Melissa Simpson
Innovators
Mars Sharrock
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Becoming who you are — and showing people your true self — is essential for queer people, “but it’s also fun!” says Mars Sharrock, program director for The Wardrobe, a Philadelphia nonprofit combating clothing insecurity. Whether you need clothes for a job interview or to affirm your gender transition, The Wardrobe makes sure that you are kitted from head to toe.
“Fashion — feeling good in what you wear — is an expression of self. Self-determination goes beyond basic needs and is about creativity, expression, and freedom,” Sharrock says. And it’s self-determination that they want everyone to have access to, regardless of income, race, religion, or even criminal record.
The organization launched a program called “Returning Wardrobe,” which focuses on clothing and education services for formerly incarcerated people. And Sharrock has helped the program increase its services to transgender and queer community members by over 50 percent in just the past few years. “Clothing is a basic need, so I see the work The Wardrobe does as helping people get their basic needs met,” Sharrock says. @_sharrockin_
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