A letter from Entertainment Weekly's new Editor in Chief: Our 2022 Pride cover kicks off a new era of EW

Entertainment Weekly's 2022 Pride cover is my coming out party of sorts. Pun intended.

My godmother bought me my first EW subscription when I was still too young to get into PG-13 movies alone, and I wallpapered my college dorm room with EW covers. This brand has been a part of my identity for decades, and the opportunity to now lead it as Editor in Chief/General Manager is incredibly humbling and unbelievably exciting.

Also part of my identity for decades is my pride as a gay man… though, like far too many, I struggled with accepting that part of myself for far too long. As we began brainstorming possible Pride cover stars — my first cover as EIC — it was clear it should be a celebration of pure, unabashed queer love.

It's not enough right now to just "say" gay, we need to shout it from the rafters that "love is love, is love, is love…" Except, as Billy Eichner says in the trailer for his upcoming rom-com Bros, that's not entirely accurate. No two love stories are the same, particularly in the LGBTQIA+ community. Acknowledging — and celebrating — that fact is why Eichner and his former Billy on the Street collaborator, Fire Island writer-star Joel Kim Booster, were the obvious choice for our cover.

When Fire Island drops on Hulu this Friday and Bros becomes the first gay rom-com theatrical release from a major studio on Sept. 30, the goal is that a community will feel seen. That is also our hope here at EW — especially with our annual Pride cover, but throughout the year as well.

While we put the finishing touches on our full month of LGTBQ spotlights, our band of pop culture obsessives is already eyeing EW's grand return to San Diego Comic-Con in July; counting down the days until the most magical time of year, Fall TV Preview season; earmarking the movies that'll have you winning your office's next Oscars pool; and heatedly debating what deserves a spot on our Best of the Year lists. (My vote goes to the upcoming season 3 of For All Mankind, if you're wondering.)

LGBTQ or not, we hope readers find a sense of community through EW — kindred spirits who maybe binge a little too much TV and belong to one too many theater rewards programs. And we look forward to providing you more of the content you love than ever before.

Happy Pride,
Patrick Gomez

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