Last updated on July 31st, 2026
Obviously, voice actors are an integral part of animation. (Well, unless you’re making cartoons with no real dialogue, such as the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.) Voice actors also lend their talents to areas such as anime dubbing and video games. Some voice actors are people of color, and part of the LGBTQ community.
Below’s a list of 10 current voice actors who’re LGBTQ people of color. I’m sure there’s a longer list after factoring in video games and anime dubbing, but I’m mostly focused on Western animation. Most of the people below make voice acting their main career, though some also perform in live-action roles.
Stephanie Beatriz
Stephanie Beatriz is a bisexual Latina actress. While her best known roles are from live action (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), her most prominent animation roles are as Mirabel in “Encanto” and as a character in “Hazbin Hotel.”
Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady’s a pansexual African American actor. Brady’s biggest current role is as the host of CBS’ “Let’s Make a Deal,” but he’s also done voice acting in various animation roles, including as Harold McBride in “The Loud House.”
Bethany Brown
Bethany Brown is a pansexual Black Canadian actress. Her voice acting roles include Plum Pudding, Peppermint Fizz, and Crepe Suzette in “Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City,” and Joy Mumford in “Molly of Denali.”
Parvesh Cheena
Parvesh Cheena is a gay man of Punjabi descent. His prominent animation roles include Raj in “Craig of the Creek,” as well as characters in various preschooler shows (Manish in “Mira, Royal Detective”; Bodhi in “T.O.T.S.,” Rusty in “Pupstruction,” etc.). Cheena also voiced Tibbles in “The Owl House.”
Erica Luttrell
Erica Luttrell is a Black Canadian voice actress, who married her girlfriend in 2019. She’s voiced numerous characters, though her best known role seems to be Keesha from “The Magic School Bus.” Other roles include Candy from “Dave the Barbarian,” Sapphire in “Steven Universe,” and Mercy Graves in the 2018 “Death of Superman” direct-to-DVD film.
Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy is a gay man of Indian descent. His best known roles in animation are as Baljeet in “Phineas and Ferb,” and as Sanjay Patel in “Sanjay and Craig.”
Valeria Rodriguez
Valeria Rodriguez is a queer nonbinary Mexican-American voice actor. Their prominent roles include the 2022 animated series “Monster High” and Disney Jr.’s “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.”
James Sie
James Sie is a gay Asian American voice actor, who’s mostly known for impersonating actor Jackie Chan in various animated media. This includes the titular character in “Jackie Chan Adventures,” as well as Master Monkey in several “Kung Fu Panda” TV spin-offs.
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes is a lesbian African American comedian and actress. While mostly known for her live-action performances, she’s also voiced various animated characters. Most of these seem to be one-off roles, but some prominent appearances include: “Barnyard” and its spin-off series “Back at the Barnyard” (as Bessy); “Velma,” as one of Daphne’s mothers; and as Nuritza in the HBO Max series “Tig ‘n Seek.” The latter series ran for four seasons, but was purged from HBO Max a few years ago; as of this writing, there’s no physical or digital media release available.
Jaboukie Young-White
Jaboukie Young-White is a gay African American comedian and actor. His voice acting roles include Ethan in Disney’s 2022 film “Strange World” (the animated Disney film canon’s first openly gay main character), as well as a secondary character in “Big Hero 6” spin-off “Baymax!.”
Photo by joe007 (Pixabay)
