
LGBTQ INFORMATION NETWORK │ RAINBOW OF RESOURCES
BIOGRAPHIES
IMDB:
Famous LGBTQ Celebrities
List: Notable Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual People
Great Queers of History: Parts 1, 2, 3
Info: LGBTQ History
Video List: Famous LGBTQ Folk
Listal: Gay and Lesbian Celebrities
Famous LGBTQ People: Queer Historical Icons
Gay Kings and Queens of Europe
Huff Post: Queer Celebrities
Video List: Top Ten Most Influential LGBTQ Celebrities
Info: Famous LGBTQ People

Oscar Wilde | Writer
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde
(1854-1900) was a gay Irish author,
poet and playwright, born in Dublin,
Ireland. After writing in different
forms throughout the 1880s, the early
1890s saw him become one of the most
popular playwrights in London. He is
regarded as one of the greatest
playwrights of the Victorian Era. In his
lifetime he wrote nine plays, one novel,
and numerous poems, short stories, and
essays. Known for his biting wit,
flamboyant dress and glittering
conversational skill, Wilde became one
of the best-known personalities of his
day. He is best remembered for his
epigrams, his novel "The Picture of
Dorian Gray," his play "The Importance
of Being Earnest," and the circumstances
of his criminal conviction for "gross
indecency", imprisonment, and early
death at age 46, in Paris, France. He
was romantically linked with Lord Alfred
Douglas, to whom he sent many love
letters.
Biographical Notes: Oscar Wilde
Video Bio: Oscar Wilde
Official Oscar Wilde Website
Oscar Wilde Biography
Cool History: Oscar Wilde

Billie Jean King | Athlete
Billie Jean King (Moffitt), born in
1943, is a lesbian American world no. 1
professional tennis player. King won 39
Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in
women's doubles, and 11 in mixed
doubles. She won the singles title at
the inaugural WTA Tour Championships.
She often represented the United States
in the Federation Cup and the Wightman
Cup. She was a member of the victorious
United States team in seven Federation
Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three
years, she was the United States'
captain in the Federation Cup. King is
an advocate for gender equality and has
long been a pioneer for equality and
social justice. In 1973, at age 29, she
won the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis
match against the 55-year-old Bobby
Riggs. She was also the founder of the
Women's Tennis Association and the
Women's Sports Foundation. Regarded by
many in the sport as one of the greatest
women's tennis players of all time, King
was inducted into the International
Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.
Biographical Notes: Billie Jean King
Official Billie Jean King Website
ESPN: Billie Jean King Won For All Women

James Baldwin | Writer
James Arthur Baldwin (1924-1987) was a
gay American novelist, playwright, and
activist, born in Harlem, New York. His
essays, as collected in "Notes of a
Native Son" (1955), explore intricacies
of racial, sexual, and class
distinctions in Western societies, most
notably in mid-20th-century North
America. Some of Baldwin's essays are
book-length, including "The Fire Next
Time" (1963), "No Name in the Street"
(1972), and "The Devil Finds Work"
(1976). An unfinished manuscript,
"Remember This House," was expanded and
adapted for cinema as the Academy
Award–nominated documentary film "I Am
Not Your Negro." One of his novels, "If
Beale Street Could Talk," was adapted
into an Academy Award-winning dramatic
film in 2018. Baldwin's novels and plays
fictionalize fundamental personal
questions and dilemmas amid complex
social and psychological pressures
thwarting the equitable integration of
not only African Americans, but also gay
and bisexual men, while depicting some
internalized obstacles to such
individuals' quests for acceptance. Such
dynamics are prominent in Baldwin's
second novel, "Giovanni's Room," written
in 1956, well before the gay liberation
movement.
Biographical Notes: James Baldwin
James Baldwin: Explaining the Riots of
1968
Encyclopedia Brittanica: James Baldwin
James Baldwin: Speaking on Dick Cavett
Show
Chicago Public Library: James Baldwin
James Baldwin: Heartfelt Plea for Racial
Justice and Equality

Rachel Levine
| Physician
Dr. Rachel
Levine (born 1957) is a transgender American
pediatrician who has served as the Pennsylvania
Secretary of Health since 2017. She also serves as
Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State
College of Medicine. She was previously Pennsylvania's
Physician General. Levine is originally from Wakefield,
Massachusetts. She is Jewish, grew up attending Hebrew
School, and had a Bar Mitzvah. While growing up, she did
not speak to her Rabbi about LGBTQ issues. Levine
graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University
School of Medicine and completed a residency in
pediatrics and fellowship in adolescent medicine at the
Mount Sinai Medical Center. As the state secretary of
health, she led the public health response on COVID-19
in Pennsylvania. She worked closely on a daily basis
with the FEMA director and led daily press briefings.
She is one of only a handful of openly transgender
government officials in the United States.
Biographical Notes: Rachel Levine
Meet the Transgender Doctor Who is Leading the Fight
Against COVID-19
COVID 19 Hero: Dr. Rachel Levine

Pete Buttigieg |
Politician
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg (born
1982) is a gay American politician who
was mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He is
a candidate for the Democratic
nomination in the 2020 United States
presidential election. Buttigieg is a
graduate of Harvard College and Oxford
University, attending the latter on a
Rhodes Scholarship. He worked as a
consultant at the management consulting
firm McKinsey. He served as a naval
intelligence officer in the US Navy,
attaining the rank of lieutenant. He was
deployed to Afghanistan for seven months
and was awarded the Joint Service
Commendation Medal. Buttigieg served as
the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana,
from 2012 to 2020, as the youngest mayor
of a city with a population of over
100,000. In 2015, Buttigieg publicly
came out as gay and was reelected with
over 80% of the vote. He became the
first openly gay person to launch a
major presidential campaign. Despite
initially low expectations, he gained
significant momentum in mid-2019 when he
participated in several town halls,
forums, and debates. At the Iowa
caucuses, Buttigieg narrowly won the
pledged delegate count that a majority
of news organizations use to determine
the winner. With this win, he became the
first openly gay candidate to earn
presidential primary delegates from a
major American political party.
Buttigieg can speak 8 different foreign
languages.
Buttigieg is a Christian, and he has
said his faith has had a strong
influence in his life. His parents
baptized him in a Catholic church as an
infant and he attended Catholic schools.
Now a member of the Episcopal Church,
Buttigieg is a congregant at the
Cathedral of St. James in downtown South
Bend. In December 2017, Buttigieg
announced his engagement to Chasten
Glezman, a junior high school teacher.
They had been dating since August 2015.
They were married in 2018, in a private
ceremony at the Cathedral of St. James
in South Bend.
Pete Buttigieg: Rolling Stone Special
Interview
Pete Buttigieg: Meet Pete
Pete for America: Official Presidential
Campaign
Pete Buttigieg: First LGBTQ Person to Win Delegates in
Any Presidential Contest
Pete Buttigieg: Advocate Magazine Interview
Pete Buttigieg: Unlikely Unprecedented Presidential
Campaign

Ellen DeGeneres | Comedian
Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born 1958) is a
lesbian American comedian, television
host, actress, writer, and producer. She
starred in the popular sitcom "Ellen"
from 1994 to 1998 and has hosted her
syndicated TV talk show, "The Ellen
DeGeneres Show," since 2003. Her
stand-up comedy career started in the
early 1980s, and included a 1986
appearance on The Tonight Show Starring
Johnny Carson. As a film actress,
DeGeneres starred in Mr. Wrong (1996),
EDtv (1999), and The Love Letter (1999),
and provided the voice of Dory in the
Pixar animated films Finding Nemo (2003)
and Finding Dory (2016). During the
fourth season of "Ellen" in 1997, she
came out as a lesbian in an appearance
on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her
character, Ellen Morgan, also came out
to a therapist played by Winfrey, and
the series went on to explore various
LGBTQ issues, including the coming-out
process. In 2008, she married her
longtime girlfriend Portia de Rossi. She
has authored four books. She has won 30
Emmys, 20 People's Choice Awards (more
than any other person), and numerous
other awards for her work and charitable
efforts. In 2016, she received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2020,
she received the Golden Globes Carol
Burnett Achievement in Television Award.
Biographical Notes: Ellen DeGeneres
Golden Globes Honor Ellen's Incredible
Career
Official Ellen DeGeneres Website
Golden Globes: Kate McKinnon's Tribute
to Ellen DeGeneres
The Ellen Show: YouTube Channel
Ellen DeGeneres Accepts Carol Burnett
Award at Golden Globes Event
Golden Globes: Ellen DeGeneres Receives
Achievement in Television Award

Harvey Milk | Politician
Harvey Bernard Milk (1930–1978) was an
American politician and the first openly
gay elected official in the history of
California, where he was elected to the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors in
1977. Milk moved from New York City
(where he was born) to the Castro
District of San Francisco in 1972 amid a
migration of gay and bisexual men. He
took advantage of the growing political
and economic power of the neighborhood
to promote his interests and
unsuccessfully ran three times for
political office. Milk served almost 11
months in office, during which he
sponsored a bill banning discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation. The
Supervisors passed the bill by a vote of
11-1 and was signed into law by Mayor
Moscone. On November 27, 1978, Milk and
Mayor George Moscone were assassinated
by Dan White, who was another city
supervisor. Despite his short
career in politics, Milk became an icon
in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay
community. In 2002, Milk was called "the
most famous and most significantly open
LGBTQ official ever elected in the
United States". Milk was
posthumously awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in 2009.
Biographical Notes: Harvey Milk
How Harvey Milk Changed the Gay Rights
Movement
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Harvey Milk
NPR News: Harvey Milk 40 Years Later
The
Activism of Harvey Milk

Laverne Cox |
Actor
Laverne Cox (born 1972 in Mobile,
Alabama) is a transgender American
actress and LGBTQ advocate. She rose to
prominence with her role as Sophia
Burset on the Netflix series "Orange Is
the New Black," becoming the first
openly transgender person to be
nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in
any acting category, and one of the
first to be nominated for an Emmy Award.
In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in
Outstanding Special Class Special as
executive producer for "Laverne Cox
Presents: The T Word," making her the
first openly transgender woman to win
the award. In 2017, she became the first
transgender person to play a transgender
series regular on broadcast TV as
Cameron Wirth on CBS's "Doubt." In April
2014, Cox was honored by GLAAD with its
Stephen F. Kolzak Award for her work as
an advocate for the transgender
community. In June 2014, Cox became the
first openly transgender person to
appear on the cover of Time magazine.
Cox is the first openly transgender
person to appear on the cover of a
Cosmopolitan magazine.
Biographical Notes: Laverne Cox
Official Laverne Cox Website
IMDB: Laverne Cox

