Model and entrepreneur Lauren Chan made queer history on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, which hit stands Tuesday.
“I’m the first out lesbian on the cover — with her own cover — and how much that means to me makes that surprise feel so overwhelming,” Chan told People magazine. “That’s where I feel like the tears of joy and celebration and relief and community come from.”
Olympic gold medalist and soccer icon Megan Rapinoe was the first out gay woman to pose for SI Swimsuit back in 2019, according to the magazine, and she and her fiancé, Sue Bird, were part of a group cover photo last year.
Chan, 34, said she shot the images for the SI Swimsuit issue in Bermuda in March, and, at the time, she didn’t know she would be on the cover.
The magazine surprised her by making her one of four models — along with actor, director and producer Salma Hayek Pinault; social media influencer and former NCAA gymnast Olivia Dunne; and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles — to have her own cover for the 2025 issue, according to a profile of Chan in SI Swimsuit.
“Lauren Chan is rewriting fashion’s narrative,” MJ Day, the editor in chief of SI Swimsuit, said in a statement on social media. “As a model, activist and entrepreneur, her why is about making people think of beauty in a way that’s inclusive, genuine and empowering. As a writer, she challenges the industry’s narrow standards, offering a new vision where all bodies and stories are celebrated.”
