OUT100 2016

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photography by Gavin Bond. Retouching by Kevin Korneman, cmykproof.com. Photographed on the Warner Bros. Studio Lot, Burbank, Calif., on October 11, 2016. Styling by Kellen Richards for Walter Schupfer. Hair: Laini Reeves. Makeup: Heather Currie for Cloutier.

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Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed on the High Line, New York, on July 22, 2016. Styling by Thomas Carter Phillips for The Wall Group. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. All clothing by Bottega Veneta.

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Photography by Gavin Bond. Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Milk Studios, Los Angeles, on August 26, 2016. All clothing and accessories by Tom Ford.

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Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Tribeca, New York, on September 12, 2016. Hair: Walton Nunez using Living Proof. Makeup: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Dress by Douglas Says.

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Photography by Gavin Bond.

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Photography by Gavin Bond.

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Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Gordon’s Bar, London, on August 9, 2016. Groomer: Hamilton Stansfield for SL Reps.

Pedro Almodóvar says he tends to live in the present, but this September found him lamenting his youth. “I miss the energy of being in my 20s,” he says. “I’ve been out and comfortable with myself since I was 16, and I was always surrounded by people, but my life is more solitary now.” As a filmmaker, Almodóvar has long explored memory, but he says it became an especially intense theme for him after the release of Bad Education (2004), his lusciously queer dreamscape of a thriller, and the movie he’s finally comfortable calling the best he’s ever made.

If Bad Education and its virile carnality marked Almodóvar’s euphoric recall of his younger days, then his latest film, the deeply sobering Julieta, is a wistful, feminized reflection of his current solitude. Also fueled by memory, the movie, which was shortlisted for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year and hits theaters in December, sees the title character (played in present day by Emma Suárez) looking back on the tumultuous span of nearly her whole life, a structure that’s surely personal for Almodóvar, now 67. 

But while he had to endure the crippling effects of back surgery to complete it, the Spanish director’s 20th film is by no means his swan song (he currently has three more in the works), nor is its stoic drama as much of a departure as it may seem. “Passion” is his favorite word; it’s as present in Julieta as in anything else he’s done. “I love passion in terms of sexuality and desire,” he says, “but also as the fuel of life. When I finish a film, it makes me feel like I can keep on living.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and makeup: Terri Apanasewicz for Exclusive Artists. Photographed at Mel’s Diner, Hollywood, Calif., on October 11, 2016.

Alexandra Roxo is a filmmaker, a mentor, a writer (most recently of the column “Holy F*ck”), and, above all, a storyteller. “The stories we have are our first major teachers in the ways that we connect with the world,” she says. The Miami native, perhaps best known for her comedy Web show, Be Here Nowish, finds no resistance to being out, being herself, and kissing “who I want on the street,” she says, but she notes how, globally, many people don’t experience the same freedom of choice. In that truth, she finds a responsibility: “I think being out means being an example to other people,” Roxo says. “That’s pretty special.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in New York on August 3, 2016.

Eileen Myles’s 19 books of poetry and nonfiction have captivated curious artistic minds for decades. In the past year, they (Myles’s preferred pronoun) received a Creative Capital grant and the Clark Prize for Excellence in Arts Writing. Perhaps their best-known work is the semi autobiographical novel Chelsea Girls, soon to be immortalized as a film, also written by Myles. Their advocacy for our community has always been loud and, more important, inclusive. “I stand tall with endangered people all over the world,” Myles says. “I include queer and trans with gay.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

“Everybody [on Instagram] just keeps throwing up ‘beautiful’ and rainbow hearts and support,” Brian Anderson says of the reaction to his declaring he’s gay in a Vice video in September. “I figured cool things could happen, but this is fantastic.” The world championship winner, a true household name in certain circles, previously had been named Thrasher magazine’s “Skater of the Year,” but by coming out, he joins an even more exclusive club of one: prominent out pro skateboarders. His inspiration was his boyfriend. “I had dreams about him, and then he appeared in my life,” Anderson says. “He gave me the strength to be myself.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Sid Gold’s Request Room, New York, on August 3, 2016.

Tituss Burgess is one of very few celebrities who have so ostentatiously and successfully used alcohol to catapult their careers. The co-star of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt reached viral notoriety last year following his on-air performance of “Peeno Noir,” a comedic, musical ode to the black penis (the song went on to inspire Burgess’s own wine, Pinot by Tituss, which he unveiled in March). The artist is now filming the show’s third season — in which he’ll reprise his role as a struggling, flamboyant actor also named Titus — while adapting The Preacher’s Wife for Broadway. As Burgess’s star rises, his goal is to help lesser-known talents and other “oddballs” like him. “That’s what wakes me up,” he says. “That’s what gets me out of bed.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Hillary Clinton Campaign headquarters, Brooklyn, on September 30, 2016. 

Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary for America and the first openly gay major-party presidential campaign manager, got his start in politics at the age of 16, organizing phone banks in New Hampshire for Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign. Twenty years later, presidential elections are practically old hat for him. He worked on Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign as well as Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, winning admiration from Barack Obama’s then–campaign manager David Plouffe, who described him as “a guy with limitless potential.” Mook also managed the winning 2013 campaign of Governor Terry McAuliffe in Virginia and previously served as executive director and political director of the DCCC. Though he may prefer to operate behind the scenes, his political acumen is sure to be felt for many years to come. 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Washington, D.C., on September 13, 2016. 

If anyone thought the Human Rights Campaign’s mission was accomplished with the adoption of nationwide marriage equality, they were profoundly mistaken. After the tragic events at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in June, HRC president Chad Griffin steered the organization — which was already championing the Equality Act in Congress and pushing for LGBT acceptance worldwide — toward the cacophonous debate on gun control. “It became all too clear that we not only have a responsibility to stop the hate,” he says, “but also a responsibility to stop the epidemic of gun violence that plagues this country today.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 12, 2016.

