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Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Rebekah Aladdin
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Jacket: Versace, Ring: Armature
Photographed in Los Angeles
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Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Vanessa Evelyn
Styling: Michael Cook
Coat: Stella McCartney, Turtleneck: Canali
Photographed in Union Square, New York, on August 30, 2017
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Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Rebekah Aladdin
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Suit: Moschino, Shirt: Theory available at Bloomingdale's, Shoes: Prada, Rings: Armature
Photographed in Los Angeles
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Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Sweater: Bottega Veneta
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
Read the cover story, here.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Sweater: Bottega Veneta
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
Read the cover story, here.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Jacket, Sweater, Pants & Shoes: Hermés
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
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Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Hair: Kozmo
Dress: Christian Siriano
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 21, 2017
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Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Hair: Kozmo
Dress: Christian Siriano
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 21, 2017
Read the cover story, here.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Hair: Kozmo
Dress: Altuzarra
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 21, 2017
Read the cover story, here.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Ian Isiah
Groomer: Camille Thompson at Exclusive Artists using Peter Thomas Roth
Jacket: Helmut Lang Seen by Shayne Oliver
Photographed at Ludlow Studio, New York, on October 3, 2017
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Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Ian Isiah
Groomer: Camille Thompson at Exclusive Artists using Peter Thomas Roth
Shirt: Helmut Lang Seen by Shayne Oliver, Glasses: Hood By Air x Gentle Monster
Photographed at Ludlow Studio, New York, on October 3, 2017
Read the cover story, here.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Ian Isiah
Groomer: Camille Thompson at Exclusive Artists using Peter Thomas Roth
Shirt: Helmut Lang Seen by Shayne Oliver, Glasses: Hood By Air x Gentle Monster
Photographed at Ludlow Studio, New York, on October 3, 2017
The release of Battle of the Sexes, a movie chronicling the iconic 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King (played by Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell), was something of a nostalgic head trip for legendary player King. “The film helped me stop for a few moments and really appreciate what we did back then,” she says of her pioneering crusade for equal salaries for female athletes and her role in founding the Women’s Tennis Association. (These achievements helped her earn the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.) If BOTS’s gender pay-gap debate resonated with audiences today, King sees it as a sign of the work we still have to do to shake up the status quo. “There’s this old-boys network,” she says. “My whole life has involved watching men sticking up for each other every day and helping each other out.” For this reason, King pushes for all women to play sports, regardless of ability, if only to learn the camaraderie that men take for granted. “I don’t care if they aren’t any good,” she says. “They will learn the culture of men and how to navigate difficult situations.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Helen Jeffers at AIM Agency
Photographed at Smashbox Studio, Los Angeles, on September 15, 2017
“All comedy comes from drama—if you start there, you can’t go wrong.” This is Sean Hayes’s secret for a great comedic performance, something to which he’s no stranger. For eight seasons, the actor portrayed Jack McFarland, everyone’s favorite flamboyant next-door neighbor, on NBC’s Will & Grace. Now, after nearly a decade, Jack is back with the rest of the gang for a ninth (and tenth) go-round of the groundbreaking sitcom. Much like his alter ego, Hayes hasn’t changed much in the interim, apart from having built a résumé of producing credits including Hot in Cleveland, Grimm, and Hollywood Game Night. “Will & Grace opened my eyes to what was going on around me: How did this all come together? ” Hayes says. “Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with building the machine.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Hair: Frankie Payne at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Michelle Diaz
Shirt: Saturdays NYC, Pants: Ben Sherman, Belt & Shoes: COS
Photographed at Smashbox Studio, Los Angeles, on September 15, 2017
Few national institutions are as irreverent as John Waters, but don’t ever mistake that irreverence for insouciance. His most definitive moment of 2017 was seeing President Trump throw paper towels at the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. “It proved once and for all, for the entire world to see, that he’s the biggest asshole in the universe,” Waters says. At 71, the filmmaking legend is busy crisscrossing continents to promote several projects, including Make Trouble, a 7-inch record of his 2015 commencement address at the Rhode Island School of Design (his book of the same name was released earlier this year). He’ll follow that up with an 18-city Christmas tour and a new book, Mr. Know-It-All, which he promises will “tell you exactly what you should do in every possible decision you could have for the rest of your life.” We’re already sold.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Photographed at Waters's home in Baltimore on September 26, 2017
The third season of Jill Soloway’s Transparent garnered seven Emmy nominations this year, marking the enduring power of a show that overhauled trans representation on TV. (The fourth season premiered in September.) Meanwhile, its creator has become an ardent and authoritative champion of blurring the lines of gender in society. In May, the same month Soloway’s feminist series I Love Dick hit Amazon, the writer, director, and producer spoke with commentator Van Jones in an Out cover story, addressing, among many other things, a personal identification as non-binary. It’s an idea the world is still struggling to grasp and embrace, which makes Soloway’s perspectives—and, by extension, creations—doubly important. “I see storytelling as an empathy machine,” they say. “When you see characters who are unfamiliar, they become familiar, and you have a new sense of them as your compatriot.” Soloway will release a memoir in 2018.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Molly Greenwald at the Wall Group
Photographed at Soloway's home in Los Angeles on October 8, 2017
This winter, the coming-of-age movie comes of age with Saturday Church. The film tells the story of Ulysses (played by newcomer Luka Kain), a 14-year-old boy questioning his gender identity, who gets kicked out of his house and ends up in a church program for LGBTQ teens. Interspersed with musical numbers and romantic yearning, it is equal parts Beautiful Thing, Glee, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. “Your found family is just as valid as your birth family,” says Kain, second from right, of the film’s message. “I hope that if queer children feel pressured to live under a false identity, they can take comfort in the fact that it does get better once you establish a supportive community around you.”
Director Damon Cardasis (center) once volunteered at a similar youth program in New York City, and he filled the Saturday Church cast with young LGBTQ performers hungry to stake out new territory. They include Indya Moore (first from left), a trans model making her film debut as Dijon, one of Ulysses’s compatriots. “Being barred from spaces or disinvited from any part of the world because of who we are doesn’t mean we aren’t good enough,” Moore says. “It only means the ones who reject us aren’t intelligent enough. Most intelligent people understand that trans folks are quite special, and those people willingly support us. I believe insight and information always prevail.”
For a project like this, the time, indeed, is now. “With all the xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, and racism going on in this world, it is more important than ever to shine a light on minorities of all races, genders, and sexual orientations, and show the incredible gifts we bring to this world,” says Cardasis. “Just by existing and telling our stories, we’re fighting back against hate and prejudice.”
