscoll’s dances sometimes seem like plays. Sets are anything but steady; instead they are purposefully broken apart, and performers also may double as musical score providers. A creative enigma, she’s hard to pin down, but the New York Times has simply described her as “a startlingly original talent.” Growing up in Venice in Los Angeles, Driscoll says she “was one of those freaks that knew what I wanted to do from the moment I could talk and was gratefully encouraged to go ahead and do it.” She’s performed the world over, from the Venice (Italy) Biennale to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and won’t be stopping anytime soon. Her coming-out process is “messy and awkward,” she says, perhaps akin to her gloriously undefinable dance/choreography/performative work. For her, coming out is “about choosing to live again and again.” To be in her “actual body and go towards my actual desires versus the ones projected or inscribed onto me” is simply a part of life, an “ongoing process of being brave enough to be embodied.” —AE

“I was born in a currant field,” Lisa Coleman says when asked what brought her to her current field. Punny jokes aside, Lisa Coleman’s chosen career as a musician has seen her become a critical part of modern music history. An Emmy Award-winning composer and one half of the musical duo Wendy & Lisa, Coleman was only 19 when she started her career in one of the most successful rock bands of the 1980s: Prince & the Revolution. She was an out lesbian even then. “It sells records,” Coleman explains. “I’ve been used as a prop, or rock-and-roll affirmative action play.” Since then, Coleman continues to make records with Wendy Melvoin, plays on other musicians’ songs, writes lots of music for film and TV, and still has the time to create music of her very own; this past April, she put out her first solo album, titled “Collage.” The work, which is a collection of 11 mostly short, sometimes ethereal sometimes jammy instrumental piano improvisations, is “a collection of improvs done over the last few years of high contrast living,” Coleman says. “So many highs and lows. It’s personal, emotional and somewhat mysterious.” But there’s definitely one thing Coleman’s not mysterious about. “When I was younger,” Coleman tells GO, “I resented that gay people had to declare their sexuality, [while heterosexual people didn’t need to] … The mere act of being yourself, for LGBT people, has been an act of activism, and it has been dangerous. So, if we needed to stand up and be counted then ok! Queer as all get out! See what it looks like.” —JDG

As a queer activist in her native Singapore, Madeleine Lim knew too well what it was like to be silenced. She fled Singapore at the age of 23 after learning that her work had drawn the attention of the country’s strict government. Her 1997 award-winning film, “Sambal Belacan in San Francisco,” which explores the intersections of race, nationality and sexuality, remains banned there. In 2000, Lim founded Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP) as a platform for filmmakers and storytellers whose work was too often marginalized. QWOCMAP, which produces and distributes films by queer women of color, aims to give voice to the silenced by blending filmmaking with social justice and the push for equity. She tells GO that she was influenced by filmmakers like Pratibha Parmar, Isaac Julien, and Marlon Riggs, who challenged the notion of the documentary genre by turning their attention inward. “By telling stories from an insider’s perspective,” she says, “they reinvented the boundaries of genre and radically altered the craft of filmmaking. They inspired me to use film to tell my own story and collaborate with those of us whose voices are so often unheard and forcibly silenced.” Lim’s own films have made her the four-time recipient of the San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Commission, among other accolades. —RK

ESPN’s 2018 The Body Issue made history when it featured American professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe (left) and her romantic partner Sue Bird as the first ever gay couple to appear together on the cover. Megan is the captain of Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League, and Sue Bird is a legendary WNBA player for the Seattle Storm. A tale of titans, they met at a sponsor event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and have since been making all sorts of history. Rapinoe, the current co-captain of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, and Bird hope to advocate for other gay couples. “I think our view is still way too narrow of gay people in general,” Rapinoe told Washington Blade in 2014. “Stereotypes still very much persist and they are just such incomplete views of who we really are as people, so I think for that reason it’s really important to just continue to push those boundaries.” Rapinoe has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights and other movements too, such as Black Lives Matter (inspired by Colin Kaepernick, she isn’t participating in the singing of the National Anthem during the current FIFA Women’s World Cup). Bird believes the work the couple is doing will have long-term effect. “Ten years from now,” Bird said to AdWeek, “we’ll still be talked about as the first gay couple that ESPN had in The Body Issue… But, really, with anything, it’s always about breaking down that first barrier and then have it be the norm—and I think you want that in any walk of life.” —JDG

