Fortune Feimster's Comedy is For All Queers Without a Voice

The affable comedian made our "Women of the Year" list.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

May 26 2020 9:58 AM EST

May 26 2020 10:13 AM EST

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Fortune Feimster is one of The Advocate's Women of the Year. View the full list from the current issue of the magazine.

"If you're a little girl in Oklahoma wearing sweatpants and a cutoff T-shirt, I see you," stand-up comic Fortune Feimster called out to kids like her in her first-ever Netflix special, Sweet and Salty, which began airing in January.

The veteran comedian and actress has appeared on Chelsea Lately, The Mindy Project, and most recently, The L Word: Generation Q. In her stand-up special, Feimster offers a set that includes regaling audiences with tales of her family's love of Hooters -- and proves she has the power to reach people and change lives through her hilarious, heartfelt storytelling.

Feimster has been making people laugh since the late aughts, but Netflix's massive platform has amplified her voice to new levels. The special was shot on Feimster's home turf in North Carolina where her mom, now a leader of the local PFLAG, introduced her daughter to the crowd.

"I talk a lot in my special about how the lack of representation growing up, I think, did contribute a little bit to my coming out later in life," she tells The Advocate. "I'm going to tell you funny stories, not just about being gay, but about my life -- being gay is a part of it. If someone out there is hearing this and seeing themselves in any of these stories, that's what I'm hoping I can provide for more people coming up. Because I didn't necessarily get to have that."