A Black queer person on the move, Benjamin Coy is constantly navigating. Airports, algorithms, advocacy strategy, and identity — he moves through all with precision and style. At 27, he serves as communications marketing campaign manager for the National LGBTQ Task Force, where his work straddles legacy organizing and digital culture.
“I manage our social media content, content strategy with brand development, and brand cohesion,” he says. “It’s a fancy way of saying I do a little bit of everything.”
His latest focus is influencer marketing. “These influencers have a dedicated audience of folks that are trusting of their opinions and experiences,” Coy says. “They’re looking at them to have a lens into someone else’s world. And that is honestly super powerful.”
It’s about more than communication: It’s coalition-building.
“It was important for us to tap into that just to find those new audiences, a new base as we go into building power and building queer power in this year and beyond,” Coy says.
“I don’t have to show up in a queer space and just be queer,” he says. “I don’t have to show up in the Black space and just be Black. I am me 24/7. … The actuality of intersectionality is what I think is missing in a lot of these movement spaces.”
He points to Mauree Turner, the first out nonbinary state legislator in the U.S. and the first Muslim state lawmaker in Oklahoma; Florida U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress; Raquel Willis, a Black transgender author and activist and a former editor of Out; and Hope Giselle, a nationally known Black trans activist, author, and founder of the nonprofit AllowMe, as models of people at the full intersections of their identities.
“The folks are saying the things,” Coy says. “They just need more platforms to help amplify their work.”
Outside his day job, Coy, who is based in Washington, D.C., is a content creator, fashion analyst, and podcast host. His show, Cocktails and Culture, is in its fourth season.
“It’s been a fun outlet,” he says. “My day-to-day is very inundated with the negatives, so I live for those moments where I changed one person’s life just by one post.”
His advice for young activists? “Use your voice. Or raise funds. Or share stories. Whatever you’re comfortable doing, do that,” he says. “It’s all about confidence, baby.”
Cocktails & Culture Podcast
This article is part of The Advocate's July/Aug 2025 issue, on newsstands now. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader.
