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Ariana DeBose
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Out100 Cover Star Ariana DeBose: 'I Am America'

A major name on Broadway for nearly a decade, the West Side Story actress will soon be on everyone’s lips.

It's no secret that Ariana DeBose is the Bullet. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Hamilton, she became the first actor to infamously embody the projectile that would eventually take out Alexander Hamilton. A pivotal role for the equally gifted dancer, vocalist, and actor, it may not have been afforded a show-stopping solo, but its significance has been deconstructed by Hamilton enthusiasts for years. If DeBose was a bullet in 2015, she's a firework in 2021.

The triple threat, now 30, recently had breakout roles as the popular girl who grapples with coming out in The Prom and as the progressive schoolmarm with killer tap moves in Schmigadoon!. At this year's Kennedy Center Honors, she performed a high-kicking tribute to Debbie Allen. Next, she is poised to become a household name by starring as Anita in West Side Story from director Steven Spielberg and Angels in America writer Tony Kushner. With every step, this Afro-Latinx queer woman is creating inroads for those who haven't seen themselves represented.

"This concept of changing narratives, providing different perspectives, and giving women agency, that does seem to be a through line for my career," DeBose says. "It does date back to Hamilton. The Bullet didn't speak, but she said a lot."

"I believe in the evolution of women," she says. She'd recently performed a breathtaking version of "The Wizard and I" for the PBS special Wicked in Concert alongside luminaries like Cynthia Erivo. She long believed the opportunity to sing that Idina Menzel-originated song was out of reach.

Ariana DeBoseGucci jacket, Demarson earrings

"If you had told 20-year-old Ariana DeBose that she would sing anything from the Wicked score in any arena, she would have laughed at you," DeBose says. "There was no space for someone like me, someone to look like me, identify like me, or sound like me. There just was a time when I was never going to be asked to potentially fill that need."

Born and raised in North Carolina, DeBose studied dance from age 3. She landed on the national radar in 2009 as one of the top 20 competitors on So You Think You Can Dance. She then appeared in the national tour of Bring It On, and on Broadway as Mary Wilson in Motown and in the revival of Pippin (where she understudied and took over as Leading Player for a time). That was all before Hamilton.

A game-changer for representation on Broadway with a cast of primarily BIPOC actors, Hamilton had an influence on musical theater that can't be overstated. But DeBose's career is also a beacon of how to shake things up in the best possible way. Even the outwardly light-hearted homage to the Classical Hollywood musical film, Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon! plays with representation. Starring Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alan Cumming, the show centers nonwhite actors, affords women agency, and gives queer characters the chance to be out. Indeed, DeBose's Emma Tate is a catalyst for change. Midway through, she performs "With All of Your Heart," a song-and-dance in the classroom that is a pearl of pedagogical wisdom and the series' standout number. "Schmigadoon! asks its audience to consider some things that felt silly but actually had great substance," DeBose says.

"That is the role of art right now. We're seeing so many movements converge at once, like Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo movement. It's really interesting for a show like Schmigadoon! to make space for that," she says.

Last year, DeBose also moved the needle for queer representation in Netflix's The Prom. Ryan Murphy's film adaptation of the stage musical stars DeBose and another queer actor, Jo Ellen Pellman, as girlfriends Alyssa and Emma. On the surface, it's a sweet love story with a glorious Hollywood ending. On a deeper level, it stars two queer actors playing queer girls in an interracial relationship on one of the world's largest streaming platforms. That matters.

"Alyssa was very important to me because I still believe we've never really seen a young, Black-presenting, queer girl, whether she's ready to come out as lesbian, gay, or otherwise. I did not have that growing up," she says. She cites The L Word: Generation Q and Lena Waithe's character in Master of None as examples of Black queer visibility that barely existed at the start of her career. Things have changed to a degree. But early on, she was subjected to stereotypes.

"When I was first auditioning, I remember some folks asking me to be more 'urban.' Or 'Would you mind putting your hair away?' I was actually on Broadway and a director told me one day, 'You look like you've stuck your finger in a light socket,'" she shares. She was in a mood that day, she says, and fired back with a retort about his lack of hair. She still got the part.

Ariana DeBoseStella McCartney dress, Jennifer Fisher bracelet, ring, earrings Jimmy Choo heels

In terms of her queerness, DeBose didn't do a major public coming-out. She's been out since her career hit warp speed. One of her earliest interviews, in 2015, focused on her relationship with a woman, a props master she'd met on Broadway (they are no longer together, DeBose says). While her coming-out was outwardly seamless, she faced some stereotyping behind the scenes.