“At my grandmother’s 90th birthday, my mother joked that I was such an overlooked middle child that I had to go find a job where millions of people would pay attention to me every day,” says Ari Shapiro, a host on the daily NPR news program All Things Considered — and the first out gay host in the show’s 45-year history. “I feel very lucky to have a platform where people listen to what I have to say. But I hope I would not be terribly different without that megaphone, knowing that we all have the ability to set an example to others through the way we live.” When he is not in the field reporting on stories like the attack on Pulse nightclub, Shapiro can often be heard singing with his hometown band, Pink Martini, and has songs in both Armenian and Arabic on the band’s new album, Je Dis Oui! 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 22  2016. 

In August, Chris Kelly became Saturday Night Live’s first openly gay head writer. So what can audiences expect from the iconic sketch show under his reign? “It’s going to be only gay now,” he jokes. “If you see a waiter in the background and he doesn’t have a line, just know that he’s gay.” With season highlights like Alec Baldwin’s spot-on impersonation of Donald Trump and an Emmy award for series MVP Kate McKinnon, Kelly seems to be on a winning streak. That his semiautobiographical feature-length directorial debut, Other People, earned raves this fall is just the cherry on top.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Styling by Grant Woolhead and Michael Cook. Groomer: Nil Muir. Hair: John Cotton. all clothing by Louis Vuitton. Photographed at the odeon, New York, on September 12, 2016.

Jussie Smollett calls 2016 “a year of extreme highs and incredible lows,” a relatable sentiment that’s prompted the Empire star to remember simple needs. “Most of the people in this world want love,” says Smollett, who plays the audience favorite — and openly gay — Jamal on Fox’s hit prime-time soap. “Nothing is more important.” Far from simple, though, is Smollett’s schedule these days. His recent highlights include shooting Empire’s third season, recording a forthcoming debut album, and filming 2017’s Alien: Covenant and Marshall, which casts the multi-talent as Langston Hughes, one of his childhood heroes. In the wake of it all, Smollett says, “I have never been more inspired.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Central PArk, New York, on August 4, 2016.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy remembers the 1969 Stonewall riots — and getting walloped at them. “I thought, I can’t keep getting beat like this,” she recalls, “so I spit on [the cop’s] mask, and he knocked my black ass right out.” That rebellious spirit has buoyed her over decades of community leadership, including her work improving the conditions for trans women in prison. She is executive director emeritus of the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project and the subject of Major!, a new documentary. The prospect of a Trump presidency had her considering relocating, but she thought twice about it. “I’m just going to stay here and fight,” she says. “That’s all I know to do.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in his office in Washington, D.C., on September 13

Despite being the highest-ranking openly gay member of the Department of Defense, Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning has no military training. He grew up in a military family, but he refused to serve under the stipulations of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Five years after that policy was repealed, Fanning is leading the largest service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. He found the focus on sexual orientation — in a career spanning several leadership positions, including chief of staff to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter — frustrating. “I wanted the focus to be on qualifications,” he told the Today show. Now that the ban has been lifted, he can fully embrace his work.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Jeptha Lee. Photographed at Lopez Boxing Gym, Orlando, Fla., on August 31, 2016.

After her championship win in July, Amanda Nunes became the first openly gay fighter to hoist one of the coveted, metallic UFC belts above her head. Now, as she looks forward to defending her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title from her challengers (including Olympian Ronda Rousey on December 30), Nunes recognizes that her feats are triumphs for LGBT visibility in the often unwelcoming world of professional sports. But they are also very personal. “It means I don’t need to hide anything anymore,” she says of being out during her landmark victory. “It means that I can now love free.”   

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in New York on August 3, 2016.

It’s been an incredible year for the unstoppable Belgian visionary, who nabbed a Tony (Best Director) for his taut, elegant revival of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge and won raves for his moody reworking of another Miller classic, The Crucible. Van Hove, who ended 2015 with his prescient David Bowie collaboration, Lazarus, says his aim is to make the “most personal, unique, urgent productions ever made.” With a full 2017 schedule, including Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler for London’s National Theatre, a stage adaptation of Luchino Visconti’s film noir Obsession at London’s Barbican Centre (with Jude Law in the lead), and a production of Salome for the Dutch National Opera, van Hove is not kidding around.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at St. Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn, on August 29, 2016.

“My fantasy is to open people up to perpetual consideration,” says Taylor Mac, whose use of the word “perpetual” couldn’t be more accurate. The celebrated New York maverick’s greatest achievement this year may be the greatest theatrical feat ever: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Mac’s interpretation of 240 pop songs, from Mozart to Dylan to Lauryn Hill, which the playwright performed over the course of 24 hours for a (very committed) audience at St. Ann’s Warehouse in October. (For the less patient, Mac presented the show in three-hour segments over eight evenings.) More than a sprawling journey through the musical canon, the interactive spectacle was a metaphor for the feeling of community and catharsis that grew out of the AIDS crisis. So how will the tireless artist top the impressive opus? Says Mac, “I just finished creating and performing a 24-hour work. My next project is to take my Guggenheim money and contemplate other people’s navels on a beach in Mexico.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Walton Nunez using Living Proof. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 12, 2016.

Richard Quest is a rare find among journalists. Unbowed by cynicism, the CNN anchor radiates positivity as he talks about his upcoming assignments — whether covering the new U.S. president or the Brexit fallout in Europe. But Quest hasn’t lost sight of what’s really important. “Laughter, tears, good times and bad — a celebration of life and all that goes with it,” he says of the upcoming year. Quest went from anchor to author in 2016 with the publication of his first book, The Vanishing of Flight MH370. Flush with optimism, he says, “There has never been a better time to be out.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Makeup: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

Zanele Muholi started shooting “Faces and Phases,” her gorgeous collection of nearly 300 photographs of subjects from the black, queer communities of South Africa, more than a decade ago. But last summer found her unveiling her first major self-portraits, including images of her posing in headdresses — striking shots that simultaneously pay tribute to her culture, challenge the stereotypes surrounding it, and, most important, force her to look inward. “This is why the self-portraits are so major to me,” she told The New York Times. “We get caught up in other people’s worlds, and you never ask yourself how you became.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Walton Nunez using Living Proof. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 12, 2016. 

