Since her landmark coming-out in 1997, DeGeneres has risen to the highest levels in Hollywood. She started her 2020 with the Golden Globes' Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement Award — and her daytime talk show, credited with endearing much of America to LGBTQ persons, is in its 17th season. As a producer with scripted and unscripted efforts, she remains committed to giving voices to marginalized talent. I FIRST FELT REPRESENTED WHEN I SAW"Billy Crystal in Soap. Suddenly, a clever, funny, kind, hot gay man on TV, that's still rare." I was 10, sitting in church and horrified that I might be a homosexual. Whatever that word meant, I knew that I probably was one,” the singer told People at the time. “And I know there’s a lot of those kids still out there. Telling my story is an opportunity to help just one of them.”

Sam Morris was a Tumblr kid. Probably still is at heart. The platform was where he developed and honed his eye for aesthetics, and where he began to cultivate an audience. He still credits Tumblr as the place that he really came to understand imagery. But now, since the service's ban on adult content, the photographer and former professional dancer has moved on.

Megan Ellison

I FELT MOST PROUD TO BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY LAST YEAR WHEN"Watching the success of Lil Nas X, which has been thrilling. And watching how Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union have showed the world how to love and celebrate a gender-nonconforming child. That's really what it's all about." I FIRST FELT REPRESENTED WHEN I SAW "Celie in The Color Purple. Watching Whoopi Goldberg kiss Margaret Avery was a life-changing moment for me." Most of the men identified as straight because they felt that this identity best reflected their romantic relationships with women, their integration in communities composed mostly of straight people, or the way they understood their masculinity. Identifying as straight also meant they could avoid stigma and feel connected to a socially dominant group. Many felt that sex with men was irrelevant to their identities given other aspects of their lives. They felt that heterosexuality and masculinity were “normal” and expected of them. The writer made history with Pose, which features the largest number of trans actors ever on scripted TV. His and Ryan Murphy's FX drama, renewed for a third season, is widely praised as the bellwether of boosted trans and person-of-color representation on and behind the camera.

I'LL FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOLLYWOOD'S LGBTQ REPRESENTATION WHEN"There is a healthier variety of queer stories and characters whose queerness is not their defining factor. And when roles are cast across the board based solely on an actor’s ability and how right they are for any given role, regardless of their sexuality or the character’s sexuality." Andrew Scott, known for his role as the “hot priest” in Fleabag, is another smoking hot Hollywood gay celeb. In a conversation with GQ, Scott rejected the label that he’s an “openly gay” celeb. “It implies a defiance I don’t feel,” he said, before noting that playing a straight or queer character is all the same to him. “You believe the relationship. That’s my job,” he explained.With lead roles in teen romance Everything, Everything and the socially minded YA adaptation The Hate U Give, Stenberg parlayed her prominence into activism via online platforms. Coming out as queer on Teen Vogue's Snapchat in 2016, the actor, who stars in Damien Chazelle's Netflix series The Eddy, uses social media to spotlight the POC LGBTQ community. The French writer-director found global visibility with her 2019 period lesbian romance, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which won best screenplay and the Queer Palm at Cannes. But Sciamma has been exploring queer identity in her work for years, notably in 2011's Tomboy. Behind the scenes, Sciamma is a staunch advocate for female directors and was a key organizer of the 2018 women's protest at Cannes. THE PERSON I THINK DOESN'T GET ENOUGH CREDIT FOR THEIR ACTIVISM"I really believe Billy Eichner and his 'Glam Up the Midterms' made a real difference across the nation in the last election. I was so impressed with his tireless efforts, and we are going to need leaders like him to have success again in the fall."