(From Left) Indya Moore, Marquis Rodriguez, Damon Cardasis, Luka Kain & Alexia Garcia
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Hair: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department Using Kusco Murphy
Makeup: Vanessa Evelyn
(From Left) Moore: Top, Skirt & Shoes by Bally, Tights by Tom Ford. Rodriguez: Shirt, Pants & Shoes by Gucci. Cardasis: Suit, Shirt & Shoes by Gucci. Kain: Shirt by Tom Ford, Pants & Shoes by Gucci. Garcia: Dress & Shoes by Marc Jacobs
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on August 16, 2017
It took the presidential election for Alia Shawkat to truly grow into herself. In a May interview with Out, in which she announced she’s bisexual, the Arrested Development and Broad City standout said she’s been newly inspired to talk about being a woman, an Arab-American, and a member of the queer community. And she’s become more emboldened since. “I honestly feel very turned on,” Shawkat says. “Though our rights are at risk, I also feel this stronger wave of acceptance and sexuality that’s very exciting. I’m turned on by a lot of people right now.” Speaking of which, the actress, who recently returned for the second season of TBS’s acclaimed comedy Search Party, is looking forward to her 2018 film Duck Butter, about two women (Shawkat and Laia Costa) who must make each other orgasm every hour.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Terri Walker
Makeup: Sandy Ganzer
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on October 8, 2017
“Queer life at its best represents individual freedom in search of beauty,” says Bill T. Jones. One of our greatest choreographers, Jones has been seeking and finding for more than four decades, and 2017 has been one of his most prolific years yet. His performances have included “Analogy/Dora: Tramontane,” which traces his mother-in- law’s childhood in Belgium during World War II; “Analogy/ Ambros: The Elegant,” a study, in part, of a romance between a German man and a Jewish man that ends in madness; and “A Letter to My Nephew,” which reflects Jones’s attempt to mend his relationship with a young relative. In other words, Jones continues his singularly provocative explorations of family, race, and sexuality via dance, pushing past the boundaries of form and narrative. He will soon debut another new work in Toronto that portrays the schism between black and Irish communities during the Civil War. Although his pieces are frequently set in the past, everything Jones does is grounded in the now. “I’m in search of deeper meaning in a time evermore under the shadow of fascism,” he says. “Today asks me, ‘What are you made of? And are you really as brave as you say you are?’ ”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at Neuehouse, New York, on September 30, 2017
Phillip Picardi recognizes his privilege as “a cis, white gay man who works in media and lives in New York.” Says the digital editorial director of Teen Vogue and Allure, “I try to live my most authentic life for my queer family who might not
be able to right now.” He also brings a variety of LGBTQ perspectives to his publications, from a video series with intersex subjects to stories about transgender teens. Now, Picardi, with the help of journalist Meredith Talusan and writer Tyler Ford, has launched Condé Nast’s first queer publication, Them, which he hopes will be a “thought-provoking platform created for and by our community.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 23, 2017
Best known for directing the film adaptations of the musicals Hairspray (2007) and Rock of Ages (2012), Adam Shankman is helming the upcoming sequel to Enchanted and, this year, released his YA novel Girl About Town: A Lulu Kelly Mystery. The multihyphenate is also one of the minds behind the new streaming site YouTube Red, for which he’s co- producing the platform’s first scripted drama, Step Up: High Water, which features a young gay black dancer as the lead character. Of creating art in such dark political times, Shankman says, “I think all we can do is use our voices to speak our truth and stand up for ourselves and our beliefs—but we also have to listen.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Groomer: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Shirt: Rag & Bone (Available at Bloomingdale's), Pants: Ben Sherman, Shoes & Belt: COS
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 14, 2017
Exploring life, love, and being broke in Brooklyn may sound familiar, but Emmett Lundberg’s Brothers was no Girls. The transgender writer-director’s web series about transmasculine friends tackled testosterone and top surgery when it debuted in 2014. Now, he’s back with the boys for an upcoming third season when we need it most. For Lundberg, who grew up not even knowing trans people existed, serving as a voice for his community has been an opportunity for which he is incredibly grateful. “It’s increasingly crucial to be vigilant and speak out against injustices,” he says. “Being able to add to the narrative has been life-changing.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Coat & Jacket: A.P.C.
Photographed at Neuehouse, New York, on September 30, 2017
“I didn’t make a choice to go dark, but I did make a choice to really honor how I was feeling,” Jonny Pierce says of his latest album. For Abysmal Thoughts, the Drums singer went solo—having split from his longtime collaborator, keyboardist Jacob Graham—and put to page the titular thoughts that plagued him after his recent divorce sunk him into a deep depression. Through the process, he rediscovered himself, crafted an excellent ’80s-inspired indie pop record, and learned one vital lesson among many: “There’s no real point in anything if you’re not being yourself,” Pierce says. “No more, no less.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Shirt: Vintage Moschino, Sweater: AMI, Jeans: A.P.C.
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
John Hanning’s images are impossible to miss: rainbow-bright photos of towheaded boys with the words I SURVIVED AIDS stamped beneath them. That’s what happened to Hanning, who came back from the brink of death in the mid-’90s and today makes art
in Bushwick. (His 2015 book, Unfortunate Male, tells his powerful story.) Though harrowing, Hanning’s tale of loneliness and perseverance feels universal. “Our stories connect us—they make us who we are,” he says. “I feel lucky that I get to hear what people think about my work by participating in public engagement.” Hanning has spoken to hundreds of people with similar narratives of survival, and he feels a responsibility to give voice to their experiences. “It’s not just about me,” says the artist, who, presented work at the “Black Mirror Pink Reflections” exhibit at New York’s Spring/Break Art Show earlier this year. “It’s about all of us.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Coat: Berluti, Turtleneck: Sandro, Hat: Nick Fouquet
Photographed at Capsule Studio, New York, on August 30, 2017
For Colton Haynes, 2017 has been a light at the end of a tunnel. Last year, he came out to Entertainment Weekly, shared his tumultuous journey in a cover story for Out, and gave a tearful speech when accepting the HRC’s Visibility Award. “Even after that, I initially found myself lowering my voice and not making eye contact with people,” he says, “but over the past year I’ve been able to fully open myself up.” Haynes’s self-actualization has reaped him benefits onscreen and off. He returned to MTV’s Teen Wolf for its final season; had a major queer role in this fall’s American Horror Story: Cult; and got engaged, beachside, to his boyfriend, florist Jeff Leatham. In addition to reprising his role as Arsenal in The CW’s Arrow, the actor will soon play fitness expert Jack LaLanne in 2018’s fact-based film Bigger. Says Haynes, “I hope my story has made people realize that you can be gay and also be a superhero.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Hair: Iggy Rosales at Opus Beauty using Oribe
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty using Chanel Les Beiges
Turtleneck: Prada
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on October 9, 2017
From Absolutely Fabulous and The Comeback to Broadway’s Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Nathan Lee Graham has appeared in some of your favorite stage and screen romps. This year, as flamboyant bar patron Willy, he stole the show in Max Vernon’s off-Broadway triumph The View UpStairs, a boldly queer and multiethnic musical about the ill-fated 1970s gay bar the UpStairs Lounge. “I just hope my mere presence and continued professionalism make for a constant and positive influence for all,” Graham says. “My motto is, ‘Whoever you are, whatever you are—become more of it.’” The actor-singer will soon begin work on his first solo album, and in 2018 he’ll co-star in the new Fox comedy LA to Vegas, a gig that may just make him the first series-regular out flight attendant on network TV. We’re eager to know what the view’s like up there.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Jasmine Benjamin
Hair: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty
Trench Coat: Topshop
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 12, 2017
New York City-based stand-up comedian Matteo Lane has been making the late-night rounds, appearing most recently on Stephen Colbert’s stage. “They were so warm and welcoming,” he says of the experience, “and never stopped me from being who I really am.” As a queer entertainer in today’s climate, he thinks “people who have been marginalized their whole lives are starting to be heard” and that it will ultimately bring us together. “I sometimes feel like an X-Man—Storm, if you’re wondering—trying to get the humans to see that mutants are not to be feared.” He is also currently producing an IFC series, Janice and Jeffrey, as well as an animated show about a chubby 13-year-old named Princess Cupcake. Says Lane, “It’s basically Sailor Moon meets Freaks and Geeks.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Kozmo at Exclusive Artists
Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 21, 2017
