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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, actor, 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
Advocate: Harvey Milk's Original 1979
Obituary
Video: Give Them Hope
NPR News: Harvey Milk 40 Years Later
The
Activism of Harvey Milk
Ian
McKellan Reading Harvey Milk's Hope
Speech

Brittany Griner |
Athlete
Brittney
Yevette Griner (born 1990) is a lesbian American
professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury
of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears
in Waco, Texas.
In 2009, Griner was named the nation's No. 1 high school
women's basketball player. She was selected to the 2009
All-American basketball team. After going to Baylor to
play collegiately, she had a breakout senior year in
2012, as the three-time All-American was named the AP
Player of the Year, the Most Outstanding Player of the
Final Four, led Baylor in winning the National
Championship, and won the Best Female Athlete ESPY
Award. Griner is also the only NCAA basketball player to
both score 2,000 points and block 500 shots.
Professionally, Griner was selected as the first overall
pick in 2013 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury, with
whom she won the 2014 WNBA championship, and became an
eight-time All-Star. Griner led the US national team to
victory at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Griner was named to
the national team for the 2020 Olympics, (2021, Tokyo,
Japan), where she won her second gold medal. She is also
a two-time FIBA Women's World Cup winner with Team USA
(2014 and 2018)
In February 2022, Griner was detained by Russian customs
officials after cartridges containing hashish oil were
found in her luggage and arrested on smuggling charges.
Griner had been entering Russia to play with the Russian
Premier League during the WNBA off-season. Her trial
began in July and she pleaded guilty to the charges. in
August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. In
November, she was transferred to a Russian penal colony.
During this time, US officials stated that she was
"wrongfully detained". In December, Griner was released
by Russia in a prisoner exchange.
She was born in Houston, Texas and attended Nimitz High
School. In an interview with Sports Illustrated in
February 2013, Griner publicly came out as a lesbian.
She also revealed that she was bullied as a child. Her
endorsement deal with Nike was the first time the
company had signed such a deal with an openly gay
athlete. Griner continues to push back on traditional
gender roles as she regularly models clothes branded as
"menswear" for Nike. Standing 6 ft 9 in tall, Griner
wears a men's US size 17 shoe and has an arm span of
87.5 inches.
In May 2015, Griner married fellow WNBA player Glory
Johnson. A month later, Griner and Johnson revealed that
Johnson was pregnant with twins, in vitro fertilization.
Johnson gave birth to twin girls in October 2015. The
couple divorced in June 2016 and Griner was ordered to
pay child support.
Griner married Cherelle Watson married in June 2019.
Biographical Notes: Brittany Griner
WNBA Star Brittney Griner Freed From
Russian Prison
Brittney Griner Released From Russian
Detention
Brittney Griner Rrrives in US Following
Her Release by Russia
WNBA Star Brittney Griner Released From
Russian Custody
Brittney Griner Freed From Russian
Custody

Frida Kahlo |
Artist
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), born Magdalena
Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, is a
bisexual artist and political activist.
She is arguably Mexico’s most famous
artist. Inspired by the country's
popular culture, she employed a naïve
folk art style to explore questions of
identity, postcolonialism, gender,
class, and race in Mexican society.
Her paintings often had strong
autobiographical elements and mixed
realism with fantasy. In addition to
belonging to the post-revolutionary
Mexicayotl movement, which sought to
define a Mexican identity outside of
European colonialism, Kahlo has been
described as a surrealist or magical
realist.
Her clothing choices also reflected her
determination to define a Mexican
identity. She incorporated traditional
clothing into her wardrobe as a way to
show pride in her Mexican heritage. Much
of what she wore carried both personal
and political meaning to Kahlo.
Although she was disabled by polio as a
child, Kahlo had been a promising
student headed for medical school until
a traffic accident at age eighteen,
which caused her lifelong pain and
medical problems. During her recovery,
she returned to her childhood hobby of
art with the idea of becoming an artist.
she was mostly self-taught.
Kahlo's interests in politics and art
led to her joining the Mexican Communist
Party in 1927, through which she met
fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The
couple married in 1928 and spent the
late 1920s and early 1930s traveling in
Mexico and the United States. Rivera was
by far the better-known artist, but
Kahlo did secure her first solo
exhibition in New York in 1938.
Kahlo's work as an artist remained
relatively unknown until the late 1970s,
when her work was rediscovered by art
historians and political activists. By
the early 1990s, she had become not only
a recognized figure in art history but
also regarded as an icon for Chicanos,
the feminism movement, and the LGBTQ
movement.
She had a tumultuous relationship with
her husband, Diego Rivera. Both had a
number of affairs — some sanctioned and
some on the sly. They even divorced for
a year and then remarried. Her lovers
included a diverse selection of men and
women, many of them well-known thinkers
and artists in their time. Over the
years, she had affairs with Leon
Trotsky, Josephine Baker, Chavela
Vargas, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Isamu
Noguchi.
Frida Kahlo: Biographical
Notes
Frida Kahlo: Famous
Mexican Artist
Frida Kahlo and Her Paintings

Freddie Mercury |
Musician
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara;
1946–1991) was a gay British singer,
songwriter and record producer, best
known as the lead vocalist of the rock
band Queen. He was renowned for his
flamboyant stage persona and four-octave
vocal range. Mercury was born of Parsi
descent on Zanzibar, Tanzania, and grew
up there and in India before moving with
his family to Middlesex, England, in his
teens.
He formed Queen in 1970 with guitarist
Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. He
wrote numerous hits for Queen including
‘Killer Queen’ (1974), ‘Bohemian
Rhapsody’ (1975), ‘Somebody to Love’
(1976), ‘We Are the Champions’ (1977),
‘Don't Stop Me Now’ (1978) and ‘Crazy
Little Thing Called Love’ (1980).
Queen's performance at the Live Aid
Concert in 1985 is considered by many to
be one of the greatest in music history.
Mercury had a long-term relationship
with Mary Austin, with whom he lived for
several years. By the mid-1970s he had
begun an affair with a male American
record executive and when he told Austin
of his sexuality their romantic
relationship ended. During the early
1980s he was reportedly involved with
Barbara Valentin, an Austrian actress,
but he was really dating German
restaurateur Winfried Kirchberger. By
1985 he began another long-term
relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton
(1949–2010). Hutton, who tested
HIV-positive in 1990, lived with Mercury
for the last six years of his life,
nursed him during his illness and was
present at his bedside when he died,
still wearing the wedding band that
Hutton had given him. He died November
24, 1991. He was 45 years old.
As the first major rock star to die of
AIDS, Mercury's death represented an
important event in the history of the
disease. In 1992 the remaining members
of Queen founded The Mercury Phoenix
Trust and organised The Freddie Mercury
Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, to
celebrate the life and legacy of Mercury
and raise money for AIDS research.
In 1992 Mercury was posthumously awarded
the Brit Award for Outstanding
Contribution to British Music. As a
member of Queen, he was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001,
the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003,
and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004.
In 2002 he was placed number 58 in the
BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest
Britons. Freddie Mercury is
consistently voted one of the greatest
singers in the history of popular music.
Biographical Notes: Freddie Mercury
Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody at Live Aid
Concert
Freddie Mercury Biography
Queen: Radio Gaga at Live Aid Concert
Freddie Mercury: Singer, Song-Writer
Freddie Mercury: Great Pretender

