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These 19 queer and two-spirit indigenous people will inspire you
These are the queer and two-spirit actors, artists, musicians, activists, and storytellers you need to know!
Thanksgiving is, in many ways, the prototypical American holiday, but not enough attention is paid to the original people who lived on and cared for this land. Indigenous and native people have been living in the lands known as America for thousands of years, and continue to shape its culture today.
These two-spirit, trans, and queer Indigenous people are following in their ancestors' legacies and blazing new paths forward in the arts, film and television, fashion, dance, politics, and activism.
Here are 19 queer Indigenous people you should know.
Lily Gladstone is an Oscar and Emmy-nominated actor known for roles in films such as Killers of the Flower Moon, Certain Women, Fancy Dance, and The Wedding Banquet. She has also starred in shows like Reservation Dogs and Under the Bridge. Gladstone was raised on the Blackfeet Reservation and is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage. In 2024, they announced that they "use nonbinary pronouns."
Devery Jacobs is a Kahnawa:ke Mohawk actor known for playing the main role of Elora Danan in Reservation Dogs, as well as starring in films like Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Backspot. Jacobs is queer.
Freeland is a Navajo and transgender filmmaker who has directed the films Drunktown's Finest, Deidra & Laney Rob a Train, and Rez Ball. She's also directed episodes of Reservation Dogs and Echo, which she executive-produced.
Kali Reis is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe and is a former professional boxer turned actor. She was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in True Detective: Night Country. Reis is two-spirit and has been in relationships with men and women.
Tremblay is a citizen of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation and a filmmaker known for the movie Fancy Dance and for writing and directing on the shows Reservation Dogs and Dark Winds. She is queer.
Geo Soctomah Neptune is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and is a celebrated basketmaker, artist, performer, activist, and model, who was the first two-spirit person elected to office in Maine. They've been weaving baskets since they were four years old, learning from their grandmother, master basketmaker Molly Neptune Parker.
Adrian Stevens and Sean Snyder are a two-spirit couple who are dancers, artists, and activists. Snyder is Navajo and Southern Ute, and Stevens is Northern Ute, Shoshone-Bannock, and San Carlos Apache. They are known for dancing together at powwows and their beadwork.
Wahatehontsatshén:ri (Waha) Delormier is a model and a member of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community who often works with Indigenous designers.
Congresswoman Sharice Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and serves in the U.S. House of Representatives for Kansas's 3rd congressional district. In 2018, she became the first out LGBTQ+ Native American member of Congress.
Jewelle Gomez is a poet, author, and activist of Cape Verdean/Ioway/Wampanoag heritage. She is the author of the novel The Gilda Stories, for which she won the Lambda Award. Gomez has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, and the San Francisco Arts Commission. She was also on the founding board of GLAAD in 1984.
Kairyn Potts is a two-spirit Winkte man from the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation who works as an activist and advocate, a public speaker, a content creator, a model, an actor, and a comedian. He has over 330,000 followers on TikTok and over 100,000 on Instagram.
Lady Shug is a nonbinary and queer member of the Navajo Nation and a drag queen who has been featured on the HBO show We're Here.
Dr. Charlie Amáyá Scott, Ph.D., is an educator, scholar, and influencer from the Navajo Nation who has over 135k followers on Instagram.
Wabano is a two-spirit Cree fashion designer and stylist from Eeyou Istchee and Mushkegowuk territories who founded the genderless brand Wabano.
Paul is a Swinomish/Iñupiaq singer/songwriter and musician who records music under the name Black Belt Eagle Scout. She has released three albums: Mother of My Children, At the Party with My Brown Friends, and The Land, the Water, the Sky.
Angel Haze is an agender pansexual rapper and musician of mixed Black and Cherokee heritage. They've released two albums, Dirty Gold and Back to the Woods.
Way is a Hotinonhshon:ni Mohawk and Cayuga trans and two-spirit model, actor, storyteller, and activist who belongs to the Turtle Clan.
Webber is a two-spirit Alutiiq, Black, Choctaw poet and playwright, artist, and educator based in Seattle, Washington.
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