Samuel Pickart
Innovators
Matt Bernstein
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Matt Bernstein is one of social media’s most prominent political voices — and he rocks a perfect manicure. Amid the noise and fake news, Bernstein provides his millions of followers with nuanced takes on pop culture and political injustices, broken down into digestible slides “through a progressive, queer lens.” He’ll analyze how pop stars need better boundaries then break news about a corrupt politician in the same day, all while hosting his own podcast, A Bit Fruity.
Bernstein’s work uplifts the LGBTQ+ community and bridges the divide to members of their red-state families. “That’s really special, and a reminder that I’m oftentimes making work not for the people who follow me, but for their families,” Bernstein says.
Creating boundaries is also necessary in his line of work. “I’m a really sensitive person,” he says. “It’s taken years to separate my human self from my worker self, and one is still a bit mixed up in the other, but knowing which is which has been vital to not losing my mind.” Throughout, he’s an optimistic fighter for LGBTQ+ equality. “We will win.” @mattxiv
Taylor Henderson
Taylor Henderson is a music, entertainment, and travel journalist based in Los Angeles, California. When he's not screaming over the latest Beyoncé album, he's dissecting pop culture, trekking up some mountain, or reading terrible YA fiction. He hopes to write a novel one day. Follow him @cornbreadsays.
Taylor Henderson is a music, entertainment, and travel journalist based in Los Angeles, California. When he's not screaming over the latest Beyoncé album, he's dissecting pop culture, trekking up some mountain, or reading terrible YA fiction. He hopes to write a novel one day. Follow him @cornbreadsays.
Melissa Simpson
Stacey YvonneStacey Yvonne is a critic and entertainment journalist who can be found in Los Angeles eating snacks at events. She loves to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community and specifically highlight Black and female members. She can be found at SYvonneCreative.com
Stacey Yvonne is a critic and entertainment journalist who can be found in Los Angeles eating snacks at events. She loves to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community and specifically highlight Black and female members. She can be found at SYvonneCreative.com
Stacey Yvonne is a critic and entertainment journalist who can be found in Los Angeles eating snacks at events. She loves to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community and specifically highlight Black and female members. She can be found at SYvonneCreative.com
Mars Sharrock
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Melissa Simpson
Becoming who you are — and showing people your true self — is essential for queer people, “but it’s also fun!” says Mars Sharrock, program director for The Wardrobe, a Philadelphia nonprofit combating clothing insecurity. Whether you need clothes for a job interview or to affirm your gender transition, The Wardrobe makes sure that you are kitted from head to toe.
“Fashion — feeling good in what you wear — is an expression of self. Self-determination goes beyond basic needs and is about creativity, expression, and freedom,” Sharrock says. And it’s self-determination that they want everyone to have access to, regardless of income, race, religion, or even criminal record.
The organization launched a program called “Returning Wardrobe,” which focuses on clothing and education services for formerly incarcerated people. And Sharrock has helped the program increase its services to transgender and queer community members by over 50 percent in just the past few years. “Clothing is a basic need, so I see the work The Wardrobe does as helping people get their basic needs met,” Sharrock says. @_sharrockin_