Daniel Jack Lyons
Artists
Murray Bartlett
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Murray Bartlett been acting since the late ’80s in projects like Sex and the City, White Collar, The Good Wife, Tales of the City, Madam Secretary, and, of course, Looking. The past few years have seen a renaissance for the out actor, which has endeared him to longtime fans and new audiences alike.
“I get to tell stories that hopefully make people laugh, cry, think deeper, love harder, and expand their mind in some way,” he says of the work he’s been doing for decades now.
After playing queer characters in Physical, Welcome to Chippendales, and The White Lotus (for which he won an Emmy in 2022), Bartlett is helping to dispel the tired notion that only straight actors can get critical acclaim for playing LGBTQ+ roles on screen.
But it was his most recent queer part as Frank in HBO’s live-action adaptation of The Last of Us that cemented his place in the queer TV canon. Frank’s love story with the survivalist Bill (Nick Offerman) was a standout storyline in the popular apocalyptic show’s first season. It was hailed as one of the best performances of the year, garnering Bartlett his second of three career Emmy nominations.
It’s not lost on Bartlett how much that portrayal of queer love means to fans — even though he did face some homophobia from conservative trolls.
“Thankfully, the hate was absolutely overshadowed by an enormous outpouring of loving responses,” Bartlett says. “Hate speech stings, but it also reminded me of the need to tell stories like this. Where hate exists, we still have work to do in spreading awareness that love is love. It’s universal. I’m committed to that and I find strength in it.” @murray.bartlett
Artists
Troye Sivan
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Photo by Stuart Winecoff
It’s been five years since Troye Sivan’s second studio album, Bloom, was released to much acclaim. And Something to Give Each Other, which came out this October, was well worth the wait.
Sivan and his art routinely spark conversation in pop and LGBTQ+ culture. “Rush,” the album’s lead single that dropped in July, is no exception. It became (along with Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam”) the queer song of the summer. The steamy music video, an explosion of dancing, abs, and hedonism, unleashed its own rush of think pieces about popper use and body diversity in queer spaces.
Sivan, who as an actor had a role this year on The Idol — Max’s much-skewered scripted show on pop stardom— also made headlines for his candor this year. He revealed on the High Low podcast that, despite the reputation he received from 2018’s “Bloom,” which was widely received as a bottom anthem, he is, in fact, not a “power bottom.”
Whatever his preferences, Sivan has proven himself a versatile artist. The release of Something to Give Each Other was Troye’s proudest accomplishment of 2023 — along with the launch of Tsu Lange Yor. The Australian lifestyle and homeware brand, for which Sivan serves as creative director, sells candles and scents as well as home objects. “My brother and I started it together, had to trust our guts, find incredible people to work with, and have learnt so much along the way,” the 28-year-old says.
In art and in life, Sivan remains inspired by his community. “Through so much adversity, the LGBTQ+ community pushes to be a safe space for all — pulled together by pillars of love, support, chosen family, and freedom,” he says. “Queer people everywhere need to be protected and be able to celebrate themselves as loudly as they want.” @troyesivan