Time magazine is out with its list of the Most Influential People of 2024, and several LGBTQ+ notables made the cut, along with at least one ally and two officials who are openly hostile to the queer community.
In the Icons category, transgender actor Elliot Page of Umbrella Academy got a tribute from fellow trans activist and author Raquel Willis, whose own transition memoir came out at the same time that Page’s memoir Pageboy hit bookstores.
Related:
Historic queer Brooklyn comes back to life in Eliot Page’s new virtual reality series
The series will take viewers inside the world of Hugh Ryan’s book “When Brooklyn Was Queer.”
The Juno star’s autobiography “ultimately landed at a time when conservatives were — as they still are — [passing legislation against] trans people’s bodily autonomy and self-determination,” Willis writes.
Stay connected to your community
Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.
“But Elliot remains undeterred, letting down the shield that his platform and privileges afford, and championing grassroots activist efforts like the Gen Z–guided Trans Prom at the U.S. Capitol,” Willis continues. “In whatever he does, Elliot is aware that his truth and power serve as a light in which others can see their own.”
Other artists on the list included Coleman Domingo, who portrayed civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the biopic Rustin — Domingo is only the second out gay actor portraying a gay character to be nominated for an Oscar. The list also included Chef Dominique Crenn, actress Maria Bello’s fiancé and the first woman chef in the U.S. to earn three Michelin stars.
Fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, creative director at Spanish fashion house Loewe, was praised by Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino as “one of the most intelligent, empathetic, and curious people I know.”
Anderson joined the creative team as costume designer for Guadagnino’s latest film, Challengers, the highly anticipated sports drama with an all-star cast led by the actress Zendaya.
“Costume design in particular takes a great deal of humanity and wisdom, and working with him in the past has helped me better understand the characters whose stories we were telling,” Guadagnino said. “His work is always ahead of the curve.”
In the U.S., human rights advocate Kelley Robinson, the new president of the Human Rights Campaign, was lauded by the president and CEO of the queer media watchdog group GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis.
“Kelley has a voice that demands to be heard. Whether it’s in front of Congress, at a political rally, or over social media, she inspires and mobilizes longtime advocates and new young activists into action with fresh energy and urgency,” Ellis wrote. With Robinson on the front lines, Ellis said, “The future of the LGBTQ+ movement is here.”
Frank Mugisha, executive director of a Ugandan LGBTQ+ rights group, was singled out for his bravery as an openly gay man fighting the forces of hate in his country where his very identity could land him in prison for life, while Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, an LGBTQ activist in Sri Lanka, was applauded for her efforts to decriminalize consensual LGBTQ+ relations in the island nation.
Healthcare advocate Ophelia Dahl, founder of the groundbreaking advocacy group Partners in Health — and incidentally the lesbian daughter of actress Patricia Neal and author Roald Dahl — was extolled by author John Green as “profoundly committed to the reduction of human suffering” in her work “redefining community-based healthcare.”
In the world of science, ally and reproductive biologist Katsuhiko Hayashi was noted for his work turning stem cells from male mice into sperm and eggs, resulting in pups born to two biological fathers and opening a new frontier for LGBTQ+ couples who want biological children.
At the bottom of the list of notable figures among Time’s Most Influential: Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, both of whom have perpetuated and promoted anti-LGBTQ+ policy and propaganda in their respective governments.