LGBTQ+ Celebs Leading the Way for Positive Representation

Halfway into twenty-bi-teen, Pride 2019 season is ramping up. While we’re excited about the glitter and dance parties pending, we’re also taking a moment to celebrate some of our industry queers helping to promote better representation in pop culture for the whole LGBTQ+ community.

With the entertainment industry recognizing the need for more diverse storytelling and better representation both on screen and in writing rooms, LGBTQ+ representation in the media is better than ever before. According to GLAAD’s annual “Where We Are on TV — 2018” report, we’ve been seeing more LGBTQ+ representation in television series regulars, more queer people of colour on broadcast television and streaming platforms than ever before and audiences speaking up for the changes they want to see.

Of course, there is still more work to be done, we’re celebrating the faces and people who are leading the way in better LGBTQ+ representation.

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Lil Nas X

"Old Town Road" rapper Lil Nas X came out in a song from his debut EP, "7EP" this milestone Pride. To amplify his message, the artist took to Twitter to encourage folks to give the song a listen — attaching a rainbow emoji.

"Some of y'all already know, some of y'all don't care, some of y'all not gone fwm no more. but before this month end i want y'all to listen to c7osure," he tweeted.

What a way to end Pride 2019 — which also happens to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. In an industry where few musicians come out as queer, it's amazing that Lil Nas X is leading the way for the LGBTQ+ community within the rap and hip hop industry. Through art, the rapper is making positive change.

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Janelle Monae

Janelle Monae is a proud queer actress and musician of colour who has been frank about her pansexual identity. Monae has spoken up about what it means to be a black queer woman in today’s world and has been trending hard since her coming out in Rolling Stone last April — bringing LGBTQ+ terms into the mainstream.

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Miley Cyrus

An out and proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Miley Cyrus has put her money where her mouth is on many occasions. From founding The Happy Hippie Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to rally folks to fight injustices against homeless youth (specifically LGBTQ youth) to amplifying voices for the trans community and more, Cyrus is a loud activist who won’t allow her queer identity to be erased even if she’s in a hetero marriage with on-again-off again now husband Liam Hemsworth.

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Kate McKinnon

Kate McKinnon began making headlines as Saturday Night Live’s first openly gay woman to join the cast — and then again when she helped deliver the comedy sketch show’s most-watched season in 23 years. Having an out lesbian play such an integral role in bringing and showing the funny to a mainstream audience helped positively promote the LGBTQ+ community and helped to normalize the kind of queer representation we needed on television.

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Kristen Stewart

Twilight star KStew revealed it really was a big deal when she came out back on Saturday Night Live in 2017. The 29-year-old actress told The Associated Press this spring that she felt “a huge responsibility” to “pick a side” regarding her sexuality — following her appearance on the funny late night show when she said: “I’m, like, so gay dude!”

While lesbians had been calling out the gay for years, Stewart was still 50 per cent of a celebrity super couple with Robert Pattinson for a long enough while — which makes sense since she’s often talking about how she finds sexuality to be fluid. In case you’re wondering, KStew identifies as bisexual.

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Amandla Stenberg

The Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg took home the Visibility Award at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala back in February. The openly gay actress spoke on representation, advocated for more of it (for both racialized and lgbtq+ folks) and said in her acceptance speech: "It can definitely be strange to be vulnerable in matters of personal identity when you’re navigating it in a public manner, specifically within the very straight confines of Hollywood.”

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George Takei

Star Trek’s George Takei is an actor, activist and influencer. With an acting career spanning 60 years, he’s been fighting for social justice, LGBTQ+ rights and marriage equality (back when people didn’t want the gays to wed in North America) — and using social media to raise awareness around these issues — delivering messages directly to his 10.4 million followers on Facebook and 2.9 million followers on Twitter.

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Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox is best known for being the first trans woman of colour to land a leading role in a scripted television series for Orange Is The New Black. But her work goes beyond the screen — Cox is a dedicated, boots-on-the-ground LGBTQ+ activist who has trailblazed for the transgender community (and collected a number of honours and awards along the way).

In addition to her activism, Cox also advocates for self-care.

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Ian McKellen

The legendary Lord of the Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen has made headlines recently for launching a programme to support the older LGBTQ+ community. Introducing his programme for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans folks over 50 at Pride this year, McKellen is tackling social isolation faced by LGBTI in their older years. On screen and off, McKellen brings people together.

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Ellen Page

Whether she’s calling out Mike Pence for his anti-LGBT outlooks or coming out publicly (and giving us all the feels), Canadian openly gay lead actress Ellen Page is doing some good work representing the LGBTQ+ community. The Juno star uses public appearances as a platform to advocate for equal rights and calls out injustice when she sees it.

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Billy Porter

From wearing gender-fluid uterus suits to the Tony Awards to calling out straight actors about the “enraging” double standard (when they play gay roles) — Billy Porter is a star on the stage and new to the television world in Pose. Most recently on The Hollywood Reporter’s Actors Roundtable, he called out casting discrimination by pointing out that everyone wants to give straight men awards for playing gay — while typecasting queer folks for flamboyant parts.

From better LGBTQ+ representation in fashion to the rep everyday gays do in their daily lives, we’ve come a long way. But there’s more work to be done and we’re grateful for everyone who helps make the world a better place for all of us.