Los Angeles-based Scout Durwood loves to get naked. It’s one of the many things she laments about the shift from stage to screen in her comically existential web series “Take One Thing Off.” The show chronicles her evolution away from burlesque at supper clubs and dive bars into this bizarre digital void, where she’s removed from her audience. What she loves about IRL? “It’s a collection of people occupying the same space in a unique combination that will never happen twice,” she says. “Also, I get naked.” She ponders whether, indeed, “IRL is I-R-relevant.” Nonetheless, she’s killin’ it on-screen in Los Angeles, having recently starred in MTV’s scripted comedy series “Mary + Jane,” and as one of six cast members in Oxygen’s “Funny Girls,” which follows the lives of six female stand-ups around the City of Angels. Her debut studio album is also called “Take One Thing Off,” and she’s working on her second comedy music album now, with a fall 2019 release date. Her complete breakthrough to the screen is coming soon in the form of a lesbionic scripted comedy series that’s in development with a major TV studio. Like her comedy, her coming out was both “so easy, it’s almost embarrassing,” yet equally tragicomic thanks to her first girlfriend, who was “a nightmare.” As a long-standing lez, she encourages the LGBTQ community to do “everything you can to intersect,” encouraging people to “move through the world with more empathy than ego, especially as artists who bear the privilege and responsibility to create.” —AE

Teri Johnston knows that, as an LGBTQ woman, she’s been lucky enough to live her life and career openly. Still, she says, “I am amazed on a daily basis at the level of fear, intimidation, and discriminatory tendencies that lurk deep inside many. I have always believed that I control a great deal of my fate.” To her, that’s meant transcending the obstacles often thrown at women in general and gay women in particular. As a college student, she saw success on the softball field, becoming a three-time All-American player on one of the first ever sports scholarships offered to women. She later embarked upon a successful career in the private sector before opening her own construction and renovation company in 1995. But her most recent accomplishment—becoming only the second woman to serve as mayor of Key West and the first openly gay woman to become mayor of any Florida city—is one that she didn’t have control over. “It kind of chose me,” she says. After leading a successful grassroots campaign to lower windstorm insurance rates across the state, “city government was the next natural step for me.” The most rewarding aspect of her current job, she says, is representing the people she serves in a community that strives to let everyone live openly, and without fear. “The official motto of Key West,” she says, regardless of one’s sexual orientation, “is ‘One Human Family.’ We all find our way in this diverse, inclusive community.” —RK

Katie Hill might be a freshman Congresswoman (she just took office in January), but she’s already made a name for herself on Capitol Hill. In November, she became California’s first openly bisexual member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is now vice-chair on the Committee of Oversight and Reform (chaired by Elijah Cummings), as well as co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. This past month, before the House passed the Equality Act, she provided the Democratic rebuttal to a last-minute attempt by Republicans to stop the bill. “Everyone should have a fair chance to earn a living,” she said, “to go to school, and provide a home for their families without fear of harassment or discrimination.” She’s established herself as part of the new wave of millennial politicians; her grassroots campaign was documented by the HBO news show “Vice,” and she recently spoke openly with CNN about a painful decision to consider an abortion at the age of 18. Before running for office, she was executive director of the non-profit organization People Assisting the Homeless, and from this pulpit helped pass Proposition HHH, a ballot initiative that saw $1.2 billion in funds go to homeless services in Los Angeles. Whether she is defending a woman’s right to choose, speaking out for the homeless, or advocating equal rights for LGBTQ individuals, Hill’s position can be summed in her closing words on the House floor, before the passing of H.R. 5: “I couldn’t be prouder to be part of a new generation of leaders who are the ones to finally pass the Equality Act and fight for true freedom and equality for all.” —RK

The role of Lizzy, one of Natasha Lyonne’s friends on Netflix mind-trip series “Russian Doll,” wasn’t a far stretch for actress Rebecca Henderson. “I’m constantly the supportive best friend lesbian,” Henderson told The Cut earlier this year. In this case, Lizzy’s support spanned dimensions: she was one of the enduring guests at Lyonne’s character Nadia’s birthday party, stuck in a time loop that reset with Nadia’s repeating deaths (on a show that was, incidentally, co-created by Henderson’s wife, Leslye Headland). Always showing up at the party in white overalls and cropped, bleach-white hair, Lizzy was realistically recognizable as that friend who has no problem talking in a social setting about changing her tampon. Henderson also starred this year in the indie film “Mickey and the Bear,” which premiered at SXSW and Cannes, and is currently rehearsing an off-Broadway adaptation of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” titled “Moscow x6.” Henderson’s visibility in these roles is in part thanks to the role that had the biggest impact on her. “One of the most important things that ever happened to me was seeing Ellen come out on TV,” Henderson tells GO. “I was so overwhelmed I sobbed uncontrollably afterwards realizing that I was gay. The tears were happy tears to finally have some peace about what was going on with me.” Queer representation in entertainment has come a long way since then. “And I love being a part of that,” Henderson says. “If I can positively represent something for someone… well, that’s my dream come true.” —SEJ