Larry Kramer
|
Activist
Laurence David Kramer (1935-2020) was
a gay American playwright, author, film
producer, public health advocate, and LGBTQ rights activist. He began his
career rewriting scripts for films,
including Women in Love (1969)
for which he received an Academy Award
nomination. Kramer introduced a
controversial and confrontational style
in his novel Faggots (1978),
which earned mixed reviews and emphatic
denunciations from elements within the
gay community for Kramer's portrayal of
what he characterized as shallow,
promiscuous gay relationships in the
1970s. Kramer witnessed the spread of
the disease later known as AIDS among
his friends in 1980. He co-founded the
Gay Men's Health Crisis, which has
become the world's largest private
organization assisting people living
with AIDS. Kramer grew frustrated with
bureaucratic paralysis and the apathy of
gay men to the AIDS crisis, and wished
to engage in further action than the
social services GMHC provided. He
expressed his frustration by writing a
play titled The Normal Heart in
1985. His political activism continued
with the founding of the AIDS Coalition
to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in 1987, an
influential direct action protest
organization with the aim of gaining
more public action to fight the AIDS
crisis. ACT UP has been widely credited
with changing public health policy and
the perception of people living with
AIDS, and with raising awareness of HIV
and AIDS-related diseases. Kramer was a
finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his
play The Destiny of Me (1992),
and he was a two-time recipient of the
Obie Award. Kramer lived in Manhattan,
near Washington Square Park in Greenwich
Village, and in Connecticut. Kramer and
his partner, architectural designer
David Webster, were together from 1991
until Kramer's death. He died of
pneumonia in 2020.
Biographical Notes: Larry Kramer
Larry Kramer: Hero, Mentor, Prophet
Larry Kramer, Gay Author
and AIDS Activist, Dies
Remembering AIDS Activist Larry Kramer
Larry Kramer's Loud and
Proud Activism Remains Necessary
Larry Kramer: One of the Fiercest Voices in AIDS
Activism
Iconic Gay Activist Passes Away at 84
Larry Kramer, Playwright and Activist, Dead at 84
Larry Kramer: True LGBTQ Radical

Hans Christian Andersen
| Writer
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was
a bisexual Danish
author. Although a prolific writer of
plays, travelogues, novels, and poems,
he is best remembered for his fairy
tales. Andersen's fairy tales,
consisting of 156 stories across nine
volumes, and translated into more than
125 languages, have become culturally
embedded in the West's collective
consciousness, readily accessible to
children, but presenting lessons of
virtue and resilience in the face of
adversity for mature readers as well.
His most famous fairy tales include "The
Emperor's New Clothes," "The Little
Mermaid," "The Nightingale," "The
Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Red Shoes",
"The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow
Queen," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little
Match Girl," and "Thumbelina." His
stories have inspired ballets, plays,
and animated and live-action films. He
was born into a low income, uneducated
family in Denmark and received basic
education at a local school for poor
children. At the age of 14, he moved to
Copenhagen to seek employment as an
actor with the Royal Danish Theatre. He
attended grammar school in Slagelse.
Though not a stellar student, he also
attended school at the prestigious
Elsinore, where he was abused by the
schoolmaster. He later said, that his
years at this school were the darkest
and most bitter years of his life. He
eventually attended the University of
Copenhagen. Although he fell in love
many times, Andersen never married. He
directed his unrequited affections at
both men and women, including the famed
singer Jenny Lind and Danish dancer
Harald Scharff. Andersen's personal life
has fueled academic analyses of possible
homoerotic themes in his work. Andersen
was internationally revered. The Danish
Government paid him an annual stipend as
a "national treasure." One of
Copenhagen's widest and busiest streets
is named HC Andersen Boulevard. Located
there is larger-than-life bronze statue
of Andersen.
Biographical Notes: Hans Christian
Andersen
Mental Floss: Surprising Facts About
Hans Christian Andersen
Biography: Hans Christian Andersen
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Hand Christian
Andersen

Megan Rapinoe |
Athlete
Megan Anna Rapinoe (born 1985) is a
lesbian American professional soccer
player who plays as a winger and
captains OL Reign in the National
Women's Soccer League and the United
States national team. Winner of the
Ballon d'Or Féminin and named The Best
FIFA Women's Player in 2019, Rapinoe won
gold with the national team at the 2012
London Summer Olympics, 2015 FIFA
Women's World Cup, and 2019 FIFA Women's
World Cup and she played for the team at
the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where
the US finished in second place. Since
2018, she co-captains the national team
alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan.
She previously played for the Chicago
Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence,
and MagicJack in Women's Professional
Soccer, as well as Olympique Lyonnais in
France's Division 1 Féminine. Rapinoe is
internationally known for her crafty
style of play and activism. During the
2012 London Olympics, she scored three
goals and tallied a team-high four
assists to lead the United States to a
gold medal. She is the first player,
male or female, to score a goal directly
from a corner at the Olympic Games. She
won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball
awards at the 2019 FIFA Women's World
Cup in France. Rapinoe is an advocate
for numerous LGBTQ organizations,
including the Gay, Lesbian & Straight
Education Network (GLSEN) and Athlete
Ally. Rapinoe knew that she was lesbian
by her first year in college. She
publicly came out in the July 2012
edition of Out magazine, stating that
she had been in a relationship with
Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh
since 2009. Rapinoe later dated Sub Pop
recording artist Sera Cahoone. In July
2017, Rapinoe and basketball player Sue
Bird of Seattle Storm confirmed that
they had been dating since late 2016. In
2018, Bird and Rapinoe became the first
same-sex couple on the cover of ESPN's
The Body Issue.
NBC News: USA Wins Third Women's World Cup Title
Megan Rapinoe: Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the
Year
USA Today: Megan Rapinoe and the US Women's Soccer Team
Sports Illustrated: Megan Rapinoe's Pride Shines
Washington Post: Rapinoe Delivers Rousing Victory Speech
Video: Megan Rapinoe's Speech at US Women's World Cup
Champion's Parade
Biographical Notes: Megan Rapinoe

Edward Albee | Playwright
Edward Franklin Albee III (1928-2016) was a gay American
playwright known for works such as The Zoo Story (1958),
The Sandbox (1959), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1962), and A Delicate Balance (1966). Three of his
plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his
other works won the Tony Award for Best Play. His works
are often considered as frank examinations of the modern
condition. His early works reflect a mastery and
Americanization of the Theatre of the Absurd that found
its peak in works by European playwrights such as Samuel
Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean Genet. According to
The New York Times, Albee was "widely considered to be
the foremost American playwright of his generation."
Albee was born in Virginia (near Washington DC) and
placed for adoption and taken to New York, where he grew
up. Albee moved into Greenwich Village, where he
supported himself with odd jobs while learning to write
plays. Primarily in his early plays, Albee's work had
various representations of the LGBTQ community often
challenging the image of a heterosexual marriage. He was
openly gay and stated that he first knew he was gay at
age 12. Albee insisted that he did not want to be known
as a "gay writer," saying in his acceptance speech for
the 2011 Lambda Literary Foundation's Pioneer Award for
Lifetime Achievement: "A writer who happens to be gay or
lesbian must be able to transcend self. I am not a gay
writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay." His
longtime partner, Jonathan Richard Thomas, a sculptor,
died in 2005 from cancer. They had been partners from
1971 until Thomas's death. Albee also had a relationship
of several years with playwright Terrence McNally during
the 1950s. Albee died at his home in Montauk, New York.
Biographical Notes: Edward Albee
The History of Edward Albee
Biography: Edward Albee

Sally Ride | Astronaut
Sally Kristen Ride (1951-2012) was a
lesbian American astronaut and
physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she
joined NASA in 1978 and became the first
American woman in space in 1983. Ride
remains the youngest American astronaut
to have traveled to space, having done
so at the age of 32. After flying twice
on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA
in 1987. Ride worked for two years at
Stanford University's Center for
International Security and Arms Control,
then at the University of California,
San Diego as a professor of physics,
primarily researching nonlinear optics
and Thomson scattering. She served on
the committees that investigated the
Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle
disasters, the only person to
participate in both. Ride died of
pancreatic cancer in 2012.
Biographical Notes: Sally Ride
National Women's History Museum: Sally
Ride
Sally Ride: First American Woman in
Space

Randall Kenan | Writer
Randall Kenan (1963-2020) was a gay
American author who was born in
Brooklyn, New York. At only six weeks
old, Kenan moved to Duplin County, North
Carolina, a small rural community, where
he lived with his grandparents in a
small town named Wallace. The settings
of many of Kenan's novels are centered
around his home area of North Carolina.
The focus of much of Kenan's work
centers around what it means to be black
and gay in the southern United States.
Kenan’s first novel was A Visitation
of Spirits, published in 1989. Some
of Kenan's most notable works include
the collection of short stories Let
the Dead Bury Their Dead, named a
New York Times Notable Book in 1992, A
Visitation of Spirits, and The Fire
This Time. Kenan was the recipient
of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting
Award, and the John Dos Passos Prize.
Another collection of short fiction,
If I Had Two Wings, was published in
2020. He also just the 2020 essay,
“Letter from North Carolina: Learning
from Ghosts of the Civil War,” about
Chapel Hill in “the season for toppling
Confederate monuments.” Kenan was
described as an "unapologetically Black,
gay Southerner who used all his
identities to tell the stories only he
could tell." He was a professor at the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
and had also taught at Duke University.
Biographical Notes: Randall Kenan
NC Writer Randall Kenan: Voice of
Southern Literature
Randall Kenan: North Carolina Literary
Hall of Fame

James Beard |
Chef
James Andrews Beard (1903-1985) was a
gay American chef, cookbook author,
teacher and television personality. As a
culinary icon, he pioneered television
cooking shows, taught at The James Beard
Cooking School in New York City and
Seaside, Oregon, and lectured widely. He
emphasized American cooking, prepared
with fresh, wholesome, American
ingredients, to a country just becoming
aware of its own culinary heritage.
Beard taught and mentored generations of
professional chefs and food enthusiasts.
He published more than 20 books, and his
memory is honored by his foundation's
annual James Beard awards. He was born
in Portland, Oregon to Elizabeth and
John Beard. The family vacationed on the
Pacific coast in Gearhart, Oregon, where
Beard was exposed to Pacific Northwest
cuisine. According to Beard he was
raised by Jue-Let, the family's Chinese
cook, who instilled in him a passion for
Chinese culture. Beard reportedly
attributes much of his upbringing to Jue-Let,
whom he refers to as his Chinese
godfather. Beard briefly attended Reed
College in Portland, Oregon. He was
expelled for homosexuality in 1922,
having had relationships with one or
more male students and a professor.
However the college granted Beard an
honorary degree in 1976. He traveled
from Portland to Liverpool aboard a
British freighter, spending subsequent
years living and traveling in Europe. In
1923, he joined a theatrical troupe and
studied voice and theater. He also spent
time in Paris, where he experienced
French cuisine at its bistros and
central market, Les Halles. In France,
he also had the opportunity to enjoy
sexual freedom, having a short
relationship with a young man. From this
period and the widespread influence of
French food culture, he became a
Francophile. Julia Child summed up
Beard's personal life: Beard was the
quintessential American cook.
Well-educated and well-traveled during
his eighty-two years, he was familiar
with many cuisines but he remained
fundamentally American. He was a big
man, over six feet tall, with a big
belly, and huge hands. An endearing and
always lively teacher, he loved people,
loved his work, loved gossip, loved to
eat, loved a good time. According to
Beard's memoir, "By the time I was
seven, I knew that I was gay. I think
it's time to talk about that now." Beard
came out in 1981, in Delights and
Prejudices, a revised version of his
memoir. Of Beard’s most significant
romantic attachments was his lifetime
companion of 30 years, Gino Cofacci, and
Beard’s former cooking school assistant
Carl Jerome.
LGBTQ Nation: Culinary Icon James Beard
was the Gay Male Julia Child
Biographical Notes: James Beard
James Beard Foundation and Awards
PBS American Masters: James Beard
America's First Foodie

