Pride Month might be almost over, but that doesn’t mean the celebration needs to end early. 

USC has no shortage of LGBTQIA+ history, so why not end Pride Month by recognizing the LGBTQIA+ icons who once walked this campus? From pop stars to internet celebrities, USC has no shortage of LGBTQIA+ fame, so here’s a compilation of some of USC’s most famous LGBTQIA+ alums.

Jake Shane 

It didn’t take long after graduation for the influencer-turned Broadway star and red carpet interviewer to make it big. 

Shortly after getting his degree in public relations from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2022, Jake Shane went viral on TikTok for his short-form comedy videos. Since then, he has amassed over 4 million followers on TikTok alone, and his career as an online comedian has taken off. 

Shane expanded his comedy career with his podcast “Therapuss” in 2024, which consistently ranks in the upper echelons of Spotify’s top comedy podcasts. “Therapuss” has featured celebrity guests including Kylie Jenner, Glen Powell and Charli xcx — just to name a few. 

His comedy hasn’t just caught the attention of TikTok viewers — Shane was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2024, made Variety’s first-ever 10 Creators to Watch list, where Variety referred to him as “everybody’s best friend,” and was named on TikTok’s first-ever LGBTQIA+ Visionary Voices list. 

In just over three years, Shane catapulted to internet stardom and isn’t stopping there. He kicked off his acting career with a guest appearance on hit TV show “Hacks” last year and made his Broadway debut in February in the play “All Out: Comedy About Ambition.” This year, Shane appeared in the comedy film “Wishful Thinking.”

Eugene Lee Yang

Long before TikTok, YouTube made its mark as the most popular social media platform in the world, and that is where 2008 School of Cinematic Arts graduate Eugene Lee Yang made his debut.

After graduating, Yang looked to work in the entertainment industry until 2013, when he joined BuzzFeed as it began to gain massive popularity online. He started making short-form content for YouTube and then collaborated with three other BuzzFeed creators to begin The Try Guys brand in 2014. 

When The Try Guys left BuzzFeed in 2018 and formed their own production company, Yang joined them and famously used the platform to come out as gay. The music video titled “I’m Gay” garnered 21 million views and raised over $150,000 for the Trevor Project, cementing Yang as an Asian American LGBTQIA+ icon. 

Shortly after releasing the music video, Yang was honored with the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award in 2019 for the cultural impact he made on YouTube as an openly gay Asian American creator. Additionally, Yang was awarded the Phenom Award for LGBTQ+ Activism at the Shorty Awards in 2020. 

In 2023, he voice-acted in “Nimona,” an animated science fiction film that explored LGBTQIA+ love and identity. 

Yang left The Try Guys in 2024 to pursue other creative endeavors, including screenwriting and writing books. Since his departure, he has worked on writing a script for a feature film and two books, which have yet to be released.

Remi Wolf

LGBTQIA+ alumni didn’t all look to the internet post-graduation; some of them sought the stage. 

Pop star Remi Wolf, a 2018 popular music graduate from the Thornton School of Music, is known for her “funky production and vibrant lyricism,” as Vogue described her sound in 2024, through which she explores her fluid sexuality.

Before attending USC or releasing any music of her own, Wolf came into the music spotlight when she auditioned for the 2014 season of “American Idol.” However, her love for music and performing started before then — she grew up putting on living room performances with her friends and singing covers at talent shows. 

Wolf earned critical acclaim for her 2021 debut album “Juno” and 2024 sophomore album “Big Ideas,” earning her performances on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NPR’s “Tiny Desk.” 

In addition to streamed appearances, Wolf also performed at major music festival Lollapalooza last August and at Coachella in 2023. She has also opened for Olivia Rodrigo, Paramore and Lorde on their respective tours in the last five years.

She came back to visit USC as Thornton’s commencement speaker in 2025. In addition to being recognized by Thornton, she was also named the Trailblazer Award Honoree by USC’s Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association earlier this year.

MUNA 

There’s more than one queer pop-icon alum at USC. Naomi McPherson, Katie Gavin and Josette Maskin form the iconic queer-pop band MUNA. The three met at USC during a pair of classes and formed MUNA in 2013 as a college band. While still at USC, they released their first EP, “More Perfect.” 

The trio signed to RCA Records in 2015 following the success of their debut EP and played at Lollapalooza in 2016, where they will play again this August. 

Since then, they have put out four studio albums, including the Billboard-200-charting album “Dancing on the Wall,” which came out in early May.

Their 2022 hit single “Silk Chiffon,” featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Phoebe Bridgers, pushed the band into the mainstream and cemented the song as a popular queer anthem.

The trio performed at Coachella in 2023 and opened for Taylor Swift during the Eras Tour. Billboard has since dubbed MUNA a “once-in-a-generation queer band.”

In 2024, MUNA won the Leslie Jordan Award for Excellence in the Arts, an award presented by the Los Angeles LGBT Center recognizing artists who use their platform to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community.