Jaboukie Young-White's Comedy Makes LGBTQ People Feel Seen

The way the LGBTQ+ community has been portrayed in popular culture has come a long, long way in recent years. Although there's still a lot of work to be done, so many creative queer folks have been making awesome and inclusive movies, music, TV shows, and more that better represents our lives and our stories, so in honor of Pride Month, we're taking the time to honor 25 of these inspiring people! This is the 2019 #PRIDE25!

Ever since his headlining-grabbing coming out on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show, openly-gay, 24-year-old stand-up comic Jaboukie Young-White has been making waves as one of the comedy scene's best, and most hilarious, new voices.

Through his comedy, The Daily Show correspondent is carving out a space for himself (and in turn, other aspiring comics like him) in an industry that has notoriously been a straight, white boys' club—and serving up so many laughs while doing so. 

"I hope people can learn that if you're willing to dedicate yourself and put in the work, something can happen even from a nothing meeting," he told Teen Vogue when asked about what he hopes young people learn from his work. "For me, I didn't really have family that was in entertainment. I didn't really grow up with an uncle that's a TV writer or something, so I didn't even know that it was possible at all. I slowly learned more about it and ended up here. I want people to not be discouraged by the fact that they don't have a legacy in Hollywood that's bringing them in. I know for me, and I'm sure other people, they don't come from Hollywood families. That's something that I really want to encourage [in] people: Don't be deterred from that."

Catch Jaboukie on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, weeknights at 11pm/10c! And for more on Jaboukie, follow him on Twitter (he's freakin' hilarious) and Instagram!

And check out more of the 2019 #PRIDE25 honorees here!