Kentö Announced in them's #oneofthem Collective Launch

Adam Groffman, Arielle Scarcella, Barrett Pall, Bridgette Lundy-Paine, Danielle Cooper, Deondrick Hinton, Elliot Fletcher, Freddy Rodriguez, Harper Watters, Ian Crumm, Isaac Cole Powell, Ivan Lam, Jazz Jennings, Kentö, Matt Chu, Matteo Lane, Matthew Mazur, Mina Gerges, Munroe Bergdorf, Nik Dodani, Shantell Martin, Tania Safi, Tommy Lei, Wilco Froneman, Wilson Cruz, and Yoandri Cabrera. All photos courtesy of the subjects, or Getty Images.

Read the full article here.

Photo: Kentö photographed by Ryan Pfluger.

When them. first launched, the founding editors described the platform, first and foremost, as a community. “We strive not only to inform, but to listen, to collaborate, to work together,” the manifesto read. “We want our work to live beyond the page and inside the hearts of those who come to us.”

To celebrate our new community, we invited LGBTQ+ people from around the globe to join in the conversation by sharing their own stories on social media, tagged with #oneofthem. Thousands have used the hashtag since to open up about their experiences as queer people and their friends, fans, and allies. Some stories have been uplifting; others have been heartbreaking. But across the board, each and every one has been an inspiration, and a testament to the power of the LGBTQ+ community.

Kentö is a recording artist based in Los Angeles, who spends his free time cooking and watching documentaries about outer space.

Being #oneofthem means being visible. As an artist, it is important to me to be open about being a queer intersex man on the spectrum (ASD1), to represent my communities, and to speak for the ones who aren't feeling represented. When I was younger, I felt that I needed to hide certain aspects about myself. "Act normal," "mirror behavior," "look straight," and "don't let anybody know" were all things I would bark at myself. But when I was a child, I remember watching the music video for Annie Lennox's "No More I Love You's" and thinking, oh, how cool! These men with makeup on in ballet shoes and tutus. And that was it. No other thoughts. It wasn't until later that examples set by other people and parents caused me to believe that there was something wrong. Society, family, and surroundings determine what a child deems normal and abnormal. I’d love if we could all live as we are without judgement.

Excited for: “I’m in the studio with Universal Music & AWAL right now to finish my international debut album, Strangers. I'm also developing a queer sketch series with some really talented writers and actors (think queer Portlandia).”