Rachel Walker, who last year became the first-ever nurse to be named an “Invention Ambassador” by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Lemelson Foundation, is a self-described “queer nurse inventor who practices public health nursing at the intersection of community and biotech.” Surprisingly, she never imagined she’d become a nurse, let alone ascend to the vanguard of her profession. Serving in the Peace Corps in Mali changed that. She “developed such an awe for the knowledge, skills, and general badassery of the Malian nurses and midwives I worked alongside,” that she enrolled in nursing school upon her return to the U.S. It was there that she met “amazing women inventing new ways to support healing and well-being with and for communities impacted by forces like violence, poverty, and structural racism,” Walker says. Nurse inventors believe technology is just a tool, and that it should always be co-designed with the community in ways that “support human dignity, capability, and justice,” Walker explains. “Nurses are masters at Making. It. Work. No. Matter. What.” She describes what she works for and what she hopes for. “Just imagine what might be possible, if we properly supported and made space for nurse innovators working at every level of practice and education? I want to live in that world.”—JDG

Charlene Carruthers is one of the most influential activists working today, period. Her new book, “Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements,” which came out in August 2018, is a manifesto that reimagines the Black Radical Tradition, drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing from the Haitian Revolution to the U.S. Civil Rights, LGBTQ rights, and feminist movements. Ultimately, her book is a call to action, offering a framework for activists and young people to become visionaries and leaders. Her knowledge comes from more than a dozen years of experience working in racial justice, feminism, and youth leadership development. Her work has been highlighted across the globe, from major media outlets like the BBC to legacy Black media institutions such as Ebony Magazine and Essence Magazine. South side of Chicago born and raised, she currently resides there, bringing the Midwest pride to her unwavering fight for equality. “Fannie Lou Hamer told us that nobody is free until everybody is free,” Carruthers says. She believes that the LGBTQ+ community must demand liberation for all, which goes beyond mainstream issues like marriage equality. “It means everyone taking up the work to decriminalize sex work, creating real ways to deal with conflict, harm and violence with prisons or policing and making full access to quality healthcare for all a reality.” —AE

“I never hid my sexuality, once I figured it out,” MariNaomi, award-winning author and illustrator tells GO. “In fact, I poured it into my comics.” Creator of four graphic memoirs, and the “Life on Earth” young adult graphic novel trilogy, Mari is the founder and administrator of the Cartoonists of Color, Queer Cartoonists, and (soon) Disabled Cartoonists databases. “I’m interested in helping to diversify comics and other literature,” Mari says. “I want to give folks who are just starting out, or haven’t been as lucky as I have, the leg up I never got.” With diversity, inclusion, and representation in mind, Mari is also the cohost of the “Ask Bi Grlz” podcast with author Myriam Gurba. Naomi’s art has been featured in the Asian Art Museum, Smithsonian API culture lab, Cartoon Art Museum, de Young Museum, and Japanese American Museum. She’s even done a two-time tour with the queer literary roadshow, Sister Spit. “I have selfish intentions, too,” Mari admits. “As a reader, I would rather have lots of options in what I read, rather than being stuck with the same old thing again and again. Having more, varied voices in the mix enriches literature and the medium of comics so much.” —JDG

A writer for live action and animation, Patricia Villetto has a pretty cool job. “I get the awesome pleasure of working in kids’ TV,” she tells GO. “Yes, it’s a lot of fart jokes, but it’s also things that might make a difference in a kid’s life: like an openly queer character.” Villetto, who is a graduate of the University of Ulster, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Second City, is currently balancing gigs on two networks. In addition to serving as a writer and segment producer for Nickelodeon’s Camp Nick, she’s at work on three shows for the Cartoon Network (“Ben 10,” “Mega Man,” and the adult swim show, “Tigtone”). Previously, she worked as a head writer for DreamworksTV’s sketch show, “OMG,” and also wrote branded content for their animated shows “Swamp Talk with Shrek and Donkey,” “King Julien’s Stand Up,” and “Puss in Boots.” Her time studying at Ulster in Northern Ireland prepared her not only for acting and writing but also, she says, in “the art of Irish bullshitting,” an ability that undoubtedly proves helpful for writing fart jokes. But more importantly, she is helping to shape the content for the younger generation. “I get to write the things I wish I had seen when I was younger,” she says. “That’s magical.”  —RK

In charge and occasionally known as “Sarj,” Sijara Eubanks is, as of this June, one of the top 14 official bantamweights (125 to 135 lbs) in the women’s bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Eubanks is a seven-time International Jiu Jitsu Federation World Champion. Her achievements are all the more remarkable, knowing she found her field by accident. “I wanted to do something fun after work, and ended up falling in love with the art, and turning it into a career,” she says. Eubanks first turned pro in 2014. “Being out hasn’t affected my success in any way. So far, the UFC, my team, my teammates, and everyone has been supportive,” Eubanks tells GO. Personally, however, she “was terrified,” when she came out to her family. But “[it] was actually pretty easy,” she says. “I told my brother first, then my parents. They were very cool with it.” And while Eubanks says she never expected or set out to influence people, she clearly has had that opportunity as a visible LGBTQ woman of color. She leads by example. “Be brave,” she says. “It’s easy to say go out there and just be yourself, but being yourself can be scary and intimidating. So, embrace yourself and live your own life, and remember it takes guts and bravery to do that sometimes.” —JDG