At the Democratic convention in July, Michelle Obama gave her barnstorming speech dressed in an elegant cobalt blue dress designed by Christian Siriano. Just weeks earlier the Project Runway alum enjoyed another moment in the spotlight after coming to the rescue of Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones when she tweeted her dismay at the absence of designers willing to dress her for the movie’s premiere. In very short order, Siriano made her a striking red gown, a repudiation of fashion’s obsession with skinny. The designer, who married his longtime partner, singer and producer Brad Walsh, this year, says, “We should be celebrating everyone as much as we can. There’s so much darkness that it’s hard to keep your head above water sometimes. But adding positively into the daily lives of everyone is so important.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 12, 2016.

“Helping to open up the conversation about inclusion and diversity in casting has been a dream come true,” director Michael Arden says about his Tony-nominated 2015 revival of Spring Awakening, which ingeniously weaved American Sign Language into Duncan Sheik’s original score. Arden, who married actor Andy Mientus this past summer, is currently the artist in residence at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Los Angeles. But come next Broadway season, he will return to the Great White Way for a revival of the ’90s tropical hit Once on This Island.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and Makeup: Claire Curameng for Exclusive Artists. Photographed at the Black Cat Cafe, Los Angeles, on July 22, 2016.

Billings:
“It’s less about trying to make money and more about trying to be compassionate,” says Alexandra Billings of her role as a trans woman in Hollywood. This December the Transparent actress will celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary (and the 40 years in total she’s been with her wife). In addition to her performance as Davina on the Emmy-winning show, she made headlines in August when she penned an open letter to Bette Midler, taking the star to task for an insensitive tweet about Caitlyn Jenner’s gender status. “What I am is not a choice,” wrote Billings. “It is a gift.”

Lysette:
The most meaningful moment of Trace Lysette’s year? “It’s a tie,” she says. “Being deemed ‘legendary’ by my peers and chosen family in the house ballroom scene, and receiving the script for episode six in Transparent season three.” Lysette, whose yoga instructor Shea had a pivotal storyline this year on the groundbreaking Amazon series, is currently writing a pilot, but she’s itching for more work: “Even though I’m out there doing my thing, I feel my opportunities are limited. I’ve had so many close calls over the years. I’m ready to lead a film. I’m ready to lead a series. I sometimes still feel invisible.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed on Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, on August 26, 2016.

Whatever you are, you’re my kind reads a tattoo on photographer iO Tillett Wright’s arm, its words inspired by his father’s reaction when he told him this year that he’d again identify as male (Wright lived as a boy from ages 6 to 14 and then identified as female). “Othering people is the most dangerous force on the planet,” says Wright, who in September published Darling Days, his moving memoir about growing up with an unstable mother in early-’90s Manhattan. “We divide ourselves in arbitrary ways and allow people to be killed. It’s essential that we stop pretending we’re so different from each other.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Styling: Michael Cook. Hair: Walton Nunez using Living Proof. Makeup: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Coat and pants by Prada. Sweater by Bottega Veneta. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 12, 2016.

Sixteen years ago, Rufus Wainwright was living in the Chelsea Hotel and struggling with addiction. In the great tradition of brooding rock stars, he recorded a now iconic album, Poses. Now, the wry, enigmatic artist is a family man living in the Hollywood Hills, and he has written a classical opera called Prima Donna, put out five more albums of original songs, and, most recently, released Take All My Loves, a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets set to musical accompaniment. “I feel like a gatekeeper to a generation we are losing — people who love Judy Garland, the opera, and high culture,” he says. “Even though [such people lived through] a repressed time, there were incredible survival instincts. I don’t think that is something we want to lose as a community.” This year Wainwright set out to preserve Garland’s legacy when he returned to Carnegie Hall with a 36-piece orchestra to revive his 2006 tribute to the iconic performer’s 1961 concert there.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

With clients like Disney and Mercedes-Benz on her roster, Robyn Streisand is a true master of marketing — the creator of two of the world’s leading agencies, The Mixx and Titanium Worldwide. For her, being out is a celebration, and the visibility she brings to the LGBT community is a privilege. She has a vision of inclusivity for the workplaces she oversees, striving for environments, she says, “where people realize that if we work together, we’ll all prosper and be happy because of it.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed In New York On September 12, 2016

Mary Bonauto, one of the three attorneys who argued for same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court in 2015, is not resting on her laurels. The Civil Rights Project Director of GLAD is focusing on making equality a reality for everybody. Having previously worked on marriage equality cases in Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, this year Bonauto successfully argued for equal parental rights for same-sex couples in Massachusetts. “There are always people who want to divide groups into ‘us’ and ‘them,’ ” she says. “I believe we must resist it.” Still, the biggest achievements for Bonauto are those she can celebrate with her family. Her most memorable moment of 2016? “My daughters started high school!” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at the 49th Street Subway platform, New York, on August 29, 2016.

Long before she was crowned the victor of RuPaul’s Drag Race (season eight), Bob the Drag Queen was already a winner. Revered for years in the New York drag scene, the Georgia native (a.k.a. Christopher Caldwell) has been an activist as well, even once landing in jail for speaking out on marriage equality. “I wasn’t ‘America’s Next Drag Superstar’ when I was doing my more intense activism, so I’m going to just continue my normal path,” she says. Bob’s slay-worthy tagline may be “purse first,” but “purpose first” sounds good too.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Mizrahi’s home in New York on August 29, 2016 .