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

Stephen Sondheim | Composer
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (1930–2021) was
a gay American composer and lyricist.
One of the most important figures in
20th-century musical theater, Sondheim
was praised for having "reinvented the
American musical" with shows that
tackled "unexpected themes that range
far beyond the genre's traditional
subjects" with "music and lyrics of
unprecedented complexity and
sophistication." His shows addressed
"darker, more harrowing elements of the
human experience," with songs often
tinged with "ambivalence" about various
aspects of life.
Sondheim's best-known works as composer
and lyricist include A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962),
Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little
Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979),
Sunday in the Park with George (1984),
and Into the Woods (1987). He was also
known for writing the lyrics for West
Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959).
Sondheim's accolades include nine Tony
Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement
Tony in 2008), an Academy Award, eight
Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a
Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015
Presidential Medal of Freedom. Sondheim
wrote film music, contributing "Goodbye
for Now" for Warren Beatty's Reds
(1981). He wrote five songs for 1990's
Dick Tracy, including "Sooner or Later
(I Always Get My Man)", sung in the film
by Madonna, which won the Academy Award
for Best Original Song. Film adaptations
of Sondheim's work include West Side
Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), A Funny
Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
(1966), A Little Night Music (1977),
Gypsy (1993), Sweeney Todd: The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Into the
Woods (2014), West Side Story (2021),
and Merrily We Roll Along (2021).
Sondheim was born into a Jewish
family in New York City. He grew up on
the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Sondheim attended Williams College. He
graduated magna cum laude and received
the Hubbard Hutchinson Prize. He was
mentored by Oscar Hammerstein. He
collaborated with Leonard Bernstein,
Richard Rodgers, Hal Prince, James
Lapine, Frank Rich. He did not come out
as gay until he was 40. He lived with
dramatist Peter Jones for eight years in
the 1990s. He married Jeffrey Scott Romley in 2017. They lived in Manhattan
and Roxbury, Connecticut.
Biographical Notes: Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim, Musical Theater
Legend, Dead at 91
Musical Theater Master Stephen Sondheim Dies at 91
Stephen Sondheim, Master of Musical Theater, Dead at 91
Remembering Stephen Sondheim: The Best There Ever Was
Stephen Sondheim, Legendary Broadway Composer and
Lyricist, Dies at 91
Broadway Tribute to
Stephen Sondheim

Bell Hooks
| Writer
Gloria Jean Watkins (1952–2021), better
known by her pen name Bell Hooks, was a
queer black American author, professor,
feminist, and social activist. The name
"bell hooks" (
which
she styled in all lowercase letters)
is borrowed from her maternal
great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks.
The focus of Hooks's writing was the
intersectionality of race, capitalism,
and gender, and what she described as
their ability to produce and perpetuate
systems of oppression and class
domination. She published more than 30
books and numerous scholarly articles,
appeared in documentary films, and
participated in public lectures. Her
work addressed race, class, gender, art,
history, sexuality, mass media, and
feminism. In 2014, she founded the Bell
Hooks Institute at Berea College in
Berea, Kentucky.
Gloria Jean Watkins was born in
Hopkinsville, a small, segregated town
in Kentucky, to a working-class
African-American family. Watkins was one
of six children born to Rosa Bell
Watkins and Veodis Watkins. Her father
worked as a janitor and her mother
worked as a maid.
An avid reader, Watkins was educated in
racially segregated public schools,
later moving to an integrated school in
the late 1960s. She graduated from
Hopkinsville High School before
obtaining her BA in English from
Stanford University in 1973, and her MA
in English from the University of
Wisconsin–Madison in 1976. During this
time, at 24 Watkins was writing her book
Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and
Feminism, which was published in
1981.
In 1983, after several years of teaching
and writing, she completed her doctorate
in English at the University of
California, Santa Cruz, in 1987, with a
dissertation on author Toni Morrison.
She described her sexual identity as
"queer-pas-gay."
Bell
Hooks: Biographical Notes
Queer Black Feminist Writer Bell Hooks
Dies at 69
Bell Hooks: Queer Black Feminist Writer
Passes Away
Trailblazing Feminist Author, Critic and
Activist Bell Hooks Dies at 69
Bell Hooks Institute
Famed Feminist Writer, Bell Hooks, Dies
at Age 69

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

Mary Oliver |
Poet
Mary Jane
Oliver (1935-2019) was an lesbian American poet who won
the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work
is inspired by nature, rather than the human world,
stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in
the wild. It is characterized by a sincere wonderment at
the impact of natural imagery, conveyed in unadorned
language. In 2007, she was declared to be the country's
best-selling poet.
Mary Oliver was born to Edward William and Helen M. (Vlasak)
Oliver in September 1935, in Maple Heights, Ohio, a
semi-rural suburb of Cleveland. Her father was a social
studies teacher and an athletics coach in the Cleveland
public schools. As a child, she spent a great deal of
time outside where she enjoyed going on walks or
reading. Oliver described her family as dysfunctional,
adding that though her childhood was very hard, writing
helped her create her own world. Oliver revealed that
she had been sexually abused as a child and had
experienced recurring nightmares.
Oliver began writing poetry at the age of 14. She
graduated from the local high school in Maple Heights.
In the summer of 1951 at the age of 15 she attended the
National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, now known
as Interlochen Arts Camp, where she was in the
percussion section of the National High School
Orchestra. At 17 she visited the home of the late
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, in
Austerlitz, New York, where she then formed a friendship
with the late poet's sister Norma. Oliver and Norma
spent the next six to seven years at the estate
organizing Edna St. Vincent Millay's papers.
Oliver studied at The Ohio State University and Vassar
College in the mid-1950s, but did not receive a degree
at either college.
On a visit to Austerlitz in the late 1950s, Oliver met
photographer Molly Malone Cook, who would become her
partner for over forty years. In Our World, a book of
Cook's photos and journal excerpts Oliver compiled after
Cook's death, Oliver writes, "I took one look at Cook
and fell, hook and tumble." Cook was Oliver's literary
agent. They made their home largely in Provincetown,
Massachusetts, where they lived until Cook's death in
2005, and where Oliver continued to live until
relocating to Florida.
Oliver valued her privacy and gave very few interviews,
saying she preferred for her writing to speak for
itself. In 2012, Oliver was diagnosed with lung cancer,
but was treated and given a "clean bill of health."
Oliver died of lymphoma on January 2019, at the age of
83.
Mary
Oliver: Biographical Notes
Poetry Foundation: Mary Oliver
Academy of
American Poets: Mary Oliver
Books
and Bio: Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver: Collection of Her Poems
Mary Oliver: Lesbian Poet, Mystic of
Nature

