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Sam Champion
ABC
Educators

Sam Champion

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

Viewers across America listen to Sam Champion for the weather report on Good Morning America, WABC-TV,and beyond. But the Emmy-winning anchor recalls a time not so long ago when it wasn't possible to be the out and proud media professional (and husband) he is today.

"When I started in 1982 and even by the time I got to NYC in 1988, there were 'no openly gay people in the mainstream news industry.' I watched people lose their jobs for the suspicion of being gay," the 63-year-old recalls. "...I stuck it out with the support of my immediate managers and bosses and a very supportive loyal NYC audience."

"We’re at a crossroads in history when it would be very easy to go back to those days,” he reminds. “Today’s LGBTQIA+ community must be ready to fight for the rights they enjoy and vote to keep them. It’s hard to imagine, but they came at great cost, and I watched people suffer getting us where we are today." @samchampion

Jaymes Black
Erik Carter
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