Although she was only just elected to the Colorado General Assembly this past November, Representative Sonya Jaquez Lewis is already making waves. She’s drafted (and passed) two legislative measures for lowering prescription drug prices, and she is the vice-chair of the House Committee on State Affairs in addition to being a member of the Health and Insurance Committee. Not bad for a first-term representative with only a few months in office. She is also the first openly LGBTQ and the first Latina woman elected to the Assembly from Colorado’s Boulder County. Her background places her in a unique position to understand and recognize the needs of the diverse communities she represents. As a licensed pharmacist and former pharmacy director of Colorado’s Medicaid program, she increased access to prescription medications and reproductive services and helped design a mental health outreach program for low income communities. She was also the president of the LGBTQ sports organization Team Colorado, and, in her pre-Colorado life, served on the Board of Directors of North Carolina’s Pride Festival (her home state). The latter, in particular, has helped shape the philosophy she has for the LGBTQ community. “As someone who marched in the very first Pride marches in North Carolina and South Carolina, when there were more of them than us, I learned that when we are out and proud, we make a difference. And when they have shotguns, we sing a little louder and march a little faster.” —RK

Before she became Michigan’s first openly-LGBTQ person elected to statewide office last November, Attorney General Dana Nessel had established herself as a progressive litigator of LGBTQ rights. Her work led the way for non-biological same-sex parents to have custodial rights and adoption privileges of children from the marriage. In 2012, she was co-counselor in DeBoer v. Snyder, a case that challenged bans on both adoptions and marriage for same-sex couples within the state, and that ould later be merged with similar cases into the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges. Then, in 2016, she founded the Fair Michigan Justice Project, an effort to prosecute hate crimes committed against LGBTQ individuals. Her election this past November was a highlight for anyone invested in saving the hard-fought gains that the LGBTQ community has made in the past decade, a fact that wasn’t lost on Nessel, who recognizes the critical role that attorneys general play in preserving the rights of the citizens they serve. “Even though sometimes it may seem as if your federal government or your state officials are not concerned with your welfare,” she says, “there are people all around this nation who are fighting back. There are attorneys general, like myself, spread throughout the nation who are determined to ensure equal justice for LGBT Americans and for all people in our country.” —RK

In the Hmong language, Oskar Ly explains, “there is no word for ‘art’ and there is no word for ‘queer.’” Yet, Ly has successfully willed these identities into undeniable existence. The fashion/art designer, cultural producer, and community organizer, whose family are Hmong refugees from Laos, was born in France and immigrated to Minnesota. At 12, Ly learned to sew from her seamstress mother, and this was the tool she used to discover her own artistic voice. After finishing college (a wish of her parents), Ly launched her label of original designs, Os.Couture, which championed both contemporary Hmong fashion art and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) LGBTQ visibility by proudly casting queer and trans AAPI models, as well as drag performers. This niche aesthetic created a space for Ly to build and mobilize an entire community during the fight for marriage equality. “How could one advocate for marriage in the mainstream U.S. when our very own existence had been long denied in our own Asian cultures?” Ly asked. “So, I produced a fashion show highlighting cultural wedding wear and queer couples to spark conversations and gain community votes.” This fall, Ly is set to showcase her first solo exhibition highlighting works that span her artistic career at various locations across the Midwest. You’ve got to “fiercely flaunt loving yourself and your ways,” Ly advises. “Our future depends on it… We’re not a trend. We’re complex and this is just the beginning. We’re here to stay.” —JDG

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area and coming out in a city with such a vibrant queer community greatly influenced Clare Worsley’s interest in telling queer stories through images. The photographer moved to New York seven years ago, and becoming part of the queer community there amplified her drive to make art by, for, and about queer people. “I have met so many incredible and special people from my community through my work as a photographer,” Worsley tells GO. “The best feeling is when the person I’m shooting reaches a point of mutual trust with me and tells me they feel confident and seen,” she says. Another part of photography that speaks to her is the understanding that comes from seeing someone through her lens, especially in regards to queer people. “When I shoot events, they are usually queer events,” Worsley says. “Having the opportunity to document the beauty of queer folks coming together to share space and have the freedom to unapologetically be their authentic selves while having fun is the purest feeling of joy.” Worsley is especially drawn to the ability of the queer people to choose their own families. “I think that encouraging the idea that family does not have to be defined by blood and emphasizing the importance of community is imperative and can save so many of us from feeling abandoned,” she says. “To remember that you are not alone and that family can absolutely be chosen is so important for survival.” —DT