"Suddenly, if you say, 'I'm queer. I just love humans,' or 'Yeah, I really love the ladies,' [people in the entertainment industry are] like, 'Cool, cool. So you must be butch. You must wear flannel. And you must be a steelworker.' That drives me crazy," she says.

Even with a career that includes a starring role in Broadway's A Bronx Tale and a Tony nomination for playing Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, DeBose has moments of self-doubt. But as her Prom character is a light for queer kids, the knowledge that her work has helped those who need to see it inspires her.

"I heard from a lot of young people who are not out yet, who run the spectrum of identity and gender presentation," she says. "What that showed me was the unifying quality around Alyssa is that I was hearing from people who weren't quite ready to step into their truth, not that they didn't have the capability to step into their truth, but just weren't quite there yet."

"On days when I'm like, I'll never get another job. I'm terrible," she shifts the negative self-talk and thinks, "You've helped a few people, you're OK, girl. Get over yourself." Her work on The Prom led her and Pellman to cofound the Unruly Hearts Initiative, which raises funds for LGBTQ+ youth organizations like the Trevor Project, Point Foundation, and Covenant House, where she sits on the board.

Ariana DeBoseLouis Vuitton jacket, top, and skirt Tiffany & Co earrings and rings Jimmy Choo heels

As for changing narratives, the 1961 film adaptation of West Side Story from Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins is an undisputed classic. But like most Classical Hollywood films, it has major representation problems. The central characters of Maria and her brother Bernardo, who are Puerto Rican, were played by white actors Natalie Wood and George Chakiris (and that's just the beginning). In the new film, DeBose steps into the role of Maria's confidante Anita, famously played in the original movie by Rita Moreno (who is in the new film). It's an opportunity for DeBose to portray a character she's adored since watching the film on the floor of her grandmother's living room as a kid.

"I really liked the lady in the purple dress," she recalls thinking. "She's pretty, she sort of looks like me.... I could dance like that. I believed that. I believed I could dance like that. Like, I don't know what planet I came from."

With Spielberg at the helm and Kushner's script, West Side Story promises to be a sensation, and it's likely to cement DeBose's status as a mainstream star. She arrives at the role primed to make space for others.

"I am a Black-identifying biracial queer Afro-Latina. I say this frequently, and some people don't really get it, but most people do.... I am America. I am damn near a member of just about every marginalized community," DeBose says. "That is not a red badge of courage, because I have opportunity."

"Every time we see a woman elected to office, there's another crack in the glass ceiling.... Every BIPOC woman or LGBTQ [community] member who gets an opportunity to play a leading role or play a really well-developed character -- a human with agency who might be a little bit messy but who is fully fleshed out -- that is a win."

Creative Director Ben Ward @_benjaminward_
Photographer David Urbanke @davidurbanke davidurbanke.com
Styling Cat Pope @catpope22 for @42west
Hair Takisha Sturdivant-Drew @takishahair for @forwardartists
Makeup Andrea Tiller @andrea_tiller
Video Rafael Arroyo @rafaelarroyo rafaarroyo.com

Ariana DeBoseTiffany & Co earrings and ring, Michael Kors Collection coat, Wolford tights, Jimmy Choo heels

Ariana DeBose is one of seven cover stars of Out's 2021 Out100 issue, which is on newsstands November 30. Since this is also Out's 300th issue, we are running a $3 promotion for a one-year subscription. Subscribe now (the promotion ends on December 1). Otherwise, support queer media and subscribe outside of the promotion -- or download yours for Amazon, Kindle, Nook, or Apple News.

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Ryan Pfluger
9 Breathtaking Portraits of Interracial LGBTQ+ Lovers by Ryan Pfluger
Ryan Pfluger
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9 Breathtaking Portraits of Interracial LGBTQ+ Lovers by Ryan Pfluger

In their new book of LGBTQ+ couple’s portraiture Holding Space, Ryan Pfluger lets love guide the lens.


Ryan Pfluger

“I exist at the intersection of marginalization and privilege. I am queer — I am nonbinary — but I’m also white. Grappling with how to handle that as an artist — for my work to investigate a nuanced and complicated space — has been a long journey,” begins photographer Ryan Pfluger (he/they) in his introduction to Holding Space: Life and Love Through a Queer Lens, a revelatory new book of portraiture centering interracial LGBTQ+ couples.