Though 2017 saw the end of HBO’s Girls, and thus the end of Andrew Rannells’s memorable portrayal of petulant, sharp-tongued Elijah Krantz, the actor won’t be left wanting for screen time. He was the voice of quippy gay middle schooler Matthew in Netflix’s hysterical animated series Big Mouth, and he’ll next star opposite Don Cheadle in Showtime’s Ball Street, and in the new Amazon series The Romanoffs. Meanwhile, he’s at work on a book of essays about his early years in New York. “I am learning that it’s not about taking opportunities that are given to you,” Rannells says. “It’s about making those opportunities for yourself.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Jacket: Berluti, Shirt: John Varvatos, Jeans & Boots: Levi's
Photographed in Union Square, New York, on August 30, 2017
At 22, Julien Baker already has a very clear vision of the kinds of songs she wants to write. “I rely most on the idea of radical vulnerability,” says the Memphis, Tenn., native. “I hope that by willing to be vulnerable about brokenness, I can also communicate the possibility of healing.” Baker has been outspoken about her struggles with addiction and coming out in a Southern, Christian household, and if her second album, this fall’s Turn Out the Lights, is a haunting meditation on the ways our internal demons affect our personal relationships, it is also anchored by a steadfast belief that with hope and empathy comes catharsis. “It’s been a pretty emotionally charged year,” she says. “But I think when we’re immersed in social disquiet and injustice, our positive experiences carry more weight and urgency, because they seem like tiny victories.” Consider the music Baker makes a case in point.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 23, 2017
Paula Vogel already has more than a dozen plays—not to mention a Pulitzer Prize for Drama—under her belt, but at 65 she seems to be hitting a new stride. In 2016, some 40 years after beginning her graduate work, she was awarded her Ph.D. in theater arts from Cornell University. Her thesis: Indecent, a play about the 1923 Broadway premiere of The God of Vengeance, a lesbian-themed drama by Sholem Asch that was considered so controversial, the cast and producer of the show were arrested for obscenity. When Vogel took her own work to Broadway this spring, the reception couldn’t have been more different: The New York Times called Indecent a story of “remarkable power,” and it won two Tonys, proving that its themes of anti-Semitism, homophobia, and censorship resonate all too well today. “As a queer person I want to stand behind immigrants, communities of color, and all of us whose rights are threatened,” says Vogel, who also received an Obie Lifetime Achievement Award in May. “We have to protect our loves and our lives.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Walton Nunez
Photographed at the Vineyard Theatre, New York, on September 29, 2017
The death of Poussey Washington, Samira Wiley’s beloved Orange Is the New Black character, was one of the toughest blows for binge-watchers last year. Luckily, Wiley was back on television in no time, playing the thick-skinned lesbian activist Moira in this summer’s dystopian thriller The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu’s adaptation of the Margaret Atwood classic. The performance earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, while the show itself walked away with eight wins, including for best drama. “The work that I’ve been part of during the course of my career has made me who I am today,” says Wiley, who married OITNB writer and producer Lauren Morelli in March. “Visibility is incredibly powerful, and I feel very blessed to be exactly who I am at this exact moment in history.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Hair: Derick Monroe
Makeup: Tim Mackay
Dress: Gucci
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 23, 2017
YouTube comedian Randy Rainbow bolstered his fan base in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, releasing a series of “it’s funny ’cause it’s sad AF” parody songs and videos about Donald Trump and his seemingly bottomless basket of deplorables. In the process, he has become an essential queer voice—one that can soften the blow of even the most troubling news seeping out of the White House. And that’s no joke. “The current administration and what it’s unearthed has quickly reminded us how vulnerable we still are,” he says. “Our struggle is still very real.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed in Times Square, New York, on October 6, 2017
Thanks in part to her outlandish costume reveals in one of the most theatrical RuPaul’s Drag Race finales ever, Sasha Velour claimed the season 9 crown. Now, America’s reigning Next Drag Superstar is intent on spreading her influence, which she considers vital for queer creatives. “It’s our responsibility, as well as our special ability, to actively queer things,” Velour says, “shifting and expanding people’s understanding of what is possible, what’s gorgeous, and what’s real.” With a fashion collection and children’s book on the horizon, the bald, bold entertainer is proving that her own possibilities know no bounds.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Photographed at Yotel Hotel, New York, on September 8, 2017
Ned Price made the first big splash of the Resistance. On February 20, the former CIA analyst resigned via a Washington Post op-ed, saying he had planned to be a lifelong agency employee but could no longer stomach Trump’s disrespect for the intelligence community. “During my time in government, I was fortunate to work alongside, and for, some of the most courageous people I’ve ever met,” says Price, who also served as a special assistant to President Obama. “Taking a cue from their bravery, I didn’t find my choice to be all that difficult.” Today, Price provides analysis on MSNBC and hopes to rejoin public service after this “dark, but fleeting period” ends. “I have tremendous hope for the future,” he says. “The character of this country isn’t defined by—nor can it be changed by—one man, not even the president. We’ll emerge from this certainly worse for the wear in some areas but with our core qualities still intact.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Shauné Hayes
Photographed at Union 206 Studio, Alexandria, VA., on September 25, 2017
Parker Kit Hill’s appearance on this year’s season of Broad City—in an episode that allowed him to work with RuPaul—exposed him to countless new fans. But the actor, singer, ballet dancer, and comedian had already amassed vast followings on Twitter and Instagram after blowing up on Vine. Hill is the leggy, bendy embodiment of a social-media success story, and his saturation of users’ feeds has led to a slew of new opportunities, from brand endorsements and magazine editorials to a starring role in the music video for queer duo Superfruit’s song “Sexy Ladies.” Says Hill, “I hope the things I’ve created will inspire not only LGBTQ people but people of any race or sex. I try to act as a pair of goggles for people to see that it’s OK to be you in this time of craziness.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Kozmo at Exclusive Artists
Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 21, 2017
Before 2017, Mitch Grassi (right) and Scott Hoying (left) were best known as the cute gay members of the top-selling a cappella group Pentatonix. Now, after releasing a steady stream of peppy songs and videos as the spin-off act Superfruit, the singers and best friends have crafted a new musical identity. Both catchy and buoyantly queer, tracks like “Imaginary Parties” and “Worth It (Perfect)”—both off their debut EP Future Friends—are the kind of uplifting tracks that could make struggling LGBTQ kids dance around their living rooms with hope. “We’ve really learned to own who we are and not be afraid of what others think,” Hoying says. “We want to inspire queer youth, and we’ve had feedback from fans saying we’ve helped or saved them.” Grassi, who hints at an upcoming Superfruit tour, says the content of their songs has been resonant, too. “People applaud us for our normalization of queer romantic pronouns,” he says. “That’s sweet, but I couldn’t imagine not writing in my own voice.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Candice Lambert
Groomer: Nicole Faulkner
Grassi: Shirt by Balenciaga, Pants by Delada. Hoying: Suit by D. Gnak, Shirt by Alexander McQueen
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on October 8, 2017
Casey Spooner will forever be associated with the electroclash phenomenon of the early 2000s—something he proudly acknowledges, given the impression the gaudy, gritty, sex-positive movement left on the pop landscape. “Now everyone is a performance artist, and everyone’s wearing a weird outfit,” the Fischerspooner front man says. “The challenge is to continue forward while respecting our past.” That’s what he set out to do this summer when he presented his exhibit “Sir” at the Mumok contemporary-art museum in Vienna. A collaboration with photographer Yuki James, it included various shots of Spooner nearly naked with friends and ex-lovers, and served as a prelude to Fischerspooner’s upcoming fourth album, also titled Sir. Produced by Boots and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, the record will offer a taste of the new-and-improved, “aggressively homosexual” Spooner. “I’m doing everything I can to be vocal,” he says. “I’m going to be a proud faggot, and I’m not going to be quiet or hide it.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Jacket: Gucci, Pants: H&M
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on September 7, 2017
Bisexual actress, filmmaker, and activist Lina Esco is currently starring as the only female team member on CBS’s S.W.A.T. But since directing the doc Free the Nipple in 2014, Esco has made women’s equality her top priority. Her initiative, The Human Campaign, aims at passing the Equal Rights Amendment, which would etch gender equality into the American Constitution. “One hundred thirty countries have language in their constitution that states men and women are equal—we don’t,” she explains. “Free the Nipple was the beginning. The Human Campaign is next.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Hair: Frankie Payne at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Michelle Diaz
Dress: Allen Schwartz
Photographed at Smashbox Studio, Los Angeles, on September 15, 2017
In March of 1958, Alvin Ailey and his company jeté’d onto the stage with a legendary performance at the 92nd Street Y—and the world of dance was never the same. Now approaching its 60th anniversary, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to expand on the legacy of its late founder, one of many great gay luminaries to succumb to AIDS (he passed away in 1989).
