Out Magazine has released its annual list of influential queer figures. The list is, as its number always suggests, massive — and seems particularly comprehensive this year, giving credit where it’s due across a panoply of professions, representing assorted identities, refreshingly including those who declare they don’t identify with any label.
From within the 100 people on the list, the magazine awarded special (nominal) honors to Caitlyn Jenner, whom they named “Newsmaker of the Year” — saying “Jenner is acutely aware of the scrutiny she and her show are under…but rather than weigh oppressively on Jenner, her role and obligations have become a new mission in life.” They awarded Carrie Brownstein the title of “Artist of the Year,” calling her new memoir a “manifesto for the modern artist.” Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander was dubbed “Breakout of the Year,” with the editors of Out saying that “Alexander has poured his gay highs and heartaches into his music…invigorated by the fact that queer visibility is growing fast worldwide.”
Following the first three “Of the Year” titles, the list continues to recognize Flavorwire favorites such as Le1f (whose upcoming debut, Roit Boi, they call “a labyrinthine, sociopolitical assault on the senses”), the “legend” Lily Tomlin, Shamir (who they deem “post-queer, post-gender [and] fearlessly original,”), Roxane Gay (who’s “empowered women through her insistence that there is no shame in being a ‘bad feminist,'”), and Todd Haynes (a “creative wellspring” who this year has graced us with Carol).
Check out the full 2015 list at Out.