Katia Temkin
Disruptors
Reneé Rapp
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
This year, Reneé Rapp stepped into Regina George’s Louboutin heels in the new musical movie adaptation of Mean Girls. While Rachel McAdams is legendary as the original Queen Bee, Rapp was a revelation. “My name is Regina George, and I am a massive deal,” she sang in “World Burn” — and the world believed her.
Case in point: In January alone, Rapp teamed with Megan Thee Stallion for a song, went viral for chaotic and iconic interview answers, and came out as a lesbian in an SNL sketch with Bowen Yang and Jacob Elordi. This fall, she’ll take her bow as Leighton Murray, a lesbian character in Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Along with Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish, Rapp is part of a new wave of young singers bringing lesbian pop to the radio. These artists aren’t just releasing bops. They’re also teaching young women across the country that lesbian isn’t a bad word; it’s a fun, sexy, and powerful identity to embrace. @reneerapp
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