Gabrielle Noel has made it her mission to make people “be more aware of the B’s and the T’s in this umbrella community,” she says. The bisexual writer, speaker, and digital creative is the founder of the recently launched clothing brand Bi Girls Club, which was made with bisexual, queer, and pansexual women/femmes in mind. Ten percent of sales every month go to Bi Net USA to offset the fact that, largely due to the invisibility of bisexual folks and monosexism, bisexual people receive the least funding/resources in the LGBTQ community. “Obviously the bigotry we are united in experiencing comes from heterosexual people,” Noel says, “but there are other social systems—like transmisogyny and monosexism—that members of the LGBTQ+ community participate in. When we ignore or deny their impacts, or even when we ignore our role in them, we harm the people we claim to be bonded with,” she says. “It’s also important to center Black and Brown folks in queer activism because we are so often sidelined. We talk about how Stonewall was a riot, but it was a response to police violence against black trans women and drag queens. That should be at the forefront of our understanding of Pride.” You can find Noel’s writing on sex/sexuality, dating, cannabis, and identity in Swipe Life, Playboy, the Independent, Slate, the Huffington Post, Elle, and other platforms. —DT

In 2018, Lisa Bunker made history by becoming one of two transgender women elected to the New Hampshire State House of Representatives, but she’s pretty modest about this success. Instead, she’s more excited to talk about her writing. Her most recent book, “Zenobia July,” chronicles the story of a transgender girl living as a girl for the first time—a story that Bunker hopes gives gender-variant kids a representation of themselves in a wider cultural lens. “When I was a young unexpressed trans girl, I couldn’t find myself in any of the stories I read,” she says. “There were no trans characters. I’m proud of having a hand in changing that for the generation growing up now.” She hopes to represent the same diverse perspectives in the legislation she sponsors in the New Hampshire State House, challenging how we define terms like “normal” to create a society built on justice, acceptance, and compassion. “Being out and transitioning has allowed me to live my best life,” she says. Now she wants the chance to help others do the same. —RK

Novelist, non-fiction writer, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, AIDS historian—and, likely one of the most important intellects of our time and community—Sarah Schulman is currently at work on her 20th book, slated for 2021: “Let the Record Show: ACT UP and the Enduring Relationship of AIDS.” She’s also collaborating with the legendary Marianne Faithfull on a theatre piece, “The Snow Queen,” which premieres at the Manchester Factory in 2022. Serving on the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace, the Racial Imaginary, and a faculty advisor for Students for Justice in Palestine, Schulman has been a tireless worker for all human rights, a true artist-as-activist. And she recognizes she isn’t alone in the fight. “Today, most radical movements have queer and trans people in their leadership and rank and file. Black Lives Matter, Palestine Solidarity, Abortion Rights, these are queer friendly movements with lots of out people.” Schulman sees allyship with the members of these movements almost as an obligation. “What we do as LGBT people needs to recognize and stand with Dreamers, with Refugees, with people fighting police violence, with women seeking abortion,” she says. “Assimilating into the white power structure is not the road towards the common good.” True creative that she is, with a few plays and films in the works, Schulman’s personal dream is to work more in stage, film, and television. “I think a number of my books are ripe for film adaptations and TV series, now that some of the restrictions on lesbian representation are softening. And I want to work on a number of new ideas.” —JDG

In creating digital platforms for the 21st century, Morgen Bromell recognizes how technology is inseparable from activism and power. While Bromell is perhaps best known as the founder of Thurst, a dating app for LGBTQIA persons, the entrepreneurial New Yorker is also interested in the ways queer communities have used online media and digital platforms as modes of community-building and organization. Unlike other dating apps, Thurst is specifically designed as a safe space for queer, cis, and trans people of color, and is part of Bromell’s overall aim to make technological platforms more accessible to people of color. “I truly believe,” Bromell says, “that in order to preserve our hard-fought rights as queer people, we must first honor and acknowledge the marginalized folks, mostly black and brown poor trans people, who resisted state violence and prioritized trans safety and freedom above all else during times when queer pride was inconceivable.” Bringing those who are marginalized access to technology that they don’t currently have is a large part of Bromell’s vision as both a technologist and an activist. And, like many technologists, Bromell sees the potential for radical change in the digital platforms harnessed for social progress. “The first Pride was a riot, and in the next generation, I believe LGBTQIA+ pride is going to be a revolution.” —RK

Writer Vanessa Taylor converted to Islam before Philando Castile was fatally shot in 2016 and spent her first Eid outside the site of his shooting. A community organizer, she had long been familiar with Black Muslim liberation theology and Malcolm X, but Islam didn’t become a reality for her until she converted. Now based out of Philadelphia, Taylor focuses on exploring Black Muslim womanhood and technology. Her articles appear in Teen Vogue, Al Jazeera English, and the Intercept, and her essays and fiction have appeared in Catapult, as Editor’s Pick in Barren Magazine, and in Belt Magazine, where she received a Pushcart Prize nomination. She was also selected to be a part of Muslim Wellness’ inaugural Deeply Rooted Emerging Leaders fellowship class, and is a 2019 Echoing Ida cohort member. Taylor came to writing through a natural progression of the community work she had been involved in, including co-founding the Black Liberation Project, a grassroots collective of Black youth in the Twin Cities. Writing is another way she can use her community organizing skills. From her perspective, she doesn’t feel like she wants to be praised for her work, but it’s quite meaningful to know that her work is affecting others. “I love seeing people interact with my pieces once they’re published, especially the fiction ones,” she says. “It’s rewarding anytime people stop me at events or message me online to tell me what a piece meant to them.” —AE