With a new, 10,000-square-foot wing at The Joan Weill Center for Dance; new productions by Twyla Tharp, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and Talley Beatty; and a 21-city North American tour kicking off in January, the dancers in Ailey’s theater are sharing his tenacious spirit with new generations, as well as experiencing their own milestones. This past May, Michael Francis McBride and Samuel Lee Roberts got engaged in a very dancer-appropriate ceremony: an elaborately choreographed flash-mob number. Roberts had been planning the stunt for nearly a full year, and McBride was suitably caught off guard. “Tears still come to my eyes thinking about his proposal,” McBride says.
Perhaps because of their impending nuptial bliss, Roberts and McBride are optimistic about their place in the country. Vernard J. Gilmore, however, has a different outlook. “It’s always been scary for me as a queer American,” he says. “Even though we see more tolerance, acceptance seems far off. That shouldn’t have to be asked for—it should just be a part of being human.”
All of the dancers—including Yannick Lebrun, a native of French Guiana and the face (and body) of Ailey’s 2016–17 season—hope that their chosen art form will not only entertain, but move and inspire. “I first started dance because I saw a lecture demonstration given by the Dance Theatre of Harlem,” says Jermaine Terry. “Whenever I do a mini performance for children, I always dance for the child that was once me in the audience.” Daniel Harder agrees, saying, “I hope whenever someone sees me perform, they see a reflection of themselves.”
(From Left) Yannick Lebrun, Michael Francis McBride, Samuel Lee Roberts, Daniel Harder, Vernard J. Gilmore & Jermaine Terry
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Photographed at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York, on September 19, 2017
Best known as the nerdy, charming—and missing— sidekick Barb on Netflix’s Stranger Things (a role that nabbed her an Emmy nom), Shannon Purser will look back on 2017 as a pivotal year, one in which she came out as bisexual. “I hope I can use my privilege to help anyone who is questioning their sexuality or gender identity,” the actress says. In addition to having guest-starred on another hit series, The CW’s Riverdale, Purser will appear in NBC’s high school drama Rise and as the title character in the forthcoming film Sierra Burgess Is a Loser.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Stephanie TriCola at Honey Artists
Hair & Makeup: David Tibolla at Exclusive Artists Using Laura Mercier
Fashion Assistant: Natasha Bock
Dress: Anthropologie, Jacket: Lane Bryant, Necklace: Coach, Snake Ring: Kalevala Jewelry, Other Rings: Haardstick Jewelry
Photographed at Neuehouse, New York, on September 30, 2017
If you follow only one Twitter news feed, make it Kyle Griffin’s. The producer for MSNBC’s Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell expertly—and constantly—curates and analyzes all the significant political news of the day (and usually well into the night). More than 266,000 followers can’t be wrong. “I hope our community stays engaged and informed,” Griffin says. “It’s never been more important to arm yourself with the facts. You don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room, but you should be the most accurate.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on October 5, 2017
It’s been 30 years since Amy Ray and Emily Saliers released Strange Fire, their debut album as the Indigo Girls, launching their career at a time when female singer-songwriters like Tracy Chapman, Sinéad O’Connor, and Suzanne Vega were beginning to enjoy international success. Their activism and queer sensibility have always been in plain sight, sometimes to their detriment—in the late ’90s, high schools in South Carolina and Tennessee canceled some of their scheduled gigs after parents complained about having lesbians near their children. But their gutsy determination to put music to the service of social progress has influenced a generation of musicians, including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, who appeared on Ray’s 2014 solo record, Goodnight Tender. Now working with Ray on their 15th studio album together, Saliers also found time in 2017 to release her first solo LP, Murmuration Nation. “Music has always had an extremely powerful effect on culture, from the songs of Woody Guthrie to the Vietnam protest songs of the ’60s and ’70s, to the raw truth of political rap,” says Saliers. “In these times of U.S. internal conflict, I already see a rise in songs outwardly seeking ‘spirituality,’ and I know that Indigo Girls fans still relate to music as a way to engage in and celebrate life.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Murdick at Opus Beauty
Photographed at Los Angeles on September 12, 2017
As editor in chief of The Huffington Post, Lydia Polgreen is giving “the mic to voices that don’t get heard.” It’s a critical responsibility in today’s divisive news landscape, and one she’s well equipped to tackle, not only as a former editorial director and West Africa bureau chief at The New York Times, but as a black queer woman. “I’m eager to listen, and to amplify those voices,” she says. “Really hearing one another is the best source of inspiration.” That’s especially true for marginalized people working under the looming shadow of President Trump, and Polgreen is leading a full, diverse editorial team that is hungry to report the truth. Says Polgreen, “Complacency is not an option.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at Neuhouse, New York, on September 30, 2017
As Shonda Rhimes’s ABC hit Scandal twists and turns through its seventh (and final) season, there’s an urge to reflect on what it gave us. It broke a glass ceiling the real world couldn’t, featuring TV drama’s first female president of the United States, and it also treated viewers to Huck, an intense, vulnerable former spy played by Guillermo Díaz. The actor—who says he hopes to inspire people just by being “a gay Latino, doing my thing very matter- of-factly”—has been there for the show’s entirety, skirting the law, hacking foreign governments, and making everyone squirm amid Olivia Pope’s (Kerry Washington) machinations. For Díaz, it’s been a remarkable ride that he hates to see end, but he’ll continue to be, as Huck would say, “a gladiator,” even after the cameras stop rolling. “We have a lot of work to do, and I am ready to stand up for our rights,” he says, “or take a knee.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Hair: Frankie Payne at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Michelle Diaz
Jacket: Frenn
Photographed at Smashbox Studio, Los Angeles, on September 15, 2017
“The most gratifying work-related experience of my life has been learning that people all over the world felt motivated, comforted, connected, and reassured by The L Word,” says Ilene Chaiken, the series’ creator, who is about to revive the cult hit series on its original network, Showtime. The return of her L.A. lesbian crew is one of the many ironsin Chaiken’s fire, which also includes a creative deal at Fox, showrunning Empire, and raising two children. What’s more, the multitalent penned the original script sold to Hulu for The Handmaid’s Tale, eventually serving as one of the series’ executive producers. Once again, Chaiken can be counted among the cutting-edge TV visionaries giving voice to those in the margins.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 12, 2017
