Meet 5 LGBTQ+ Heroes — and Hear from the Celebs Who Say ‘You Make Me Proud!’

Offering a Way Back: Kathy Watt

As director of Los Angeles’ Van Ness Recovery House, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ addiction treatment center, Kathy Watt runs a tight—yet empathetic—ship. “Most people who come here have lost hope,” says the 66-year-old former high school coach, who got sober 36 years ago. “They’ve been to treatment between five to seven other times already.” In addition to addiction counseling, the center offers mental health resources and sexual health education, and the 20 beds remain full 365 days a year. “An empty bed means somebody dies tonight,” explains Watt, adding that the most important thing the house offers is something residents often forget they deserve: redemption. “If you can be honest about who you are, you’re not gonna be thrown away.”

"Thousands of people have been helped to move forward from drug and alcohol addiction thanks to Kathy" —actress Sheryl Lee Ralph

Expanding a Vital Support Group’s Reach: Elizabeth & Enrique Castro

In 2016 Elizabeth Castro and her family moved to a Marine base in Okinawa, Japan, where her husband, Sammy, was stationed, and where her son Enrique was one of the few openly gay kids. Turning to PFLAG—at 50 years old, the nation’s oldest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them—for support, Elizabeth, 50, sensed an opportunity. “PFLAG has 400 chapters,” she says. “But what about families who move and start over every time?” She helped the organization launch Military Connects, “a safe virtual space for families [in the armed forces] to speak freely.” She now helps run an online chapter from her home in Lorton, Va., and admits that education and support will never not be useful: “I use a pronoun wrong, and Enrique says, ‘Mom, you’re in PFLAG—you should know better!’ ”

Says Brian K. Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National: “Military families have long been a part of PFLAG’s story, and Elizabeth has been an important resource in helping us address the unique needs of those families, while also providing love and support to Enrique. As we developed our PFLAG Connects: Communities program for military families, in partnership with our friends at Modern Military Association of America, we were grateful for Elizabeth's guidance.”

"PFLAG’s voice is heard because love is our only command in this world" —actress Kristin Chenoweth

Celebrating LGBTQ+ Seniors: Joe Negrelli

 "I was there on the night of June 28, 1969,” says Joe Negrelli of New York City’s Stonewall Riots, a landmark moment in gay rights. “The perception of LGBTQ+ people began to change because, through civil disobedience, we stood up for ourselves as a community.” Today Negrelli, 71, a retired computer programmer, finds his community as a member of SAGE (Service & Advocacy for GLBT Elders), an organization that assists LGBTQ+ seniors through meals, programming and health care. “Being openly gay and in a senior center is heaven,” he says. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d make it to 25.” 

"SAGE does an enormous service for our community by ensuring our trailblazers can age with dignity and respect" —Drag Race judge Ross Mathews

Sharing the Wealth: Gabrielle Inès Souza

As the new executive director of the New York City-based collective the Okra Project, Gabrielle Inès Souza, 36, spends her days “redistributing wealth through mutual aid”—that is, giving away every dollar she receives from grants and donations ($3 million so far) to Black and Brown trans women for meals, utilities, health care and shelter. “Black trans women’s average life expectancy is 35,” she says. “Right now we’re getting the bare scraps of humanity. But we support each other. It would be beautiful if we had the support of the world, of course. Until then, we have our sisterhood.” 

"If society fails you, only your own community can help you. That’s what the Okra Project does." —comedian Nicole Byer

Focusing on Humanity: Maxwell Poth

As a gay teen growing up in Bountiful, Utah, Poth did not see himself reflected in his community. “I was definitely the only gay kid,” he says. “I even tried to come out at 15. [Aside from his immediate family] people just literally wouldn’t listen.” In 2018 Poth—now 30 and a celebrity photographer who has shot portraits of Ricky Martin and Nicole Scherzinger—began crisscrossing the country as part of an outreach program he calls Project Contrast. “I would photograph queer youth and ask them to share their stories,” he says of the photo project that inspired his new book. “I mainly traveled to rural areas, places that don’t have LGBTQ+ centers, to help these kids find community.” He can’t help but realize his experience has come full circle. “Sometimes it’s the first time they’ve ever met another queer person.”

"Max is helping us see the queer movement as a group of young people living real lives and finding their voices" —singer Adam Lambert