Alexi Lubomirski
Storytellers
Ramin Setoodeh
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
The business of covering the ins and outs of Hollywood is its own beast, especially in a year as tumultuous for the industry as this one has been. But thanks to the leadership of out journalist Ramin Setoodeh, Variety has been conquering that beast.
The co-editor in chief of the trusted and renowned trade publication, which has been around 118 years, Setoodeh oversees a newsroom that is on the pulse of the entire entertainment world and that has covered everything from awards shows to business deals to scandals to the writers’ and actors’ strikes.
“I’m incredibly proud that Variety has become the number 1 most-read news site covering the business of entertainment for the past 15 consecutive months,” Setoodeh says. “It’s a testament to how hard our journalists work at covering this industry as they deliver the best scoops, long-form magazine profiles, reviews, and video.”
Though he says he knew he wanted to be a journalist since he started working at his junior high school newspaper in the seventh grade, it was when he moved to New York City at the age of 21 to start working at Newsweek that that he really started to find his place and his voice — something he hopes others can do too.
“There’s never been so many positive examples of queer representation in popular culture, and a lot has changed since Ellen DeGeneres became the first prime-time star to come of the closet on her show in 1997,” he says. “Having a broad spectrum of queer role models will make it easier for the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth to forge their own paths.” @raminsetoodeh
Storytellers
Randy Wicker
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 Brendan Fay
Over the last 65 years, LGBTQ+ advocate, journalist, and archivist Randy Wicker has achieved many firsts. In 1962 he organized a radio broadcast that caused the Federal Communications Commission to rule that homosexuality was a legitimate topic for on-air discussion. In 1964 Wicker organized the first public demonstration for gay civil rights in the United States, which took place in front of the U.S. Army Induction Center in New York City. Also in 1964, he was the first out gay person to participate in a live television show when he answered calls on The Les Crane Show.
“I’ve always been a truth-telling journalist willing to confront power and champion unpopular causes,” says Wicker. “That is what motivated me to join the New York Mattachine Society in 1958 and be the first self-identified homosexual to speak out on radio in 1962.”
Now 85 years old, Wicker shows no signs of slowing down. This year Wicker launched a petition to remove the statue of Gen. Phil Sheridan from Stonewall National Park — because of Sheridan’s massacre of Indigenous people. He also served as a grand marshal at this year’s NYC Pride March.
Recently, he donated his archives to the National LGBTQ+ Archives. “My archives are titled ‘The Randy Wicker & Marsha P. Johnson’ archives since Marsha P. Johnson lived with me for over a decade and was the house mother of my extended gay family,” says Wicker. “Twenty-five years of my Christmas letters contain many stories about her.”
Though much progress has been made thanks to Wicker’s work, he is adamant that the fight continues, especially in other parts of the world. He notes that “genocidal hatred and religious intolerance” run rampant in many societies. “We must help LGBTQ+ people overseas improve their circumstances!” @randolfewicker