Eight LGBT Native Americans You Should Know

Evan Adams

Evan Adams, a Coast Salish from the Sliammon Band in Canada, became an overnight sensation when the 1998 sleeper hit Smoke Signals opened in theaters. In it Evans plays the beautiful storyteller Thomas Builds-the-Fire, who provides the heart of the film (the greatest accomplishment is that Adams keeps audiences' attentions rapt, even in scenes with costars Adam Beach and Irene Bedard).

Adams, now 46, reteamed with Signals filmmaker Sherman Alexie in 2002 to star in the gay Native American film The Business of Fancydancing. He's appeared in a number of television series, including The L Word and Da Vinci's Inquest, a popular Canadian procedural.

That's not the best part, though: Adams, who has always been an advocate for Canadian First Nations people, is also a doctor. He practices in Canada, where in 2007 he became the first aboriginal health physician adviser for the province of British Columbia, according to the Ministry of Health.