Dean Isidro
Innovators
Jonathan Groff
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
From Spring Awakening to Hamilton, Jonathan Groff has had many game-changing Broadway roles. This year, the gay actor finally won a Tony for playing Frank in Merrily We Roll Along, a onetime flop from Stephen Sondheim that found critical acclaim in its revival four decades later.
Groff compared leading Merrily to being part of “a moment-to-moment obstacle course” for eight shows a week: “I tried to take everything one step at a time, lead with love and gratitude, and find the hilarity and joy in playing dress-up for a living.” The work paid off, and his 2024 highlight was “helping to shine a light on the brilliance and humanity of a piece that had been written off as eternally ‘problematic.’”
“Working in the theater is an act of service. I try to bring everything I’ve got to honor the material I’ve been given and then open my heart and soul and deliver it all for the audience,” he adds.
His message to the world? “Love is the answer to everything.” What’s next? “I dream about a break, a boyfriend, more Broadway.”
Stacey Yvonne
Stacey Yvonne is a critic and entertainment journalist who can be found in Los Angeles eating snacks at events. She loves to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community and specifically highlight Black and female members. She can be found at SYvonneCreative.com
Stacey Yvonne is a critic and entertainment journalist who can be found in Los Angeles eating snacks at events. She loves to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community and specifically highlight Black and female members. She can be found at SYvonneCreative.com
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