QUEEN LATIFAH.

While her name may mean "delicate and sensitive" in Arabic, Queen Latifah likes to cause a commotion. First she rocked the male-dominated world of rap as a groundbreaking female superstar. Then the singer, born Dana Owens, crossed over to Hollywood with roles in such films as Jungle Fever, Living Out Loud, and The Bone Collector. While it was the Queen's performance as a butch dyke in the film Set It Off that endeared her to queer fans, her majesty now uses her syndicated talk show, Queen Latifah, as a platform for equal rights. "People are people," says Latifah. "Feelings are feelings. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect." An upcoming episode, for instance, titled "Stop Trying to Change Me--I'm Gay," features a dialogue between gay family members, their relatives, and lesbian activist Candace Gingrich.