OUT March/April 2023

Hi there! As CEO of equalpride, publisher of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus magazines, and producer of the Advocate Channel, I want to share some exciting updates. In February, equalpride waspart of the celebration for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The 50th anniversary gala honored Margaret-Mary Wilson, the out CEO of United HealthGroup, along with LGBTQ+ activist Zander Moricz. The Stonewall National Museum is the only national LGBTQ+ nonprofit headquartered in Florida and that means a great deal as our community faces so many obstacles there. The library and archives are essential as we challenge book bans, support educators, stand up for trans lives, and champion health care for all members of our community. Additionally, we are proud to announce that equalpride has…

“We all walked around Waikiki and I just felt like…‘I’m a girl.’ It was so empowering. I was finally seen but not gawked at,” Colby marvels in her fashion retrospective (page 62). “I was really awkward before I transitioned, but as soon as I started presenting [as] how I actually felt on the inside, a lot of people were like, ‘You just seem so much happier now…. It’s so nice to see you.’” LGBTQ+ people have a special relationship with clothes. For the closeted, they can be a costume, a means to masquerade. But they can also be a declaration of identity and empowerment. Coming of age in the early aughts, I wore the expected uniform of a millennial teenage boy: baggy shirts and pants in unassuming colors. I’ll never forget…

Josh Jessup and Matt Moss met six years ago in college by going on a date with the same person — separately, that is. Each had a “failed date,” they attest, but that date luckily decided to play matchmaker and set the pair up. Lightning struck. After three weeks of seeing one another, they moved in together, which began a long-term relationship in love and design. Home decor wasn’t initially in the cards for this Australian couple. But then the pandemic happened. Jessup lost his job at the Apple Genius Bar, and the pair “started exploring our creativity and art as a way to deal with this period of uncertainty and isolation.” They moved to Melbourne to launch “a rental-friendly art and decor business,” and a movement was born. Their embrace…

Ronnie Woo had an unconventional path to becoming a chef and TV food personality. A former model, he went on to earn a master’s in marriage and family therapy and an MBA before launching a private chef company, the Delicious Cook, which prepares delicious dishes for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. But Woo hasn’t forgotten his roots. His new cookbook, Did You Eat Yet?: Craveable Recipes From an All-American Asian Chef, combines flavors from his American upbringing and Asian heritage for a taste that is truly all-American. Just ask his husband, Doug. As Woo details, good food makes for a good relationship. And on a broader scale, it can even push back against prejudice. What first inspired you to launch the Delicious Cook, your L.A.-based private chef company? As cheesy as this sounds,…

Here in Los Angeles, I can barely walk down the street without tripping over someone’s side hustle. Selfie-snapping influencers. Freelance photographers. Sign flippers. That girl who sells crystals at a card table near the entrance to Runyon Canyon. Everyone has at least one side gig in the City of Angels these days, if not more. In this economy, however, you certainly can’t fault people for trying. Cost of living spikes persist, and with the American worker’s median income parking at just over $54,000 last year, it’s going to take more than thoughts and prayers to afford that $7 carton of eggs. A side hustle or outside venture might be your best next step. The financial challenges of today are amplified for queer people. LGBTQ+ adults are 51 percent more likely to have…

Dungeons & Dragons is all about stepping into fantasy and becoming a dream version of oneself. And watching Michelle Rodriguez as Holga, a barbarian, in the new movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves? That’s exactly the experience. Transporting characters from the eponymous fantasy role-playing game, Honor Among Thieves, out March 31, also stars Chris Pine as a bard, Regé-Jean Page as a paladin, Justice Smith as a sorcerer, Sophia Lillis as a druid, and Hugh Grant as a rogue. Each actor gets to revel in the tropes of their class, bringing these beloved D&D archetypes to life with hilarity and heart. For Rodriguez — who played the game for “a good three-year stint” until she “discovered boys and girls” in high school, the bisexual action star attests — returning to the…