Mark Squires
Disruptors
The 2025 Out100: Parvati Shallow
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
Author, reality TV competition queen, life coach, and speaker Parvati Shallow describes her work as “embodied, adventurous, and creative.”
No kidding! In 2025, Shallow’s memoir, Nice Girls Don’t Win, became a national bestseller, and she became a two-time Survivor winner after competing on Survivor: Australia V the World. “My Survivor legacy is finally complete,” she says.
The Traitors alum believes that “taking on the label of queer has liberated me. It feels like wide-open space and permission to be true to myself, whatever that means. Don’t shrink for anyone. Be yourself. Be colorful, have fun, and let joy be your guide. We need more joyful, authentic people on this planet.”
Shallow loves to conquer the impossible, but 2025 was about “letting go of something I loved very much that wasn’t working,” she recalls. “I’m great at pushing myself, but the hardest work for me is softening; allowing myself to express vulnerability and be seen in that state.” @pshallow
Bernardo Sim
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He’s also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born and raised in Brazil, he’s lived in the U.S. for over 15 years and speaks four languages.
You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. You can also find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He’s also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born and raised in Brazil, he’s lived in the U.S. for over 15 years and speaks four languages.
You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. You can also find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.
Michael Almonte
Trudy RingTrudy 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.
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.
The 2025 Out100: Precious Brady-Davis
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
Michael Almonte
Precious Brady-Davis is the first out Black transgender woman to hold public office in Cook County, Illinois, and the first trans person to serve on any U.S. water reclamation district. She was appointed a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in 2023 and won election to the post in 2024.
Now running for reelection, she’s tasked with protecting the drinking water of more than 5 million people, safeguarding Lake Michigan, and advancing climate-resilient infrastructure. She is also chief strategy officer for Chicago’s Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ+ community center.
“Together these roles show that infrastructure and public service are inseparable, delivering real results that people can see and feel in their daily lives,” she says.
For Brady-Davis, growing up in a household that didn’t affirm her identity, reading Out “was a light in the darkness,” and now she hopes to be that light for someone else.
While serving her constituents, husband, and daughter, and fighting for an inclusive future, she adds, “I still will make time to buy more shoes.” @preciousbradydavis