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Ron Nyswaner
Erik Carter
Storytellers

Ron Nyswaner

Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Three decades ago, when the Out100 first launched, Philadelphia premiered and changed the world for LGBTQ+ representation. The film starring Tom Hanks as an attorney fired for his gay identity and HIV status earned writer and activist Ron Nyswaner an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. It marked just the beginning of Nyswaner’s stellar career as a gay storyteller.

Another Hollywood gamechanger from the Pennsylvania native? Fellow Travelers, the Showtime drama that recounted decades of LGBTQ+ history through the eyes of gay lovers: Hawk (Matt Bomer) and Tim (Jonathan Bailey). McCarthyism, disco, the AIDS crisis — it’s all there, along with some of the steamiest, most authentic queer sex ever aired on TV.

Nyswaner is proud to use storytelling to spark empathy. As he would say during theproduction of Fellow Travelers (as retold to Out), “We are exploring and creating a drama about the history of the LGBTQ+ community and our struggles. But we are also making a drama about the human struggle. And there aren't that many barriers, really, between human beings except that those that we create.” @ronnyswaner

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.

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Mark Cortale
Ron Amato

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate's senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she's interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud "old movie weirdo" and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and '40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Trudy Ring is The Advocate's senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she's interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud "old movie weirdo" and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and '40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Storytellers

Mark Cortale

Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Ron Amato

Broadway has long been home to many great LGBTQ+ artists and businesspeople throughout the years, and producer Mark Cortale is proud to be a part of that legacy. The producer of the three-time Tony-nominated new musical Days of Wine and Roses by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel served as producing artistic director at the Art House in Provincetown before moving to Broadway last year, and he’s not slowing down.

In September, he produced Table 17 by Douglas Lyons off-Broadway, and coming up in April, he’s partnering with Lincoln Center to produce Tina Landau and Adam Guettel’s musical Floyd Collins. “The LGBTQ+ community is comprised of incredibly compassionate, intelligent, and talented people,” Cortale says. “We are your sons, your daughters, your brothers, and your sisters. Embrace us — we are here to stay.” @cortalemark