Billy Porter is an award-winning actor, singer, and fashion icon, who has helped redefine what’s possible for queer Black artists. He first rose to fame on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for his electrifying performance in Kinky Boots. In 2019, he made history again by becoming the first openly gay Black man to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Pray Tell on Pose.
Pose was more than a hit show, it was a groundbreaking celebration of Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ lives, centered on the ballroom culture of the 1980s and ‘90s. Porter’s portrayal of a wise, wounded, and deeply loving emcee gave visibility and dignity to a generation often erased from mainstream narratives.
Offstage, Porter is just as fearless. He uses his platform to speak out against racism, homophobia, transphobia, and HIV stigma, all of which he has faced personally. In 2021, he shared publicly that he had been living with HIV for over a decade, breaking a long-held silence in hopes of empowering others.
Known for his red-carpet defiance of gender norms — a tuxedo gown at the Oscars, for example — Porter brings style and substance in equal measure. He has spoken powerfully about using fashion as a form of resistance, challenging the rigid expectations placed on Black men and queer people. “I show up for the kids who don’t yet have the words,” he has said, turning every appearance into an act of joyful liberation.