More than a fashion fixture, Isaac Mizrahi is an American icon. This year, a mid-career retrospective at the Jewish Museum showcased his impressive body of work, from his surrealist ballet costumes and riotous runway shows—which inspired 1995’s cult documentary Unzipped—to his one-man cabaret (dubbed Les MIZrahi), and acting work for Woody Allen and on Sex and the City. In addition to gearing up to write his memoir, Mizrahi has been thinking a lot recently about how we treat each other. “Besides the cruelty of disease and poverty, there’s the cruelty that exists between people in upwardly mobile cities, between rival political parties,” he says. “It’s gotten me very down recently and I decided kindness was the antidote.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 22,  2016.

It’s no accident that Saturday Night Live's latest season is refreshingly spot-on — its new writing staff is stellar. Among them is Brooklyn-based Julio Torres, also known as Space Prince, who’s been fascinated by the unusual since childhood. His unique, offbeat view of the world is a joy to witness, and it makes for some killer comedy that hasn’t gone unnoticed: He’s been named Comic to Watch by Comedy Central and one of Just for Laugh’s New Faces. Not that those accolades will ever be enough. “When I die,” Torres has said onstage, “I want to get cryogenically frozen. So I can wake up in the future and keep trying.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Walton Nunez using Living Proof. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 12, 2016.

“If you’re a gay man, the weirdness of being gay is that you were tortured by men and felt not included in maleness,” says John Early. But the Nashville-born comedian’s embrace of his otherness is what makes his unique brand of humor so brutally honest and painfully funny. This year he turned in ace performances in Neighbors 2 (playing fiancé to Dave Franco’s frat boy Pete), TBS’s dark comedy Search Party, and SNL writer Chris Kelly’s acclaimed film Other People. He also wrote and starred in his own episode for the Netflix Web sketch show The Characters, the highlight of which was “Vicky With a V,” an outspoken Southern Christian mom–turned–stand-up comic whom he considers his ultimate role model. “Vicky is me,” says Early. “Vicky is who I want to be.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at the Performance Lab at Gibney Dance, New York, on September 22, 2016.

In 2014, when Gina Gibney took a lease on a sprawling space at 280 Broadway, in New York, she became one of the city’s most influential figures in the world of contemporary dance, overseeing 17 dance studios and three theaters. It was a big step for the choreographer, who founded her dance company, Gibney Dance, 25 years ago with a progressive focus that has taken on issues including women’s representation, bullying, and domestic violence. “Being out in 2016 means living with extreme contrast,” Gibney says. “Prescriptive rules about gender are loosening their grip, but divisiveness and bigotry are not.” For 2017, she plans to invest her energies in fund-raising to renovate parts of 280 Broadway that remain closed to the public. By expanding at a time when many other dance companies are scaling back or disappearing altogether, Gibney is picking up a gauntlet that others have wrestled with before: how to make art in New York sustainable.  

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

“I lost my first GLAAD award to Caitlyn Jenner and Diane Sawyer,” says Jacob Tobia of MTV's nomination for its special True Life: I’m Genderqueer, which profiled the writer and performer. “But if Meryl Streep can lose with grace, damn it, I can too.” A Point Foundation Scholar, Harry S. Truman Scholar, and recipient of the Campus Pride National Voice and Action Award, Tobia, who’s also the nonbinary host of NBC OUT’s Queer 2.0, is thrilled about the expanding opportunities for trans stories and is currently working on a new comedy show. “Because of trailblazers that have come before us, we’re in a place now where more complicated trans stories can be told.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Walton Nunez using Living Proof. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

After three seasons, Nico Tortorella still revels in playing Josh, the tattoo-artist boyfriend of Liza (Sutton Foster) on TV Land’s hit series Younger. But the project that made his year is The Love Bomb, his anything-goes podcast about romance and sexuality. Launched in September, the show features the actor and model — who signed with IMG this year — waxing freely with friends and former lovers, both male and female. Though Tortorella came out as “sexually fluid” in a May interview with FourTwoNine magazine, he now prefers the term “demisexual,” meaning that love comes before sex. “If I’m not emotionally invested, it’s not worth it at all,” he says, and he’s clearly not just talking about his passions between the sheets.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at the Met Costume Institute Conservation Room, New York, on July 22, 2016 .

It’s been five years since Andrew Bolton leaped to our attention as the curator of “Savage Beauty,” the blockbuster exhibition celebrating the work and life of Alexander McQueen at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. As curator in charge of the Costume Institute at the Met — a positon he acceded to this past January — Bolton now oversees its precious 35,000-piece collection (which has benefited from a string of legendary benefactors and supporters, including Diana Vreeland and Anna Wintour) and shows like this year’s “Manus x Machina.” Bolton previously worked at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, where he memorably curated “Men in Skirts,” which illuminated the unique position of the Western world in limiting skirts to women. Breaking those kinds of gender tropes calls for bravery — a quality Bolton has been thinking about a lot lately. “Generally speaking, it still takes a lot of courage to be out today, to stand by your beliefs, and to live your life openly and honestly,” he says. “We are very lucky that in a city like New York, tolerance and acceptance are not seen as luxuries.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris . Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 22, 2016.

BD Wong marvels at how the times have changed. Two people very close to him — one older, one younger — both came out this year, the older friend simply by changing his Facebook relationship status. For Wong, a Tony winner who’s had our attention since stealing scenes in ’90s classics like Jurassic Park and the TV series Oz and Law & Order, such subtle acts feel revolutionary. “For those of us who hoped we would live to see ‘the day when,’ there are glimmers of that time all around us now,” he says. It’s not surprising that, these days, the actor thinks much of the future is becoming reality. In 2016, Wong entered the next frontier, wowing TV audiences as trans hacker Whiterose in the Emmy-winning cyber drama Mr. Robot.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris . Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 22, 2016

“Growing up, I idolized Walt Disney and Madonna,” Soman Chainani says. “Somehow I managed a career that combines the best of both.” Disney makes the cut because his stories have resonated with children everywhere — each book in Chainani’s fantasy series The School for Good and Evil has spent more than 30 weeks on the bestseller list (a movie adaptation is on the way). And Madonna resonates because his literary voice is innovative and subversive. Like his heroes, he puts his entire self into his craft. Says Chainani, “As a writer — and a person — I respect depth, passion, and intimacy above all.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Columbus Circle, New York, on August 3, 2016.