In 2019, Satya Rhodes-Conway became only the second woman, and first openly LGBTQ person, to be elected mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, making her one of many gay and lesbian women proudly swept into mayoral office this past year. Rhodes-Conway is no stranger to the job. She served three terms on the Madison City Council from 2007 to 2013, and as the managing director of the Mayors Innovation Project while at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she collaborated with offices across the country to promote sustainable practices and democratic accountability at local levels. She was also a member of Madison’s Food Policy Council until 2019. Although the issues she champions transcend identity politics, she is aware of how important her election is to the LGBTQ community. “One of the most rewarding things about being an out lesbian elected is the impact it has on young women, LGTBQ youth, and their families,” she tells GO. “If I can inspire just one young person to take leadership, or show one girl that she can make a difference, it’s all worth it.” —RK

Although you can currently catch Diona Reasonover as Kasie Hines on the hit CBS crime drama, “NCIS,” the actor and writer has some serious comedic chops. Before joining the cast of the show last year (she replaced series regular Pauley Perrette) she starred on the TBS comedy “Clipped,” and has appeared on numerous television shows including “Grace & Frankie,” “Two Broke Girls,” and “Superstore.” Reasonover, who is a graduate of Oberlin College and the California Institute of the Arts, is also a writer; her credits include “Adam Ruins Everything,” “I Love Dick,” and the Emmy-nominated “I Love You, America” with Sarah Silverman. The Detroit native now lives in Los Angeles with her wife, fellow 100 Women Class of 2019 honoree Patricia Villetto (the couple has been married since 2018). Her seamless blending of both comedic and dramatic forms shines through in the message she wishes to share with the LGBTQ community: “Take care of yourself. Stay hydrated. I believe in you.” —RK

In 2018, Toni Atkins made history by becoming both the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ person to serve as the President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate. It was only the latest in a number of firsts she’s achieved throughout her political career. She was the first lesbian to be named Speaker of the California Assembly in 2014. Then, in 2017, she advanced legislation that saw California became the first state in the nation to adopt a third gender option on state-issued documents. Her own political career began when she followed in the footsteps of another first: friend and mentor Christine Kehoe, a San Diego city councilmember who was the first openly gay official elected to office in that city. From there, it was only a small leap for Atkins to run for office herself. What she finds most rewarding about politics is being able “to bring people with diverse views and perspectives together to collaborate and then have that collaboration lead to real solutions.” It’s a sentiment that echoes in her philosophy to the LGBTQ community, which can advance progressive change through unity. “Lift each other up. Keep each other safe. Always remember whose shoulders you stand on and make room for others to stand on yours.” —RK

Since 1977, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice has been advocating social justice for marginalized people worldwide, and for its current executive director, J. Bob Alotta, job titles are irrelevant. “The most rewarding thing to me,” she tells GO, “is the magic of congregation. My purpose is to exist in, instigate, envision, strategize, and build from and for our joyous community.” The filmmaker-turned-technologist-turned social philanthropist first joined Astraea in 2011 and has since navigated the foundation—which has awarded over $40 million in grants to community betterment projects around the world—through the changing technological and political landscapes of the 21st century. Under her stewardship, Astraea has become a leader in merging technological development with social activism and has also launched the world’s first intersex human rights fund in conjunction with intersex advocates. She’s also a fierce public speaker, as much at home in front of crowds in Lesbians Who Tech summits as she is on stage at Joe’s Pub in New York City. Alotta has recently announced that she will be stepping down from Astraea, but will remain executive director through the summer. —RK

Sunu Chandy has a way with words, whether testifying in Congress to strengthen LGBTQ legal protections, providing testimony with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on sexual harassment and #MeToo, or writing her own poetry. That’s right, the legal director of the National Women’s Law Center also has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from CUNY/Queens College. “I’m proud to be a queer woman of color poet and a civil rights attorney,” Chandy tells GO. “I want to send love to all the culture change artists who create joy and community building, including through Split This Rock, a social justice poetry organization that’s so close to my heart.” Chandy sits on that organization’s board of directors, as well as the board of the Transgender Law Center. Her work has taken her from labor law, representing individual workers and unions, to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to being a member of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Regional Working Group. In her current role at NWLC, she oversees the Center’s litigation efforts while providing strategy to create better outcomes for women and girls in all spaces, and she helped build the policies and procedures guiding the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. She says she’s grateful to her “terrific colleagues” at the National Women’s Law Center. “We use the law in all its forms to advance the rights of women and girls,” she says, “and to prevent and address sex discrimination, including as faced by LGBTQ folks, immigrants, people with disabilities and people of color.” —JDG