Victor Garber |
Actor
Victor
Joseph Garber (born 1949) is a gay Canadian actor and
singer of Russian-Jewish decent. Known for his work in
film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for
three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime
Emmy Awards. He has also been nominated for three Screen
Actors Guild Awards.
Garber originated roles in the Broadway productions of
Sweeney Todd (1979–1980), Noises Off (1983–1985), Lend
Me a Tenor (1989–1990), Arcadia (1995), and Art
(1998–1999).
He played
Jesus in Toronto's 1972 production of Godspell,
alongside Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Dave
Thomas, and Martin Short. In 1985 he appeared in Noises
Off in Los Angeles. He appeared on Broadway in the
original productions of Deathtrap, Sweeney Todd and
Noises Off (1983), and in the original Off-Broadway cast
of Assassins, as well as the 1990s revival of Damn
Yankees.
In 1986,
Garber appeared opposite Uta Hagen in You Never Can
Tell. He has been nominated for four Tony Awards and
opened the Tony Awards program in 1994 (the year he was
nominated for the Tony Award for Damn Yankees). In 1998,
he co-starred on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning play
Art with Alan Alda and Alfred Molina. In 2005, he played
the role of Frederic in the Los Angeles Opera production
of A Little Night Music. He played Ben in a critically
praised Encores staged concert production of Follies
(2007) opposite Donna Murphy. In 2007, he played Garry
Essendine in a production of Noël Coward's Present
Laughter. In 2018, Garber replaced David Hyde Pierce as
Horace Vandergelder in the Tony-winning Broadway revival
of Hello Dolly opposite Bernadette Peters. Garber
received the 2018 Theatre World John Willis Award for
Lifetime Achievement.
His film
work includes Godspell (1973), Sleepless in Seattle
(1993), The First Wives Club (1996), Titanic (1997),
Annie (1999), Legally Blonde (2001), Tuck Everlasting
(2002), Big Game (2014), Happiest Season (2020).
He
portrayed Jack Bristow on ABC's Alias, earning three
Emmy nominations. Garber's first leading role on
television show was in CBS's 1985 summer series I Had
Three Wives. He starred on the television series Justice
(2006) on Fox and ABC's Eli Stone.
Garber has
been in a relationship with Canadian artist and model
Rainer Andreesen since 2000. They were married in 2015.
Biographical Notes: Victor Garber
IMDB:
Victor Garber
Playbill: Victor Garber
TV Guide: Victor Garber

Robin Roberts |
Newscaster
Robin René
Roberts (born 1960) is an openly lesbian American
television broadcaster. After growing up in Mississippi
and attending Southeastern Louisiana University, Roberts
was a sports anchor for local TV and radio stations, and
a sportscaster on ESPN from 1990 through 2005. She
became co-anchor on Good Morning America in 2005.
Roberts has survived breast cancer and myelodysplastic
syndrome, her treatment for which was chronicled on Good
Morning America, earning a 2012 Peabody Award for the
coverage. Stating that by building a public service
campaign around her battle with the rare disease, she
inspired hundreds of potential bone marrow donors to
register and heightened awareness of the need for more
donors.
In 2013 Roberts announced that she was gay via a
Facebook post, which stated, "At this moment I am at
peace and filled with joy and gratitude. I am grateful
to God, my doctors and nurses for my restored good
health ... I am grateful for my entire family, my
long-time girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare
to celebrate a glorious new year together."
Roberts had begun a romantic relationship with Amber
Laign in 2005 but, although friends and co-workers have
known about her same-sex relationships, this was the
first time Roberts publicly acknowledged her sexual
orientation.
ESPN awarded her its Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2013
and she was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31
Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month.
Biographical Notes: Robin Roberts
IMDB:
Robin Roberts
Rockin
Robin Productions

Chuck Williams| Business Executive
Charles “Chuck” R. Williams
(1935-2023) was a gay business executive
who was born in Los Angeles and grew up
in Long Beach, California. He is a
former senior executive at Sperry
Corporation and more recently ran the
consulting firm Williams and Associates.
A visionary business leader, he taught
business courses in policy and strategy
and continued to consult in this area
late into his life.
He received his B.A. and M.B.A. from
UCLA. Until 1985, Mr. Williams worked as
a senior executive for Sperry
Corporation, where he held several
positions, including Vice President for
Strategic and Business Planning and Vice
President and General Manager for
Worldwide Operations. Most recently, he
has taught business courses in policy
and strategy and consults in this area.
Mr. Williams was a board member of the
UCLA Foundation, as well as a member of
the Gill Foundation’s OutGiving Advisory
Committee. Mr. Williams has been
recognized by various LGBTQ
organizations and publications. In 2002,
the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association
honored him with their Co-President’s
Award, and OUT magazine named him one of
their “Out 100” in the December issue.
In October 2003, the L.A. Gay and
Lesbian Center presented Williams with
its Board of Directors Award.
He is most known for being the founder
and namesake of The Williams Project,
which became the LGBTQ think tank the
Williams Institute at the University of
California Los Angeles’ School of Law.
He died in April 2023 at the age of 88. Brad Sears, the
Williams Institute’s founding executive director,
announced Chuck Williams’s death at a private gala
rewards reception to honor champions in LGBTQ advocacy,
including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, at the
conclusion of the 2023 Williams Institute Annual Update
Conference. “All of us are here at the Williams
Institute event because 23 years ago, Chuck Williams had
the vision and the generosity and the drive and cornered
many of you over lunch or dinner to create the Williams
Institute, which has had such an incredible impact on
all of us in our world,” Sears said as he welcomed
guests to UCLA’s Faculty Club.
Chuck was survived by his husband Stu Walter. “Chuck and
Stu met in 1967 when they skied into each other arms on
Lake Nacimiento,” Sears wrote. “Few today have had
relationships that last 56 years. Even fewer
relationships have been tested as theirs has been. 1967
was two years before Stonewall, every state except
Illinois had sodomy laws, and gay men were regularly
entrapped by the LAPD and sent for conversion therapy in
state hospitals.” Sears continued, “Chuck and Stu risked
being arrested, fired, and confined if they were out.
But they maintained their relationship through those
years, the AIDS epidemic, and through the challenges
that eventually come with being survivors and living a
long full life. I am particularly honored to have
witnessed Stu’s incredible strength during the past
several months. He remained Chuck’s principal caregiver
until the end, rarely left his side, and kept him
comfortable at home.”
In 2001, Williams, Bill Rubenstein, Sears, and UCLA law
scholars founded The Williams Project. Williams donated
$2.5 million to UCLA Law School to establish the
organization. A college or university had never received
a larger gift to support a gay or lesbian academic
program. The Institute conducts rigorous,
independent research on sexual orientation and gender
identity law and policy. Their mission was to counter
the pervasive bias of law, policy, and culture against
LGBTQ people.
In 2006, the Williams Project merged with the Institute
of Gay & Lesbian Strategic Studies to become the
Williams Institute. Williams gave more than $20
million over time to support the institute. His vision
was to create an organization to level the playing field
for LGBTQ people under the law.
[Source: Christopher Wiggins, Advocate. April 2023]
Chuck Williams, Founder of The Williams Institute at
UCLA Law School, Is Dead
Williams Institute of Gay & Lesbian Strategic
Studies
Chuck Williams and Stu Walter: Williams Institute
Founders Award
UCLA
Law School: Williams Institute
Chuck Williams, Co-Founder of UCLA Law's Williams
Institute, Dies
Remembering Chuck Williams
Outwords: Chuck Williams

