Over 3,000 People Voted and Young Miko Won the Sexiest Lesbian Alive Title by a Landslide

Curve magazine has been covering sapphic culture for 35 years, and for its November 2026 issue, the legacy lesbian publication put the question of sexiness to a vote. Over 3,000 people weighed in, and Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter Young Miko came out on top. The title went to the artist who has spent the last several years doing something reggaeton had rarely seen before, centering lesbian desire in a genre historically built around the perspective of cisgender heterosexual men.

What the Title Actually Required

Curve’s Sexiest Lesbian Alive is the publication’s version of People magazine’s annual Sexiest Man Alive cover, and the criteria went well past physical appearance. Nominees had to openly identify as lesbian, use their platform to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, demonstrate values of inclusion and respect, and make a meaningful cultural impact in 2026. Twenty-four nominees were evaluated across all of those dimensions, and Young Miko met every one of them.

Voters made the case for her in their own words. One described Miko as the first woman she ever heard singing openly about wanting another woman, saying the music showed that lesbians could express desire without shame. Another said she discovered Miko during a difficult period in her life and found in her music the permission to feel more settled in both her sexuality and her latinidad. A third pointed to what Miko represents in a Latino cultural context where queerness in women is frequently dismissed, noting that she has placed lesbian identity front and center rather than keeping it at the margins.

Why Her Presence in Reggaeton Matters

Miko’s lyrics, delivered mostly in Spanish in a deep raspy register, speak to lesbian experience with a directness that the genre had not previously made room for. Reggaeton has long been dominated by cisgender heterosexual male artists and perspectives, and Miko has built her career entirely on her own terms within it, singing openly about her desire for women without apology. For young queer Latines who grew up with reggaeton and rarely heard themselves reflected in it, her success represents something the genre had not previously offered.

Spanish-language music has only recently begun receiving the mainstream recognition it has long deserved in the U.S., which makes Miko’s visibility at this moment in the industry’s evolution all the more notable.

In Her Own Words

During her interview with Curve, Miko described sexiness on her own terms, and it had nothing to do with aesthetics. She defined it as a combination of energy, confidence, personality, self-expression and a willingness to exist outside expected norms. “With time, sexy has become more about freedom to me, but also about kindness and how we treat other people,” she told the magazine. “Someone who makes others feel good by being around them is very attractive to me. Being kind is sexy, being thoughtful is sexy, and being a good person is sexy.”