The Black LGBTQIA+ community has always been at the center of innovation. Despite being a marginalized group, their contributions to the culture run deep AF. Through fashion, beauty, lifestyle content, or music, the LGBTQIA+ creatives have transformed industries, challenged norms, and created space for authenticity to thrive.
Today’s gender-fluid fashion trends can be traced back to the ballroom scenes of Harlem, where Black and Latinx queer communities birthed and nurtured the art of the runway. Black LGBTQIA+ influencers like Jari Jones, Dexrated, and Aariana Rose Philip are now reshaping what representation looks like in high fashion. With campaigns for brands like Calvin Klein, Moschino, and Savage X Fenty, they’re proving that queerness, Blackness, and style are not mutually exclusive—they are inseparable forces of brilliance.
12 Black LGBTQIA+ Influencers
Source: Kristina Bumphrey / Getty
In the world of beauty, Black LGBTQIA+ influencers are redefining standards and rejecting Eurocentric ideals. Creatives like Pradaolic (Myla), Ellesse Char, and Ericka Hart use their platforms to blend bold aesthetics with powerful messaging about body autonomy, race, gender, and healing. Their approach to beauty is not about perfection—it’s about power, freedom, and radical self-love. From graphic liners to bald heads, glitter beards to no makeup at all, their choices are a reclamation of identity in a world that often tells them to shrink.
Whether through home design, wellness practices, or entrepreneurship, Black queer and trans individuals are curating lifestyles that center authenticity, pleasure, and joy. They are living life loud and free. Figures like Jessamyn Stanley are creating space for fat, Black, queer bodies in the wellness industry, while voices like Jade Fox are reclaiming queer Black femininity in entrepreneurship. Their influence extends beyond aesthetics—it’s about creating lives that reflect who they are, unfiltered, unafraid, and unapologetic.
Music has ALWAYS been connected to Black liberation, Black resistance, and Black resilience. Within the LGBTQIA+ community, music holds that same power. From the soulful truth-telling of Kehlani, to the bass-heavy confidence of Saucy Santana, to the genre-blending poetry of Shea Diamond, Black LGBTQIA+ musicians are amplifying voices that have long existed in the margins. Their music challenges the binary, celebrates the erotic, and invites listeners into a space where identity is fluid and expression is infinite. Whether behind the mic or producing behind the scenes, their fingerprints are on every beat of modern sound.
In a society that often tries to box in both Blackness and queerness, these individuals break the mold. They remind us that Black queer expression is sacred, it is necessary, and it is revolutionary. By living fully and publicly, they make it possible for others to do the same. Their work is not just style, sound, or vibe—it’s survival, it’s healing, and it’s legacy. Black LGBTQIA+ creators are not a trend. They are architects of culture. It’s time we do more than include them during Pride Month or Black History Month. Their contributions deserve permanent platforms, ongoing investment, and genuine respect.
Let this not be a moment. Let it be a movement.
Black And Proud: 12 LGBTQIA+ Influencers Redefining The Culture was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
1. Aariana Philip
A Black, disabled, trans model making waves in high fashion. She’s been featured in campaigns for Moschino, Sephora, and more—redefining beauty norms.
2. Jari Jones
Black trans femme model, actress, and creative director. She made history as the first Black trans woman to produce a film at Cannes. Her style is bold, glamorous, and intentional.
3. Raquel Willis
Writer, activist, and former editor of Out Magazine. Her fashion moments serve sharp suits, elegant gowns, and powerful presence—both on and off the page.
4. Ericka Hart
Queer, non-binary Black femme. A breast cancer survivor, educator, and style activist. Their fashion is political, body-positive, and bold as hell.
5. Myla
UK-based Black queer makeup artist known for her graphic liners and Afro-futurist aesthetics. Her style is avant-garde and emotionally resonant.
6. Ellesse Char
A queer beauty influencer fusing mental health, makeup, and queer culture. Expect intricate eyeliner looks, bold color palettes, and vulnerable storytelling.
7. Dexter Mayfield
Plus-size queer model who’s been featured in Savage X Fenty. His style challenges fatphobia in fashion, blending streetwear, runway glam, and soft sensuality.
8. Rickey Thompson
Actor, comedian, and fashion girlie. Rickey’s high-energy videos paired with gender-fluid fashion make his IG a must-follow.
9. Denzel Dion
Fashion content creator and entrepreneur. Known for his fashion commentary, fierce fits, and designs from his own brand.
10. Jessamyn
Queer fat femme yoga instructor, writer, and advocate. Her athleisure fits, affirming captions, and vulnerability are a breath of fresh air in both wellness and fashion.
11. Mikelle Street
Fashion journalist and stylish storyteller who documents queer Black fashion, past and present, with clarity and cultural reverence.
12. Jade Fox
Lesbian creative who uses her voice and platform to reimagine fashion and content through a queer, Black lens. Founder of Hillfox Club.