Roberta Kaplan |
Lawyer
Roberta Ann Kaplan (born 1966) is a
lesbian American lawyer focusing on
commercial litigation and public
interest matters. Kaplan successfully
argued before the Supreme Court of the
United States on behalf of LGBTQ rights
activist Edith Windsor, in United States
v. Windsor, a landmark decision that
invalidated a section of the 1996
Defense of Marriage Act and required the
federal government to recognize same-sex
marriages. She was a partner at Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
before starting her own firm in 2017. In
2018, she co-founded the Time's Up Legal
Defense Fund.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Roberta
Kaplan grew up in a Jewish household.
She earned an BA degree in Russian
history and literature from Harvard
University in 1988. While in college she
spent a semester abroad in Moscow and
discovered a passion for political
activism when she became active in the
movement to free Soviet Jewry. She
received her JD degree from Columbia Law
School in 1991.
In 2009, Kaplan agreed to represent
Edith Windsor pro bono. Windsor's wife,
Thea Spyer, had died two years after
they wed in Canada, leaving Windsor her
sole heir. Because their marriage was
not recognized under existing US federal
law, Windsor received an estate tax bill
of $363,053. Windsor went to gay rights
advocates seeking redress, but could
find no one to take her case. She was
referred to Kaplan, who later recalled,
"When I heard her story, it took me
about five seconds, maybe less, to agree
to represent her." Kaplan had been
co-counsel on the unsuccessful bid for
marriage equality in New York state in
2006.
On June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court
issued a 5–4 decision declaring Section
3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional.
Subsequent to Windsor, the Supreme Court
ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
struck down all remaining state and
federal laws against same-sex marriage
across the United States. Kaplan wrote
about United States v. Windsor in her
book "Then Comes Marriage."
Kaplan represented author E. Jean
Carroll in her civil trial against
former president Donald Trump, that
began on April 25, 2023, in federal
court at the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New
York. The jury found in favor of Carroll
on May 9, 2023, and awarded her damages
of $5 million after finding Trump liable
for sexual abuse and defamation.
In September 2005, Kaplan married her
partner, Rachel Lavine, in Toronto,
Canada.
Meet Roberta Kaplan, the
Lesbian Lawyer Who Won a Verdict Against
Donald Trump
Biographical Notes: Roberta Kaplan
Lawyer Roberta Kaplan: After the Trial
E. Jean Carroll Talks About Court
Victory Against Trump

Mark Bingham | Hero
Mark Kendall Bingham (1970-2001) was a
gay American rugby player, public
relations executive, and founder of the
Bingham Group. During the September 11
attacks in 2001, he was a passenger on
board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham
was among the passengers who, along with
Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy
Glick, formed the plan to retake the
plane from the hijackers, and led the
effort that resulted in the crash of the
plane into a field near Shanksville,
Pennsylvania, thwarting the hijackers'
plan to crash the plane into a target in
Washington DC, most likely either the
Capitol Building or the White House.
Bingham's heroic efforts on United 93,
as well as his athletic physique, have
been noted for having diminished the gay
stereotype.
A large athlete at 6 ft 4 in
and 225 pounds, Bingham also played for
the gay-inclusive rugby union team San
Francisco Fog RFC. Bingham played played
in their first tournament, and taught
his teammates his favorite rugby songs.
Bingham had recently opened a satellite
office of his public relations firm in
New York City and was spending more time
on the East Coast. He discussed plans
with his friend Scott Glaessgen to form
a New York City rugby team, the Gotham
Knights.
On the morning of September 11, on board
United Airlines Flight 93, Bingham and
the other passengers learned that the
pilots received an alert on their ACARS
device, "Beware of cockpit intrusion."
Three minutes later, air traffic
controllers could hear screams over the
cockpit's open microphone. Moments
later, the hijackers took over the
plane's controls and told passengers,
"Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb
on board". Bingham and the other
passengers were herded into the back of
the plane. Within six minutes, the plane
changed course and headed for Washington
DC. After the hijackers veered the plane
sharply south, the passengers decided to
act. Bingham, along with Tom Burnett and
Jeremy Glick, formed a plan to take the
plane back from the hijackers. Bingham,
Burnett, and Glick were each more than 6
feet tall, well-built and fit. They were
joined by Todd Beamer, Lou Nacke, Rich
Guadagno, Alan Beaven, Honor Elizabeth
Wainio, Linda Gronlund, and William
Cashman, along with flight attendants
Sandra Bradshaw and Cee Cee Ross-Lyles
who stormed the cockpit and in an effort
to take over the plane. The 9-11
Commission later reported that the
plane's control wheel was turned hard to
the right, causing it to roll on its
back and plow into an empty field in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 580 miles
an hour, killing everyone on board. The
plane was 20 minutes away from its
suspected targets in Washington DC.
Mark Bingham: Biographical Notes
Remembering Fearless Gay Hero Mark Bingham, Who Saved
Hundreds of Lives on 9-11
Rugby Star, 9-11 Hero Mark Bingham Leaves Lasting Legacy
20 Years After United Flight 93 Crash
How Mark Bingham Left a Legacy On and Off the Rugby
Field
9-11 Flight 93: Mark Bingham's Mother Speaks

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

Jesse Ehrenfeld | Physician
Jesse Menachem Ehrenfeld (born 1978) is
a gay American physician. Ehrenfeld is
President of the American Medical
Association Board of Trustees and the
Joseph A. Johnson Jr., Distinguished
Leadership Professor of Anesthesiology,
Surgery, Biomedical Informatics & Health
Policy at Vanderbilt University School
of Medicine.
He is also a former Speaker of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, where he
was the youngest officer in the 228-year
history of the organization. He is also
a former Vice-President of the
Massachusetts Society of
Anesthesiologists. The inaugural
recipient on the NIH Sexual and Gender
Minority Research Award from the NIH
Director, Ehrenfeld has been recognized
for his contributions to advancing
health equity. A 2008 recipient of the
AMA Foundation Leadership Award,
Ehrenfeld is a researcher in the field
of biomedical informatics. Ehrenfeld's
research interests include
bioinformatics and the application of
information technology to increase
quality, reliability and patient safety.
Ehrenfeld's work has led to the
presentation of over 200 abstracts at
national/international meetings and the
publication of over 175 manuscripts in
peer-reviewed journals. He serves as
Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of
Medical Systems, and is a fellow of the
American Medical Informatics Association
and the American Society of
Anesthesiologists.
Born in Wilmington, DE, Ehrenfeld
attended high school at Phillips Academy
in Andover, Massachusetts. A board
certified anesthesiologist, he holds a
Bachelor of Science from Haverford
College, an MD from the University of
Chicago, and a Master of Public Health
degree from Harvard University. He
completed his Internship in Internal
Medicine (2004–2005), Residency in
Anesthesiology (2005–2008), and
Informatics Fellowship (2008–2010) all
at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
He is Board Certified in both
Anesthesiology and Clinical Informatics.
Ehrenfeld is married to his husband Judd
H. Taback, an attorney.
The Gay Combat Vet Who Will Run the
American Medical Association
American Medical Association's 1st Gay
President Takes Over at Tumultuous Time