Don Lemon has been at the epicenter of some of the most memorable moments in an unusually memorable election. “I will remember covering Donald Trump day in and day out,” says the anchor of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon. “I will remember him telling me Megyn Kelly had ‘blood coming out of her wherever’ [and] ‘Who’s doing the raping, Don? Somebody’s doing the raping.’” Lemon came out in his 2011 memoir Transparent, but he now says, “I never really think of being out. I never think of being in. I guess that’s the beauty of being out in 2016 and how far we’ve come. We’ve come a long way, baby.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Angela DiCarlo. Photographed at TMPL Gym, New York, on August 29, 2016.

Amini Fonua became a powerful voice for gay athletes at this year’s Summer Olympics. Swimming in competition for Team Tonga, he made headlines with his Twitter takedown of The Daily Beast’s infamous Grindr outing story. Shortly after, Greg Louganis presented him with the Los Angeles LGBT Resource Center’s Vanguard Award. “My honest thought is that we’ve still got a very long way to go when it comes to the acceptance of gay male athletes at the Olympic games,” Fonua says, “or in the sporting world in general.” He’s currently focusing on reform in Tonga, where laws against sodomy and cross-dressing are still in place.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Hamilton Stansfield for SL Reps. Photographed in London on August 9, 2016.

“I believe compassion will help cure our planet,” says Michael David Quattlebaum Jr., a.k.a. Mykki Blanco. The statement may sound earnest coming from a punk-influenced rapper who’s written songs like “For the Cunts,” but Blanco has a solid track record of speaking his truth, whether criticizing the media for lumping him in with the queer hip-hop movement or revealing last year that he’s HIV-positive. His 2016 debut album, Mykki, comes stacked with raunchy bangers, but it also features the artist at his most vulnerable, confronting his demons head-on. “To be out means to live authentically,” says Blanco. And if that’s not punk, what is?

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Quixote Studios, Los Angeles, on August 21, 2016.

In 2012, when Amandla Stenberg gave her breakout performance as Rue in The Hunger Games, few would have guessed that the actress, now 18, would become one of our leading young queer activists. Precocious and progressive, Stenberg, who identifies as pansexual and non-binary, has seen her fearless comments on self-discovery draw praise and ire on Tumblr, while also attracting attention from the likes of Teen Vogue, Interview, and Elle. Appropriately, her biggest onscreen appearances this year were political: She was one of the many black female faces in Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade, and in May, preaching about identity in one of Oprah’s SuperSoul Sessions, Stenberg — whose first name means “power” in Zulu — told a packed audience, “To me, vulnerability, authenticity, and power go hand in hand in hand.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Fortnum & Mason, London, on August 10, 2016.

It was a seminal moment for Annie Wallace — and for the U.K. — when she joined the popular serial drama Hollyoaks in October 2015, becoming the first transgender actor to play a recurring transgender character in a British soap opera. Hollyoaks’s first trans character was played by a cisgender actor, but after complaints from the trans community, the show’s producers — in conjunction with rights group All About Trans — set up a casting workshop to scout for transgender talent. Wallace was among the 30 people who attended. “I turned 50 in 2015 and decided that after 25 years living ‘stealth,’ I wanted to be out to my friends and the wider world, and to see if being out could change my life for the better,” says the Scottish-born actress, who plays Sally St. Claire, a head teacher. “It definitely did.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at home in Los Angeles on August 26, 2016.

For EJ Johnson, 2016 was a breakout year, one that saw him premiere his own reality series, EJNYC, on E! after appearing in the cast of the network’s Rich Kids of Beverly Hills for three successful seasons.. “Our cast is really diverse, with different races and sexual orientations,” he says of the show, adding that its discussions touched on topics Rich Kids couldn’t. It was Johnson’s goal to create something unique to his life. “It [reflects] my journey,” he says, “but also, it’s important that we empower people to be tolerant and open-minded, and to love themselves and speak their own truths.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency. Photographed in Washington Square Park, New York, on August 3, 2016.

As a 50-year-old man with parents in their 70s and two children under the age of 5, writer-director Ira Sachs is well aware of his generational status. “I find that being somewhere in the middle very much drives my decision-making,” says Sachs, “whether it’s how I spend my days and nights or the stories I tell in my films.” Those films include 2014’s Love Is Strange, about a recently married elderly gay Manhattan couple, and this year’s subtle stunner Little Men, which follows the friendship of two teenage boys in Brooklyn. Sachs (above, right) married his partner, the painter Boris Torres (who frequently contributes his work to Sachs’s movies), in 2012, and he is currently plotting out his next project, an HBO biopic of Montgomery Clift, starring Matt Bomer. “It’s another gay New York story, about an artist struggling to be true to himself in his art and as a person,” Sachs says. “It’s a conflict I relate to very personally.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and makeup: Chloe Franke.Photographed in Malibu, Calif., on October 11, 2016.

2016 was a big year for Jillian Michaels. Newly engaged, the star of E!’s Just Jillian and author of a new book about pregnancy, Yeah Baby!, she also launched FitFusion, a multimedia network of new fitness talent. As she prepares to go on tour for An Evening With Jillian in spring 2017, her career drive matches her enthusiasm for life. “The world is not a perfect place. You won’t always be happy,” says Michaels. “It’s not always fair — in fact, it’s very rarely so — but if you have a passion for your relationships, for your work and health, it’s manageable. It allows you to transcend the more difficult days.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer:: Angela DiCarlo. Photographed in New York on August 29, 2016.

Chris Mosier made history a few times this year. After becoming the first trans athlete to qualify for a U.S. National team (in men’s sprint duathlon), he also became the first to star in a Nike campaign and to be featured in the Body Issue of ESPN the Magazine. 

