Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Features First Out Lesbian Cover Model
Image: lcchan/Instagram
Model Lauren Chan has become the first out lesbian to appear solo on the cover of the famous Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
Chan, a plus sized, queer, Asian model, first appeared in Sports Illustrated in 2023, and is the founder of plus-size fashion brand Henning.
On top of that, she’s also an ambassador for the National Eating Disorder Association, and is on the advisory board for the Model Alliance, and advocacy group for models.
“My whole career has been based on representation and inclusion, first for folks of size with my time as a plus-size model and fashion editor and plus-size brand founder,” she said in an interview with People.
“Then once I started my journey with Swimsuit, it has become a lot about LGBTQ folks and the AAPI community, because I believe I’m also the first Chinese person on the cover of Swimsuit.
“So although my career has taken different forms, the same North Star has been followed, and that is to represent people like me who have felt marginalized and left out to have them feel not just included but celebrated.”
Coming out as a late-in-life lesbian
Chan, who shot the photo in March, didn’t know at the time that she would be the cover star.
“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,” she said. “That’s where I feel like the tears of joy and celebration and relief and community come from.”
Chan came out as a lesbian publicly in 2023 in a Sports Illustrated issue.
“Because I identified as straight until recently, most people I’ve privately come out to have been surprised at this change in my sexuality. First and foremost: me,” she wrote in the personal essay.
“Believe it or not, I was shocked that I—a 30-something, married to a man, professional purveyor of self-acceptance—am coming out late.”
She’s currently engaged to film director Hayley Kosan, who has dubbed herself “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Husband of the Year 2025” on her Instagram.