Kristin Beck has a way of speaking power to power. When President Trump tweeted that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve in the military, the trans Navy SEAL tweeted back at him, YOU just opened a can of WHOOP-ASS!!!! MEET ME & tell me I’m not WORTHY to my face. That’s a meeting we’d like be in the room for. “I am not your rainbow-farting unicorn,” says Beck, who earned a Purple Heart for being wounded in action, one of 27 medals she was awarded for bravery in battles stretching from Bosnia to Iraq to Afghanistan. Since retiring in 2011, just a few months shy of the capture of Osama bin Laden, she has published a memoir, run for Congress, and worked with the Pentagon on 29 drafts of policy for the open inclusion of trans people in the military. “I have dedicated my life to the defense of America and its values,” she says. “I am a defender and a sheepdog. I will fight for my rights, and though it won’t always be politically correct, this is my fight, and we will win.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Shauné Haynes
Photographed at Union 206 Studio, Alexandria VA., on September 25, 2017
Leave it to a visionary like Bryan Fuller to take on the herculean task of making a great TV show out of Neil Gaiman’s epic novel American Gods. The gay writer and producer, who was also behind Pushing Daisies and Hannibal, tackled the story of Gods (and American culture) in a way that was wild, refreshing, and unapologetically queer. But it’s in a plot involving the romance between two Middle Eastern men that he takes the most pride. Says Fuller, “I hope men who have been shamed about their sexuality watch this love story and see that they are not only deserving of love, but that it is their basic human right.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Grooming: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Shirt: Gucci
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 14, 2017
“All I know how to do is fight,” says military veteran Connie Rice. “But being an activist requires more than just being angry.” That sentiment strikes at the heart of what more than 134,000 U.S. transgender service members began to grapple with when the president announced a proposed ban on trans troops in July.
For many, Trump’s three tweets on the matter became confirmation that the current administration is not on their side. “We have Trump and then the hateful GOP, who are doing all that they can to make us disappear from society,” says transgender vet Donna Price.
Yet, despite “efforts by a spiteful minority,” as activist Ann Murdoch puts it, trans service members still have hope for, and, most important, pride in their country.
For this brave group, the decision to serve came while navigating their own transitioning identities. “Duty automatically came before self,” explains Shawn Skelly. “I cannot imagine my life without having served.”
Skelly’s fellow service members echo her underlying compassion for the armed forces. “My patriotism does not have an asterisk on it,” says Kimberly Moore, though at times she feels like she is “pushing against a wave just to get rights that others take for granted.”
As dark as the days may seem, Brynn Tannehill insists, “The more of us there are, the harder it becomes to silence us.” Indeed, given the elevation of trans issues into the national dialogue—an unprecedented shift from even five years ago— these troubling setbacks may be temporary. As Sara Simone says, “The strength of America is that she can change.”
(Clockwise From Top Left) Shawn Skelly, Sara Simone, Ray Duval, Ann Murdoch, Brynn Tannehill, Connie Rice, Mia Mason, Donna Price & Kimberly Moore
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Shauné Hayes
Photographed at Union 206 Studio, Alexandra, VA., on September 25, 2017
“I think it goes back to visibility,” says DaShawn Usher, mulling over the biggest problem facing black queer men in America today. “We’re getting to a place where people can finally show up and be themselves, but we have to hold each other accountable. How do we bring other black gay men into the fold and continue to keep this community in mind?” To meet these challenges, Usher applied for a grant from the New York City Department of Health and, with the help of friends, started MOBI, the Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative. This past fall, they held a series of talks around the city, with prominent queer men of color offering words of wisdom and guidance. In May, the organization will present MOBIFest, a multi-day celebration of black queer excellence with an emphasis on holistic health. “I definitely want people to walk away knowing there are others who care,” Usher says of MOBI’s mission. “There is a black gay community that exists and wants to support each other.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Walton Nunez
Photographed at the New York Blood Center on September 29, 2017
For Charles Rogers, co-creator of the hit TBS series Search Party, queer storytelling is about more than featuring LGBTQ actors and characters. “As a former imaginative kid who grew up in the closet, I often feel like my queerness is in my sense of irony and this bird’s-eye view of life that being ‘other’ affords you,” says the 30-year-old writer-director, whose sharp, offbeat sensibility helped earn the comedy-mystery its second season, which Rogers describes as “darker and more daring.” Next up: prepping for Men Don’t Whisper, a feature-length version of a short film he and his boyfriend made in which they play a gay couple who try to sleep with women to prove their masculinity to each other. Says Rogers, “We decided we need to start working out now if we plan to shoot in a year.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Suit, Shirt & Tie: Louis Vuitton
Photographed at TriBeCa Journal Studio, New York, on August 16, 2017
Wrabel’s debut EP, We Could Be Beautiful, represents the singer-songwriter’s journey toward writing same-sex love songs—a triumph that meant breaking free from his evangelical upbringing and learning to love himself. “I remember the first time I wrote ‘man’ in a song,” says the artist, whose full name is Stephen Wrabel. “I was so scared, but it was so freeing. I never thought I’d make it out of the closet.” Now, he’s begun telling others’ stories, from co-writing Kesha’s recent female-empowerment anthem “Woman” to penning “The Village” in response to Trump’s trans military ban. “My biggest goal is to give people hope and offer understanding. We’re all just trying to love and find ourselves.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Jasmine Benjamin
Hair: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty Using Chanel Les Beiges
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 12, 2017
“It feels like it was written tomorrow,” says Michael Urie of Torch Song, this fall’s New York revival of Harvey Fierstein’s watershed 1979-82 play cycle, which had “Trilogy” in the title back then. Directed by Moisés Kaufman from an edited script by Fierstein, the show stars Urie as Arnold, a lovelorn drag queen who longs to be a husband and father. “[He explores] what it means to have legitimate romance and if it is possible,” says Urie. “I find that so many people are lovesick and yearning, and waiting for this discussion.” It’s the era of post–marriage equality—the ideal has been achieved. But what does it mean to be a committed couple in the context of that ideal? Fierstein considered Arnold’s struggle so relevant to the present day that he trimmed the text but didn’t rewrite it. “It’s totally different, and yet it’s no different,” he says of dating and relationships in 2017 versus 1977. “We all grow up in the same homes—some with wonderful examples of marriage, some with a terrible home life. We carry those pasts into our love lives.”