Dan Levy | Actor
Daniel Joseph Levy (born 1983) is a gay
Canadian actor, writer, director, and
producer. Born in Toronto to parents
Eugene Levy and Deborah Divine, he began
his career as a television host on MTV
Canada. Levy received international
prominence and critical acclaim for
starring as David Rose in the CBC sitcom
Schitt's Creek (2015–2020), which he
also co-created and co-starred in with
his father. For producing, writing,
directing, and acting in the final
season of Schitt's Creek, Levy became
the first person to win a Primetime Emmy
Award in all four major disciplines in a
single year. His work on the show has
additionally earned him four Canadian
Screen Awards out of eighteen
nominations, among several other
accolades. Levy was born in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. He is the older brother
of actress Sarah Levy, who plays
waitress Twyla Sands in Schitt's Creek.
He also had a role in the holiday film,
Happiest Season (2020). Levy attended
high school at North Toronto Collegiate
Institute and later pursued film
production at York University and
Ryerson University. His family
celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.
Levy's father is Jewish (his mother is
not), and he had a Bar Mitzvah.
Biographical Notes: Dan Levy
Dan Levy: Interview with Vogue
IMDB: Dan Levy

Elton John |
Musician
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald
Kenneth Dwight, 1947) is a gay English
singer, songwriter, pianist, and
composer. He has worked with lyricist
Bernie Taupin since 1967 and hey have
collaborated on more than 30 albums.
John has sold more than 300 million
records, making him one of the
best-selling music artists. He has more
than fifty Top 40 hits in the UK Singles
Chart and US Billboard Hot 100,
including seven number ones in the UK
and nine in the US, as well as seven
consecutive number-one albums in the US.
Raised in London, John learned to play
piano at an early age, and by 1962 had
formed Bluesology, an R&B band with whom
he played until 1967. He met his
longtime musical partner Taupin in 1967.
For two years, they wrote songs for
other artists. In 1970, his first hit
single, "Your Song," reached the top ten
in the UK and the US. John has also had
success in musical films and theatre,
composing for The Lion King and its
stage adaptation, Aida and Billy Elliot
the Musical. John has received five
Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards, two
Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards,
a Tony Award, a Disney Legends award,
and the Kennedy Center Honor. In 2004,
Rolling Stone ranked him 49th on its
list of 100 influential musicians of the
rock and roll era. In 2013, Billboard
ranked him the most successful male solo
artist on the Billboard Hot 100 Top
All-Time Artists, and third overall,
behind the Beatles and Madonna. He was
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1994 and the Songwriters Hall of
Fame in 1992, and is a fellow of the
British Academy of Songwriters,
Composers and Authors. He was knighted
by Elizabeth II for "services to music
and charitable services" in 1998. John
has been involved in the fight against
AIDS since the late 1980s, establishing
the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992.
John, who announced he was bisexual in
1976 and has been openly gay since 1988,
entered into a civil partnership with
David Furnish in 2005. They married
after same-sex marriage became legal in
England in 2014. Presenting John with
France's highest civilian award, the
Legion d'honneur, in 2019, French
President Emmanuel Macron called him a
"melodic genius" and praised his work on
behalf of the LGBTQ community. In 2018,
John embarked on a three-year farewell
tour.
Biographical Notes: Elton John
Elton John's Website
Biography: Elton John
Elton John Performing "Rocket Man" in
London, 1972

Chaz Bono |
Writer
Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun
Bono, 1969) is a transgender American
writer, musician and actor. His parents
are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher.
Bono is a trans man. In 1995, while then
identifying as a woman, and several
years after being outed as lesbian by
the tabloid press, he publicly
self-identified as a lesbian in a cover
story in a leading American gay monthly
magazine, The Advocate, eventually going
on to discuss the process of coming out
to oneself and to others in two books.
Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming
Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and
Their Families (1998) includes his
coming-out account. The memoir The
End of Innocence (2003) discusses
his outing, music career, and partner
Joan's death from non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma. Between 2008 and 2010, Bono
underwent female-to-male gender
transition. A two-part Entertainment
Tonight feature in June 2009 explained
that his transition had started a year
before. In May 2010, he legally changed
his gender and name. A documentary on
Bono's experience, Becoming Chaz,
was screened at the 2011 Sundance Film
Festival and later made its television
debut on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Chaz
lives in Los Angeles.
Biographical Notes: Chaz Bono
Chaz Bono: The Pain of
Looking at Old Photographs
Daily News: Chaz Bono Changing Gender From Female to
Male
Chaz Bono: When I Knew I was Transgender
Sonny & Cher Show 1975: Cher and Chaz
Chaz Bono Opens Up About
Becoming a Man
Chastity Bono (dn) on the Cher Show
E On-Line: Chaz Bono Transition
Sonny & Cher Christmas Special 1975 with Chastity (dn)
ABC News: Chaz Bono Gives Voice to Invisible Community
Sonny & Cher with Chastity (dn)
MSNBC:
Cher's Child Undergoing Sex Reassignment

Melissa Etheridge | Musician
Melissa Lou Etheridge (born 1961 in
Levenworth, Kansas) is a lesbian
American singer-songwriter, guitarist,
and activist. Her self-titled debut
album "Melissa Etheridge" was released
in 1988 and became an underground
success. The album peaked at No. 22 on
the Billboard 200, and its lead single,
"Bring Me Some Water", garnered
Etheridge her first Grammy Award
nomination for Best Rock Vocal
Performance, Female. In 1993, Etheridge
won her first Grammy award for her
single "Ain't It Heavy" from her third
album, "Never Enough." Later that year,
she released what would become her
mainstream breakthrough album, "Yes I
Am." Its tracks "I'm the Only One" and
"Come to My Window" both reached the top
30 in the United States, and the latter
earned Etheridge her second Grammy
award. "Yes I Am" peaked at No. 15 on
the Billboard 200, and spent 138 weeks
on the chart, earning a RIAA
certification of 6× Platinum, her
largest to date. In October 2004,
Etheridge was diagnosed with breast
cancer, and underwent surgery and
chemotherapy. At the 2005 Grammy Awards,
she made a return to the stage and,
while bald from chemotherapy, performed
a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song
"Piece of My Heart". Later that
year, Etheridge released her first
compilation album, "Greatest Hits: The
Road Less Traveled." The album was a
success, peaking at No. 14 on the
Billboard 200, and going Gold almost
immediately. Her latest studio album is
The Medicine Show. Etheridge is known
for her mixture of "confessional lyrics,
pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky
vocals." She has also been a gay and
lesbian activist since her public coming
out in January 1993. She has received
fifteen Grammy Award nominations
throughout her career, winning two, in
1993 and 1995. In 2007, she won an
Academy Award for Best Original Song for
"I Need to Wake Up" from the film "An
Inconvenient Truth." In September 2011,
Etheridge received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. Etheridge had a
long-term partnership with Julie Cypher.
During this partnership, Cypher gave
birth to two children, Bailey Jean and
Beckett, via artificial insemination
using sperm donated by musician David
Crosby. In September 2000, Etheridge and
Cypher announced they were separating.
In 2002, Etheridge began dating actress
Tammy Lynn Michaels. The two had a
commitment ceremony in September 2003.
In October 2006, Michaels gave birth to
twins. In April 2010 Etheridge and
Michaels announced they had separated.
In 2014 Etheridge married her partner,
Linda Wallem, two days after they both
turned 53.
Official Website: Melissa Etheridge
Biographical Notes: Melissa Etheridge
Discography: Melissa Etheridge

Bayard Rustin
| Activist
Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) was a gay
American leader in social movements for
civil rights, socialism, nonviolence,
and gay rights. Rustin worked with
Philip Randolph on the March on
Washington Movement in 1941 to press for
an end to racial discrimination in
employment. Rustin later organized
Freedom Rides and helped to organize the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
to strengthen Martin Luther King Jr's
leadership, teaching King about
nonviolence and later serving as an
organizer for the March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom. After the passage
of the civil rights legislation of
1964–65, Rustin became the head of the
AFL–CIO's Randolph Institute, which
promoted the integration of formerly
all-white unions and promoted the
unionization of African Americans.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Rustin
served on many humanitarian missions,
such as aiding refugees from Communist
Vietnam and Cambodia. At the time of his
death in 1987, he was on a humanitarian
mission in Haiti. Rustin had been
arrested early in his career (1953) for
engaging in
consensual sex, convicted under a
“vagrancy” law long used to prosecute
LGBTQ people.
Due to criticism over his sexuality, he
usually acted as an influential adviser
behind the scenes to civil-rights
leaders. In the 1980s, he became a
public advocate on behalf of gay causes.
Later in life, while still devoted to
securing workers' rights, Rustin joined
other union leaders in aligning with
ideological neoconservatism, for which
President Ronald Reagan posthumously
praised him after his death in 1987. In
November 2013, President Barack Obama
posthumously awarded Rustin the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. Walter
Naegle is the surviving partner of the
late American Civil Rights leader, and
the executive director of the Bayard
Rustin Fund, which commemorates Rustin's
life, values, and legacy.
Biography: Bayard Rustin, Advisor to
Martin Luther King
Biographical Notes: Bayard Rustin
CNN: Civil Rights Leader Bayard Rustin
Pardoned After 67 Years
PBS: Bayard Rustin, Designer of the
March on Washington
Posthumous Pardon for Bayard Rustin
Huff Post: LGBTQ Rights Icon Granted
Pardon
The Gay Man Black History Erased

