TIME’s most influential list for 2026, TIME100, has come out, and there are some LGBTQ+ powerhouses included. Their list is broken down into categories of artists, pioneers, leaders, innovators, icons, and titans.
The list, which has previously included the likes of Elliot Page, Jonathan Anderson, Ophelia Dahl, and Colman Domingo, now boasts a new group for 2026.
Hilary Knight
Included in TIME‘s 2026 list is LGBTQ+ athlete Hilary Knight. She is an Olympic gold-winning hockey player and team captain. When not competing in the Olympics, the record-breaking athlete captains the Seattle Torrent. Knight has also advocated for better investment and visibility for women’s sports.
Jonathan Groff
He won the Tony for Lead Actor in 2025 and 2024 for his role in Merrily We Roll Along as composer Franklin Shepard, and was nominated again this year for his role as Bobby Darin in Just in Time. The Glee actor is also known for his outstanding camp portrayal of King George in Hamilton.
“Jonathan is inherently likable [sic]—you just root for him,” Sutton Foster writes. “He gives the biggest hugs, and he’s a real seeker—he wants to understand the world and his place in it.”
Keke Palmer
“Keke Palmer is the kind of talent you spend a career hoping to find. Every so often, someone arrives with that rare combination—instinct, intelligence, presence—and it stops you”, writes Palmer’s colleague Brian Grazer, an Oscar and Emmy-winning producer. The actor and musician has posted online that she is almost sure she is asexual.
Alan Cumming
Cumming has won Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, a BAFTA, and the hearts of many worldwide for his roles in films such as Spice World, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, and the Spy Kids trilogy. Lisa Kudrow says of the bisexual Traitors presenter, “He chooses joy, he chooses glee, and he sees the wonderful in everything.”
Matthieu Blazy
Matthieu Blazy is the creative director for Chanel. Margaret Qually of The Substance said of the 41-year-old French-Belgian designer, “He hasn’t lost his goodness in order to achieve greatness.” Qualley quotes Blazy saying to her, “In times like these, we have to give hope.”
Shannon Minter
Shannon Minter is a transgender civil rights attorney and legal director for the San Francisco National Center for LGBTQ Rights. He is “one of the most consequential civil rights attorneys of our generation,” according to Ricardo Martinez. “He has a soft core, a brilliant mind, and a love for all beings that radiates even in a courtroom. He reminds us why this work matters and what it looks like to serve something greater than yourself.”
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Influential does not necessarily mean someone who does good, like Shannon Minter. It simply means holding or exerting the power to influence, be it those who hold political power, or those who have made their mark on culture or society in some way.
Sam Jacobs, TIME’s Editor-in-Chief, writes of the selection process, “There is no single metric that defines influence. Our selections are led by the stories that are shaping the world each year and the people who write them. Some are well known to many, others only within their fields.”
TIME‘s 2026 list also includes LGBTQ+ allies such as Rhea Seehorn and Zohran Mamdani, while also including people actively fighting to strip the community of rights. TIME has also announced the inaugural TIME100 Sports list, which will be released in June.
© 2026 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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