Courtesy of Netflix
Storytellers
Alice Oseman
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
The Heartstopper graphic novels by Alice Oseman, and the accompanying Netflix series, are geared toward young people, but there is something utterly healing about it for adults. Oseman, an asexual English author and illustrator, has crafted a wholesome queer story that can seem almost too good to be true, particularly for queer people used to seeing their lives depicted in traumatic ways in pop culture.
At the heart of every Oseman narrative is an issue that is often solved with basic kindness, caring, or communication, and that’s something that everyone can relate to. And right now Oseman is focused on wrapping up the charming love story of Charlie and Nick and their queer and trans friends. “Figuring out how to end Heartstopper was a huge challenge, especially now that so many people are invested in the story and all have their own opinions about how it should conclude,” they say.
One thing that’s easy for Oseman, though, is articulating their message to the LGBTQ+ community. “It’s more important than ever that we are all standing up for trans rights and trans liberation,” they say. @aliceoseman
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
Charlotte Drury
Mey RudeMey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Laurie Hernandez
Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Charlotte Drury
The nation rooted for Laurie Hernandez as a part of the “Final Five” USA gymnastics team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she won the team gold and silver in balance beam. That was when she was a teen. Now the next stage of her life has begun.
Hernandez, who has been dating her partner Charlotte Drury since 2020, is currently a full-time NYU student. This summer, she provided commentary for NBC’s coverage of women’s gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she quickly became a fan-favorite announcer. She even dropped a clever “and they were roommates…” Sapphic reference!
The future is bright for Hernandez, who next plans on acting and writing (both novels and screenplays) and is looking forward to graduation, after which she hopes to continue to make the world a better place. “In a world often weighted with shame and judgment, be the person that makes a space welcoming for all,” she says. “It’s a conscious thought, but a worthy one.” @lauriehernandez