Variety’s Power of Pride List is a celebration of community and of change makers, placing a rainbow-hued spotlight on LGBTQ+ entertainers who use their power to promote inclusion. This year’s honorees include everyone from trailblazing trans performer Elliot Page to “SNL” breakout comedian Bowen Yang and teen singing star JoJo Siwa. Join us in applauding the following 50 figures for their many contributions — and in celebrating all they do to personify pride.
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Elliot Page
The pioneer
In December 2020, Page made Hollywood history as one of the most visible entertainers ever to disclose he was transgender. The Oscar-nominated actor set a national dialogue in a cover story for Time and an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Page continues to be visible in his work, including the upcoming season of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy.”
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Bowen Yang
‘Saturday’ superstar
Yang, the first Chinese American cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” made waves this year with a heartfelt “Weekend Update” segment, demanding solidarity against anti-Asian violence. Yang’s perspective elsewhere is wry and absurd, as in his viral performance as the iceberg who sank the Titanic — who’s aggrieved because that’s the only thing he’s known for.
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Hunter Schafer
Euphoric rise
On “Euphoria,” Schafer broke out in a big way in 2019; since then, she has taken a more active behind-the-scenes role, co-writing a 2021 spotlight episode touching on her experiences as a trans woman. And though she was a runway model before “Euphoria” began, she’s emerged in the 2020s as a generation-defining style star.
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Lil Nas X
Call me by your name
While “Old Town Road” became one of the biggest songs of all time, Lil Nas X seemed on the fast track to one-hit-wonderdom — until he came out in 2019. Since then, he’s used his social-media savvy to introduce the next phase of his career with the eye-popping “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” the fiercest music video in recent history.
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Lana Wachowski
The futurist
While the streaming wars and ongoing media landscape disruption often feel like something out of a dystopian thriller, the fact remains that in 2021, one of the most successful directors of all time is coming back with a movie made for brick-and-mortar theaters. Wachowski, who is trans, will deliver “The Matrix 4” this Christmas, and with it a new vision of humanity and technology.
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JoJo Siwa
Tween idol
Pop singer, YouTube sensation and entrepreneur, 18-year-old Siwa came out in January by dancing on TikTok to Lady Gaga’s pride anthem “Born This Way.” A role model to young girls everywhere, Siwa — who identifies as pansexual — has since scored an unscripted deal with Peacock, and will star in a Nickelodeon musical based on her life.
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Jazz Jennings
Barrier breaker
In 2007, at the age of 6, Jennings spoke to Barbara Walters about her identity, representing one of the youngest trans girls to so confidently be herself in front of millions of viewers. Now, at 20, Jennings continues to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community both off-screen and on TLC, where she anchors the hit reality show “I Am Jazz.”
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Nahnatchka Khan
The Rock whisperer
The “Fresh off the Boat” creator — a rare out lesbian showrunner in Hollywood — found even more family-sitcom success with “Young Rock,” NBC’s show about the early life of Dwayne Johnson. And with the Netflix 2019 romantic comedy “Always Be My Maybe,” Khan established herself as a film director too.
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Casey Bloys
Max executive
In the Game of Thrones that is WarnerMedia, Bloys — behind such successes as “Watchmen,” “Succession” and “Mare of Easttown” — has been a steady hand. The longtime HBO programmer vastly expanded his duties at the larger company last year, and now is chief content officer for both HBO and HBO Max.
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Vernon Sanders
Streaming success
The NBC veteran was named Amazon Studios’ co-head of tele- vision in 2018. Since then, he and his team have had much to celebrate, including the 2019 Emmy dominance of “Fleabag” and zeitgeist hits including “The Boys” and “Hunters.” Last year, Sanders announced a series adaptation of “A League of Their Own,” to star “Broad City’s” Abbi Jacobson.
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Brian Wright
The dealer
Wright has been a quiet powerhouse for Netflix since he joined the streamer as vice president of young adult and family content in 2014. He was promoted to head of overall series deals in 2020, after a winning run signing Ryan Murphy, Shondaland, Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps, the Obama-led Higher Ground and “Girlfriends” mastermind Mara Brock Akil.
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Rod Aissa
The realist
As the executive vice president of unscripted content at NBCUniversal television and streaming, Aissa synthesized a career in genre-defining programming. In his new role, he oversees franchises including USA’s “Chrisley Knows Best” and Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” portfolio, “Shahs of Sunset” and “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.” Next up, he’ll mount “Vanderpump Dogs” and “Ex Rated” for Peacock.