Barbara May Cameron | Author
Barbara May Cameron (1954 – 2002) was a
lesbian Native American photographer,
poet, writer, and human rights activist
in the fields of lesbian/gay rights,
women's rights, and Native American
rights. She was a Hunkpapa Lakota from
the Fort Yates band of the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe in Fort Yates, North Dakota.
She grew up on the Standing Rock Indian
Reservation. Completing her early
education and high schooling on the
reservation, she went on to further her
education in photography and film at the
Institute of American Indian Arts in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1973 Cameron
moved to San Francisco to attend the San
Francisco Art Institute. As a
photographer and movie maker, Cameron
won media and theater arts awards.
Cameron co-founded the Gay American
Indians (GAI), in 1975 with Randy Burns,
a Northern Paiute. GAI was the first gay
American Indian liberation organization.
In 1978, Cameron contributed to the
anthology Our Right to Love: a lesbian
resource book. From 1980 to 1985,
Cameron participated in organizing the
Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade and
Celebration, and in 1981, she
contributed to This Bridge Called My
Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color,
which was edited by Cherríe Moraga and
Gloria E. Anzaldúa. Her article, Gee,
You Don't Seem Like an Indian from the
Reservation, analyzed topics like
racism and homophobia from both inside
and outside the Native American
community. In 1983 she contributed to
the landmark collection A Gathering
of Spirit: A Collection of Writing and
Art by North American Indian Women,
which included works by twelve Native
lesbians.
In the late 1980s, Cameron was vice
president of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ
Democratic Club and co-chair for Lesbian
Agenda for Action. In 1988, she served
as a delegate for Jesse Jackson's
Rainbow Coalition to the Democratic
National Convention. That same year, she
was appointed by Dianne Feinstein, then
San Francisco Mayor, to the Citizens
Committee on Community Development and
the San Francisco Human Rights
Commission. She was appointed by Frank
Jordan, the next mayor, to serve on the
United Nations Commission on the Status
of Women.
She received the Harvey Milk Award for
Community Service in 1992 and the
following year, she was the first
recipient of the Bay Area Career Women
Community Service Award. That same year,
she was a participant in the
International Indigenous AIDS Network as
part of the International Conference on
AIDS. She spent the year 1993 engaged in
AIDS education, traveling to various
Indian reservations throughout the
United States.
Cameron was in a 21-year relationship
with Linda Boyd, with whom she raised a
son, Rhys Boyd-Farrell. Shedied of
natural causes at the age of 47.
Barbara May Cameron: Biographical Notes
Lesbian Native American Activist Barbara
May Cameron
Barbara May Cameron: Legendary Lesbian
Native American Activist

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

Cleve Jones
| Activist
Cleve Jones (born 1954) is a gay
American AIDS and LGBTQ rights activist.
He conceived the NAMES Project AIDS
Memorial Quilt, which has become, at 54
tons, the world's largest piece of
community folk art. In 1983, at the
onset of the AIDS pandemic Jones
co-founded the San Francisco AIDS
Foundation, which has grown into one of
the largest and most influential People
with AIDS advocacy organizations in the
United States.
His career as an activist began in San
Francisco during the turbulent 1970s
when, as a newcomer to the city, he was
befriended by pioneer gay-rights leader
Harvey Milk. Jones worked as a student
intern in Milk's office while studying
political science at San Francisco State
University. During the 1970s, Jones was
also involved in the Coors boycott.
In 1981, Jones went to work in the
district office of State Assemblyman Art
Agnos. In 1982, when AIDS was still a
new and largely underestimated threat,
Jones co-founded the San Francisco AIDS
Foundation, then called the Kaposi's
Sarcoma Research and Education
Foundation, with Marcus Conant, Frank
Jacobson, and Richard Keller. They
reorganized as the San Francisco AIDS
Foundation in 1984.
Jones conceived the idea of the AIDS
Memorial Quilt at a candlelight memorial
for Harvey Milk in 1985 and in 1987
created the first quilt panel in honor
of his friend Marvin Feldman. The AIDS
Memorial Quilt has grown to become the
world's largest community arts project,
memorializing the lives of over 85,000
Americans killed by AIDS.
Jones ran for a position on the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors in the
November 1992 election. Jones has been
working with UNITE HERE, and helping to
make the labor movement more open to
LGBTQ members.
In an interview in November 2016 with
Terry Gross on NPR radio talk show Fresh
Air, Jones described his status as
HIV-positive, and said while he first
learned of his status when tests for
infection came out the 1980s, he was
likely infected with the virus around
the winter of 1978 or 1979, based on
blood samples collected from him as part
of a study he volunteered for. He
described his present health as good.
The interview was based on Jones's book,
When We Rise: My Life in the Movement,
and the television program When We
Rise, broadcast in 2017 on ABC.
Jones is portrayed by actor Emile Hirsch
in Milk, director Gus Van Sant's 2008
biopic of Harvey Milk. He is prominently
featured in And the Band Played On,
Randy Shilts's best-selling 1987 work of
non-fiction about the AIDS epidemic in
the United States. Jones was also
featured in the 1995 documentary film
The Castro.
Jones took part in a documentary,
Echoes of Yourself in the Mirror,
about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, speaking
during World AIDS Day in 2005. In the
documentary he talks about the idea
behind the AIDS Memorial Quilt, as well
as the activism of San Francisco
citizens in the 1970s and '80s to help
people affected by AIDS and to figure
out what the disease was. The film also
looks at the impact HIV/AIDS is having
in communities of color, and the young.
Cleve Jones Website
Cleve Jones and the National AIDS
Memorial
Cleve Jones: NPR Interview

Adam Lambert | Entertainer
Adam
Mitchel Lambert (born 1982) is a gay American singer,
songwriter, actor and activist. Since 2009 he has sold
over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide.
Lambert
was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father is of
partial Norwegian descent and his mother is Jewish, with
roots in Romania. Lambert was raised in his mother's
religion. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to
San Diego, California. Lambert began performing with
Metropolitan Educational Theatre network from the age of
nine. A few years later, he began more intense acting
and vocal coaching with the Broadway Bound Youth Theatre
Foundation. There, he became heavily involved with
theater and choir and performed vocals with the school's
jazz band. He also appeared in local professional
productions such as Hello, Dolly!, Camelot, The Music
Man, Grease, Chess and Peter Pan.
Lambert
rose to fame in 2009 after finishing as runner-up on
American Idol. Later that year his debut album ‘For Your
Entertainment’ debuted at number three on the US
Billboard 200, and earned him a Grammy nomination for
"Best Male Pop Vocal Performance". He let
the world know he was gay in a 2009 interview with
Rolling Stone, and has since been an inspiration to the
gay community all over the world. His second album
‘Trespassing’ released in 2012 premiered at number one
on the Billboard 200, making him the first openly gay
artist to top the album charts.
In 2011
Adam Lambert started performing with Queen as their
sensational singing collaborator. Lambert has always
been adamant that he’s not trying to mimic or replace
Freddie Mercury. Instead, he feels he simply helps
celebrate the late Queen frontman’s legacy with Brian
May and Roger Taylor. And according to the guitarist,
he’s certainly worthy enough to take on such iconic
vocals on the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will
Rock You. Brian May praised the singer’s incredible
vocals, saying: “Freddie is looking down on him and
smiling that amazing smile of his! Nobody can replace
Freddie, but Adam comes pretty damn close. Amazing
voice.”
Not shying away from any aspect of himself, he has even
pushed the envelope by kissing a male keyboardist during
the televising of the American Music Awards.
Adam lent his voice to a video message on YouTube for
the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign – a project created by
columnist Dan Savage in response to school bullying and
a rash of suicides among LGBTQ youth. Lambert was
presented the "Equality Idol Award" for being an
exemplary role model for the LGBTQ community, and was
honored with his mother at the PFLAG National Los
Angeles event for his "authentic" voice.
Adam Lambert: Biographical Notes
Holding Out for a Hero: Adam Lambert Music Video
Adam Lambert Covering Cher's 'Believe'
Adam Lambert's YouTube Channel

