Jenny Anderson
Storytellers
The 2025 Out100: Kip Williams
These are the LGBTQ+ people making the world bolder and brighter in 2025.
Everything Tony-nominated director and writer Kip Williams creates is rooted in a queer perspective. “My work is interested in exploring themes around identity, specifically gender and sexuality,” he says.
This year, the Australian creator wrote and helmed The Picture of Dorian Gray, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel, which garnered Succession’s Sarah Snook a Tony for her portrayal of the legendary hedonist (and 25 other roles). The play is “a two-hour-long drag king show that explodes the gender binary,” he says. Williams received several DMs from young people inspired by the Broadway production, which “reaffirmed my faith in theater's ability to change lives.”
“The visual landscape of my work often draws inspiration from queer culture and camp aesthetics, challenging gender norms and using camp as a critical perspective through which to deconstruct dominant paradigms,” he adds.
His next production will be a queer retelling of Dracula with Cynthia Erivo in the West End, which he says is going to be “theatrically super ambitious, thrilling, scary, and hopefully uplifting.” His message to the world? “The complex parts of your identity that defy categorization are the most beautiful.” @kip_williams
Moises Mendez II
Moises Mendez II is an Out Magazine staff writer based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers internet culture and entertainment, including television, movies, music, and more. Before joining Out, he was a Culture Reporter at TIME Magazine, and he previously worked as a freelance journalist, with work appearing in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and more. Moises holds a master's degree in Arts and Culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Moises Mendez II is an Out Magazine staff writer based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers internet culture and entertainment, including television, movies, music, and more. Before joining Out, he was a Culture Reporter at TIME Magazine, and he previously worked as a freelance journalist, with work appearing in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and more. Moises holds a master's degree in Arts and Culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
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