Mitch Zachary
Disruptors
Julio Torres
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
After his hilarious and innovative HBO series Los Espookys ended in 2022, Torres made his cinematic debut by writing, directing, and starring in this year’s Problemista. The film tells a new version of the story of the American Dream through Torres’s unique comedic view — he plays a toymaker fighting for U.S. citizenship (and working for Tilda Swinton), an absurd and brilliant take on the queer immigrant experience.
But he wasn’t done there. Torres also released the surrealist TV series Fantasmas this year, giving fans an even better look into his brilliant mind. Though even Torres is uncertain how to describe his work: “There were mermaids and gay hamsters in it…does that help explain anything?”
“I’m really proud I’ve gotten to release two projects that I stand behind, made with old friends and new friends,” Torres says. “No one asked for a film like Problemista or a show like Fantasmas, and yet we got to make them, and I think those who cherish them didn’t know they were looking for them either.” @spaceprincejulio
Mey Rude
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
José Becerra
Gabriella Angelina
Nikola Alexandre
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
José Becerra
Nikola Santarem Alexandre is a Black queer forester whose life changed after attending a nature-based healing gathering following the Pulse massacre. The experience inspired them to commit to land stewardship and nurture a sustainable future for marginalized communities.
After obtaining degrees in forestry and business from Yale University, Alexandre founded Conservation International’s Ecosystem Restoration Program and now serves as its senior advisor. Alexandre cocreated and leads the Shelterwood Collective, a 900-acre, queer-run forest and community center in Northern California. He continues to center queer and Black voices in environmental stewardship.
“Queerness and ecological health are intimately linked,” Alexandre says. “Our environmental problems are born from attempts to create boxes that separate people and nature. It’s only by rejecting those boxes and blurring the divides between people, places, and ecologies that we’ll be able to restore balance in our ecosystems and build a world where all can thrive. Queerness is one of our greatest teachers for this kind of endeavor, and queer leaders are needed in the climate movement for it to reach its full potential.” @blk_forester