Billy Porter

Billy Porter is a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning performer who has been openly gay throughout his career. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots (2013) and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as the legendary ball emcee Pray Tell on Pose (2018) — the first openly gay Black man to win in that category. Known for his boundary-defying red carpet fashion, including a velvet tuxedo gown at the 2019 Oscars, Porter has made queer visibility central to his public identity. In May 2021 he revealed he had been living with HIV since 2007, having kept it private for fourteen years out of fear of stigma.