Marc Brenner
Storytellers
The 2025 Out100: Jamie Lloyd
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
West End prodigy Jamie Lloyd has reimagined beloved Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals Sunset Blvd. and Evita for new audiences, stripping them down (including the actors) and making them edgier. In this summer’s popular run of Evita, Lloyd had star Rachel Zegler sing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” to theater lovers and passersby from the street-facing balcony of the London Palladium.
Sunset Blvd. captivated audiences on Broadway through July 2025, landing three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. Now, Lloyd’s mounting of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, took the Great White Way by storm this September.
Since 2013, the director and producer has created avant-garde-leaning theater experiences out of canonized works, including his versions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, starring Sigourney Weaver in the traditionally male role of Prospero, and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, starring Jessica Chastain and Arian Moayed.
“The theater can be a great force for good in the world — it’s a place where people of very different lived experiences can unite to form a strong community to create or experience something truly unique together,” Lloyd says. “Together, we can build a braver, more open and more human culture — one that celebrates radical empathy.” @jamielloyd
Tracy E. Gilchrist
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
courtesy V Spehar
Trudy RingTrudy Ring is The Advocate's senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she's interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud "old movie weirdo" and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and '40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate's senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she's interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud "old movie weirdo" and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and '40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate's senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she's interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud "old movie weirdo" and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and '40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
The 2025 Out100: V Spehar
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
courtesy V Spehar
Digital journalist Vitus “V” Spehar started their wildly successful TikTok channel by covering the news from under their desk. They’ve since become a staple of online news for many young people, covering the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the Paris Olympics, and landing interviews with Presidents Biden and Obama, Vice President Harris, and more.
In 2025, they were named to the Time100 most influential creators list and began a fellowship at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center.
Spehar became a successful journalist after struggling with dyslexia. “It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I could teach myself new methods of reading out loud to conquer the teleprompter and that I was in fact smart enough to thrive in this industry, even if my brain is wired to think a little differently,” she notes.
Spehar, a nonbinary lesbian, wants to see “more joy, thriving queer folks, opportunities to tell our stories in an authentic, nonsensationalized way. … We deserve rest, peace, and success, and I hope to continue to drive that dream forward for the community.” @underthedesknews