Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Gets Its First Lesbian Star
Lauren Chan, a plus-size model, is the first lesbian to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated's iconic swimsuit issue.
Lauren Chan has made history as the first out lesbian model to grace the cover of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
The Asian and Middle Eastern plus-size model told People magazine that she shot the photos for the issue in March but did not know that one of them would end up in the highly coveted cover slot for the iconic issue.
Chan’s cover photo, in which she wears a green Cult Gaia bikini and Alexis Bittar jewelry, is one of four covers for the 2025 issue. The other three are Salma Hayek Pinault, Olivia Dunne, and Jordan Chiles.
Chan told People that she favors wearing Cult Gaia because the brand has been size-inclusive and has featured some of her model friends in its runway shows.
In other photos for the issue, Chan donned swimsuits with a “bridal” feel, as the shoot took place after she became engaged to her partner, Hayley Kosan. For the inside spread, she’s wearing all white.
“There was tulle, there was beading, there were pearls,” she said. “I’m very much in my bridal era, and I’m really excited about that.”
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit team later surprised Chan with the news that she would be gracing the cover, an announcement that brought her to tears.
“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 told People. “That’s where I feel like the tears of joy and celebration and relief and community come from.”
The 33-year-old says Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has become good at platforming models of different body types, ages, identities, and backgrounds, especially under the purview of MJ Day, the publication’s editor-in-chief.
“It’s not just being included, it’s that extra step of celebration,” Chan said. “It’s that extra platform to represent people like me who haven’t been here before and now they can see themselves somewhere like this platform and imagine that they can be there too.”
Chan previously appeared in the magazine in 2023, becoming the publication’s first lesbian plus-size model. She says her entire career has been based on representation and inclusion, beginning with breaking boundaries as a plus-size model and later breaking barriers based on racial and sexual orientation.
The Canadian-born model, and founder of the plus-size clothing brand Henning, noted that she is also the first person of Chinese descent to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
“On a personal level, over the past few years, I’ve healed my body image in ways that I couldn’t have imagined before coming out because I’ve been able to ditch the male gaze,” Chan told People about how her view of herself has changed since coming out. “Within the female gaze, I’ve realized that I don’t have to be anything close to the beauty ideal to be deemed as attractive, and that feels so freeing.
“I would never look at a woman and think that because she doesn’t meet some bullshit standard of beauty, she’s unattractive. And when I flip that logic on myself, I feel such a relief. And so I’m really excited to share that sentiment with folks, whether they’re queer or not.”
GLAAD celebrated Chan’s history-making cover.
“In more recent years, the publication has…featured transgender women, women of varying sizes and age ranges on their covers, and it’s wonderful to see them continue to select LGBTQ women for their covers once again this year,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement.
Chan hopes her presence on the cover will encourage others who don’t fit traditional, stereotypical standards of beauty to embrace themselves.
“It’s not just being included, it’s that extra step of celebration,” Chan said. “It’s that extra platform to represent people like me who haven’t been here before, and now they can see themselves somewhere like this platform and imagine that they can be there too.”
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