American actor and singerBilly Porter was BOTD in 1969. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he grew up in a Pentecostal Christian family, and was sexually abused by his stepfather. He studied at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School and Carnegie Mellon University, and later studied screenwriting at the University of California Los Angeles. He rose to public attention in 1992 as a finalist on TV talent show Star Search, before spending years as a working actor, including a brief role in the 2000 gay-themed comedy The Broken Hearts Club. In 2013, he rocketed to stardom as drag queen Miss Lola in the original Broadway production of the musical Kinky Boots, winning him a Tony Award. He later starred in all three seasons of Pose, Ryan Murphy‘s drama about Black gay and trans culture during the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York, winning an Emmy Award for his role as drag ball host Pray Tell. He also played the Fabulous Godmother in the 2021 musical film Cinderella and appeared in Murphy’s anthology horror series American Horror Story: Apocalypse. His recent work includes playing the EmCee in a London production of John Kander and Fred Ebb‘s musical Cabaret, and co-starring with Luke Evans in the film Our Son, a maudlin drama about a gay couple battling for custody of their adopted son. Porter has become equally as famous for his androgynous red carpet fashions, famously wearing a fitted tuxedo jacket with a velvet Christian Siriano ball gown to the 2019 Oscars. In 2021, he published a memoir Unprotected, disclosing his HIV-positive status. A vocal advocate for queer and Black visibility, he has (loudly) announced plans to produce and star in a self-scripted biopic about James Baldwin, which (perhaps thankfully) has yet to be green-lit. In 2023, he was widely criticised for signing a statement in support of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Openly gay since forever, Porter married his long-term partner Adam Smith in 2017, announcing their separation in 2023. His current relationship status is unknown.