Joel Schumacher
| Film
Maker
Joel T Schumacher (1939-2020) was a gay
American filmmaker. Schumacher rose to
fame after directing three hit films:
St Elmo's Fire (1985), The Lost
Boys (1987), and Flatliners
(1990). He later went on to direct the
John Grisham adaptations The Client
(1994) and A Time to Kill (1996).
In 1993, he signed on to direct the next
installments of the Batman film series,
Batman Forever (1995) and
Batman & Robin (1997). Known for
casting young performers, Schumacher
helped several actors including Colin
Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, and Matthew
McConaughey advance their careers. He
also wrote the screenplays for the 1976
low-budget hit movie Car Wash,
1978's The Wiz, and a number of
other minor successes. His film
directorial debut was The Incredible
Shrinking Woman in 1981, which
starred Lily Tomlin. The Brat Pack film
St Elmo's Fire (Starring Rob Lowe, Demi
Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio
Estevez, Andie McDowell) was one of
Schumacher's biggest hits. Its style
impressed audiences and the financial
success of the movie allowed studios to
trust him with ever-larger projects. He
received his BFA degree from Fashion
Institute of Technology and his MFA
degree from University of California,
Los Angeles. Schumacher, who is from New
York, was openly gay throughout most of
his career. According to Schumacher,
this fact was purposely reflected as a
statement in many of his films.
Schumacher claimed that he had had sex
with up to 20,000 men. Politically,
Schumacher donated thousands of dollars
to Democratic candidates. Schumacher
died from cancer in 2020, in New York
City. He was 80.
Biographical Notes: Joel Schumsacher
Gay Film
Director Joel Schumacher Dies
IMDB: Joel Schumacher
NPR: Film Director Joel Schumacher Dies
at 80
Joel Schumacher: Reluctant and Conflicted Gay Trailblazer

Jonathan Capehart |
Journalist
Jonathan T. Capehart (born 1967) is a
gay American journalist and television
personality. He writes for The
Washington Post's Post Partisan blog and
is a contributor for MSNBC. Capehart
grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and
attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory
School. He received a BA degree in
political science from Carleton College.
Before his work with The Washington Post
and MSNBC, Capehart was a researcher for
NBC's The Today Show. Subsequently, he
worked for the New York Daily News,
serving as a member of its editorial
board from 1993 to 2000. At the time of
his hiring, Capehart was youngest ever
member of that newspaper's editorial
board.In 2000, he left the NYDN to work
at Bloomberg News. Afterward, he advised
and wrote speeches for Michael
Bloomberg, during Bloomberg's 2001 run
for the mayoralty of New York City. In
2002, he returned to the NYDN, serving
as deputy editor of the editorial page
until 2004. He joined the staff of The
Washington Post as a journalist and
member of the editorial board in 2007.
He continues in that capacity and is a
contributing commentator for MSNBC. He
also hosts the Cape Up podcast, in which
he talks to newsmakers about race,
religion, age, gender, and cultural
identity in politics. Capehart was a key
contributor to a New York Daily News
staff entry that received the Pulitzer
Prize for Editorial Writing in 1999. The
series of editorials condemned the
financial mismanagement of Harlem's
Apollo Theater. He was a 2011 Esteem
Honoree, a distinction given to
individuals in recognition of efforts in
supporting the African American and
LGBTQ communities in the areas of
entertainment, media, civil rights,
business, and art. In June 2020, in
honor of the 50th anniversary of the
first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named
him among the fifty heroes "leading the
nation toward equality, acceptance, and
dignity for all people". In May 2016,
Capehart became engaged to his boyfriend
of over five years, Nick Schmit, who was
the assistant chief of protocol at the
State Department. In 2017, Capehart and
Schmit were married by former US
attorney general Eric Holder.
Biographical Notes: Jonathan Capehart
Jonathan
Capehart's Commentary: Media's Post
Trump Future
Washington Post Articles by Jonathan
Capehart

Janet Mock
| Writer
Janet Mock (born 1983) is a transgender
American writer, television host,
director, producer and transgender
rights activist. Her debut book, the
memoir Redefining Realness,
became a New York Times bestseller. She
is a contributing editor for Marie
Claire and a former staff editor of
People magazine's website. Janet Mock
was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her
father, Charlie Mock III, is
African-American, and her mother,
Elizabeth (Barrett), is of half
Portuguese descent, part Asian descent
and part Native Hawaiian descent. Mock
lived for most of her youth in her
native Hawaii, with portions in Oakland
CA and Dallas TX. She began her
transition as a freshman in high school.
She chose her name Janet after Janet
Jackson. She was the first person in her
family to go to college. She underwent
sex reassignment surgery in Thailand at
the age of 18 in the middle of her first
year in college. Mock earned a Bachelor
of Arts in Fashion Merchandising from
the University of Hawaii at Manoa in
2004 and a Master of Arts in Journalism
from New York University in 2006. After
graduating from New York University,
Mock started working at People magazine,
where she was a staff editor for more
than five years. Her career in
journalism shifted from editor to media
advocate when she came out publicly as a
trans woman in a 2011 Marie Claire
article. Mock has an impressive writing
and media career. In addition to People
and Marie Claire, she has written
articles for other magazines like Elle,
The Advocate, and Huffington Post. She
has published several books. And she has
appeared on numerous documentaries and
talk shows. And she is the writer,
director, and producer of the television
series Pose. Mock lives in New
York City. She married photographer
Aaron Tredwell in 2015 and divorced in
2019.
Biographical Notes: Janet Mock
Janet Mock: You Tube Channel
IMDB: Janet Mock
Janet
Mock: Knowing Her Gender Identity With
Certainty
Janet
Mock Website

Isaac Newton |
Scientist
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was an
asexual English mathematician,
physicist, astronomer, theologian, and
author. He was described as a "natural
philosopher" who is widely recognized as
one of the most influential scientists
of all time and as a key figure in the
scientific revolution. His book
Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy, first published in 1687,
laid the foundations of classical
mechanics. Newton also made seminal
contributions to optics, and shares
credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
for developing the infinitesimal
calculus. Among many other impressive
feats, Newton formulated the laws of
motion and universal gravitation that
formed the dominant scientific viewpoint
until it was superseded by the theory of
relativity. Newton used his mathematical
description of gravity to prove Kepler's
laws of planetary motion, account for
tides, the trajectories of comets, the
precession of the equinoxes and other
phenomena. Newton was a fellow of
Trinity College and the second Lucasian
Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Cambridge. He was a devout
but unorthodox Christian. Newton served
two brief terms as Member of Parliament
for the University of Cambridge. He was
knighted by Queen Anne in 1705 and spent
the last three decades of his life in
London, serving as Warden and Master of
the Royal Mint, and president of the
Royal Society. According to popular
legend, while on his deathbed, Newton
confessed that he had never "known" a
woman. This has generally been
interpreted that he died a virgin. The
general consensus is that Newton was
completely asexual, with no sexual
interest in women or men, shunning
physical affection and preferring to
make himself intimate with the workings
of the universe than with another human
being. While in his later life he
received countless awards and much
adulation for his scientific discoveries
and publications, this didn’t translate
into popularity or even love. Newton was
famously reclusive and private and did
interact with other people, women or
men. According to some biographer’s
Newton was simply too busy to pursue
romantic liaisons. He himself famously
remarked: “If I have ever made any
valuable discoveries, it has been due
more to patient attention, than to any
other talent.” However, it seems more
likely he was simply asexual.
Biographical Notes: Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton Institute: Isaac Newton's
Life
The Newton Project: Isaac Newton's
Personal Life
Biography: Isaac Newton

Suze Orman | Financial Advisor
Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman (born 1951) is a
lesbian American
financial advisor, author, and podcast
host. She was born in Chicago and
graduated from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a
bachelor's degree ion social work. After
finishing school, Orman moved to
Berkeley, California, where she worked
as a waitress. In 1980, she borrowed
$52,000 and invested that money through
a representative at Merrill Lynch, who
promptly lost her entire investment in
trading options. Later, Orman trained as
an account executive for Merrill Lynch,
where she learned that the type of
investment her broker had put her in was
not suitable for her needs, as option
trading is considered a high-risk but
high-reward investment suitable only for
high net worth individuals. It was
explained to her that because her broker
was the highest producing representative
in the office, his actions went
unchecked. After completing her training
with Merrill Lynch, she remained at the
firm until 1983, when she left to become
a vice president of investments at
Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, she founded the Suze
Orman Financial Group. The Suze Orman
Show began airing on CNBC in 2002,
running for 13 years in the US and
internationally.
Orman has written nine New York Times
bestsellers about personal finance. She
was named twice to the Time 100 list of
influential people, has won two Emmy
Awards, and eight Gracie Awards. Orman
has written, co-produced and hosted 8
PBS specials, and has appeared on
multiple additional television shows.
She has been a guest on The Oprah
Winfrey Show approximately 29 times and
Larry King Live over 30 times. Orman is
currently the podcast host of the "Suze
Orman Women & Money Podcast." As of
2020, her net worth is $50 million.
In February 2007, Orman stated that she
is a lesbian. Orman has been
married to Kathy Travis, who is also her
business partner.
Biographical Notes: Suze Orman
Suze Orman: Personal Finance Expert
CNBC: Susan Orman Starts a New Chapter

Little Richard |
Musician
Little Richard (1932-2020) was a gay pop
musician and the screaming, preening,
scene-stealing wild man and pioneer of
rock n roll with hits like "Tutti Frutti"
and "Long Tall Sally." The
self-described "king and queen" of rock
n roll was a huge influence on countless
musicians, including the Beatles, Jimi
Hendrix, David Bowie, and Prince.
This musical innovator would have stood
out in any era. But in the 1950s, when
Little Richard came to prominence, he
was like no other. With his ferocious
piano playing, growling and
gospel-strong vocals, pancake makeup,
and outlandish costumes, Little Richard
tore down barriers starting in the
1950s. That is no small feat for any
artist — let alone a black, openly gay
man who grew up in the South. Starting
with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little
Richard cut a series of unstoppable
hits. “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up”
came our later that same year. “Lucille”
hit the charts in 1957, and “Good Golly
Miss Molly” in 1958. Little Richard is
credited with opening doors and bringing
the races together. His music and social
influence crossed many boundaries. And
he knew his power. "They saw me as
something like a deliverer, a way out,"
he once said. "My means of expression,
my music, was a way in which a lot of
people wished they could express
themselves and couldn't." He also
emphatically explained, "I created rock
n roll! I'm the innovator! I'm the
emancipator! I'm the architect! I am the
originator! I'm the one that started
it!" Little Richard was among the first
class of inductees into the Rock n Roll
Hall of Fame. He was born Richard Wayne
Penniman in 1932, in Macon, Georgia. The
third of 12 children, he clashed with
his moonshine-selling father and was
ordered out of the family home as a
teenager. Aside from music, Little
Richard's most noted ambivalence was in
his attitude toward his sexuality. In
the early days, he covered by
exaggerating his freakishness and
accentuating his flamboyance. He later
called homosexuality "unnatural." And
then he said he was "omnisexual." A
decade later, he admitted he always knew
he was gay. Little Richard died of bone
cancer in May 2020 at age 87 in
Tennessee.
CNN: Little Richard, Flamboyant Architect of Rock n
Roll, Dead at 87
NPR: Little Richard, King and Queen of Rock n Roll, Dead
at 87
Rolling Stone: Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock n
Roll, Dead at 87
Tutti Frutti: Little
Richard Performs at Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
Biographical Notes: Little Richard

