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Before Melissa and Ellen, there was k.d. lang
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Before Melissa and Ellen, there was k.d. lang

k.d. lang topped the 1995 Out100 list after releasing All You Can Eat and continuing the road to success she had embarked upon in the previous decade.

Canadian singer-songwriter k.d. lang topped the Out100 list at the end of 1995. She had released her third solo studio album, All You Can Eat, earlier that year, continuing the road to success she had embarked upon in the previous decade.

The first half of the '90s had its bumps for lang, who came out as a lesbian in an interview with The Advocate in 1992—before even Melissa Etheridge or Ellen DeGeneres had opened up about their sexualities to the world.

"I don't want to say the wrong things to the gay culture. Because there are so many different opinions on how to gain acceptance," lang said at the time. "And I don't want to hurt my mother by coming out in the press. But at the same time I don't want to hurt my culture, and it's like — what do you do?"

LGBTQ+ rights were gaining ground in lang's home country of Canada in 1995, with a landmark court case determining that their Constitution implicitly protected against discrimination based on orientation. That same year in the United States, discrimination was prohibited against LGBTQ+ employees of the federal government. But a Supreme Court ruling also allowed private organizations to exclude queer people, after the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston fought to be allowed to march in the city's St. Patrick's Day parade.

Lang herself was deeply entrenched in activism at the time. She had received serious backlash for partnering on a campaign with PETA, and had contributed to the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue to benefit AIDS research efforts.

In the years since, she's continued to lend her voice to causes ranging from LGBTQ+ equality to fighting for human rights in Tibet, even being honored for her work in 2011 by the Q Hall of Fame Canada.

Lang's career also continued to thrive. She released seven more studio albums—four solo and three collaborative—and won her fourth Grammy in 2004 for the album she released with Tony Bennett. And during the Juno Awards in 2013, she was officially inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

She now considers herself "semi-retired," a decision she admitted to being "completely at peace with" in 2019, 11 years after she released her last solo album. But the overall impact lang has had on the visibility of LGBTQ+ people in music was solidified the day she boldly came out to the world, long before most musicians would have even considered such a thing an option.

"I try not to take huge credit for that because it's not a competition," she humbly told The Guardian when reflecting on that momentous occasion nearly three decades later. "It's something bigger than all of us. I am certainly proud, but at the same time, I'm just one of many. Gay culture isn't just one sliver of humanity — it's a huge cross-section of people."

Rachel Kiley

Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.

Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.

See All 2024's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People
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Step into the Out100 Vault & celebrate 30 years of history-making LGBTQ+ folks!
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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.

Raffy Ermac

Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and the editor in chief of Out.com.

Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and the editor in chief of Out.com.

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Step into the Out100 Vault & celebrate 30 years of history-making LGBTQ+ folks!

It's been 30 years since the annual Out100 list started highlighting the best and brightest of the community. To honor that milestone, let's take a look back at the many LGBTQ+ people who have changed the world.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Out100, Out’s storied annual list of LGBTQ+ people who have changed culture — and the world.

In celebration of this milestone, we are so proud to launch the official Out100 Vault, which highlights the Out100 covers from our archive as well as fresh essays and insights from past honorees.

The preservation of the LGBTQ+ past has never been more important, as the recent right-wing attempts at queer book bans and censorship demonstrate. For over three decades, Out has fought against mainstream erasure, telling the stories of the artists, warriors, and changemakers who made our history and our movement. Looking to the future, we hope you find inspiration from them in the ongoing fight for visibility and equality.

And if you, or someone you know, deserve to be on this list, please let us know through the Reader’s Choice submission page. Your stories and accomplishments need to be heard, and Out as always is here to tell them.

Sincerely,


Daniel Reynolds

Editor in chief, Out Magazine

Raffy Ermac

Editor in chief, Out.com

See All 2024's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People
Artists
Disruptors
Educators
Groundbreakers
Innovators
Storytellers