(From Left) Moisés Kaufman, Harvey Fierstein & Michael Urie
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at the Tony Kiser Theater, New York, on October 5, 2017
The designers Jeffrey Costello (left) and Robert Tagliapietra (right) are proof that no matter what your skill, you can always put it to the service of a greater good. The duo, who recently pivoted from their 11-year-old ready-to-wear women’s line to an online portal of plaid shirts for men, wasted no time in responding to Trump’s proposed military ban on trans people this summer. Their brand, JCRT, offered a plaid shirt for which all proceeds went to trans-focused organizations. In 2018, the pair plan to expand on the ways in which they give back to the broader queer community. “We have to protect the family we have built, and the rights that so many have fought so hard for, so that we can all have the freedoms we deserve as humans,” says Costello. “We have to be vigilant for those who may not have the same voice and privilege we do.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Shirts: JCRT
Photographed at JCRT's New York Showroom on August 16, 2017
“I am a gay, Muslim, Arab-American man,” Haaz Sleiman said in a video he posted to his Facebook page on August 22. The post, in which Sleiman also proudly divulged his sexual preference as a bottom, served as a militant coming out for the Nurse Jackie actor, who spoke up in response to a recent study about the rising rates of LGBTQ murders. “It’s very exciting to finally see Americans fighting for each other against racism, sexism, and homophobia,” he says now. “It means I have to make sure my voice is heard.” Hailed for his work in films like The Visitor, Sleiman has also appeared in TV dramas like ER, 24, and 2017’s The State, and can next be seen opposite John Krasinski in Michael Bay’s Paramount/Amazon series Jack Ryan. “I get to humanize the ‘terrorist,’ ” Sleiman says of his role, “but for me he is a freedom fighter.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Mark-Paul Barro
Groomer: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Jacket: Rag & Bone available at Bloomingdale's, Hat available at Dady Bones
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 14, 2017
When Jane Greenwood started her career in the early 1990s, she decided she was going to make room for women, ethnic minorities, and the LGBTQ community in the architecture and construction industries. One way she did this was by spearheading the creation of the first tourist map to document site-specific locations associated with lesbian and gay history in three NYC neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, Midtown, and Harlem. “I was proud to be out then, and I’m still proud,” she says. “There has always been a cause worth fighting for in our community. The topics may change, but the need to speak out has not. I’m still fired up after all these years.” The managing principal of the Kostow Greenwood firm, Greenwood was also recently named a “Woman of Influence” by New York Business Journal.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Photographed at the SiriusXM HQ Lobby Designed by Kostow Greenwood Architects, New York, on October 3, 2017
In the second half of Broadway’s Come From Away, the 9/11-themed musical takes a brief pause from its ensemble to spotlight Jenn Colella. Dressed in a pilot’s uniform, the actress takes a step toward the audience, then sings about the difficulties of becoming a commercial airline captain in a male-dominated industry. The conviction with which Colella delivers each stanza feels wickedly personal—like a war cry for gender rights dolled up in show-tune pomp. This year, Colella’s accolades for the performance included a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, but she says her highlight of 2017 was having Hillary Clinton in her audience: “Singing a song about women breaking glass ceilings directly to this powerhouse leader is a moment I’ll never forget.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at Neue House, New York, on September 30, 2017
When Viceland’s globetrotting series Gaycation premiered in 2016, co-host and executive producer Ellen Page was the marquee attraction. But Ian Daniel, her onscreen confidant and real-life best friend, emerged from the show as a star in his own right. The platform has ignited his media presence, his activism, and his art (he has a handful of documentary and scripted projects in the works), and it’s placed him on the front lines of some of the year’s most pivotal moments—like Trump’s inauguration and the Women’s March in D.C. “As people from all over the country came in for the Women’s March, the city exploded to life in the most vibrant, ferocious way,” he says. “New communities and voices that will change this country were being united and created that day.” With Page, Daniel is brainstorming Gaycation’s future, while developing other LGBTQ-focused collaborations.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Coat: Topman, Jacket & Turtleneck: Canali, Pants: Coach, Socks: Falke, Shoes: Ermenegildo Zegna Couture
Photographed at Union Square, New York, on August 30, 2017
Recording every step of confirming one’s gender identity isn’t just rare—it can also be cathartic and healing. Take vlogger Gigi Gorgeous, who began rigorously chronicling her transition on YouTube in 2013. The footage became the basis of this year’s buzzed-about Sundance documentary This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, and it helped elevate Gorgeous to new heights, including a major Revlon campaign and a new gig on MTV's iconic show Total Request Live, where her presence gives a boost to trans visibility. “There are those who will try to deny our rights and pass unjust laws,” she says. “But we will never go away. To stop taking action is to surrender ourselves.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Makeup: Hilary Montez
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on October 8, 2017
When Hole drummer Patty Schemel came out in a 1995 Rolling Stone cover story, the declaration was considered radical. “But after that, kids would come up to me to say thank you for being someone they could relate to in mainstream media,” Schemel says. Decades later, the 50-year-old musician has chronicled her journey in Hit So Hard, a new memoir about sexual discovery, addiction, and navigating the music industry as a queer woman in rock. “Entertainment was a doorway to people who seemed similar to me,” Schemel says. “It’s important for [queer people] to express who we are and not edit ourselves—to create art, make films, write music, and sing songs about our experience.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 12, 2017
If there were ever a way to bring back our emotional connection to MTV, it’s through Total Request Live. Chris McCarthy had the same idea when he took over as MTV’s president last year, and his TRL revival is just one way he’s helped usher in a new, diverse era for the network. Besides removing gendered categories from awards shows, McCarthy also worked to amplify the marginalized voices of immigration advocates and transgender service members, as reflected in the telecast for August’s Video Music Awards. For McCarthy, it’s all part of the ongoing struggle for equality. “Our progress has been tremendous, but it’s so fragile,” he says. “We have to fight for it here and abroad every single day.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Photographed at McCarthy's MTV Office in New York, on September 19, 2017
In competitive sports, you generally want to be first. Schuyler Bailar had spent much of his life accumulating firsts, but in 2015, after being accepted to Harvard, and transitioning during a gap year, the swimmer achieved one truly historic first: becoming the first openly trans athlete to compete on an NCAA Division I men’s team. Since then, he has traveled around the country speaking to schools and organizations about diversity and inclusion. “When I was coming out, I searched everywhere for someone like me, but I found no one,” Bailar says. “After that experience, I felt I couldn’t express myself and do the sport I love.” But Bailar persevered, and moreover, he’s fighting to make sure others find what he didn’t: “I want them to see a picture of me and think, He exists. I can, too.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook, Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Tuxedo, Shirt & Bow Tie: The Black Tux, Cuff Links: Thomas Pink
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
“My strangest ideas always end up being the things I’m the most satisfied with,” says Will Wiesenfeld. The beautifully strange albums the 28-year-old Los Angeles-based singer and producer records under the name Baths have been equally satisfying for listeners, offering an off-kilter, uncompromising, decidedly queer take on pop. “Out,” a highlight from this year’s Romaplasm, details his complex feelings about being both out at a club and an out gay person, proving that he isn’t afraid of exposing his insecurities or celebrating his otherness. “I’d hope that if nothing else, I inspire queer artistic people to be themselves,” Wiesenfeld says. “It has worked for me in spades.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Iggy Rosales at Opus Beauty using Oribe
