LGBT glossy Out on Thursday
released its annual Out100, the magazine's annual list of the most
influential LGBTQ names in music, fashion, culture, advocacy, and
more.
The print issue, which includes four
cover stories, will reach newsstands on December 1.
For its 26th annual covers,
Out editors chose actor Wilson Cruz, singer-songwriter-actress
Janelle Monáe,
actor-director Joe Mantello, and Black Lives Matter activist Janaya
Khan.
Mantello appeared in Ryan Murphy's
Hollywood, an LGBT-inclusive retelling of Hollywood in the
late 40s, and directed the Netflix film The Boys in the Band.
Set in the late 60s, the film explores how societal and internalized
homophobia impacted a group of men. It stars nine openly gay actors.
“If you live in a country or come
from a religious community that still has issues [with accepting
LGBTQ+ people], the story has an enormous impact on your real life,”
Mantello
said. “I know that when I was growing up, if I had seen nine
out gay actors in a movie, it would have accelerated my own [coming
out] process.”
In their cover interview, Khan
discussed what activism means to them.
“Saying I'm queer, I'm trans,
nonbinary, sure, is a part of it,” Khan
said. “But really, what it is, is I am no longer going to live
in fear, I'm going to live in power … And I think that's what we
need more people to understand, really, everyone, is that it's time
for everyone to come across.”
(Related: Janelle
Monae covers Out's
Out100 issue.)
In Star Trek: Discovery, Cruz
plays Dr. Hugh Culber, a gay married man, a first for the franchise.
Producers added a transgender and a non-binary character in the
show's third and most recent season.
“I have to tell you – and it’s
going to sound corny – it’s about how Star Trek makes me
look at the world,” Cruz
said. “Because in order for any of us to play these roles as
people of color on this show, we have to imagine who we would be and
what our lives would be if we were allowed to live up to our
potential because we aren’t dealing with all of the ‘isms’ that
are obstacles in our lives. So Dr. Culber didn't deal with racism. He
didn't deal with homophobia. He got to be everything he could
possibly be. And he was allowed to do that with no blockages in
education or opportunities. And when you spend nine months out of the
year trying to imagine that world. … You leave work wanting to
figure out ways to make our world a bit closer to that one. Because
you know it's possible.”
To see the full 2020 Out100 list, click
here.