In Holding Space, the meaning of the introduction is layered. The reader learns of the intent of Pfluger’s project — to explore intersectionality through photography of these subjects. But it’s also an introduction to Pfluger, who reveals that his career choice was influenced by an upbringing where he felt powerless. “My father a drug addict, mother an alcoholic. I was outed by my mother at 13 — an age when I didn’t even know what that meant for me. Control became an abstract concept that I was never privy to,” Pfluger shares.

“The driving force to be behind the lens though, was my instinctual desire for people to feel seen, thoughtfully and lovingly,” they add. “From my own experiences and of those I love, I know how damaging being seen through the eyes of judgment, racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and so on can be.”

Gaining control — guiding the lens and the narrative — was an early driving force behind his work. (A renowned celebrity photographer, Pfluger will be known to Out readers for their 2015 Out100 portraits, which included Barack Obama and Caitlyn Jenner.) As photography became “less of a craft and more a part of my being,” however, “I discovered my gift to create art also held space for others—that relinquishing the control I had so desperately craved can be more powerful than possessing it,” Pfluger says. “Photography became a vessel of healing.”

To heal, hold space, and explore intersectionality in a way not seen before through their medium, Pfluger set out to photograph interracial LGBTQ+ couples within their social circle. This time, he did indeed relinquish control and let his subjects tell their story. They could choose the setting and their style of dress or undress. The only requirement was that they touch one another in some fashion.

By the project’s conclusion — “two cross-country trips, over a thousand rolls of film, and sixteen months later” — Pfluger had documented over 120 couples, many of whom were recruited through social media and the internet. Some had broken up over that time period and pulled out of the project. Others wanted to share their heartache. Their stories, in first person, accompany their portraits, which launch Holding Space from the genre of photography book to a work of nonfiction, a chronicle of queer love in the 21st century.

“That is the beauty of relinquishing control,” Pfluger concludes. “Allowing the space for things to evolve and change — for marginalized people to have control over their narratives regardless of my intentions. To listen and learn. That is why Holding Space exists.”

Over 70 portraits and accompanying essays are featured in Holding Space, published by Princeton Architectural Press. The book also boasts excerpts from luminaries like Elliot Page, Bowen Yang, Ryan O’Connell, and Jamie Lee Curtis, and a foreword by director Janicza Bravo. Find a copy at PAPress.com, and see a selection of photography below.

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Akeem (he/him) & Samuel (he/him)

Ryan Pfluger

“Despite our different desires, truths, and fears, there was a unique familiarity that made space for us to better understand each other.” — Akeem

“We challenged the system when we decided to be together, and we’re challenging it again by staying in each other’s lives and preserving the bridges we’ve built." — Samuel

Liz (she/her) & Carlena (she/her)

Ryan Pfluger

“Each and every day I am humbled by the intersectionality of our love. By the way our individual ethnicities, races, upbringings, and queer identities guide us toward an even deeper understanding of self and other.” — Carlena

“My hope is that by continuing to love one another openly and fearlessly, future generations will be inspired to also love without any bounds.” — Liz

Chris (he/him) & Joe (he/him)

Ryan Pfluger

“We are proud to be one of the few queer interracial couples within our immediate or extended family/friend circles, which has encouraged us to speak to our experiences and help others learn alongside us.” — Joe

Jobel (he/him) & Joey (he/they)

Ryan Pfluger

“The beauty that we are coming to experience in owning our sexuality is that we can define what it means for us and how we want to experience it.” — Jobel

Luke (he/him) & Brandon (he/him)

“Our differences are a plenty, but this love does not bend.” — Luke & Brandon

David (he/him) & Michael (he/him)

Ryan Pfluger

“We started our relationship at the height of the pandemic, and it was amazing to be able to run to Michael and feel safe in his arms.” — David

Milo (he/him) & Legacy (he/they)

Ryan Pflguer

“Queer relationships aren’t tied to the limited, binary expectations that typically define heterosexual relationships.” — Milo

“Creating more healthy space in our friendship has been peaceful for us. I feel we are embracing a new form of love.” — Legacy

Coyote (he/they) & Tee (she/they)

Ryan Pflguer

“Loving you feels instinctual, like a habit I was born with. It feels like I was born to love you.” — Tee

“I can feel you loving something deeper than the surface of me and it makes me feel so alive.” — Coyote

Jo (they/them) & Zac (they/them)

Ryan Pfluger

“What can I say other than it is incredibly life-affirming when Jo and I are able to achieve the level of coordination needed to experience the sensation of ‘them,’ and that it helps when I say, ‘I love them’ or ‘I trust them.’” — Zac

See All 2023's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People
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Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.