The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States sparked hope for change. However, states were still split on LGBTQ+ rights, specifically when it came to the hot-button issue of same-sex marriage. While certain parts of the country like Washington and Oregon worked to expand rights with domestic partnerships, Arkansas was essentially trying to ban queer couples from adopting. In California, where marriage equality was the law of the land for a whopping five months, that all changed with the surprising (and confusing) passing of Proposition 8, which banned marriage equality outright.
It's only fitting that director Gus Van Sant was among the 2008 Out100 honorees featured on the cover, after collaborating with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to bring the story of Harvey Milk — the first out, gay, elected official in California who was assassinated in 1978 — to the big screen. Van Sant had made a name for himself with indie films like My Private Idaho, which centered around outsiders, before a brief dip into the mainstream, which included his shot-for-shot Psycho remake starring Anne Heche. Splitting his time between movies and TV in the years that followed, Van Sant is now considered one of the pioneers of new queer cinema.
Cheyenne Jackson was another cover star for this year's Out100, who was fresh off his role in the Broadway adaptation of Xanadu and about to break into TV with a recurring role on 30 Rock the following year. Since then, Jackson has had a prolific career balancing roles in TV, films, and theater, frequently working with Ryan Murphy throughout various seasons of American Horror Story. He's also released three studio albums, served as an international ambassador for The Foundation for AIDS Research, got married, and has raised twins with his husband.
"My biggest journey in life really is the journey of being comfortable in my skin and in my body," Jackson told The Advocatein 2023. "At 47 years old, it's still a daily struggle for me."
Cheyenne Jackson: I'm Tom Jones Meets Shirley Bassey
Karl Simone
Dominating pop culture in 2008 was "I Kissed a Girl," the debut single from a new pop girlie on the scene: Katy Perry. At the time, pop songs centered on casual experimentation with someone of the same gender still felt defiant, and the fact that it achieved such mainstream success spoke to shifting attitudes.
Perry's superstardom skyrocketed since appearing on the 2008 issue of the Out100. With five studio albums under her belt, she's become one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Perry has also been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout her career, going on to receive awards such as The Trevor Project's Trevor Hero Award in 2012 and the Human Rights Campaign's National Equality Award in 2017 for her activism.
Australian singer Sam Sparro also made his musical debut in 2008 with a self-titled album. Even though he was already out at the time, Sparro subsequently revealed suggestions that he received from his team about how easy it would be for him to hide his sexuality given that he didn't dress in ways considered "stereotypically gay." However, he declined to do so.
Over the course of his career, Sparro collaborated with artists like Adam Lambert and released music of his own, including 2020's Boombox Eternal. He also married his partner, Zion Lennox, in a 2018 wedding ceremony taking place in California.