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Howard Lee
Cable star
As the president of TLC, cable’s No. 1 entertainment network, Lee led the channel through the COVID-19 shutdown, showing that not even a global pandemic could stop the “90 Day Fiancé” juggernaut. “90 Day” and its many spinoffs continue to be among television’s highest rated franchises (not to mention feeding the Discovery Plus streaming service).
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Jodie Foster
The Oscar-winning actor re turned to the movies this year playing real life defense attorney Nancy Hollander in the indie drama “The Mauritanian.” The role won Foster another Golden Globe Award — which she accepted over Zoom in her pajamas, kissing her wife Alexandra Hedison in celebration.
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Robin Roberts
Top of the ‘Morning’
The “GMA” anchor, who publicly came out in 2013, has used her morning show megaphone to highlight LGBTQ+ stories. This year, she earned a GLAAD Award for her heartfelt inter view with Dwyane Wade about his unwavering support for his trans daughter, Zaya.
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Demi Lovato
Confident
The singer, actor and former Disney Channel star embraced their gender identity by coming out as nonbinary in May. A few months prior, while promoting “Dancing With the Devil,” the YouTube docuseries about their drug addiction and nearfatal over dose, they said they were “too gay” to date men right now.
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George C. Wolfe
‘Ma Rainey’ director
The Tony-winning director and playwright oversaw the original 1993 Broadway production of “Angels in America,” written by Tony Kushner. In 2020, he turned August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” into an Oscar winning Netflix movie, building on a lesbian romance for his title heroine.
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Liz Feldman
Drop-‘Dead’ fabulous
Feldman, a former writer for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” won a Writers Guild of America Award in 2020 for “Dead to Me,” the breakout Netflix comedy series she created. The success of the show earned her an over all deal with the streamer, where her witty point of view will thrive for years to come.
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Jonathan Capehart
Anchor and columnist
The Washington Post opinion writer became the first out gay person to host a Sunday morning with his MSNBC series “The Sunday Show With Jonathan Capehart,” which launched in December. Capehart brings his perspective in Washington to his weekly two hours on air, infusing stories crucial to the LGBTQ+ and Black communities while covering the Biden administration.
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TJ Osborne
Country star
Country music has had its fair share of gay icons and cult heroes, but could someone who’s a viable radio chart artist signed to a major label also be out and proud? That was a barrier remaining to be broken until TJ Osborne, frontman of the sibling duo Brothers Osborne, made his milestone announcement this spring, becoming a role model for untold numbers of heartland music fans.
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Angelica Ross
Ferocity personified
As Candy Ferocity on “Pose,” Ross anchored one of the show’s most memorable scenes, embodying grace and fierceness in a final imagined lip sync after her character’s death. Since that 2019 episode, she’s gone from strength to strength, taking on a series regular role on the most recent “American Horror Story” season and signing a development deal with production company Pigeon to develop television series.
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Josh Thomas
More than ‘Okay’
The Australian comedian first got noticed stateside with his dramedy series “Please Like Me.” Now, he’s the creator and star of “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay,” a Freeform series. Thomas opened up about his autism in an interview earlier this year, and has built a neurodiverse cast on his series.
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Griffin Matthews
Secret operative
On ”The Flight Attendant,” Matthews plays Shane, who appears to be a fun work pal to Kaley Cuoco’s Cassie — until he rescues her from a killer and Cassie learns he’s an undercover CIA agent. Matthews is a writer as well, and starred in his musical “Wit ness Uganda” (renamed “Invisible Thread” for its Off Broadway run) in 2015.
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Jen Richards
Storyteller
Richards — a writer, actor and activist — first drew notice in 2015 on Caitlyn Jenner’s reality series “I Am Cait.” After that (surely frustrating) experience, Richards was on “Tales of the City,” appeared as a talking head in the Netflix documentary “Disclosure,” and was most recently featured on “Clarice” when the “Silence of the Lambs” TV show grappled with its transphobic legacy.
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Kehlani
The X-factor
As Kehlani said in a livestream in April, virtually no one was surprised when she came out as a lesbian — except herself. “I finally know I’m a lesbian!,” the Oakland-raised R&B singer, who’d previously identified as bisexual, said. “I just wanted y’all to know that everyone knew but me.” While entertaining, her message is a statement in itself — on being true to who you are.
