Out100: The Fun Home Family

Photography by Ryan Pfluger in brooklyn, on September 1, 2015. Styling by Marc Anthony George. Hair and Makeup: Angela DiCarlo. Roberta Colindrez: Jacket by Elie Tahari available at Bloomingdale's, Pants by Reiss available at Bloomingdale's. Joel Perez: Suit, shirt, and tie by Prada, Shoes by Florsheim.

That a queer coming-of-age tale won five Tony Awards (including Best Musical and two for Lisa Kron, who won for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical) is quite astounding. It's a feat the three queer members of Fun Home's ensemble cast -- Beth Malone (who plays adult Alison Bechdel), Roberta Colindrez (who plays her college girlfriend, Joan), and Joel Perez (the love interest of Bechdel's closeted father) -- especially appreciate. But the production, based on Bechdel's bestselling 2006 graphic memoir of the same name, achieved another milestone when the musical's producers insisted 11-year-old Sydney Lucas (who plays a young version of Bechdel) sing "Ring of Keys," a sweet ode to a butch lesbian, during this year's televised broadcast. "It's not about sex, it's about identity -- which is perhaps even more threatening," Bechdel explains. "In the play it's a brilliant thing, but to reach that broader audience of people watching television? Who knows what the average viewer thought? Even if it's not about sexuality, but about a child having awareness and subjective power, it's kind of revolutionary."

SLIDESHOW | Out100 2015