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty using Chanel Les Bieges
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on October 9, 2017
“There have only been a few black ready-to-wear designers, even fewer that are genderless, and even fewer that are independent and able to stay in business,” says Telfar Clemens, whose New York-based label, Telfar, won this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. For Clemens, most fashion is “very much a function of separating people by class” and gender, but his goal as a designer is to influence the way we dress, regardless of who we are. “I want my clothes to be normal,” he says, “not because I change them but because the idea of what’s normal changes.” Clemens came closer to “normalizing” his brand earlier this year when he unveiled his collaboration with White Castle, for which he helped redesign uniforms for all 10,000 of the chain’s employees.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
After the boffo success of Patty Jenkins’s summer blockbuster, Wonder Woman is riding high in her invisible plane, as interest in her has reached a peak not seen since Lynda Carter’s heyday. Adding to the intrigue, Angela Robinson’s fall film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women cast a light on the heroine’s nontraditional roots. The writer-director initially set out to do a straightforward biopic on William Moulton Marston, the man credited with creating the Amazonian princess, but soon realized Marston was best understood by examining the dynamic between him, his wife Elizabeth, and their lover, Olive Byrne. “I feel like a lot of what I’m exploring in the movie is this notion of entitlement,” Robinson says, “and how men and women flow through the world, and what opportunities they’re granted—or not.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Photographed at Smashbox Studio, Los Angeles, on September 15, 2017
Stephin Merritt turned 52 this past winter, and rather than just blow out some candles or buy himself a new pair of shoes, the Magnetic Fields frontman released a five-disc concept album detailing, in chronological order, the first 50 years of his life. Much like 69 Love Songs, the indie-pop band’s 1999 magnum opus, 50 Song Memoir is a sprawling, genre-spanning, heartbreaking, and often hilarious collection—one so rich in imagery and observation that listening to it, you start to wonder if it’s a record about your own life. From his childhood pet (“A Cat Called Dionysus”) to the origins of disco (“Hustle 76”), to the AIDS crisis (“Dreaming in Tetris”), Merritt, singing in his signature deadpan baritone, leaves no stone unturned. How, after nearly two decades in the business, does he remain so tireless? “I’m really inspired by H.R. Pufnstuf, a 1969 children’s TV show,” Merritt says. “The actors waddle around in absurd costumes, and once in a while there’s a song. That’s what life should be like, right? I do the song.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at NeueHouse, New York, on September 30, 2017
Amit Paley wants you to know that more LGBTQ youth are reaching out to the Trevor Project’s crisis hotline now than in any other time in the past 20 years. Paley, who became the organization’s CEO in June, wore many hats before assuming his new position. He was president of Harvard’s undergraduate newspaper, The Crimson, a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post in Iraq, and a consultant at McKinsey—but he sees his work with the world’s largest suicide-prevention organization for young LGBTQ people as his most important mission yet. Along with advocating for them in D.C., in the courts, and in the media, Paley is relaunching the TrevorSpace safe-space social-networking site, and bolstering the 24/7 lifeline. Its number: 866-488-7386.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Sweater: Berluti
Photographed at Capsule Studio, New York, on August 30, 2017
Richard Haines’s peerless illustrations capture fleeting glimpses of beauty and strength we could desperately use right now. He first won acclaim for his menswear and runway illustrations for the likes of GQ, but he’s expanded his purview from style icons of the ’60s to the cute boys of Bushwick (the focus of an exhibit this fall). It’s all viewable on his Instagram account, where he’s become unafraid to speak out politically. “With the election and events like the Pulse shooting in Orlando, I find it’s impossible not to address what’s happening—the loss of rights, the loss of life that we have been facing too often in the past 18 months,” he says. “It has reminded me of the power of art: to unite and heal.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Vanessa Evelyn
Photographed at Haines’s Brooklyn studio on September 19, 2017
This year, Hulu’s Difficult People joined the ranks of the funniest shows on television, its success due in no small part to Shakina Nayfack. As the trans conspiracy theorist waitress Lola, Nayfack offers a postmodern spin on the wisecracking sidekick archetype. When she’s not shooting the series, Nayfack is writing her own projects: her solo show Manifest Pussy and a new play titled Chonburi International Hotel and Butterfly Club, about “all the amazing women I met in Thailand while recovering from gender confirmation,” she says. Despite the professional momentum, her standout moment of 2017 hit a bit closer to home. “I moved in with my boyfriend this summer,” Nayfack says. “I know that’s not like winning an Emmy or solving climate change, but learning how to give and receive love in a world that constantly tries to deny your existence is a defiant and liberating exercise in itself. I wish all trans people knew how worthy of love they are.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair & Makeup: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at NeueHouse, New York, on September 30, 2017
The highlight of Benj Pasek’s year wasn’t the Tony Award that he and his songwriting partner, Justin Paul, won for their score for the Broadway smash Dear Evan Hansen. It wasn’t even the Oscar and Golden Globe they won for Best Original Song for “City of Stars,” the theme from Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood love letter La La Land. It was attending the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., with his mother. “Being there was a wonderful reminder that even when you feel powerless, you can always find your tribe, come together, and create a chorus loud enough that it demands to be heard,” says the 32-year-old Pennsylvania native, who, along with Paul, also composed songs for the new movie musical The Greatest Showman and Fox’s upcoming A Christmas Story Live! “Even if you’re not always in tune, the important thing is to sing out, Louise.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Jasmine Benjamin
Hair: Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty
Shirt: Richard James
Photographed at Hubble Studio, Los Angeles, on September 12, 2017
With her comedy, acting, music, and writing, Lane Moore is starting multiple dialogues, both rich and hilarious. The songs the onetime Cosmo editor performs with her band, It Was Romance, address struggles with mental illness, as does her new book, How to Be Alone. Meanwhile, Moore’s celebrated improv comedy show Tinder Live has hit the road, allowing more people to experience the dating-app mishaps of a bisexual—and thus “extra-single”— 20-something. Now, Moore is setting her sights on the screen, and on roles that matter. “I’m really hoping to get cast as queer characters more often,” she says, “because those spots always seem to end up going to butch women or Maxim models. Obviously those aren’t the only two ways queer women can look.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Hair & Makeup: Vanessa Evelyn
Coat: Coach
Shirt and Skirt: Levi’s
Skates available at Early Halloween NYC
Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on September 7, 2017
Sixteen months. That’s how much time passed between the Pulse nightclub tragedy and the Las Vegas massacre. It’s how long it took for headlines to declare a new “worst mass shooting in American history.” In a little over a year, Gays Against Guns, the advocacy group John Grauwiler and Kevin Hertzog cofounded with Brian Worth in the aftermath of Pulse, has become an unmistakable force. It mobilized more than 100 protesters in a single day to march through Manhattan in the name of Las Vegas—though that came as a bittersweet victory for Hertzog. “I only wish that it didn’t take a mass shooting to get the attention this issue deserves,” he says. “The stakes are literally life or death.” His sentiment echoes the heyday of ACT UP’s activism against AIDS. As Grauwiler notes, for a new generation of queer activists “there exists a sense of responsibility. Caring for your community is sexy.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Vanessa Evely