“Earning my place on the team felt like a door opening,” Mosier says. “It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, and the validation of my ability as an athlete. I also recognized it as a huge opportunity to push for Olympic policy change and to further the conversation on inclusion in athletics.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Hampstead Heath, London, on September 8, 2016.

Bosworth:
After snagging another British record at the Rio Olympics, racewalker Tom Bosworth (above, left) isn’t slowing down. He proposed to his boyfriend, Harry Dineley, at Copacabana beach, and now the happy couple is house-hunting — while Bosworth starts months of intense winter training. “I’m thankful I have such a patient fiancé,” he says. “This hasn’t happened overnight. Everything I’m sacrificing now came after big sacrifices earlier in my life.” Bosworth believes coming out helped him to be more authentic as an athlete and a partner. “I’m able to live to the fullest and to live comfortably in all my walks of life.”

Stanley:
About five years ago, Sam Stanley (above, right) stood on a bridge overlooking a motorway in Essex, England, contemplating whether to jump. “You are so worried about what people will think, and I thought I couldn’t be a macho rugby player the way I was,” he told the Sunday Times. He didn’t go through with it, and last year, at 23 years old, Stanley became the first openly gay professional union rugby player in the U.K. The England Sevens player says he hopes his decision will help others, telling the Times, “It’s going to be an issue until more people and athletes come out, until it is not an issue at all.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at the MLK Memorial, Washington, D.C., on September 13, 2016.

“We can educate people in inclusive love,” Imam Daayiee Abdullah says. Raised in a Baptist home in Detroit, America’s first openly gay imam — still one of only a handful worldwide — earned a reputation in the 2000s performing religious ceremonies that others refused, such as Salat al-Janazah, or Islamic funeral prayers, for those who died of AIDS, and officiating the weddings of mixed-religion couples. Today, he’s the director of a nonprofit that spreads progressive Islamic theology. “I think all the interfaith action since 9/11 shows that, yes, we can work together,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be a hatefest.” As the Catholic Church takes baby steps toward LGBT acceptance, Abdullah conjures the notion: Could Islam be next? 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Malibu, Calif., on October 11, 2016. 

Three YouTube personalities were invited to interview President Barack Obama this year following his final State of the Union address in January, including YouTube beauty and lifestyle vlogger Ingrid Nilsen, who did so just seven months after coming out to her 4 million followers. Nilsen didn’t just interview the president — she also stumped him with a question about the controversial tampon tax (they’re taxed as “luxury items” in 39 states). “That was the hardest question to convince everyone that I should ask,” says Nilsen. “To me that was a sign that it definitely needed to be asked.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and Makeup: Claire Curameng for Exclusive Artists Management. Photographed at the Improv, West Hollywood, Calif., on July 21, 2016.

Fortune Feimster stole the show on Chelsea Lately, and continues to in her recurring role on The Mindy Project. She also appears in this winter’s big-screen comedy Office Christmas Party alongside Jennifer Aniston, who, she notes, “smells like someone who gets a lot of residuals from Friends.” Out and proud, Feimster wishes for that same freedom for those struggling with their sexual orientations. “I just know how much happiness waits on the other side of finally being your true self,” she says, “and I want everyone to have that kind of peace in their life.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and Makeup: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

Whether playing the pyromaniac Hot Carla in the second season of the USA hit Mr. Robot, or a waitress who falls victim to a hate crime in Katie Holmes’s directorial debut, All We Had, Eve Lindley immerses herself in her roles with the conviction of performers twice her age. In January the trans actress will return to the WGN series Outsiders, reprising the part of Frida, a character whose transness is acknowledged but not belabored. Says Lindley, “After being so inspired by all the amazing women who’ve come before me in this industry, it’s fun to think I can be a role model for the young people who will come after me.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair: Patrick Chai for Exclusive Artist Management. Makeup: Anton for Exclusive Artist Management. Photographed at Quixote Studios, Los Angeles, on August 21, 2016.

Noah Galvin’s debut on ABC’s The Real O’Neals, about a gay teenager growing up with a devout Catholic family in the suburbs of Chicago, was a life-changer for the young actor. “I can’t enter a Chipotle, gay bar, or Disney theme park without getting recognized,” he says. “I’m amazed at the age range of viewers and how beautifully diverse our fan base is.” The Westchester, N.Y., native has not been shy in critiquing Hollywood, but he has learned to dial it back after a controversial interview for New York magazine earlier this year. “I didn’t quite know my ‘reach’ or that people really cared what I had to say,” he says. “But I quickly learned that if you put it out there, people will see it...and one has to be careful with the messages they’re spreading.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Claire Curameng For Exclusive Artists Management Using Stila Cosmetics And Oribe Hair Care. Photographed at the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2016.

“Outfest Los Angeles was one of the first large-scale community events to take place after Orlando,” says Christopher Racster, who was named executive director in October 2015. Racster oversaw his inaugural Outfest this summer, and the selection that inspired him most was Major!, the acclaimed documentary about trans activist and fellow OUT100 honoree Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. “It was a powerful reminder that the freedom and privilege I have is due to battles people like her have endured,” Racster says. There was a “palpable feeling of unity” at this year’s festival, he adds, “and I have a role and an obligation to help foster unity in our community on a daily basis.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair: Patrick Chai for Exclusive Artist Management. Makeup: Anton for Exclusive Artist Management. Photographed at Quixote Studios, Los Angeles, on August 21, 2016.

The season four finale of Orange Is the New Black gave us one of the most memorable cliffhangers of the year, and we can thank Laura Pergolizzi, a.k.a. LP, for providing the soundtrack of its last shocking moments. While her single “Muddy Waters,” featured in the show’s prison riot scene, landed her new exposure in the United States, its follow-up, “Lost On You,” vaulted the Los Angeles singer-songwriter to pop stardom overseas, reaching number one in seven countries, including France and Greece. Pergolizzi spent years in the indie trenches before signing to Warner Bros. in 2011, and while her rising success has been hard-won, she’s proud she never gave up. “Our movement started with people who brought about change so we could build on it, and they didn’t falter,” she says. “I’m happy to say, with my sexuality and my career, that I’ve stayed the course.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016 .

