The Queer Advantage
Meet the LGBTQ+ dealmakers, trailblazers, and glass-ceiling breakers in business, politics, and beyond.
The people who are creating national public policy, running billion-dollar tech enterprises, and winning Olympic medals. Andrew Gelwicks interviews the leaders who have forged their own paths and changed the world.
From Troye Sivan to Margaret Cho, George Takei to Billie Jean King, Shangela to Adam Rippon, each person credits their queer identity with giving them an edge in their paths to success. Their stories brim with the hard-won lessons gained over their careers. With variances in age, background, careers, and races, key themes shine through:
Channeling anger in a positive way -- using it as rocket fuel to succeed
Leveraging your difference to beget new ideas and strategies
Bridging generational gaps
Accessing resources to conquer crippling denial, internalized homophobia, and doubt
The power of the Internet as a tool of self-discovery
Using your sensitivity and attunement to read the room, deciding when to fit in and when to stand out
Finding a queer tribe and learning to help and lean on one another
Collecting incisive, deeply personal conversations with LGBTQ+ trailblazers about how they leveraged the challenges and insights they had as relative outsiders to succeed in the worlds of business, tech, politics, Hollywood, sports and beyond, The Queer Advantage celebrates the unique, supercharged power of queerness.
About the Author
Born and raised in the midwest, Andrew Gelwicks is a celebrity fashion stylist, writer, and speaker.
He worked at GQ and Teen Vogue before beginning his own venture as a celebrity fashion stylist. Andrew's portfolio includes rising and seasoned stars including Catherine O’Hara, Michael Douglas, Tommy Dorfman, KJ Apa, Barbie Ferreira, and the Queer Eye cast, among many others.
His debut book, The Queer Advantage, is a compilation of interviews with the world's most successful leaders — from Billie Jean King to Lee Daniels to Barney Frank to Margaret Cho — on how their queer identities have positively impacted their careers and lives. Published by Hachette, it was named one of the "most anticipated books of fall 2020" by TIME.
He has been profiled in Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, People, Harper’s Bazaar, and WWD, among others, and was featured on the OUT100 in 2020.
He lives in New York City.