Actor-Activist Wilson Cruz included in TIME Magazine’s inaugural “Visionaries List”

Wilson Cruz of Star Trek: Discovery and My So-Called Life fame has championed LGBTQ+ visibility throughout his career and TIME Magazine is recognizing Wilson’s efforts by including him in its inaugural Visionaries List.

In 2023, Cruz joined Glisten—the national nonprofit formerly known as GLSEN—as chair of its board of directors. In the role, he has helped advance the organization’s mission of making K-12 schools safer for LGBTQ+ students by combating discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. 

Says Wilson: “I’m incredibly proud to be included in TIME Magazine’s inaugural VISIONAIRIES LIST, honoring “the change-makers helping children and young people reach their full potential. This is a new GLISTEN (Glisten) for a new moment. Focused… and more agile.”

“So much of my generation’s work was about proving we existed,” he says. “The work now is, ‘Do we get to exist in public spaces?’ Knowledge of our existence isn’t enough.”

Wilson believes visibility remains one of the most powerful tools for combating hate: “We can choose to use our lives, our experiences, and our truths to be the antidote.”