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Disruptors
Chappell Roan
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
2024 has been the year of Chappell Roan. The lesbian singer broke bigger than big, landing seven songs from her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, on the Billboard chart. Roan has become a mainstream cultural force with a queer voice. “Good Luck, Babe!” happens to be about compulsory heterosexuality. Everyone from actors in commercials, to kids, to Republican aunts have been spelling out “Hot to Go!” all summer. Drag performers — a major influence on Roan — have embraced lip-syncing to “Pink Pony Club,” a gay bar anthem inspired by a night out at the Abbey in West Hollywood. And in between hits, Roan has also raised important points about mental health and privacy for celebrities.
As her drag mother, the legendary Sasha Colby, says, “Chappell Roan’s music is a bold, vulnerable, yet fearless expression of unapologetic authenticity and true talent, serving as a reminder that the voices and stories of the LGBTQ+ community inspire us all to live courageously and unapologetically.” @chappellroan
Mey Rude
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Anonymous
Bernardo SimBernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Natalie Wynn
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Anonymous
Known to fans as ContraPoints, Natalie Wynn amassed 1.83 million YouTube subscribers by creating what she says are “video essays about politics and social issues, from online hate movements to the madness of J.K. Rowling.”
The transgender lesbian influencer makes epic, hours-long video essays that approach topics with academic rigor while creating hilarious and profound pieces of media that involve sets, costumes, ambient lighting, and the intellectual threading of philosophy with pop culture. This year, Wynn released a three-hour-long video where she “mapped the intricate depravities of heterosexual fantasy by studying The Twilight Saga.” In six months, the video amassed 4.5 million views.
However, being continually online has its pitfalls. “My biggest obstacle is the mental illness that afflicts anyone with an online reputation,” she says. “The love and the hate are equally dangerous. Narcissism and paranoia go together. The only cure is knowing when to step away.”
Wynn, an essential voice for her generation, wants the world to know that “LGBTQ+ people are just like everybody else, except more gay.” @contrapoints