Lilly Singh |
Comedian
Lilly Singh (born 1988) is a bisexual
Canadian YouTuber, comedian, talk show
host, writer, and actress, who initially
gained fame on social media under the
pseudonym IISuperwomanII. Born and
raised in Scarborough, Ontario, Singh
began making YouTube videos in 2010. By
2017, she was ranked tenth on the Forbes
list of the world's highest paid YouTube
stars, earning a reported $10.5 million;
as of September 2019 she has fourteen
million subscribers, and over three
billion video views. Forbes named her
one of the 40 most powerful people in
comedy in 2019. Singh has received an
MTV Fandom Award, four Streamy Awards,
two Teen Choice Awards, and a People's
Choice Award. In 2016, Singh released
her first film, a documentary
chronicling her world tour, entitled
A Trip to Unicorn Island. In March
2017, she released her first book,
How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering
Life, which reached number one on
the New York Times best-seller list.
Since September 2019, Singh acts as
executive producer and host of the NBC
late-night talk show, A Little Late
with Lilly Singh. As a bisexual,
Singh is the only openly LGBTQ person,
as well as the first person of Indian
descent, hosting an American major
broadcast network late-night talk show.
Her parents emigrated from Hoshiarpur,
Punjab, India, and raised her as a Sikh.
As a child, Singh has said she was a
tomboy. She attended Mary Shadd Public
School during her elementary years, and
in 2006, she graduated from Lester B.
Pearson Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
In 2010, she graduated from York
University in Toronto with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Psychology.
Lilly Singh Featured in Advocate Mag's
Women of the Year Issue
Lilly Singh: Bisexual Indian Comedian and New Late Night Host
Biographical Notes: Lilly Singh
Lilly Singh YouTube Channel
IMDB: Lilly Singh

Gene Robinson |
Bishop
Vicky Gene Robinson (born 1947 in
Lexington, Kentucky) is a gay former
bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New
Hampshire. Robinson is widely known for
being the first priest in an openly gay
relationship to be consecrated a bishop
in a major Christian denomination
believing in the historic episcopate, a
matter of significant controversy. As a
schoolboy, Robinson began to realize
that he might be different. He suspected
he was gay but said it was not something
to be open about. Bishop Robinson says
he had relationships with women but
admitted that he was also attracted to
men. He met Isabella Martin during
an internship at the University of
Vermont. He says a month into their
relationship, he explained his concerns
about his sexuality. But, never the
less, they married in 1972 and he took a
job as a curate in New Jersey before
they moved to New Hampshire in 1975. The
couple had two daughters, Jamee and
Ella. In 1985, after seeking counseling,
he and his wife decided they should
separate. He went public with his
sexuality and they divorced. 18 months
later, Bishop Robinson began to date
Mark Andrew, who subsequently moved to
New Hampshire. They married in 2003. In
2014, after 25 years together, they
divorced. Bishop Robinson retired in
2012.
Biographical Notes: Gene Robinson
YouTube: First Openly Gay Bishop in
Episcopal Church
BBC: Profile of Gene Robinson

Brandi Carlile |
Musician
Brandi M. Carlile (born 1981) is a
lesbian American singer-songwriter and
producer whose music spans multiple
genres. As of 2018, Carlile has released
six albums and earned seven Grammy Award
nominations, including one for "The
Firewatcher's Daughter" and six for "By
the Way, I Forgive You." She was the
most nominated woman at the 61st Annual
Grammy Awards, garnering six nominations including
Album of the Year,
Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
In 2019, Carlile formed an all-female
quartet with Amanda Shires, Maren Morris
and Natalie Hemby called The Highwomen.
Born in Ravensdale, Washington, a rural
town outside of Seattle, Carlile dropped
out of high school to pursue a career in
music, teaching herself piano and
guitar. Carlile garnered recognition
with her 2007 single "The Story", from
her album of the same name. "The Story"
was awarded gold status in 2017, having
sold more than 500,000 copies to date.
"The Firewatcher's Daughter" earned her
a Grammy nomination for Best Americana
Album and peaked at No. 9 on the
Billboard 200. Carlile's music has been
categorized in several genres, including
pop, rock, alternative country, and
folk. Carlile has been a part of several
activism campaigns and an advocate for
causes ranging from spreading awareness
for health issues to LGBTQ rights and
empowerment of women. Carlile
identified herself as a lesbian in 2002.
In June 2012 she announced she was
engaged to Catherine Shepherd. The two
were married in Boston, Massachusetts in
September 2012. The couple have two
daughters, Evangeline and Elijah.
Biographical Notes: Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile YouTube Channel
NPR: Brandi Carlile Stories

RuPaul Charles | Entertainer
RuPaul Andre Charles (born 1960) is an
American drag queen, actor, model,
singer, songwriter, and television
personality. Since 2009, he has produced
and hosted the reality competition
series RuPaul's Drag Race, for which he
has received six Primetime Emmy Awards.
RuPaul is considered to be the most
commercially successful drag queen in
the United States. In 2017, he was
included in the annual Time 100 list of
the most influential people in the
world. In 2019, Fortune noted RuPaul as
“easily the world's most famous” drag
queen. RuPaul was born and raised in San
Diego, California and later moved to
Atlanta, Georgia to study performing
arts.
RuPaul was the only boy of his parents’
four children, and eventually began
wearing his sisters’ clothes and
exploring cross-dressing, emulating
stars like Diana Ross and Jane Fonda in
his youth. In Atlanta, RuPaul attended
the Northside School of Performing Arts.
It was a big step toward getting his
feet wet in the world of performance
and, in the end, show business.
He settled in New York City, where he
became a popular fixture on the
nightclub scene. In the early 1990s, he
landed a record contract and released
his first album, Supermodel of the
World, while also starting a career
in acting. On the strength of his TV
shows, including RuPaul's Drag Race, and
his oversized personality, RuPaul has
become a beacon in gay, drag and
transsexual communities.
He has described doing drag as a "very
very political" act because it
"challenges the status quo" by rejecting
fixed identities. He explains, "I'm a
shapeshifter, I do whatever the hell I
want at any given time."
RuPaul is
indifferent to gender-specific pronouns
about him, writing: "You can call me he.
You can call me she. You can call me
Regis and Kathie Lee. I don't care! Just
as long as you call me."
RuPaul has been with his Australian
partner, Georges LeBar, since 1994, when
they met at the Limelight nightclub in
New York City. They married in January
2017.
Biographical Notes: RuPaul
RuPaul's Drag Race: You Tube Channel
Biography: RuPaul
IMDB: RuPaul

Tammy Baldwin | Politician
Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born 1962)
is a lesbian American politician who
served as the United States Senator from
Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the
Democratic Party, she served three terms
in the Wisconsin State Assembly,
representing the 78th district, and from
1999 to 2013 represented Wisconsin's 2nd
congressional district in the US House
of Representatives. As an openly
gay woman, Baldwin has made history
several times through her electoral
success. In 1998, she became the first
openly gay woman and first openly LGBTQ
non-incumbent elected to the US
Congress, as well as the first woman
elected to represent Wisconsin in
Congress. In 2012, Baldwin became the
first openly gay person and first openly
LGBTQ person elected to the US Senate.
Baldwin defeated her Republican opponent
in the 2012 US Senate election in
Wisconsin. She was reelected in 2018.
Her reelection made her the first openly
LGBTQ person to win a second term in the
US Senate. Baldwin graduated from
Madison West High School in 1980 as the
class valedictorian. She earned a
Bachelor's degree from Smith College in
1984 and a JD degree from the University
of Wisconsin Law School in 1989. She was
a lawyer in private practice from 1989
to 1992. For 15 years, Baldwin's
domestic partner was Lauren Azar. In
2009, the couple registered as domestic
partners in Wisconsin. They separated in
2010. Baldwin was baptized Episcopalian
but considers herself "unaffiliated"
with a religion.
Biographical Notes: Tammy Baldwin
US Senator: Tammy Baldwin
CSPAN: Tammy Baldwin

Tim Cook | Business Executive
Timothy Donald Cook (born 1960) is a gay American
business executive and industrial engineer (Net worth:
$1.3 billion). He was born in Mobile, Alabama (Auburn
University graduate) and resides in Palo Alto,
California. Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple
Inc., and previously served as the company's chief
operating officer under its cofounder Steve Jobs. Cook
joined Apple in March 1998 as a senior vice president
for worldwide operations, and then served as the
executive vice president for worldwide sales and
operations. He was made the chief executive in 2011,
prior to Jobs' death. During his tenure as the chief
executive, he has advocated for the political
reformation of international and domestic surveillance,
cybersecurity, corporate taxation, American
manufacturing, and environmental preservation. In 2014,
Cook became the first chief executive of a Fortune 500
company to publicly come out as gay.
Biographical Notes: Tim Cook
Information Cradle: Tim Cook
People: No Regrets for Apple CEO Tim Cook

Elliot Page | Actor
Elliott Page (born Ellen Grace Philpotts-Page, 1987) is a transgender
Canadian actor and producer. Born
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Page is a trans
man. He first became known for his role
in the film and television series Pit
Pony (1997–2000), for which he won a
Young Artist Award, and for recurring
roles in Trailer Park Boys (2002) and
ReGenesis (2004). Page also received
recognition for his role in the film
Hard Candy (2005), and won the Austin
Film Critics Association's Award for
Best Actress. Page had his cinematic
breakthrough with the title role in
Jason Reitman's film Juno (2007),
earning nominations for an Academy
Award, a BAFTA Award, a Critics' Choice
Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen
Actors Guild Award. He earned praise for
roles in The Tracey Fragments (2007),
Whip It (2009), Super (2010), Inception
(2010), and Tallulah (2016). Page
portrayed Kitty Pryde in the X-Men films
The Last Stand (2006) and Days of Future
Past (2014), produced the film Freeheld
(2015) in which he also starred, and
made his directorial debut with the
documentary There's Something in the
Water (2019). He provided voice acting
and motion-capture acting for the main
character in the video game Beyond: Two
Souls (2013). Since 2019, he has
portrayed Vanya Hargreeves in the
Netflix series The Umbrella Academy.
Page publicly came out as a gay woman in
February 2014 during a speech at a Human
Rights Campaign conference. Subsequently
he came out as transgender in December
2020, specifying his pronouns as he/him
and they/them and announcing his new
name as Elliot Page. Page is married to
dancer and choreographer Emma Portner.
Biographical Notes: Elliot Page
Advocate: Elliot Page, Star of Umbrella Academy and Juno
Comes Out as Trans
LGBTQ Nation: Elliot Page Announces he is Transgender