The moon, stars, and current events are all intertwined. That’s what L.A.-based astrologer Chani Nicholas knows to be true in her heart and her queer feminist politics. A counseling astrologer for more than 20 years, Chani sees astrology as a way not to passively accept one’s fate, but as a catalyst for action and change within one’s self and the world. She’s also the astrologer for Spotify and Oprah Magazine, and her book “You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance” (HarperCollins), out January 2020, will guide readers on how to interpret their own birth chart to radically embrace who they are and create space for their life’s purpose. But her magical, radical path wasn’t always so clear. Growing up in Canada, she received her first astrology reading at age 12 and has been a student ever since. It took many years to embrace astrology as her vocation. “When I finally hung my astrology shingle, I was almost immediately overwhelmed with business,” she says. With more than 200,000 Instagram followers, her posts range from inspirational, feel-good quotes to explanations about how the Alabama abortion ban happened on a week with a full moon in Scorpio and Venus conjunct with Uranus, which especially impacted people who could become pregnant. She’s also a happily married queer woman. She says that she and her wife, Sonya Passi, who is the CEO of the nonprofit FreeFrom, share a dedication to creating spaces where healing justice can occur, and is one of the foundations of their marriage. “Being with other queers helped me to radically accept myself which led me down a path to eventually radically accept my work with astrology, find my wife, all of which has all allowed for much abundance,” she says. —AE

Jenna Weiss-Berman is a master of podcasts. She is the co-founder of Pineapple Street Media, a full-service and self-financed podcast company that helps potential podcasters get comfortable with this burgeoning audio form. The company has made shows like “Missing Richard Simmons,” the serial-style miniseries about the disappearance of the fitness diva, and the New York Times culture podcast “Still Processing” with staff writer Jenna Wortham and critic-at-large Wesley Morris. Pineapple has produced other buzzy podcasts too, like the behind-the-scenes look at Hillary Clinton’s election year in “With Her” and a talk show with Lena Dunham. Weiss-Berman honed her auditory skills at the Moth and StoryCorps, and also started a podcast department at Buzzfeed. An out and proud queer person, Weiss-Berman says that she “never exactly ‘came out’—my early obsessions with my babysitters and requests for ‘Prince Arthur’ haircuts made the situation pretty clear,” she says. Growing up in the very queer city of Northampton, Mass., which Weiss-Berman acknowledges was “an incredibly lucky break,” her supportive parents took her to gay a cappella as a kid. She first discovered her interest in music and radio while making Ani DiFranco mix tapes and loving musical theater. At Oberlin College, she achieved auditory success running the radio station. But it was moving to New York after school and joining StoryCorps that opened her eyes to the diverse life experiences of folks across the U.S., and truly got her hooked on storytelling. “I would have been happy being a broke public radio producer and never thought podcasts would become such a hot medium,” she says. “I took some risks starting a company but I’m so glad I did.” —AE

Holistic health is a passion for Faithlynn Gianna C, who works with private clients in New York City and Los Angeles. “It’s something I felt called to from a very young age,” she says. At 15, she became one of the youngest 500-hour yoga teachers on the East Coast. She is currently in the works of coming out with a product derived from all organic ingredients from around the world. Out and proud now, she didn’t always have an easy time accepting who she was. “I was constantly told that being a homosexual is a sin. I had such a tough time coming out to myself. I was homophobic toward MYSELF,” she says. Coming out to her mother, a born-again Christian, was hardest. But she feared her father’s reaction, too. “After I was outed to him, he quickly came to me and said ‘Faithlynn I love you, I’m so proud of you. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. Ever since you were a baby, what did I always tell you?’ I replied with, ‘You be you.’” It’s a phrase that this model and an actress now lives by. After coming out to herself and her family, she had to contend with society. “I’ve felt very discriminated against by the LGBT community for being a femme lesbian. I was told there was no way I could be gay or that I had to be bisexual. Not a good feeling,” she says. “Don’t let anyone tell you who you are or who you can and cannot love. Let’s love EVERY DAMN LETTER and be community!” —DT

The classic salons of French intelligentsia of the 17th and 18th centuries are getting a 21st century makeover thanks to Parisa Parnian. In 2017, the L.A based artist and designer launched Savage Taste Persian Suppers + Salon, pop-up dinners that Parnian hosts in her Silver Lake home with food she prepares herself inspired by her Iranian ancestry. Fully inclusive affairs, these dinners have become popular gathering places for L.A-based LGBTQs and people of color, providing a safe community for them to meet and share ideas with like-minded individuals. Savage Taste is part of Parnian’s label, Savage Muse, which also serves as a design studio and lifestyle brand for intersectional markets. No stranger to queer fashion, Parnian became known to the community with Rigged Out/Fitters, one of the first queer fashion labels in Brooklyn in the 2000s. It was even featured on “The L Word.” The world of Savage Muse is one into which Parnian seems to have been born. “Whether I am illustrating/designing something for a client or hosting a group of people at my dinner parties,” she says, “I get to work and be around exactly the kind of people I want to surround myself with: beautiful, intersectional, diverse, kind humans who want to celebrate inclusivity with me in style.” —RK

