Gregory Kramer
Groundbreakers
The 2025 Out100: Jeff Hiller
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
Perhaps Jeff Hiller wrote his memoir, Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success, too soon. The book chronicles years of tiny roles, improv nights, and longing for a big break. In September, Hiller jumped to the A-list after winning an Emmy for his breakout role as Joel on Somebody Somewhere, a funny and tender portrayal of a gay man in a small Kansas town.
His Out100 inclusion is also affirming for Hiller: “To know that the part of me I was most ashamed of growing up can now be celebrated as a beautiful part of who I am is exciting and necessary.”
The gay multihyphenate also has a message for LGBTQ+ young people: “If you do not feel safe coming out where you are, there are spaces where you will be safe.” He adds, “Even in this time when we feel unsafe and when our trans and nonbinary siblings are being attacked both personally and legislatively, we will not stop fighting, caring, and being there for you, because we are you. If one of us is oppressed, all of us are oppressed.” @boomboomhiller
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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: Nicolas Talbott
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
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Nicolas Talbott completed Army Officer Candidate School in January after spending over nine years working to enlist in the U.S. military. “Earning my commission as a second lieutenant was a lifelong goal of mine, and achieving that goal was a dream come true,” he says.
Now his position in the Army Reserve is threatened by Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the transgender military ban, as Talbott is a trans man. But he’s fighting back as the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit Talbott v. USA.
“I’ll be continuing to challenge the current ban on transgender military service while remaining in my Army unit for as long as I can,” he says. “I’m also always exploring options to further my education and experiences and to just make the most I can out of life.”
“Trans folks are just like anyone else out there,” he adds. “At the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to live our lives and find our happiness — nobody should be making that process harder for anyone else.” @nic_talbott