Photographed at Capsule Studio, New York, on August 30, 2017
Gavin Rayna Russom will remember 2017 as a year of new beginnings. In June, LCD Soundsystem, the previously defunct dance-punk group for which she’d been a synth player and technician, announced that it had reunited for a tour and new album, American Dream. Then, just weeks later, Russom came out publicly as a transgender woman. “If there are people struggling with some of the things I’ve struggled with, I hope that by telling my story I can help them find their own truth,” she says, “perhaps more quickly than I was able to.” Currently back on the road with LCD, Russom has also released 3 Love Songs, an EP under her alias Black Meteoric Star that addresses her early experiences transitioning. She says she’s been writing more now than ever and that her music moving forward will be inextricable from her identity. As Russom told Out in October, “I’m a trans woman, so everything that I do will be the work of a trans woman. I’m proud of that.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Styling: Michael Cook
Hair: Mahfud at Exclusive Artists
Makeup: Camille Thompson at Exclusive Artists
Dress: Loewe
Photographed at Ludlow Studio, New York, on October 3, 2017
For Kyle Abraham, the personal is always universal. His work—a synthesis of hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary dance that he calls “postmodern gumbo”—is painfully, blazingly relevant. His 2012 piece, Pavement, explored life and death in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of his youth. In last year’s Untitled America, he addressed the impact of America’s prison complex on black families. And for Dearest Home, a 90-minute show that premiered in New York this past July, he took on love and mourning through the prism of his own wrenching dislocation following the loss of his mother and the end of a relationship. “Work that speaks to those experiences of isolation and longing helps audiences find a kind of commonality,” he says. A 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Abraham has had a busy 2017—a year he characterizes as one of “realization and rejuvenation.” Along with Dearest Home, his company, Abraham.In.Motion, also premiered Drive for the 14th annual Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center in October, and he is working on a new solo piece for 2018. “It’s the first solo work I’ve made for myself in several years,” he says. “I’m really excited to dive into it.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on October 5, 2017
Jeremy Peters is one of The New York Times’s leading lights in the paper’s Washington, D.C., bureau. As a politics reporter and MSNBC analyst, he provides sharp, informed context to news that seems to break by the millisecond. “We’re witnessing the kind of fundamental realignment in U.S. politics that comes along once in a lifetime,” says Peters. “It could forever change our perception of Republican and Democrat, right and left. And I hope to chronicle it in a way that gives people a satisfying answer when asking ‘What happened?’ 20 years from now.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at Tribeca Journal Studio, New York, on October 5, 2017
Max Vernon spent five years perfecting his musical The View UpStairs, and when it finally premiered off-Broadway this past February, it had taken on added poignancy. The show tells the story of a gay man transported back in time to UpStairs, a real-life New Orleans gay bar that was destroyed by an act of arson in 1973. This attack, which killed 32 people, was considered the deadliest LGBTQ massacre in history—until the shooting in Orlando last year. “It was a shock to the system, like it was 1973 all over again,” says Vernon of unveiling the production in the wake of the Pulse tragedy. “But it ultimately reaffirmed the core message of the show—that there is no utopian time period. The world will always be flawed, but we have to create our own pockets of community where we can be seen and flourish. That’s the best way to honor the people who came before us and blazed the trail.” Vernon also co-composed music for this fall’s Ars Nova production KPOP, about the Korean-pop phenomenon.
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Melissa Dezarate at Art Department using Kusco Murphy
Photographed at Candy Studio, New York, on October 17, 2017
Washington, D.C., couple Matthew Riemer (left) and Leighton Brown (right) are shedding much-needed light on our past with their absolutely essential @lgbt_history Instagram account, which shares addictive, fascinating, and inspiring archival photographs and engaging anecdotes. “A friend whose activism we greatly admire told us that while no one can do everything, everyone has to do something,” says Riemer. “That pretty much sums up what it means to be queer in America right now. In fact, we’d say it sums up being a person with a conscience in America right now.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Shauné Hayes
Photographed at Union 206 Studio, Alexandria, VA, on September 25, 2017
According to National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) founders Chance Mitchell (right) and Justin Nelson (left), LGBTQ businesses contribute about $1.7 trillion annually to the U.S. economy. “To put that number in perspective,” Mitchell says, “that would make the U.S. LGBTQ business community the 10th largest economy in the world.” Sounds like a fiscal power fit for taking on the current administration’s homophobic agenda. As part of its 15th-anniversary celebration this year, NGLCC, the world’s largest LGBTQ economic-advocacy and businessdevelopment organization, executed a historic study to highlight the commercial clout of America’s 1.4 million LGBTQ-owned businesses. The numbers are not only staggering, but stirring. “Giving queer people increased economic agency may not solve all of our issues overnight,” Nelson says, “but it will allow our community, particularly our youth, to thrive mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially.”
Photography: Roger Erickson
Groomer: Angela DiCarlo
Photographed at the W Hotel Times Square, New York on October 6, 2017
In January, Nancy Pelosi invited Jose Antonio Vargas to hear President Trump’s first speech at a joint session of Congress. The gesture was not without risk. Vargas, who is undocumented, was warned by his lawyers not to attend, but went anyway. “Sitting just a few hundred feet from Trump, I oddly felt free,” he says. “I may be undocumented, but I am not afraid. My existence that evening was my resistance.”
Like other undocumented immigrants taken to the U.S. as children, Vargas, who came out about his legal status in a 2011 New York Times magazine essay, is a Dreamer—a reference to the stalled Dream Act that would offer a path to permanent residency. His organization, Define American, is pushing for immigration reform by making sure that stories like his are heard. “Undocumented people are having a moment right now,” says Yosimar Reyes, artist in residence at Define American, “and I want to make sure that actual undocumented people get to be the ones creating content.”
“Our complicated narratives are not being told properly,” adds Julio Salgado, projects coordinator at the artist collective CultureStrike. “To shift the current anti-migrant sentiments, we need to change how these narratives are shared.”
Kat Evasco is doing just that with her one woman show, Mommy Queerest, which she describes as a “raunchy, hilarious mother daughter coming out.” Says the artist, who also runs a narrative workshop, Performing Resilience, “It’s important for me to share stories that reflect my experience as a queer Filipina immigrant, while making people laugh.”
A critical moment for all Dreamers came in September, when Trump decided to halt DACA, the Obama-era program that gave protections to young undocumented immigrants. “We saw so many people mobilize to support each other,” says poet Alessandro Negrete, who’s been working on a set of poems, Cuentos, Dichos, y Recuerdos: Historias De Mi Crecer, to be published in 2018. “I hope more people learn they matter and that their stories are unique.”
Many of those stories also have happy outcomes. “For me, the highlight of 2017 was planning my wedding in one week and marrying my beautiful wife,” says Kenia C. Osores Hernandez, who works in a senior-care facility. “If I could relive that day, I would do it over and over again without changing a single thing.”
(From Left) Paolo Jara-Riveros, Julio Salgado, Kenia C. Osores Hernandez, Jose Antonio Vargas, Kat Evasco, Yosimar Reyes & Alessandro Negrete
Photography: Roger Erickson
Hair: Iggy Rosales at Opus Beauty using Oribe
Makeup: Melissa Murdick at Opus Beauty using Chanel Les Beiges
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