You amaze us, Chella Man. You’re only 25, but as a deaf and transmasculine artist and actor of color, you’ve already made history in multiple fields: as a model signed to IMG, as a superhero on the DC Comics series Titans, and now as an illustrator celebrating your debut show this year.
You bring intersectional representation to everything you do, Chella. You do it all with beauty, excellence, and joy in the face of a culture that would silence and force narratives of sadness upon marginalized people. And about that beauty — you were named the face of YSL Beauty for a reason. You’ve used this spotlight for good in your endeavors, by turning cochlear implants into jewelry as a means of raising awareness of deaf people within the fashion industry, for example. And you’ve turned your artistic eye inward in projects like last year’s The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was, a short film that explored the complex relationship between yourself and an implant — and between the hearing and deaf worlds.
Your art and advocacy even helped you land on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list this year. You make the mainstream see us and all the communities you represent. And for that, we see you and love you.
This article is part of the Most Eligible Bachelors list in Out's July/August issue, which hits newsstands on July 2. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting June 18.