Alvin Ailey | Dancer
Alvin Ailey
(1931-1989) was a gay African-American dancer, director,
choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its
affiliated Ailey School as havens for nurturing black
artists and expressing the universality of the
African-American experience through dance. His work
fused theatre, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with black
vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that
continues to spread global awareness of black life in
America. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece
Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular
and most performed ballets in the world. In this work he
blended primitive, modern and jazz elements of dance
with a concern for black rural America. In 2008, the US
Congress passed a resolution designating AAADT a “vital
American cultural ambassador to the World.” That same
year, in recognition of AAADT's 50th anniversary, then
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 "Alvin
Ailey Day" in New York City while then Governor David
Paterson honored the organization on behalf of New York
State. In 1968 Ailey was awarded the Guggenheim
Fellowship for Creative Arts. In 1977 he received the
Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy
Center Honors in 1988. he was inducted into the
National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in 1992.
he was inducted into the Legacy Walk in 2012. and he
posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
from President Obama in 2014. Ailey loathed the label
"black choreographer" and preferred being known simply
as a choreographer. He was notoriously private about his
life. Though gay, he kept his romantic affairs in the
closet. Ailey died from an AIDS related illness in 1989,
at the age of 58.
Biographical Notes: Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theatre
YouTube Channel: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Biography: Alvin Ailey
Hymn for Alvin Ailey

Annie Leibovitz | Photographer
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz (born 1949) is a lesbian
American portrait photographer. She is best known for
her engaging portraits of celebrities, which often
feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. She is
renowned for her dramatic, quirky, and iconic portraits.
Her signature style is crisp and well lighted. She was
the key photographer for Rolling Stone magazine and
Vanity Fair magazine. She photographed John Lennon on
the day he was murdered. Her work has been used on
numerous album covers and magazines. She became the
first woman to hold an exhibition at Washington's
National Portrait Gallery in 1991. She was born in
Waterbury, Connecticut, and resides in Manhattan, New
York City. Her partner of 15 years was playwright Susan
Sontag.
Biographical Notes: Annie Leibovitz
Biography of Annie Leibovitz
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Annie Leibovitz

Michael Boticelli | Health Official
Michael P.
Botticelli (born 1958) is a gay American public health
official who served as the director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy (Drug Czar) under
President Obama. Prior to joining ONDCP, he worked in
the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Following
completion of his service as ONDCP Director, he became
the executive director of the Grayken Center for
Addiction Medicine at the Boston Medical Center.
Botticelli was born in Troy, New York and raised in
Waterford, New York. He attended Catholic Central High
School. He later received a Bachelor's degree in
psychology from Siena College and a Masters in Education
from St. Lawrence University. Botticelli began drinking
alcohol regularly in high school and by his 20s, he was
an alcoholic. He also experimented with cocaine and
marijuana. He was arrested for driving under the
influence following a traffic collision on the
Massachusetts Turnpike in 1988. A judge gave him the
option of going into treatment or being sentenced to
prison, and he chose to enter treatment. After achieving
sobriety, Botticelli joined the Massachusetts Department
of Public Health, in 1994. He worked as a coordinator
for alcoholism programs (1994-95), as contract manager
for HIV-related policies and services (1995-96), as an
assistant director for policy and planning (1996-00), as
the chief of staff to the public health commissioner
(2000-03), and as director of substance abuse services
(2003-12). Botticelli and his husband, David Wells, were
married in 2009.
Biographical Notes: Michael Botticelli
Michael Botticelli: Johns Hopkins Distinguished Policy
Scholar
Drug Czar Michael Botticelli: Knows Addiction Firsthand
Michael Botticelli TED Talk: Addiction is a Disease
War on Drugs: Conversation with Michael Botticelli

Marsha P. Johnson | Activist
Marsha P. Johnson
(1945-1992) was an American gay liberation pioneer,
activist and self-identified drag queen. Known as an
outspoken advocate for gay rights, Johnson was one of
the prominent figures in the Stonewall riots of 1969,
sometimes identified as the one who threw the first
brick during the uprising. A founding member of the Gay
Liberation Front, Johnson co-founded the gay and
transvestite advocacy organization STAR (Street
Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), alongside close
friend Sylvia Rivera. A popular figure in New York
City's gay and art scene, Johnson modeled for Andy
Warhol, and performed onstage with the drag performance
troupe Hot Peaches. Known for decades as a welcoming
presence in the streets of Greenwich Village, Johnson
was known as the "Mayor of Christopher Street." From
1987 through 1992, Johnson was an AIDS activist with ACT
UP. Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels Jr. Her father was
an assembly line worker for General Motors and her
mother was a housekeeper. Johnson attended an African
Methodist Episcopal Church as a child and was devoutly
religious throughout her life. Johnson first began
wearing dresses at the age of five but stopped
temporarily due to harassment by local boys. After this,
Johnson described the idea of being gay as "some sort of
dream", rather than something that seemed possible, and
so chose to remain closeted. After Johnson graduated
from high school in 1963, she left home for New York
City. She waited tables after moving to Greenwich
Village in 1966. After meeting gay people in the city,
Johnson finally felt it was possible to be gay and was
able to come out.
Biographical Notes: Marsha P. Johnson
Washington Post: The Trans Women of Stonewall
New York Times: Stonewall Activists Get a Monument in
New York
Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Riots
State Park in Brooklyn Renamed in Honor of Marsha P.
Johnson

Jim Parsons | Actor
James Joseph Parsons
(born 1973) is a gay American actor and producer.
Parsons is known for playing Sheldon Cooper in the CBS
sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (2007–2019). He has
received several awards for his performance, including
four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in
a Comedy Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best
Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy. In 2018,
Forbes estimated his annual salary to be $26.5 million
and named him the world's highest-paid television actor.
Parsons made his Broadway debut in 2011 portraying Tommy
Boatwright in the play "The Normal Heart," for which he
shared a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble
Performance. He reprised the role in the film adaptation
of the play, and received his seventh Emmy nomination,
this time in the category of Outstanding Supporting
Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. In film, Parsons has
voiced the lead character in "Home" (2015) and played
supporting roles in "Hidden Figures" (2016) and
"Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" (2019). He
was born in Houston, Texas. He received his BA degree
from the University of Houston and his MFA degree from
the University of San Diego. He resides in Manhattan,
New York City. He married Todd Spiewak in 2017.
Biographical Notes: Jim Parsons
IMDB: Jim Parsons
Rotten Tomatoes: Jim Parsons

Wanda Sykes | Comedian
Wanda Yvette Sykes
(born 1964) is a lesbian American actress, comedian, and
writer. She was first recognized for her work as a
writer on The Chris Rock Show, for which she won a
Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, Entertainment
Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in
America. She is also known for her roles on "The New
Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS 2006–10), "Curb Your
Enthusiasm" (HBO 2001–11), and "Black-ish" (ABC
2015–present). Aside from her television appearances,
Sykes has also had a career in film, appearing in
"Monster-in-Law" (2005), "My Super Ex-Girlfriend"
(2006), "Evan Almighty" (2007) and "License to Wed"
(2007), as well as voicing characters in animated films
such as "Over the Hedg" (2006), Barnyard (2006),
"Brother Bear 2" (2006), "Rio" (2011), "Ice Age:
Continental Drift" (2012), "Ice Age: Collision Course"
(2016) and "Ugly Dolls" (2019). She was born in
Portsmouth, Virginia and graduated from Hampton
University. She resides in California, New York, and
Pennsylvania. She married Alex Niedbalski in 2008.
Biographical Notes: Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes Website
IMDB: Wanda Sykes

Alan Turing | Mathematician
Alan Mathison Turing
(1912-1954) was a gay English mathematician, computer
scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and
theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in
the development of theoretical computer science,
providing a formalization of the concepts of algorithm
and computation with the Turing machine, which can be
considered a model of a general-purpose computer. Turing
is widely considered to be the father of theoretical
computer science and artificial intelligence. Despite
these accomplishments, he was not fully recognized in
his home country during his lifetime, due to his
homosexuality, and because much of his work was covered
by the Official Secrets Act. During World War II, Turing
worked for Britain's codebreaking centre that was
responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. Here, he
devised a number of techniques for speeding the breaking
of German ciphers, which included an electromechanical
machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.
Turing played a pivotal role in cracking intercepted
coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the
Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle
of the Atlantic, and in so doing helped win the war.
Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts, the
criminal of "gross indecency." He accepted chemical
castration treatment as an alternative to prison. Turing
died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from
cyanide poisoning, a possible suicide. In 2009, British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public
apology on behalf of the British government for "the
appalling way he was treated". Queen Elizabeth II
granted Turing a posthumous pardon in 2013. In July 2019
the Bank of England announced that Turing would be
depicted on the United Kingdom's new £50 note.
Biographical Notes: Alan Turing
Alan Turing: Short Biography
Video Bio: Alan Turning
New York Times: Alan Turing a Computer Visionary

Caitlyn Jenner | Athlete
Caitlyn Marie Jenner
(born Bruce Jenner, 1949) is a transgender
American television personality and retired Olympic gold
medal–winning decathlete. Jenner played college
football before becoming a track star. Jenner won the
men's decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in
Montreal, setting a third successive world record and
gaining fame as "an all-American hero". Given the
unofficial title of "world's greatest athlete", Jenner
established a career in television, film, writing, auto
racing, business, and as a Playgirl cover model. Jenner
has six children with three successive wives (Chrystie
Crownover, Linda Thompson, Kris Jenner) and has since
2007 appeared on the reality television series "Keeping
Up with the Kardashians." Assigned male at birth,
Caitlyn Jenner publicly came out as a trans woman in
2015. Her new name was publicly announced in July of
that year, with her name and gender being legally
changed the following September. In January 2017, she
underwent sex reassignment surgery. Jenner has been
called the most famous transgender woman in the world.
Biographical Notes: Caitlyn Jenner
UK Mirror: All About Caitlyn Jenner
Us Mag: Caitlyn Jenner Archives

Leonard Bernstein | Songwriter
Leonard Bernstein
(1918-1990) was a gay American composer, conductor,
author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was born Louis
Bernstein in Massachusetts, the son of Ukrainian Jewish
parents. He died in New York. He was among the first
conductors born and educated in the US to receive
worldwide acclaim. He is regarded as one of the most
prodigiously talented and successful musicians in
American history. His fame derived from his long tenure
as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, from
his conducting of concerts with most of the world's
leading orchestras, and from his music for "West Side
Story," "Peter Pan," "Candide," "Wonderful Town," "On
the Town," "On the Waterfront, and a range of other
compositions, including three symphonies and many
shorter chamber and solo works. As a composer he wrote
in many styles encompassing symphonic and orchestral
music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works,
opera, chamber music and pieces for the piano. Many of
his works are regularly performed around the world,
although none has matched the tremendous popular and
critical success of the Broadway play, "West Side
Story."
Biographical Notes: Leonard Bernstein
About Leonard Bernstein
NPR News: Complex Life of Leonard Bernstein

