Wilson Cruz

Wilson Cruz is an actor who made history in 1994 as Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life -- one of the first openly gay teenage characters on prime-time network television. Cruz came out publicly at the same time, making him one of the first openly gay actors to play an openly gay role on series television. Despite fears that the role would permanently typecast or harm his career, he went on to play Angel in the West Coast premiere of Rent on stage, winning an Ovation Award and a Drama-Logue Award, played Junito on Noah's Arc (2005), and joined Star Trek: Discovery (2017) as Dr. Hugh Culber, one half of the franchise's first openly gay couple alongside Anthony Rapp's Paul Stamets. He has served on GLAAD's board for years and has spent decades speaking to LGBTQ+ youth about acceptance and representation. He is widely considered one of the most important figures in the history of queer television.