OUT’s Top 100 of 2009

In it’s 16th annual Out 100 issue, Out magazine anoints Adam Lambert breakout star after the musician catapulted from Wicked chorus boy to American Idol cover boy earlier this year. In an extended online interview, the star candidly discusses his sexuality, his newfound fame, and why he finds it hard to sustain a relationship: “Being in the gay community, we don’t grow up with any role models for that. We don’t know what we’re supposed to be.”

This year’s portfolio of 100 gay men, lesbians and transgender people, plus ally Cyndi Lauper, was shot entirely by award-winning photographer Jason Bell, and is the largest annual magazine portfolio in the world. Bell’s portraits draw inspiration from the classroom and the schoolyard as the unifying theme for this year’s portfolio. Actor Neil Patrick Harris smokes in the bleachers, director Pedro Almodovar sports a hickey, Top Gun icon Kelly McGillis stares moodily from a school bus, and playwright Tony Kushner coyly aims a slingshot at an unsuspecting target.

Lambert on Lambert:

“To some people, me being sexual is really offensive because I’m gay. They’re like, ‘He’s being really gay.’ And I’m like, actually, ‘No, I’m just being sexual.’ Male sexuality is frightening to America [but] female sexuality is all over the place.”

Featured among the other major honorees:

Wanda Sykes: Entertainer of the Year

The comedian emceed Barack Obama’s first White House Correspondent’s dinner earlier this year, and landed her own nighttime talk show on Fox that premiered this month.

Cyndi Lauper: Ally of the Year

No pop diva has flexed her muscles for gay equality as much as Cyndi Lauper. Among her most laudable achievement is the True Colors Residence in Harlem—the first permanent supportive housing facility for LGBT youth in New York State. “Kids are coming out in greater numbers as they see themselves accepted and represented on TV and in movies,” says Lauper. “But they’re still being kicked out of their homes or running away and living on the streets. We need to make sure we’re taking care of them.”

Rob Marshall: Artist of the Year

The six-time Tony-nominated choreographer and director follows up his Oscar-winning Chicago with another movie musical, Nine, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, and Sophia Loren, among others.

Dan Choi: Newsmaker of the Year

After making waves in March when he appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show as a spokesperson for Knights Out, a group for gay West Point students and alumni, Choi was notified that he’d be investigated for breaching Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. In spite of a petition in his support, with some 162,000 signatures, Choi was discharged, and has since taken a leading role in the fight to end DADT.

Christopher Bailey: Stylemaker of the Year

The 38-year-old Creative Director of Burberry who draws inspiration from the such sources as cult gay British director Derek Jarman and artist David Hockney, has been responsible for turning the label into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse.

For the complete Out 100 go to www.out.com/Out100

On sale Tomorrow: November 24, 2009