Abby Wambach |
Athlete
Mary Abigail Wambach (born 1980 in
Rochester NY) is a gay American retired
soccer player, coach, and member of the
National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time
winner of the US Soccer Athlete of the
Year award, Wambach was a regular on the
US women's national soccer team from
2003 to 2015, earning her first cap in
2001. As a forward, she currently stands
as the highest all-time goal scorer for
the national team and is second in
international goals for both female and
male soccer players with 184 goals.
Wambach was awarded the 2012 FIFA World
Player of the Year, becoming the first
American woman to win the award in ten
years. She was included on the 2015 Time
100 list as one of the most influential
people in the world.
Wambach competed in four FIFA Women's
World Cup tournaments: 2003 in the
United States, 2007 in China, 2011 in
Germany, and 2015 in Canada, being
champion of the last edition; and two
Olympics tournaments: 2004 in Athens and
2012 in London, winning the gold medal
on both. All together, she played in 29
matches and scored 22 goals at these
five international tournaments. She
played college soccer for the Florida
Gators women's soccer team and helped
the team win its first NCAA Division I
Women's Soccer Championship. She played
at the professional level for Washington
Freedom, magicJack, and the Western New
York Flash.
Known for scoring goals with diving
headers, one of her most notable header
goals occurred in the 122nd minute of
the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
quarterfinal match against Brazil.
Wambach scored the equalizer in stoppage
time helping the Americans to eventually
progress to the championship final
against Japan after defeating Brazil in
penalty kicks. Her last-minute goal set
a new record for latest goal ever scored
in a match and was awarded ESPN's 2011
ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year.
Following her performance at the 2011
World Cup, she was awarded the
tournament's Bronze Boot and Silver
Ball. In 2011, she became the first ever
soccer player of either gender to be
named Athlete of the Year by the
Associated Press. Wambach announced her
retirement in 2015. Her last game was
played in New Orleans when the United
States played its last match of its
10-game Victory Tour following its win
at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Her autobiography, Forward,
released in September 2016, became a New
York Times best seller. Her second book,
Wolfpack: How to Come Together,
Unleash Our Power and Change the Game,
based on her viral commencement speech
at Barnard College, was also a New York
Times Bestseller in 2019. Wambach
was a supporter of Hillary Clinton's
2016 primary election campaign and spoke
at several campaign events. She was
included in the 2022 Fast Company Queer
50 list.
Wambach was married to soccer player
Sarah Huffman from 2013 to 2016. Wambach
married author Glennon Doyle in 2017 and
now resides in Hermosa Beach,
California. She previously lived in
Naples, Florida; Portland, Oregon; and
Buffalo, New York.
Abby Wambach On Empowering Women
Biographical Notes: Abby Wambach
US Woman's Soccer: Abby Wambach
Abby Wambach: Barnard Commencement
Speech
Tribute to Abby Wambach
Abby
Wambach: Home Page

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

Liat Ben-Zur | Business Executive
Liat Ben-Zur (born 1978) is a lesbian
business executive in the field of
technology. She is the Corporate
Vice President of Modern Life & Devices
Product Marketing Management with
Microsoft. Liat has been named as one of
"The Female Mentors Making a Difference
in Silicon Valley" and "One of the Fifty
Most Inspirational Women in Technology.”
And she was named as one of only seven
“Rising Stars of Wireless." Liat Ben-Zur
was previously Senior Vice President of
Connected Digital Platforms &
Propositions at Royal Philips. Prior to
that, Liat led Qualcomm’s AllJoyn
business as Senior Director, Product
Management in the Netherlands. Prior to
joining Qualcomm, Liat worked as a
hardware engineer at Intel and for a
wireless startup in Israel.
Liat holds a
bachelor’s degree in electrical
engineering from UC Davis and a master’s
in business administration from UCLA’s
Anderson School of Management. Liat
describes herself thusly, "I work in
tech. I am a mother. I am a manager. I
am a wife. I am a colleague. I am a
sister. I am a friend. I am an ally.
Like you, I am many things. The reality
of today is that we ALL are many things
at once. Since Covid-19, my daily
journey of managing, parenting, working,
chauffeuring, cooking, and planning has
become even more chaotic. I have even
taken on a few new roles, such as
teacher, mentor, and activist." Liat is
a mother of two and an avid foodie who,
before having kids, would travel the
world in search of the best food, wine
and chefs. She says, "I also like to
write raps and listen to conscious hip
hop. As in early 90’s shit.
I’m
passionate about the intersection of
internet services and mobile, digital
health, the connected home, connected
car, and everything else in our lives
which are about to get more connected." Liat is also Founder and Managing
Director of Geek Sheek Beats, a
marketing agency that develops custom
hip hop marketing campaigns for brands,
non-profits, conferences or events. Liat
formed Geek Sheek Beats to help bridge
companies with contemporary culture via
authentic, credible and original music
campaigns.
Liat Ben Zur: Microsoft CVP Blog
Oy Gevalt: About Liat Ben-Zur
A Day in the Life of Microsoft CVP Liat
Ben-Zur
Working Mother: Balancing Work and
Family
Liat Ben-Zur: Microsoft CVP and Mom
Muck Rack: Liat Ben-Zur

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

Barbara Jordan | Politician
Barbara Charline Jordan (1936-1996) was
a lesbian American lawyer, educator and
politician who was a leader in the Civil
Rights Movement. A Democrat, she was the
first African American elected to the
Texas Senate after Reconstruction and
the first Southern African-American
woman elected to the United States House
of Representatives. She was best known
for her eloquent opening statement at
the House Judiciary Committee hearings
during the impeachment process against
former president Richard Nixon, and as
the first African-American and the first
woman to deliver a keynote address at
the 1976 Democratic National Convention.
She received the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, among numerous other honors.
Jordan's companion of twenty years was
Nancy Earl, an educational psychologist,
whom she met on a camping trip in the
late 1960s. Earl was an occasional
speechwriter for Jordan, and later was a
caregiver when Jordan began to suffer
from multiple sclerosis in 1973.
Considerable speculation exists as to
Jordan's sexuality and the nature of her
and Earl's relationship, something that
neither Jordan nor Earl is known to have
addressed, recorded or shared with
others.
Biographical Notes: Barbara Jordan
History: Barbara Jordan
US House of Representatives: Barbara
Jordan