In January, Charlie Carver posted a photo on Instagram accompanied by a personal, five-part memo with one key point: “I am gay.” By acknowledging his orientation on social media, the Teen Wolf star canceled the formality often associated with such announcements. “I don’t take issue with how anybody comes out,” he says, “but I didn’t want to make my coming-out a spectacle.” Carver focuses instead on the solidarity of community. As he wrote in that same Instagram post, he has a philosophy that any out role model could appreciate: “Be who you needed when you were younger.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at the Santa Monica Pier, Calif., on October 11, 2016.

The male lead of the CW’s Emmy-winning musical comedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend came out publicly in August when he wished his husband a happy one-year anniversary in an Instagram post of the two at Disneyland. “Now it’s like, ‘That Asian male love interest is not only the first of his kind, but he’s also played by a man who happens to be gay,’ ” says Rodriguez, who stars as Josh, the crush of Rachel Bloom’s obsessive heroine, Rebecca Bunch. “That’s part of the message I want to send: It doesn’t matter. We’re actors. We play many roles.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Hampstead Heath, London, on September 8, 2016.

Owen Jones is living in a world gone mad. Pulse, Brexit, Trump — the U.K. political commentator and Guardian columnist knows all too well that 2016 was a difficult year that has sometimes left him seething. He famously walked off a British news show in June after getting into a bitter argument over the host’s attempts to negate the implication that the Orlando shooter targeted an LGBT space. “Britain is now left a divided nation, and I fear desperately for its future,” he says. Still, Jones cultivates a tireless passion that the world could use a lot more of. “I love the U.K. and know there is still hope to build a more just and equal society,” he says. “I’m even writing a new book called The Politics of Hope. Not going to lie — partly to cheer myself up.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and Makeup: Claire Curameng for Exclusive Artists. Photographed in Los Angeles on July 21, 2016.

“Anyone who’s the slightest bit interesting is at least a little bit gay,” declares Michelle Tea, one of our foremost chroniclers of the LGBT experience, both as a writer — she’s published 11 books — and editor of the queer anthology series Sister Spit. Her latest book, Black Wave, a darkly humorous slice of angst, parallels her recent move from San Francisco to Los Angeles, but with apocalyptic results. “Being a writer pushes me to think harder about the things I witness and experience,” Tea says, “and it also challenges me to find the humor in it.” Next up: Modern Tarot, a book of updated tarot divinations and rituals.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in London on August 9, 2016.

Saleem Haddad walked away from a book signing in Amman, Jordan, this summer feeling optimistic about queer identity in the Arab world. The audience at the event, for his debut novel, Guapa, which chronicles the life of a gay man living in the region, was “incredibly diverse,” he says. “We had an in-depth conversation about sexuality and gender identity, and the challenges of articulating that in the Arabic language and speaking about these issues under the Western gaze.” When Haddad isn’t creating dialogue through his fiction, his boots are firmly on the ground doing aid work in the Middle East. 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Angela DiCarlo. Photographed at the Strand Rare Books Room, New York, on July 22, 2016.

Greenwell:
Garth Greenwell’s debut novel, What Belongs to You, recalls classic works like Giovanni’s Room while providing a contemporary reflection on what it means to be queer today. “I was out when I lived in Sofia [Bulgaria, where the book takes place],” Greenwell says, “but now I’m out on a different scale.” The novel’s 2016 National Book Award nomination undoubtedly contributes to his growing recognition. In 2017, Greenwell will focus on two fiction projects, as well as nonfiction essays on queer writers. “The radical potential of queerness,” he says, “lies in its ability to serve as a point of contact across distinct experiences and categories of identity.” 

Pinckney:
“Alcoholics Anonymous encourages addicts to stay in the moment,” says Darryl Pinckney, the author of the sharply observed 2016 novel Black Deutschland, in which a black Chicagoan seeks self-enlightenment in late-’80s Berlin. “When I write, I am living in the present. Otherwise, life is regret for much of the past and dread about much in the future and the horror of being awake in the middle of the night.” Pinckney — who has also written for the theater director (and OUT100 alum) Robert Wilson as well as for The New Yorker and Granta — is currently working on a collection of essays, Busted in New York, and a memoir about Elizabeth Hardwick and Barbara Epstein. Of the state of LGBT equality in 2016, he says, “Few foresaw that gay liberation would turn into marriage equality. What people wanted was the freedom to be ordinary, to have insurance and kids, and to not get kicked out of jobs or apartments.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Hair and makeup: Hamilton stansfield. Photographed in Soho, London, on August 10, 2016.

Root:
U.K. viewers will recognize Rebecca Root as Judy, a trans woman romancing a cis man in BBC Two’s Boy Meets Girl, the first-ever sitcom starring a trans actor (stateside audiences may have spotted her in The Danish Girl). In early 2017 she will reprise her role in Paul Lucas’s play Trans Scripts at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass. Big career events aside, it was meeting her partner that has marked her year: “To walk down a street holding my girlfriend’s hand and not be subject to homophobic abuse is a great joy,” she says. “At last we have equality.”

Graf:
Though his role as a cis man in The Danish Girl brought him worldwide attention, Jake Graf’s work as a trans advocate and filmmaker (he’s released four award-winning shorts, XWHY, Brace, Chance, and Dawn) has gotten him notice of another kind. He hadn’t been at the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference for 20 minutes when, he says, “A young trans guy came over, shaking, burst into tears, and put his arms around me. He said that seeing Brace had shown him who he was and given him the strength to transition. To have that effect on someone you’ve never met — that really stayed with me.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in New York on September 22, 2016.

