Out100: Jerry Mitchell

Photography by Ryan Pfluger at the New 42nd Street Studios, New York, on September 22, 2015. Styling by Stephanie Tricola. Groomer: Angela DiCarlo.

"I just keep dreaming about new ways to get people to take their clothes off," Jerry Mitchell says. As the creator of the annual Broadway Bares spectacle, the award-winning director and choreographer has had Broadway dancers stripping for charity for 25 years, raising nearly $14 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This past summer, when the SCOTUS ruling was announced, Mitchell was in Chicago for his latest production, On Your Feet!, the Gloria and Emilio Estefan musical, which opened on Broadway in November. "I was working on a musical about how people flourish when they are given freedoms," he says. "This country was built on immigrants. Anyone who thinks building a wall is the way to build this country is out of touch. It's a global thing and we have to accept everyone for who they are."

SLIDESHOW | Out100 2015