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

Moms Mabley | Comedian
Loretta Mary Aiken (1894-1975), known by
her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was
a lesbian American stand-up comedian and
actor. Beginning her career on the
theater stage in the 1920s, Mabley
became a veteran entertainer of the
Chitlin' Circuit of African-American
vaudeville. Mabley later recorded comedy
albums and appeared in films and on
television programs including The Ed
Sullivan Show and The Smothers Brothers
Comedy Hour.
Though she had four children and five
grandchildren, Mabley never married and
she lived most of her life as a Lesbian.
Moms Mabley was born in
Brevard, North Carolina. She had a rough
childhood. She was one of 16 children.
When she was 11 years old, her father, a
firefighter, was killed on the job. Her
mother was run over by a truck and died
as well a couple years later. At 14, she
had been sexually assaulted twice and
had to put her two children up for
adoption. In her teens, Mabley ran away
to join the African American vaudeville
circuit as a comedian. In the 1920s, she
worked with duo Butterbeans and Susie
for a while and grew in popularity.
She made her New York City debut at
Connie's Inn in Harlem. She came out as
a lesbian in 1921 at the age of 27,
becoming one of the first openly gay
comedians. During the 1920s and 1930s
she appeared in androgynous clothing and
recorded several "lesbian stand-up"
routines.
She worked her way into
television, movies, and stage
performances such as the Ed Sullivan
Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy
Hour. In the 1930s, she became the first
woman comedian to be featured at the
Apollo Theater.
Mabley was also openly
lesbian for most of her adult life. Her
routines were edgy for their time
speaking to the struggles of African
Americans, and also raunchy stand up
touching on female sexuality. Over her
career, Mabley recorded over 20 albums
of comedy. She is also the oldest person
to have a US Top 40 hit with a cover
song she recorded in 1969 at the age of
75. She overcame much to become billed
as, “The Funniest Woman in the World.”
Biographical Notes: Moms Mabley
Moms Mabley on the Ed Sullivan Show
Brittania: Moms Mabley
IMDB: Moms Mabley
Moms Mabley Singing Abraham Martin and
John
Comedian Moms Mabley on the Smothers Brothers Show
Moms Mabley: Legacy Project

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

Harvey Fierstein |
Playwright
Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born 1952) is a
gay American actor, playwright and
screenwriter. He is best known for his
theater work in Torch Song Trilogy
and Hairspray and movie roles in
Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day,
and as the voice of Yao in Mulan.
Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best
Actor in a Play and Best Play, for
Torch Song Trilogy. He received his
third Tony Award, Best Book of a
Musical, for the musical La Cage aux
Folles and his fourth, the Tony
Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for
playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray.
Fierstein also wrote the book for the
Tony Award-winning musicals Kinky
Boots, Newsies, and Tony
Award-nominated, Drama League
Award-winner A Catered Affair. He
was inducted into the American Theater
Hall of Fame in 2007. He published his
memoir I Was Better Last Night in
2022.
Fierstein was born in Bensonhurst,
Brooklyn, New York City, the son of
Jacqueline Harriet (Gilbert), a school
librarian, and Irving Fierstein, a
handkerchief manufacturer. He was raised
Jewish, but later rejected the faith and
became an atheist. Fierstein attended
High School of Art and Design and
received a BFA from the Pratt Institute
in 1973. He began working in the theater
as a founding member of The Gallery
Players of Park Slope. Fierstein's
distinctive gravelly voice is a result
of an overdeveloped vestibular fold in
his vocal cords, essentially giving him
a "double voice" when he speaks. Prior
to puberty, Fierstein was a soprano in a
professional boys' choir.
Fierstein is best known for the play and
film Torch Song Trilogy, which he
wrote and starred in both off-Broadway
(with a young Matthew Broderick) and on
Broadway (with Estelle Getty and Fisher
Stevens). The 1982 Broadway production
won him two Tony Awards, for Best Play
and Best Actor in a Play; two Drama Desk
Awards, for Outstanding New Play and
Outstanding Actor in a Play; and the
Theatre World Award. The film adaptation
earned him an Independent Spirit Award
nomination as Best Male Lead.
Fierstein also wrote the book for La
Cage aux Folles (1983), winning
another Tony Award, this time for Best
Book of a Musical, and a Drama Desk
nomination for Outstanding Book. In
2007, Fierstein wrote the book to the
musical A Catered Affair in which
he also starred. It received 12 Drama
Desk Award nominations and won the Drama
League Award for Distinguished
Production of a Musical. Fierstein wrote
the book for the stage musical
Newsies, along with Alan Menken
(music) and Jack Feldman (lyrics). The
musical opened on Broadway in March
2012. Fierstein was nominated for the
Tony Award for Book of a Musical.
Fierstein wrote the book for a stage
musical version of the film Kinky
Boots with music and lyrics by Cyndi
Lauper. The musical was nominated for
thirteen 2013 Tony Awards and won six,
including best musical. In 2019
Fierstein wrote and starred in Bella
Bella, a one-person play about New
York Congresswoman Bella Abzug. It
premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club's
Stage One at City Center.
As one of the first openly gay
celebrities in the United States,
Fierstein helped make gay and lesbian
life into viable subjects for
contemporary drama "with no apologies
and no climactic suicides."
Fierstein stated, "I'm still confused as
to whether I'm a man or a woman," and
that as a child he often wondered if
he'd been born in the wrong body. "When
I was a kid, I was attracted to men. I
didn't feel like a boy was supposed to
feel. Then I found out about gay. So
that was enough for me for then." The
interview also noted his ease at playing
both Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof
and Edna Turnblad in Hairspray.
On the LGBTQ&A podcast, Fierstein said,
"I'm comfortable being me and if I ask
myself, 'Would you want to transition?'
The answer's no." He avoided identifying
as non-binary in the interview, saying
he had thought about it a lot and "it's
the term that bothers me", but concluded
that "I don't think I've missed anything
by not making up my mind".
Biographical Notes: Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein: IMDB
Broadway: Harvey Fierstein

Portia de Rossi |
Actor
Portia de Rossi (born Amanda Lee Rogers
in 1973) is a lesbian
Australian-American actor. De Rossi is
married to comedian, actress, and
television host Ellen DeGeneres
She played Nelle Porter on the American
drama series Ally McBeal (1998–2002),
for which she won a Screen Actors Guild
Award, Lindsay Bluth Fünke on the
American television sitcom Arrested
Development (2003–2019), and Elizabeth
North on the American political thriller
series Scandal (2014–2017). She also
portrayed Olivia Lord on the American
television drama series Nip/Tuck
(2007–2009) and Veronica Palmer on the
American television sitcom Better Off
Ted (2009–2010).
De Rossi's first significant role was as
a young and impressionable maid in the
Australian 1994 film Sirens. Soon
afterward, she moved to Los Angeles and
won guest roles on several TV shows and
a part in the film Scream 2.
De Rossi was married to documentary
filmmaker Mel Metcalfe from 1996 to
1999, initially part of a plan to get a
green card, though she did not go
through with the plan. She said about
the marriage that "it just obviously
wasn't right for me." In a 2010
interview on Good Morning America, she
said that as a young actress, she was
fearful of being exposed as a lesbian.
From 2001 to 2004, de Rossi dated
director Francesca Gregorini, the
daughter of Barbara Bach and the
stepdaughter of Ringo Starr. She said
that most of her family and Ally McBeal
castmates did not know she was a lesbian
until tabloid pictures of the couple
were published. She declined to publicly
discuss the relationship or her sexual
orientation at the time.
De Rossi and Gregorini broke up in late
2004 because de Rossi began dating
DeGeneres, whom she met backstage at an
awards show. In 2005, she opened up
publicly about her sexual orientation.
She and DeGeneres became engaged when
DeGeneres proposed in 2008. In
2010, de Rossi filed a petition to
legally change her name to Portia Lee
James DeGeneres. She became a
United States citizen in 2011.
In 2010, de Rossi published her
autobiography, titled Unbearable
Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain,
within which she wrote about the turmoil
that she had experienced in her life,
including suffering from anorexia
nervosa and bulimia and being
misdiagnosed with lupus. She had
struggled with the eating disorders for
four years while filming Ally McBeal.
Portia de Rossi: Biographical Notes
IMDB: Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi's Best Moments on the
Ellen Show

