Entertainment
4 Amazing Quotes From 'Out Magazine's Issue Honoring Ellen Page, Zachary Quinto, & More
Out Magazine released their 20th anniversary OUT100 issue, featuring four collectable covers honoring Zachary Quinto, Ellen Page, Samira Wiley and Sam Smith. The photos were taken in styles that were homages to revolutionary LGBT stars of eras past (Page's cover shoot, for instance, was shot in the style of Marlene Dietrich in Morocco). I can't think of any four better stars of the moment to be featured in OUT100. Here are some of their most powerful moments and most powerful statements from their Out interviews.
Images: Out Magazine
Ellen Page, 27
In her landmark speech at the Time to THRIVE conference in February, Ellen Page came out as gay and said that she was ”tired of hiding and lying by omission.” She stood in solidarity with the LGBT community and has since been a strong voice in it. She’s had many a great interview, including one discussing being “openly Canadian” on Colbert, and this incredibly uplifting one with fellow Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres.
In OUT100: ”No one’s ever been so direct as to say, ‘You’re gay, so we’re gonna hide it.’ But there’s an unspoken thing going on. [People] believe it’s the right thing to do for your career. They don’t realize it’s eroding your soul. It was eventually about me being like, Wait, why am I listening to that? At what point did I let those things become important?’”
Zachary Quinto, 37
Strong-browed Quinto is currently dominating American Horror Story, and he’s been a force to be reckoned with the past few years, not least of all for his touching turn as Spock in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot.
Quinto came out a few years ago and discussed it in New York Magazine, and since, has spoken up about many controversial issues in the gay community, especially HIV/AIDS. He even inspired a news anchor to come out himself.
In OUT100: “I think there’s a tremendous sense of complacency in the LGBT community. AIDS has lost the edge of horror it possessed when it swept through the world in the ’80s. Today’s generation sees it more as something to live with and something to be much less fearful of. And that comes with a sense of, dare I say, laziness.”
Samira Wiley, 27
The beautiful Samira Wiley captivated binge-watchers everywhere with her role of Poussey in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, a woman at Litchfield that is hilarious, intelligent and heartbreaking. Wiley grew up religious, but her parents have always been LGBT advocates in their community. This year, she proudly represented with the rest of the OITNB cast at the San Francisco Pride Parade.
In OUT100: ”I feel like oftentimes in the church people get caught up in literal translations of the Bible. But that’s not the home I grew up in. I was just taught that love is the most powerful thing. And being able to see that and see my parents on the forefront of that made such a big impact on my life.”
Sam Smith, 22
The youngest of the OUT100 stars, Sam Smith has carved a name for himself this year with his gorgeous love songs, in a landscape of bubblegum pop. At 22, he’s already performed on Saturday Night Live (and he did amazing) and at the MTV VMAs. In an interview about his album The Lonely Hour, Smith did admit to being in love with a man and writing the album about him, but he did not consider that coming out; he’s been a proponent for believing that sexuality is not so black and white but instead fluid and complicated.
In OUT100: ”I feel no pressure to live up to anything. I say what I think, act how I want to act, post what I want to post. There’s no one telling me to do this, lose weight, look like this, sing like this, write songs like that. I’ve just been allowed to be me, and from all the nightmares you hear about the industry from a young age, I never thought that would be the case.”
