Frederic Aranda
Educators
Alan Cumming
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Peacock’s Traitors has taken the world by storm thanks to its dramatically charming and fashionable host, Alan Cumming.
Lording over a castle of backstabbing reality stars, the bisexual entertainer even bested reigning Emmys titleholder RuPaul as the year’s top reality host. He discovered that win in bed. But he showed up in full Scottish regalia (and a transgender flag pin) to accept the Emmy for Best Reality Competition during the televised main ceremony. “I’m proud of subverting the competition reality form and bringing fun and joyful genderfuck queerness to a mainstream audience,” he trumpets.
Cumming was also a force this year in HBO’s Chimp Crazy, a docuseries where the animal rights activist employed his star power to save a kidnapped chimpanzee. He encourages all LGBTQ+ people to take a stand for what’s right.
“We must use our power more. Why is anyone still on Twitter? Why didn’t we boycott Target when they withdrew the Pride merch? We need to show them our power is economic as well as spiritual. And we must always remember that queer joy is a form of protest.” @alancummingreally
Daniel Reynolds
Daniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.
Daniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.
John Allen Phillips
Gabriella Angelina
Nick Adams
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
John Allen Phillips
Nick Adams, vice president of the GLAAD Media Institute, has been fighting for transgender equality since joining the organization in 1998. His role is to amplify the voices of trans people and help them be “trans in the public eye.”
He created the transgender section of GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide, setting industry standards for respectful and accurate reporting. Adams’s expertise has been incredibly valuable in major media moments, including Caitlyn Jenner’s coming-out story in 2015.
This year, Adams worked closely with Trevor Anderson, the co-writer and director of a new film, Before I Change My Mind, about a teen living in Alberta, Canada, whose gender is never clarified but is the driving force behind the story. Adams says the film “is a welcome and necessary antidote to the lies about trans youth being peddled by anti-trans politicians.”
As a transgender man himself, Adams says he’s passionate about continuing the fight against the small group of loud, fringe, anti-trans activists working to scare Hollywood into removing queer characters from the media. “I will make sure executives and creators know that the vast majority of their audiences expect and want to see our stories on screen,” he says. @glaad