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Ariana DeBose
‘Prom’ queen
Tony-nominated in 2018 for “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” DeBose starred last year as the closeted, driven-to-perfection Alyssa in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Prom.” After DeBose’s attention-getting turn for ABC during its Oscars pre show, audiences will next see her as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s forthcoming “West Side Story.”
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Niecy Nash
Second act
The versatile and three-time Emmy-nominated star of comedies (“Reno 911!”), dramas (“When They See Us”) and projects that fall in between (“Getting On,” “Claws”), Nash shared one of last summer’s few bright spots when she announced on Instagram that she’d married singer Jessica Betts. #LoveWins indeed.
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Hannah Einbinder
Funny or Die
In “Hacks,” Einbinder holds her own against no less than acting powerhouse Jean Smart. Playing a TV writer who was “canceled” over one bad tweet, Einbinder lands some of the most pointed jabs in the HBO Max series, while revealing the vulnerability behind Ava’s brittle façade as a bisexual millennial.
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Rebecca Black
TGIF
In 2011, then-13-year-old Black released the music video for her debut single, “Friday,” on You Tube. The result was virality, ridicule — and 150 million views. Ten years later, Black is embracing her queer identity on upcoming project “Rebecca Black Was Here,” out June 16, and has worked with the Ad Council and GLAAD as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.
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Justice Smith
Voice of a ‘Generation’
After coming out as queer last year, Smith (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “Pokémon Detective Pikachu”), gave a dazzling performance as Chester, the center of HBO Max’s “Generation.” Unabashedly out and proud — and one of the most popular kids in his high school — Chester is a new kind of LGBTQ+ youth character: messy, human, unapologetically himself.
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Christine Vachon
From ‘Zola’ to ‘Halston’
Vachon has been independent film’s great gatekeeper for decades. After a pandemic delay, her Killer Films banner will finally help deliver “Zola,” the first film based on a viral Twitter thread. She’s also an EP on Ryan Murphy’s splashy “Halston” series at Netflix and an upcoming doc about seminal queer artists the Velvet Underground.
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David Rubin
Academy leader
With nearly 40 years as one of the industry’s top casting directors (from “Spaceballs” to “Get Shorty” to “Big Little Lies”), Rubin is the consummate Hollywood insider. He was instrumental in creating the Casting Directors branch at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and in 2019 he became the Academy’s first openly gay president.
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Zaldy
‘Drag Race’ costume designer
Odds are, if you watch “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” you are familiar with Filipino American fashion visionary Zaldy. Having worked with Ru for more than 30 years, the Emmy Award-winning designer is behind the glitz and glamour on TV each week as the drag queens strut their finest.
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Jake Borelli
Romantic hero
As Sam on Freeform’s 2020 romcom “The Thing About Harry,” Borelli was a swoon-worthy leading man. As the delightfully neurotic Dr. Levi Schmitt, Borelli is playing the first gay male main character on “Grey’s Anatomy,” and his on-again, off-again relationship with Dr. Nico Kim (Alex Landi) has been a highlight of the past two seasons.
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Willow Smith
Red Tabler
Two years ago, Smith, the daughter of actor-producers Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, used the family’s Facebook Watch talk show, “Red Table Talk,” to come out as bisexual. Of late, the 20-year-old singer has talked on the show — cohosted with her mother and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris — about being in a polyamorous relationship.
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Blu del Barrio
‘Trek’ discovery
On Season 3 of “Star Trek: Discovery,” del Barrio not only played the first explicitly nonbinary character in “Trek” history, they’re also the first openly nonbinary actor ever on a “Trek” series. Remarkably, “Discovery” is del Barrio’s first professional job, and when they were cast, they were only just starting the coming out process themself. They’ll return for Season 4.
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Andrew Gelwicks
Moira’s stylist
That sharp suit that Catherine O’Hara wore to this year’s SAG Awards was a custom-made Thom Browne creation, styled by Gelwicks. He was the brain behind her gorgeous black Elie Saab design at the Critics Choice too. Gelwicks is the author of “The Queer Advantage,” which shares his experience as a queer boy growing up in Cincinnati.
