Ernie Apreza
Innovators
Ernesto Apreza
Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the American people in different roles at the White House, and I am forever grateful to President Biden and Vice President Harris for the opportunity,” says Ernesto “Ernie” Apreza, press secretary to the vice president.
“It is a privilege to serve a lifelong champion of fundamental freedoms in my current role. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working to advance civil rights, including for LGBTQI+ people, and as that work continues, I feel lucky to be doing my part and doing so while showing up as my full self every day.”
The Mexican-American gay man previously held a role as senior advisor for public engagement at the White House, and he served on the Biden-Harris transition team and worked in several communications roles in campaigns and the private sector.“As someone who was raised in a small town and is the son of immigrant parents,” he says, “I could never have imagined having the role I have today — as the vice president says often: ‘Only in America.’”
inKind
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.
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.
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.
Johann Moonesinghe
Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
inKind
Johann Moonesinghe is the CEO and founder of inKind, an ingenious app that rewards diners with credit for supporting their favorite restaurants (inKind gives businesses funding in exchange for food and beverage credits for users).
The app has marked a milestone year, exceeding 1 million users — 1.4 million at the time of this reporting. Moonesinghe, a foodie, personally owns and operates restaurants in order to improve his business model. One establishment, the Guest House, is currently the top-rated restaurant in the company’s base city of Austin. The entrepreneur and angel investor (Uber, Allbirds) grew up in a working-class family with parents who emigrated from Sri Lanka. Today, he is a successful, proudly gay man with a loving husband. But he knows the fight for LGBTQ+ equality in the U.S. and abroad is far from over.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’re still far from the finish line. I encourage our community and our allies not to take anything for granted, but also to recognize and celebrate the progress being made every day — whether big or small.” @johannmoon