Rachel Maddow | Commentator
Rachel Anne Maddow
(born 1973) is a lesbian American television news
program host and liberal political commentator. She
hosts "The Rachel Maddow Show," a nightly television
show on MSNBC, and serves as the cable network's special
event co-anchor alongside Brian Williams. Her syndicated
talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America
Radio. Maddow holds a bachelor's degree in public policy
from Stanford University and a doctorate in political
science from Oxford University and is the first openly
lesbian anchor to host a major prime-time news program
in the United States. Maddow was born in Castro Valley,
California. Her father is a former Air Force captain and
lawyer. Her mother was a school administrator. Her
father's family is of Eastern European (Polish, Russian)
Jewish decent. Her paternal grandmother was of Dutch
(Protestant) descent. Her Canadian mother has English
and Irish roots. Maddow says that her family is "very
very Catholic" and she grew up in a "very conservative"
community. She was a competitive athlete and
participated in high school volleyball, basketball, and
swimming. Currently, Maddow splits her time between
Manhattan, New York and West Cummington, Massachusetts.
Her partner is artist and photographer Susan Mikula.
Biographical Notes:
Rachel Maddow
NY Times Mag: Feature Story on Rachel Maddow
MS NBC: Rachel Maddow Show

Jason Collins | Athlete
Jason Paul Collins
(born 1978) is a gay American retired professional
basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National
Basketball Association (NBA). A center, Collins played
college basketball for Stanford University, where he was
an All-American in 2000–01. Collins was selected by the
Houston Rockets as the 18th overall pick in the 2001 NBA
draft. He went on to play for the New Jersey Nets,
Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta
Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn
Nets. After the 2012–13 NBA season concluded, Collins
publicly came out as gay. He became a free agent and did
not play again until February 2014, when he signed with
the Nets and became the first openly gay athlete to play
in any of four major North American pro sports leagues.
In April 2014, Collins was featured on the cover of Time
Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World."
Collins was born in
Northridge, California, along with his
twin bother Jarron, who also became an
NBA player. They graduated from
Harvard-Westlake High School in Los
Angeles. He and Jarron won two
California Interscholastic Federation
state titles during their four-year
careers with a combined record of
123–10. Collins broke the California
career rebounding record with 1,500.
Collins played with brother Jarron for
the Stanford Cardinals in the Pacific 10
Conference (Pac 10). In 2001, Collins
was named to All-Pac 10 first team, and
the National Association of Basketball
Coaches (NABC) voted him to their
third-team All-American team. He
finished his college career ranked first
in Stanford history for field goal
percentage (.608) and third in blocked
shots (89). In the cover story of
the May 2013 issue of Sports
Illustrated, Collins came out as gay,
becoming the first active male athlete
from one of the four major North
American professional team sports to
publicly do so. Collins also said the
murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 led
him to choose "98" for his jersey
number, in Shepard's honor. Following
his announcement, Collins received high
praise and support for deciding to
publicly reveal that he is gay. Fellow
NBA star Kobe Bryant praised his
decision, as did others from around the
league, including NBA commissioner David
Stern. President Barack Obama, First
Lady Michelle Obama, former president
Bill Clinton, and Collins' corporate
sponsor Nike were also among those
offering their praise and support for
Collins. Former tennis player Martina
Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian
in 1981, called Collins a "game-changer"
for team sports, which she referred to
as one of the last areas where
homophobia remained. In addition to
being an acclaimed athlete, Collins has
the distinction of simultaneously
identifying as gay, black, and
Christian. As of June 2014, Collins was
in a relationship with producer Brunson
Green.
Biographical Notes: Jason Collins
CNN Sports: Jason Collins Comes Out as
Gay
ABC News: First Gay Professional Athlete
to Come Out
Players Tribune: Jason Collins Says "I'm
Out"
Sports Illustrated: Why Jason Collins
Came Out
Outsports: Jason Collins is Athlete with Stonewall
Spirit
Jason Collins Video: First Openly Gay Athlete in Major
Sports

K D Lang | Musician
Kathryn Dawn Lang
(born 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta), known by her stylized
stage name k.d. lang, is a lesbian Canadian pop and
country singer-songwriter and record producer. She is of
English, Irish, Scottish, German, Russian, Jewish,
Icelandic, and Sioux ancestry. Lang has won both Juno
Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances.
Hits include "Constant Craving" and "Miss Chatelaine."
She has contributed songs to movie soundtracks and has
collaborated with a variety of musicians. With her
crooning style, campy approach, androgynous appearance,
and edgy, rock-inflected music, very few observers knew
what to make of her or her music, although no one
questioned her considerable vocal talents. Lang, who
always appears barefooted in her concerts, began to
establish an appearance and style referred to as "cowboy
punk." Lang is also known for being an animal rights
activist, LGBTQ rights activist, and Tibetan human
rights activist. She is a vegetarian and tantric
practitioner of the old school of Tibetan Buddhism. She
performed Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" live at the
opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver, British Columbia. Lang possesses the vocal
range of a mezzo-soprano. Canadians consider her one of
our most accomplished singer-songwriters of all time.
She has appeared occasionally in film and television.
Lang appeared on the cover of the August 1993 issue of
Vanity Fair photographed by Herb Ritts, in which she in
a barber chair while model Cindy Crawford shaved her
face with a straight razor. Lang, who came out as a
lesbian in a June 1992 article of The Advocate, has
championed gay rights causes.
Biographical Notes: KD Lang
All Music: KD Lang
IMDB: KD Lang

George Takei | Actor
George Hosato Takei
(born Hosato Takei, 1937, in Los Angeles, California) is
a gay American actor, author, and activist. He was
educated at UC Berkely and UC Los Angeles. He is best
known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS
Enterprise in the television series "Star Trek." He also
portrayed the character in six "Star Trek" feature films
and one episode of "Star Trek: Voyager." His Facebook
page has attracted over 10 million followers since he
joined in 2011, and the account frequently shares photos
with original humorous commentary. Takei is a proponent
of LGBTQ rights and is active in state and local
politics. He has won several awards and accolades in his
work on human rights and Japan–United States relations,
including his work with the Japanese American National
Museum. Takei's work on the Broadway show "Allegiance,"
as well as his own internment in a US-run internment
camp during World War II, has given him a platform to
speak out against the Trump administration's rhetoric
about immigrants and immigration policies. He was
married to Brad Altman in 2008.
Biographical Notes: George Takei
IMDB: George Takei
Washington Post: Extraordinary Trek of George Takei

Lily Tomlin | Actor
Mary Jean "Lily"
Tomlin (born 1939 in Detroit) is a lesbian American
actress, comedian, writer, singer and producer. Tomlin
started her career as a stand-up comedian
(improvisational and observational) as well as
performing Off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout
role was on the variety show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"
from 1969 until 1973. She currently stars as Frankie
Bergstein on the Netflix series "Grace and Frankie,"
which debuted in 2015 and has earned her nominations for
four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild
Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In 1974, Tomlin was
cast by Robert Altman in her first film, "Nashville" won
her several awards and nominations for the Golden Globe
and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Over the
years, she has appeared in several notable films,
including 9 to 5 (1980), All of Me (1984), Big Business
(1988), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Tea with
Mussolini (1999), I Heart Huckabees (2004), and Grandma
(2015). Her signature role was written by her then
partner (now wife), Jane Wagner, in a show titled "The
Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe"
which opened on Broadway in 1985 and won Tomlin the Tony
Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play.
Biographical Notes: Lily Tomlin
IMDB: Lily Tomlin
CNN: Interview with Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner

Barney Frank | Politician
Barnett Frank (born
1940) is a gay American politician. He served as a
member of the US House of Representatives from
Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank
served as chairman of the House Financial Services
Committee (2007–2011) and was a leading co-sponsor of
the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act, a sweeping reform of the US
financial industry. Frank, a resident of Newton,
Massachusetts, was considered the most prominent gay
politician in the United States. Frank is known for his
quick wit and rapid-fire speaking style. Capitol Hill
staffers describe him as brainy, funny, eloquent, hard
working, and one of the brightest and most energetic
defenders of civil rights issues. Born and raised in
Bayonne, New Jersey to a working-class Jewish family,
Frank graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law
School. He worked as a political aide before winning
election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives
in 1972. He was elected to the US House of
Representatives in 1980 with 52 percent of the vote. He
was re-elected every term thereafter by wide margins. In
1987, he publicly came out as gay, becoming the first
member of Congress to do so voluntarily. From 2003 until
his retirement, Frank was the leading Democrat on the
House Financial Services Committee, and he served as
committee chairman when his party held a House majority
from 2007 to 2011. In July 2012, he married his
long-time partner, James Ready, becoming the first
member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex
while in office. Frank did not seek re-election in 2012,
and retired from Congress at the end of his term in
January 2013.
Biographical Notes: Barney Frank
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Barney Frank
New Yorker: Barney's Great Adventure

Kate Bornstein | Writer
Katherine Vandam
"Kate" Bornstein (born Albert 1948) is a transgender
American author, playwright, performance artist,
actress, and gender theorist. Born in Asbury Park, New
Jersey in upper middle-class Conservative Jewish family
of Russian and Dutch descent, she now resides in New
York City. She was educated at Brown University. In
1986, Bornstein identified as gender non-conforming and
has stated "I don't call myself a woman, and I know I'm
not a man" after having been assigned male at birth and
receiving gender affirmation surgery. She now identifies
with the pronouns they/them or she/her. Bornstein has
also written about having anorexia, being a survivor of
PTSD and being diagnosed with borderline personality
disorder. Bornstein has chronic lymphocytic leukemia and
in 2012 was diagnosed with lung cancer. In 1989,
Bornstein created a theatre production, "Hidden: A
Gender," based on parallels between her own life. In
2009, Bornstein's "Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives
to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws" was a
Lambda Literary Award Finalist for LGBTQ Nonfiction and
Honorbook for the Stonewall Children's and Young Adult
Literature. Bornstein edited the anthology "Gender
Outlaws: The Next Generation," winning the Lambda
Literary and Publishing Triangle Awards in 2011.
Bornstein's autobiography, titled "A Queer and Pleasant
Danger: A Memoir," was released in 2012. In 2013, she
released "My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide
to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex
Positivity." Kate's work is taught in five languages, in
over 300 high schools, colleges, and universities around
the world. Her partner is Barbara Carrellas.
Biographical Notes: Kate Bornstein
NY Times Reflection: Kate Bornstein
Speak Out: Kate Bornstein