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Cheryl Dunye
Queer New Wave
Director Dunye has dedicated her career to queer storytelling, with films such as “The Watermelon Woman” and “Stranger Inside” She was among the female helmers recruited by Ava DuVernay to work on OWN’s “Queen Sugar.” She lent her vision to the network’s legal drama “Delilah. Most recently, Dunye worked on “Lovecraft Country.” Next up for her, “The Umbrella Academy.”
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Hugh Sheridan
The mold breaker
Actor Sheridan stole hearts in the top-rated Australian family dramedy “Packed to the Rafters” more than a decade ago. While he’s prepping an Amazon Prime reboot of the series this year, his biggest contribution to queer culture in 2020 was a candid essay detailing his bisexuality and his refusal to conform to labels. In March, he proposed to boyfriend Kurt Roberts onstage at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
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Abril Zamora
‘The Life Ahead’
The actor and writer has been a trailblazer in Spain — creating the buzzy TV series “Señoras del (h) Ampa” (soon to be remade into the pilot “Dangerous Moms” for NBC). Last winter, she earned strong reviews for playing the neighbor Lola opposite Sophia Loren in Netflix’s drama “The Life Ahead,” a perfect example of why trans actors should be cast in trans roles.
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David Collins
The showman
Six-time Emmy-winning producer Collins sealed his legacy long ago, as a creator of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” In 2020, decades after that show helped LGBTQ+ people gain mainstream visibility, he continues to push the culture though his banner, Scout: Last year he offered the voguing sensation “Legendary,” the doc series “Equal” at HBO Max and the wedding series “Say I Do” at Netflix.
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Josie Totah
Head of the class
After coming out as trans in 2018, Totah has taken her considerable comedic talents to roles on Netflix’s “Big Mouth,” “Moxie” and “No Good Nick.” Her breakout turn has been as the queen bee Lexi in Peacock’s critically acclaimed “Saved by the Bell” revival.
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Jessie Mei Li
Sun summoner
As the center of Netflix’s highly anticipated “Shadow and Bone” adaptation, relative newcomer Jessie Mei Li knocked it out of the park with a nuanced performance. The actor, who identifies as queer, will next appear in Edgar Wright’s new film, “Last Night in Soho.”
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Patti Harrison
Scene stealer
The comedian has a skill for running away with every scene she’s in, whether on “Shrill” as a tyrannical assistant, Sundance darling “Together, Together” as a surrogate mother, or, inevitably, the upcoming Sandra Bullock-starring rom-com “Lost City of D.”
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Savannah Lee Smith
‘Gossip Girl’
The NYU student landed her first part as a lead in HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” reboot, out in July. In true “Gossip Girl” fashion, details surrounding Smith’s character are being kept under wraps, but the cast of newcomers is far more diverse than the original all-white, heterosexual clique. As a Black bisexual woman, Smith has said she is proud to carry a “greater responsibility” of representation in media.
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Nico Santos
‘Superstore’
The “Crazy Rich Asians” actor spent six seasons playing the hilarious — and often obviously rude — retail worker Mateo in “Superstore.” He recently spoke out about how Hollywood has embraced more inclusive casting practices, using his own trajectory as a gay Filipino man as an example of that.
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Colton Underwood
The gay “Bachelor”
The reality star and former NFL player became the first gay “Bachelor,” after coming out to Robin Roberts on “GMA” in April. Knocking down the heteronormative stereotypes of reality dating shows, Underwood’s announcement was met with controversy and praise. He’ll continue to tell his story later this year with his own Netflix show.
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Michael D. Cohen
Mentor to trans actors
The star of Nickelodeon’s “Henry Danger” announced in 2019 that he’d transitioned two decades earlier. Since then, he’s launched the Trans Youth Acting Challenge, an initiative to support young trans actors trying to break into the business.
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Gottmik
‘RuPaul’s’ fan favorite
Gottmik made “RuPaul’s Drag Race” history by becoming the first trans man to compete on the show — appearing in the 13th season that premiered in January. He was a fan favorite from the moment he entered the “werk” room, and finished in the top three.
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Emily Estefan
Best-selling author
Singer Estefan, daughter of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, came out to her parents in 2017. Despite her mom being a staunch LGBTQ+ ally, Emily still had to navigate tricky family dynamics. In October, she appeared with Gloria in the Facebook Watch series “Red Table Talk: The Estefans,” where the episode “Emily’s Coming Out Story” spoke about her own journey to help others.