The 2024 Out100: Jon Lovett

Once a speechwriter for Hillary Clinton in her 2008 presidential campaign and Barack Obama during his presidency, Jon Lovett has turned the page. The wordsmith is now working as a comedian; he’s also a cofounder of the liberal political media company Crooked Media and hosts the podcasts Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It. It’s a career about “hosting and posting,” he says.

“Equality is a life-or-death necessity, but demanding ‘equal rights’ also feels sort of straight? Like putting on a little suit and tie to go to work at the politics factory,” Lovett muses when asked about LGBTQ+ equality. “Equality is freedom on others’ terms. What are our terms?”

This year, Lovett competed in season 47 of Survivor on CBS, continued running his multimedia empire, and set big goals for Vote Save America, a resource for helping folks maximize their political impact (Lovett wants to recruit 100,000 volunteers to help win elections). What’s next? “Imagine thinking past this election,” he teases. “Must be nice!” @jonlovett

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.

Erik Carter

Daniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.

Educators

Jaymes Black

Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Erik Carter

The Trevor Project — a national suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth — tapped Jaymes Black this year to helm the group’s vital work.

Black (he/she/they) is Trevor’s first Black and first nonbinary CEO. A former CEO of Family Equality who grew up in the rural South, they bring both an impressive résumé and lived experience to tackling the daunting challenges faced by today’s queer and trans kids. “To be in this role, to be who I needed when I was [a] young queer Black awkward kid in Texas, is…another dream come true,” they say.

Bullies manifest on the playground and in the political world. But through it all, Black is inspired by how many young people live openly and proudly, a resilience that comes with being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“The way that we view the world is very different. And because of that, I think we come with…this innate strength that others don’t understand,” they say. “We’ll never give up. We’ll never give up the fight. We’ll never give up fighting for equality. We’ll never give up being ourselves.” @thejaymesblack

Jon Lovett

Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Bernardo Sim

Daniel Reynolds
Daniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.

Jaymes Black

Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

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Jon Lovett

Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Bernardo Sim

Daniel ReynoldsDaniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.

Jaymes Black

Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Daniel Reynolds
Daniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.