Lee Daniels | Director
Lee Louis Daniels
(born 1959) is a gay American film and television
writer, director, and producer. He produced Monster's
Ball and directed Precious, which received
six Oscar nominations, including Best Director. In 2012,
Daniels directed The Butler, a historical fiction
drama. Daniels is also a co-creator, executive producer,
and director of the television series Empire
(2015) and Star (2016). Daniels was born
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Radnor
High School in 1978, and then Lindenwood University in
St. Charles, Missouri. He began his career in
entertainment as a casting director and manager after a
chance meeting with a Hollywood producer, working on
such projects as Under the Cherry Moon and Purple
Rain. He continued managing talent. The documentary My
Big Break features Daniels early in his career when
he was managing actor Wes Bentley, who starred as Ricky
Fitts in American Beauty. Monster's Ball,
the debut production of Lee Daniels Entertainment, was a
critical and box office success, winning Halle Berry the
Oscar for Best Actress. The film was also nominated for
Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for the 2004
production The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon,
Kyra Sedgwick, and Mos Def, premiered at the Sundance
Film Festival. His first directorial effort, 2006's
Shadowboxer, debuted at the Toronto International Film
Festival. It starred Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Ferlito, Mo'Nique, Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
and Macy Gray. His 2009 film Precious told the
story of an obese, illiterate, 16-year-old girl (Gabourey
Sidibe) who lives in poverty in Harlem. Mo'Nique won the
Academy award for best supporting actress, Daniels was
nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and
the film received a Best Picture nomination. He directed
the historical fiction drama film The Butler (2013),
starring Forest Whitaker, John Cusack, Jane Fonda,
Mariah Carey, Terrence Howard, Alan Rickman, and Oprah
Winfrey. Empire, a television series created by
Daniels, premiered in 2015. In 2016, Daniels received a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions
to the television industry. Daniels lives in Manhattan.
He and his then-partner, casting director Billy Hopkins,
adopted Daniels's biological niece and nephew, Clara and
Liam. Hopkins and Daniels later separated. In 2015,
Daniels clarified his sexuality by stating that despite
being gay men, both he and Empire actor Jussie
Smollett are sexually fluid. His current partner is
Jahil Fisher.
Biographical Notes: Lee Daniels
IMDB: Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels Entertainment

Tennessee Williams | Playwright
Thomas Lanier Williams
III (1911-1983), known by his pen name Tennessee
Williams, was a Depression Era gay American playwright.
He was born in Mississippi and died in New York. Along
with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he
is considered among the foremost playwrights of
20th-century American drama. After years of obscurity,
at age 33 he became suddenly famous with the success of
"The Glass Menagerie" (1944). This play closely
reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the
first of a string of successes, including "A Streetcar
Named Desire" (1947), "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1955),
"Sweet Bird of Youth" (1959), and "The Night of the
Iguana" (1961). His plays reveal a world of human
frustration in which sex and violence underlie an
atmosphere of romantic gentility. His drama "A Streetcar
Named Desire" is often numbered on short lists of the
finest American plays of the 20th century. Much of
Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the
cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and
a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his
death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater
Hall of Fame. Among his partners were Pancho Rodríguez y
González, Frank Merlo, and Robert Carroll.
Biographical Notes: Tennessee Williams
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Tennessee Williams
Famous Authors: Tennessee Williams

Annise Parker | Politician
Annise Danette Parker
(born 1956 in Houston, Texas) is a lesbian American
politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, from
2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member
of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city
controller from 2004 to 2010. Parker was Houston's
second female mayor (after Kathy Whitmire), and one of
the first openly gay mayors of a major US city, with
Houston being the most populous US city to date to elect
an openly gay mayor, until Lori Lightfoot was elected
mayor of Chicago in 2019. Parker attended Rice
University on a National Merit scholarship in 1974 and
graduated from Jones College in 1978 with a bachelor's
degree in anthropology, psychology and sociology. In
1986-87, she was president of the Houston LGBTQ
Political Caucus. Parker is currently CEO and President
of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership
Institute. Parker and her partner, Kathy Hubbard, have
been together since 1990. In January 2014, Parker and
Hubbard were married in Palm Springs, California. Parker
and Hubbard reside in Houston.
Biographical Notes: Annise Parker
Harvard Institute of Politics: Annise Parker
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Annise Parker

Ismail Merchant | Film Producer
Ismail Merchant
(1936-2005), born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman, in
Bombay, was a gay Indian film producer, director, and
screenwriter. He worked for many years in collaboration
with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director
(and Merchant's longtime professional and domestic
partner) James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala. They are known for Howards End (1992), A
Room with a View (1985), and The Remains of the
Day (1993). Their films won six Academy Awards. He
studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and got a BA
degree at the University of Bombay. At 22, he moved to
the US to study at New York University where he received
an MBA degree. While in New York, he gave up his family
name. He was inspired by such directors as Ingmar
Bergman, Vittorio De Sica, and Federico Fellini. In
1961, he made a short film, The Creation of Woman.
It was shown at Cannes Film Festival and received an
Academy Award nomination. Merchant met American Movie
Director James Ivory in 1959. In May 1961, Merchant and
Ivory formed the film company Merchant Ivory
Productions. Merchant and Ivory were long-term life
partners. Their professional and romantic partnership
lasted 44 years, from 1961 until Merchant's death in
2005. Their partnership has a place in Guinness Book of
World Records for longest partnership in independent
cinema history. They produced nearly 40 films, including
a number of award winners (James
Ivory won an Oscar Award for Call Me By Your Name in
2018). Merchant died in London and was buried in Mumbai.
Biographical Notes: Ismail Merchant
IMDB: Ismail Merchant
Merchant and Ivory: Secret Hollywood Couple

Queen Latifah |
Entertainer
Dana
Elaine Owens (born 1970), known professionally as Queen
Latifah, is a lesbian American rapper, singer,
songwriter, actor, and producer. Born in Newark, New
Jersey, she released her debut album All Hail the
Queen in 1989, featuring the hit single "Ladies
First". Nature of a Sista' (1991) was her second album.
Latifah starred as Khadijah James on the FOX sitcom
Living Single, 1993-98. Her third album, Black Reign
(1993), spawned the single "U.N.I.T.Y.", which, being a
large influence on women, won a Grammy Award and peaked
at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. She then starred in the
lead role of Set It Off (1996) and released her
fourth album, Order in the Court, in 1998.
Latifah gained mainstream success and acclaim with her
performance in the film Chicago (2002), receiving
an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Latifah released her fifth album The Dana Owens Album
in 2004. In 2007 and 2009, she released two more studio
albums, Trav'lin' Light and Persona. She
created the daytime talk show The Queen Latifah Show
(2013-15) on CBS. She has appeared in a number of films,
such as Bringing Down the House (2003), Taxi (2004),
Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2005), Beauty Shop
(2005), Last Holiday (2006), Hairspray (2007), Joyful
Noise (2012), 22 Jump Street (2014) and Girls Trip
(2017). Latifah received critical acclaim for her
portrayal of blues singer Bessie Smith in the HBO film
Bessie (2015), which she co-produced, winning the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
Since 2016, she has starred as Carlotta Brown in the
musical drama series Star. She has been described
as a "feminist" rapper. Latifah received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 (The first hip-hop artist
to do so). Latifah's work in music, film and television
has earned her a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a Golden
Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP
Image Awards, an Academy Award nomination and sales of
over two million records. Queen Latifah is in a longterm
relationship with her partner Eboni Nichols. In 2019,
the couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl.
Eboni carried and delivered the couple’s baby.
Biographical Notes: Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah and Eboni Nichols
Filmography: Queen Latifah

Lynn Conway |
Engineer
Lynn Ann Conway (born 1938) is a
transgender American computer scientist,
electrical engineer, inventor, and
activist. Conway is notable for a number
of pioneering achievements, including
the Mead & Conway revolution in VLSI
design, which incubated an emerging
electronic design automation industry.
She worked at IBM in the 1960s and is
credited with the invention of
generalized dynamic instruction
handling, a key advance used in
out-of-order execution, used by most
modern computer processors to improve
performance. Conway grew up in White
Plains, New York (dn Robert). Conway was
shy and experienced gender dysphoria as
a child. She became fascinated and
engaged by astronomy (building a 150 mm
reflector telescope one summer) and did
well in math and science in high school.
Conway entered MIT in 1955, earning high
grades but ultimately leaving in despair
after an attempted gender transition in
1957–58 failed due to the medical
climate at the time. After working as an
electronics technician for several
years, Conway resumed education at
Columbia University's School of
Engineering and Applied Science, earning
BS and MSEE degrees in 1962 and 1963.
After learning of the pioneering
research of Harry Benjamin in treating
transsexual women and realizing that
genital affirmation surgery was now
possible, Conway sought his help and
became his patient. After suffering from
severe depression from gender dysphoria,
Conway contacted Benjamin, who agreed to
provide counseling and prescribe
hormones. Under Benjamin's care, Conway
began her medical gender transition.
While struggling with life in a male
role, Conway had been married to a woman
and had two children. Under the legal
constraints then in place, after
transitioning she was denied access to
their children. Although she had hoped
to be allowed to transition on the job,
IBM fired Conway in 1968 after she
revealed her intention to transition to
a female gender role. In 1987, Conway
met her husband Charles "Charlie"
Rogers, a professional engineer who
shares her interest in the outdoors,
including whitewater canoeing and
motocross racing. In August 2002, they
were married in Michigan.
Biographical Notes: Lynn Conway
IEEE Award: Lynn Conway
Lynn Conway's Webpage
Lynn Conway: Most Successful Transgender Scientist in the World

Neil Patrick Harris | Actor
Neil Patrick Harris
(born 1973) is a gay American actor, comedian, writer,
producer, magician, and singer. He is known primarily
for his comedy roles on television and his dramatic and
musical stage roles. On television, he is known for
playing the title character on "Doogie Howser MD"
(1989–93), Barney Stinson on "How I Met Your Mother"
(2005–14, for which he was nominated for four Emmy
Awards), and Count Olaf in "A Series of Unfortunate
Events" (2017–19). His films include "Starship Troopers"
(1997), "Beastly" (2011), "The Smurfs" (2011), "The
Smurfs 2" (2013), "A Million Ways to Die in the West"
(2014), and "Gone Girl" (2014). In 2014, he starred in
the title role in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" on
Broadway, for which he won the Tony Award for Best
Leading Actor in a Musical. Harris was named one of Time
magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Harris
came out as gay publicly in November 2006, saying, "I am
happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am
quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man
living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to
be working with wonderful people in the business I
love." He is married to David Burtka. In 2010, they had
twins via surrogacy.
Biographical Notes: Neil Patrick Harris
IMDB: Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris: It's Not Just for Gays Anymore
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