Category Archives: LGBTQ+

Anyone who lists ‘Dandy’ as part of their social media profile is a Dazzler of the Day in my book. Coupled with Actor, Director and Producer, Emerson Collins checks all the requisite boxes and then some, filling out a career of Renaissance-scope accomplishments as well as he fills out the Speedos, jockstraps and underwear on his Instagram feed. His witty way with words and social media magnificence handily earns him this crowning, and his camera-ready persona and production expertise backs it all up with substance and style. Visit his website here for a more comprehensive look at his long list of accomplishments. 

It wouldn’t be right crowning Joe Locke as Dazzler of the Day without also bestowing the honor upon Kit Connor, and so today marks the latter’s official coronation, as ‘Heartstopper’ wouldn’t be ‘Heartstopper’ with the incomparable Connor forming the other half of the show’s adorable central couple. Besides, anyone with Connor’s fashion sense, as seen in magazines and at fashion shows (and shirtless at the gym, which may be the most fashionable look of all) instantly deserves recognition as a Dazzler. 

The only thing that has given me any pause about not having Netflix (yes, I know, I know…) is the fact that I haven’t had the opportunity to watch any of ‘Heartstopper’, which is, I’m told, one of the greatest series for anyone who grew up as part of the LGBTQ+ world. Joe Locke forms one half of the central couple whose hearts beat for each other, and his charming turn handily earns him this Dazzler of the Day, where he joined the likes of Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine as part of same-sex couple idolatry. 

“I sometimes think if I wasn’t born as a gay person in a rural area, if I wasn’t a survivor of suicide attempts, if I would be in the role that I’m in and I actually don’t think I would be, I think maybe I’d be… running my Dad’s fly fishing shop with two kids in the Adirondacks, but I think that going through these experiences is what drew me into a life of wanting to make a big difference while I’m on this planet and feeling the urgency… I’ve always felt an urgency to do a lot while I’m here and maybe just being a survivor of suicide, I always felt that life is going to go by very quickly and what am I going to do while I’m here and so I picked what I think is one of the best paths to make the biggest impact while we’re here. Because life goes by like that, it really does if you think about it, and no one ever says at a memorial service ‘He took the best vacations’ or ‘He had the best cars and the best clothes’ ~ No,  it’s ‘This is what he did, these are people he touched, these are the people he helped.'” ~ Erik Bottcher

New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher, of District 3, is one of those wonderful people who is so rarely seen in photos on his own that finding the ones here took several tries perusing an endless parade of people on Bottcher’s FaceBook feed – a testament to his authentic care and concern for his fellow citizens. The opening salvo of this post comes from Bottcher himself, and the refreshingly open and honest revelations of experiences that many of us have dealt with and never talked about is what sets him apart from his political cohorts. It also drives him to make a difference while he’s here, and there’s something noble and poignant of someone who can be so authentically and powerfully himself. It sends a badly-needed message to those of us who need to hear we are not alone, that there is a place for us in the world if we want to make one, that every single one of us matters. For that heroic mission, taken one step, one district, one election at a time, Bottcher earns this Dazzler of the Day. 

{Check out his Council Member page here, and his social media link tree here.}