In 2012, after a successful career as a Ford model, Elliott Sailors was faced with the risk of aging out of the industry. In response, she switched things up, cutting her hair, changing her look, and embracing menswear. “Fashion is about transformation and empowerment,” says Sailors, who, now 34, identifies as both gender- and sexually fluid. “My aim is to have no one feel bound by gender and to find freedom in fashion choices.” Her decision seems to have afforded her freedom and choices: This year, Sailors was cast in a short film by trans writer-director (and fellow OUT100 honoree) Jake Graf, as well as the music video for artist J. Viewz’s track “Don’t Pull Away.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016.

Multimedia maven and androsexual B. Scott has come into his own in the past year, his cross-platform presence stronger than ever. At the 2013 BET Awards, he was instructed to dress more gender-normative, then plucked from his red-carpet-covering post. It was a slap in the face for the gender-nonconforming pop culture blogger, who was wearing a tunic, heels, and full makeup. But in 2015, he emerged from the subsequent discrimination lawsuit on a higher plane, with his own successful celebrity news and entertainment website, video opportunities, and an undisclosed settlement sum in the bank. Says Scott, “I am triumphing.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Angela DiCarlo. Photographed at home in New York on August 29, 2016.

It’s difficult to imagine that there was a time when the gay voice in literature was nearly absent. Edmund White, along with a small group of others, changed that with a string of extraordinary novels in the 1980s that reflected the queer experience in a time of great turmoil. Now 76, he continues to be one of the seminal voices of American fiction. His latest novel, Our Young Man, tackles youth, beauty, and aging in prose that The New York Times described as “fresh as a series of slaps to the face, filled with reckless energy,” and he has just completed a memoir that focuses on a lifetime of reading. “I’m under no illusion I’ll be read 50 years from now,” says White. “Everyone’s memory banks are wiped instantly these days. I hope the millennials, if they read me, will understand how difficult the pre-Stonewall era was — and how heroic we were during the height of the AIDS crisis.” 

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Union Station, Los Angeles, on August 26, 2016.

“I’ve learned that you have to embrace who you truly are, because that’s when the world is going to love you most,” says Ray Santiago, who plays Pablo, the trusty sidekick to zombie slayer Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) on the Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead. When contemplating his role as an out public figure, Santiago turns his thoughts to the victims of the tragedy in Orlando this summer. “That could be me,” he says, “so I want to show the world a positive portrayal of a gay Latino man, and of a Latino character who is trying to be a hero.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 30, 2016.

Marcelo Gomes is a dynamo of dance, having just produced his first gala in Brazil with a handful of dancers from the American Ballet Theatre. He recently opened the fall season with the ABT at Lincoln Center, but Gomes still finds time to develop and improve choreography in the studio. And though dance has long been a sanctuary and favored form of expression for the LGBT community, Gomes recognizes that such expression isn’t embraced everywhere. “I’m constantly thinking of those whose environments are not so progressive and inclusive,” he says, “and wishing them strength and courage.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in london on september 8, 2016.

Vogue called Daniel Lismore “London’s most outrageous dresser,” so it’s no surprise he doesn’t own T-shirts, jeans, or a sweatshirt (“apart from a Mariah Carey hoodie I wear to bed,” he says). The creative director of the women’s line Sorapol celebrated his retrospective at the Savannah College of Art & Design this year, titled “Be Yourself; Everyone Else Is Already Taken.” Life wasn’t always easy. “I’ve been beaten up and flown all over the world,” he says. But he keeps going: In 2017, he’ll take his show to Art Basel Miami and serve as an ambassador for the Tate Modern.

Photography by Gavin Bond. Groomer: Amber Amos for The Only Agency using Sisley Paris. Photographed New York in September 30, 2016.

Josiah Wise’s greatest strength as an artist is his ability to bring contrasting elements together to create something wholly original. His look — septum ring, glittered beard, the words suicide and heaven tattooed on his head — is severe yet playful, while the modern-day spirituals he performs as Serpentwithfeet offer tragedy and uplift in equal measure. Wise grew up in Baltimore singing gospel (“I was groomed to be a church queen,” he says) and trained classically at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts before settling in New York, where he released his stunning EP, Blisters, in September. For him, being an out person of color means “not being afraid to look in.” Says Wise, “I’m inventing new ways to commit to myself. I plan to keep reminding myself that my darkness — my blackness — is my best resource, and I hope I can be a small reminder that there’s space for all modes of queerness.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed in Runyon Canyon, Los Angeles on August 25, 2016.

Following his guest spot as Oliver, the love interest to Connor (Jack Falahee) on the ABC hit How to Get Away With Murder, Conrad Ricamora has become a series regular. When an onscreen kiss between the actors was censored in the Philippines, he vented his frustrations on Twitter, ultimately calling the network to action. (The episode later aired in full.) “If we can allow each other to be totally free in who we love, that’s the key to being happy,” Ricamora says. “It’s the fears we put on ourselves that keep us in a state of unhappiness.”

Photography by Gavin Bond. Photographed at Mitchell Gold, Beverly Hills, Calif., on August 25, 2016.

Emerson Collins, Blake McIver, and Scott Nevins have the kind of wit and rapport that makes people want to watch them watching TV. Lucky for them, that’s the conceit of Bravo’s The People’s Couch, which finds the friends talking back to the boob tube. And viewers wanting to know everything about the trio. McIver (above, right) grew up onscreen (he had a role on Full House) and has been out for many years, but he’s had to come out more than once. “When we started filming The People’s Couch, it was like a second outing online,” he says. But as his castmate Nevins (above, left) is quick to add, “Every time somebody comes out, or is gay publicly, it’s just another piece of the puzzle that builds us stronger as a community. We still have a lot of brothers and sisters who are forced to stay in the closet, and our job is to help them to feel comfortable enough to come out at the workplace.” Their show may be pure entertainment, featuring them weighing in on everything from Empire to this year’s Golden Globes, but Collins (center, and best known for the TV series Sordid Lives) says the very act of “continuing to stand up and be counted as a member of our community is an important aspect of being in the public eye in any capacity.”