Julz Carey, president of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), knows firsthand the support that LGBTQ military veterans need. By all accounts, her 20-plus years with the Coast Guard were a great success. In 1977, she was one of 24 women selected to service aboard military vessels. She later served as an instructor in maritime training academies, a team leader for Pacific Area Training, and manager of search and rescue cases on Puget Sound. However, the harassment she witnessed of LGBTQ servicemembers kept her in the closet about her own sexuality. “As time went on,” she tells GO, “I realized I might someday have to choose to stand up or become another statistic of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell disaster. I vowed to myself I would stand up.” Now retired, Carey leads AVER, a nonprofit organization that advocates for equal treatment of LGBTQ servicemembers. Founded in 1990, the all-volunteer organization led the fight to repeal DADT and now works to ensure that LGBTQ servicemembers are protected from further discrimination. “The range of issues affecting our LGBT military family is pretty routine,” Carey says, “ranging from housing, medical, and family care concerns. The current climate that excludes trans individuals is not only harmful to the military but is a step backwards for the entire military community.” But as long as the military environment remains exclusive, there will be veterans like Carey willing to fight for change. —RK

Scarlett Snow (given name: Miranda) is a North Carolina grown, Florida raised, New York City transplant. She’s built her career with a foundation of classical dance training and molded herself into a tiny, fiery, modern burlesquer and LGBTQ entrepreneur. Working within nearly 100 percent queer establishments across the East and West Coasts, Snow’s projects are flourishing. Her troupe, Honey Burlesque, which she described as “the gay girl gang of nouveau burlesque,” is made up of mostly LGBTQ ladies who only perform in queer community spaces. In addition to Honey’s monthly residency with gay party staple Hot Rabbit, Snow introduced a new night for LGBTQ womxn fondly named, “Dip Me in Honey.” The troupe’s party now has a monthly spot at Bizarre Bushwick, with plans to expand their parties to more queer spaces across the city. “For me, these parties are more than just parties,” Snow says. “They are safety, expression, and so filled to the brim with love it’s insane.” In her line of work, Snow feels fortunate to see people who are not out in their everyday lives being able to live freely. “Even if it’s just for a weekend or a couple hours at a gay, little shindig. Those moments are so precious, and I’m just happy I get to be a part of them.” Up next: catch Snow dancing throughout New York City with Honey Burlesque, in Florida with Les Vixens & Pandora Events, and in California at The Dinah. —DT

As a young gun Queens-based art director, Tara Belmont is passionately taking on the perpetual boys’ club that is the advertising industry with little mercy for tendentious marketing jargon and heaps of dark humor. “I once thought that my dream would be to produce work that felt rewarding, that made a difference and felt wholly personal,” Belmont tells GO. “Yet, as I progressed in my career, the intersection of art direction and my sexuality became central to my identity… I began to find clarity and purpose for helping others to find comfort in their skin, wherever that may be.” Although she specializes in both luxury fashion and beauty on the corporate side of her career, Belmont has been taking her creative vision over to the world of short film, garnering high praise and acclaim with multiple small festival awards already under her belt for art direction and production design. While Belmont is comfortable in herself enough now to give others space to express themselves, she didn’t really come to peace with her sexuality until she was 25. It was then that she adopted a “f*ck it” attitude, immersed herself in the New York City lesbian scene, and discovered a community of people just like her. Through that community, Belmont learned to always make her professional spaces safe and open. “In an industry that can often be harsh, unforgiving, cruel and misogynistic, I hope that I can be a small beacon of light that provides a constant stream of fun, talent, love and—as always—a sprinkle of dark humor.” —DT

Selfie connoisseur Kim Kardashian and writer Alicia Eler have a lot in common. Eler is the author of “The Selfie Generation: How Our Self-Images Are Changing Our Notions of Privacy, Sex, Consent, and Culture” (Skyhorse, 2017), a close-up take on the selfie cultural phenomena that Kardashian basically invented. In her groundbreaking book, which was reviewed worldwide, Eler unpacks the selfie on all levels, from how teens are using the visual language of funeral selfies to why for some queer people of color it’s been a mode of self-representation. “To be seen and heard is powerful,” Eler says. The paperback version along with a new afterword is due out this coming August. When she’s not musing about the selfie phenomenon, she is covering art in the Twin Cities for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she currently works as the visual art critic/art reporter. A native of Chicago and a longtime resident of Los Angeles, she’s contributed to numerous magazines, writing personal memoir essays like “What is the Lesbian Dick Pic?” for New York Magazine, and “I don’t call myself bisexual — I let my stories tell themselves” for the Guardian. She’s written for countless art publications such as Artforum, Hyperallergic, Art21 Magazine, and Aperture Magazine. The selfie is only one form of expression that appeals to this language buff. Eler speaks Spanish and is currently learning Turkish to connect with her Turkish identity (her father is from Istanbul). —JDG