The celebs we interviewed for Black, Out & Proud may be world-famous now, but they grew up looking up to someone just like us. In our interviews, they told us all about their Black queer icons, from fashion girlies like Rihanna and Zendaya to luminaries like James Baldwin and Janelle Monáe. Read on to see who else they named and be sure to check out more from our interviews here.
Reality star Ts Madison: "My fashion icon is Miss Lawrence. She tears fashion to pieces! My Black queer icon in general is none other than mother, Ms. RuPaul Andre Charles. If I could be anybody else, it would definitely be RuPaul."
Rapper Da Brat: "I was in the closet for so long, I don't think I even was allowed to pick one, or even had one in my head, or knew of their lifestyle, or could even pay attention because my family [was religious]. My grandmother was on me."
RuPaul's Drag Race's Shea Couleé: "Miss J. Alexander from America's Next Top Model. Also, let's just throw Grace Jones in there for good measure. I mean, yes, she has had heterosexual relationships, but I mean, I know that she gets down with the queer kids. We gotta throw Ms. Grace Jones up in there."
Drag Race's Monét X Change: "[Choreographer and dancer] Jonte' [Moaning]. Their fashion was always poppin', always, and always dope."
Comedian Kalen Allen: "Jeremy Pope. Whenever he posts a picture, I text him saying, 'You ate this up. This is everything!' I think Jeremy is a very masculine presenting queer man, but there's something so feminine about the way that he dresses that it kind of blurs the line between the two. I think it's so unique and something that only he has tapped into. He is able to take the clothes and almost just strip away the gender of it and make it what it is: just clothes."
Beauty entrepreneur Jesseca "Judy" Harris-Dupart: "My fashion icons are André Leon Talley and RuPaul."
The Blackening's Dewayne Perkins: "Janelle Monáe. The way she creates art, from music to movies, and still lives with a very in-your-face freedom of who she is and what she does is very powerful. I went to her concert and saw the spirit of love. I went to Essence Fest where she performed 'Lipstick Lover.' There were two older women next to me, and one of them asked, 'Did she just say she likes lipstick on her neck?' I love that Janelle's identity is being forced to be seen. Yeah, she loves women. Just being able to exist with that freedom, I think, is so essential for people to see."
King Richard star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor: "Grace Jones. What I saw in her was someone who owned all of the genders and sexualities. I found it so sexually freeing and expressive."
Rapper Monaleo: "Willow Smith. I really looked up to her. When I started experimenting with what I wanted my image to be, Willow was on my mood board. I was, like, 8 or 9. I loved her hair. I loved how bright and colorful she was allowed to be. ... I wanted all of that and thought it was so cool to see from her. She showed me what it looks like being a Black girl experimenting and being yourself."
P-Valley's Nicco Annan: "George Faison, the creator of the choreography for The Wiz. I met him at a dance audition for a show that I was doing, Bubbling Brown Sugar. He saw me through all the people and was just like, 'What took you so long? You better kill this combination.' I was like, 'Uh, oh.' But the challenge of it made me rise up. It showed me that second best is not enough and to always put your best foot forward. It doesn't matter who you sleep with or who you love. Do the work."
Jonica Booth of Rap Sh!t: "Rihanna [and] Teyana Taylor. [Teyana's] fashion is out of this world. Zendaya eats up the carpet every time, too."
Pose actor Angelica Ross: "Law Roach! Law plays no games with Zendaya or herself! When you are that bitch, you can be that bitch."
TV personality Mal Wright: "James Baldwin. Also, Queen Latifah."
Singer and songwriter INIKO: "It's a three-way tie between Janelle Monáe, Lil Nas X, and Tracy Chapman."
Brian Michael Smith from Queen Sugar: "Laverne Cox. She was a model for what's possible in terms of storytelling, and using her voice, beyond her work. She puts other people on. She'll executive produce other people's projects to ensure people have opportunities and platforms."
All Boys Aren't Blue author George M. Johnson: "Langston Hughes. He seemed to be a little spicy. He was also someone who chronicled our history in a really poignant way and [brought awareness to issues] that we [otherwise] wouldn't have known were happening."
Rapper Kidd Kenn: "Nicki Minaj is my icon all around the board. I love her style, her fashion, her business acumen, her music, her as a mother. Everything about her."
You can see more of everyone's interview responses here.