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

Tig Notaro | Comedian
Mathilde "Tig" O'Callaghan Notaro (born
1971) is a lesbian American stand-up
comedian, writer, radio contributor, and
actor. She is known for her deadpan
comedy. Her acclaimed album Live was
nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award
for Best Comedy Album at the 56th Annual
Grammy Awards. The special Tig Notaro:
Boyish Girl Interrupted was
nominated in 2016 at the 68th Primetime
Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for
a Variety Special. In 2017, the album
Boyish Girl Interrupted was
nominated for the Grammy Award for Best
Comedy Album at the 59th Annual Grammy
Awards.
Notaro was born in Jackson, Mississippi,
the daughter of Susie O'Callaghan and
Pat Notaro. Her mother was born in New
Orleans. Notaro lived in Pass Christian,
Mississippi until going to kindergarten.
Later her family moved to Spring, Texas
which is a suburb of Houston. She has a
brother, Renaud, who is a year older and
works as a radio talk show host. "Tig"
is a childhood nickname given to her by
her brother when she was two years old.
In an interview, she said she disliked
school. Notaro failed three grades
eventually dropping out of high school.
In 1990, while living in Texas, Notaro
received her general equivalency
diploma.
Notaro met her wife, Stephanie Allynne,
on the set of the movie In a World...
They were engaged in January 2015 and
married in October 2015. They
welcomed twin sons in 2016, conceived
via a surrogate using Allynne's eggs.
Notaro was diagnosed with cancer in both
breasts in July 2012. She addressed her
cancer diagnosis and other personal
difficulties during a live stage show at
Largo in Los Angeles. The set has been
described as being "instantly
legendary"; many comedians have praised
her work.
Notaro subsequently had a double
mastectomy with no reconstructive
surgery. She opted out of chemotherapy
but decided to continue treatment with
hormone blocking. In November 2014, as
part of the New York Comedy Festival,
Notaro did a set at Town Hall in New
York City wherein she performed part of
the set topless. The New York Times
described it: "She showed the audience
her scars and then, through the force of
her showmanship, made you forget that
they were there. It was a powerful, even
inspiring, statement about survival and
recovery, and yet, it had the larky feel
of a dare."
Biographical Notes: Tig Notaro
Tig Notaro: IMDB
Tig Notaro Stand UP Comedy: Get Out of
the Way of a Woman and Her Dream
Tig Notaro Stand Up Comedy: Shirtless
Fireman
Tig Notaro Stand Up Comedy: Loves
Marriage and Cat Talking

Lil Nas X | Musician
Montero Lamar Hill (born 1999), known by
his stage name Lil Nas X, is a gay American
rapper and singer-songwriter. He rose to
prominence with the release of his
country rap single "Old Town Road",
which first achieved viral popularity in
early 2019 before climbing music charts
internationally and becoming diamond
certified by November of that same year.
"Old Town Road" spent 19 weeks atop the
US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the
longest-running number-one song.
Lil Nas X came out as gay while "Old
Town Road" was atop the Hot 100,
becoming the only artist to do so while
having a number-one record. Lil Nas X
released his debut extended play, titled
7, which spawned two further singles,
with "Panini" peaking at number 5 and
"Rodeo." His debut studio album,
Montero, was preceded by the
chart-topping single "Montero (Call Me
by Your Name)", and the singles "Sun
Goes Down" and "Industry Baby". Lil Nas
X was the most-nominated male artist at
the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, where he
won awards for Best Music Video and Best
Pop Duo/Group Performance. "Old Town
Road" earned him two MTV Video Music
Awards including Song of the Year, and
the American Music Award for Favorite
Rap/Hip Hop Song. Lil Nas X is
also the first openly LGBTQ Black artist
to win a Country Music Association
award. Time Magazine named him as one of
the 25 most influential people on the
Internet in 2019, and he was named on
the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2020.
Montero Lamar Hill was born in Lithia
Springs, Georgia, a small city outside
Atlanta. He was named after the
Mitsubishi Montero. His parents divorced
when he was 6, and he settled in the
Bankhead Courts housing project with his
mother and grandmother. Three years
later, he moved in with his father, a
gospel singer, in Austell, Georgia.
Although initially reluctant to leave,
he later regarded it as an important
decision: "There's so much shit going on
in Atlanta. If I would have stayed
there, I would have fallen in with the
wrong crowd." He spent much of his
teenage years alone, and turned to the
Internet, creating memes that showed his
disarming wit and pop-culture savvy. His
teenage years also saw him struggling
with his coming out to himself as being
gay. He prayed that it was just a phase,
but around 16 or 17 he came to accept
it. He began playing trumpet in the
fourth grade and was first chair by his
junior high years, but quit out of fear
of looking uncool. He graduated from
Lithia Springs High School in 2017. He
attended the University of West Georgia,
where he majored in computer science but
later dropped out to pursue a musical
career. During this time, he stayed with
his sister and supported himself with
jobs at Zaxby's restaurants and the Six
Flags Over Georgia theme park.
Lil Nas X: Biographical Notes
Lil Nas X Music Video: That's What I
Want
NPR: Learning Curve of Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X and Friends at the Grammys
Variety: Lil Nas X Revolutionizing Hip
Hop
Lil Nas X Music Video: Montero (Call Me
By Your Name)

Valentina Sampaio |
Model
Valentina Sampaio (born 1996) is a
transgender Brazilian model and actress. She became Victoria's
Secret's first openly transgender model in August 2019 and
became the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue's first openly
transgender model in 2020. Valentina Sampaio was born male in a
fishing village in Aquiraz, Ceará, which is in Northeastern
Brazil. Her mother is a schoolteacher and her father is a
fisherman. At eight years of age, her psychologist identified
her as transgender, but she did not start calling herself
Valentina until she was 12. She has said in many interviews that
she was not bullied for her gender identification. A 2017 New
York Times profile of Sampaio mentioned that her parents "were
always supportive and are very proud" of her, and her classmates
were also very accepting because she said that "they already saw
me as a little girl."
Sampaio initially studied architecture in
Fortaleza, but she dropped out at 16 to study fashion. It was
there that a makeup artist discovered her and signed her with a
São Paulo modeling agency. In 2014, a clothing company fired
Sampaio from her first modeling job because of her transgender
identification. Despite this hurdle at the very beginning of her
career, she left her home state of Ceará for the first time to
act in an independent film in Rio de Janeiro that later debuted
at São Paulo Fashion Week. In November 2016, she first walked
her first runway at São Paulo Fashion Week. Soon after, L'Oréal
made a short film about Sampaio, which they released on
International Women's Day, and later the company made her one of
the company's brand ambassadors. In February 2017, Sampaio
received international media attention after appearing on the
cover of Vogue Paris and becoming the first transgender model to
appear on the magazine's cover. Later that year, she also
appeared on the covers of Vogue Brasil and Vogue Germany. She is
the first openly transgender woman to be featured on both
magazines' covers as well. Other magazine cover appearances of
Sampaio's include Vanity Fair Italia, Elle Mexico, and
L'Officiel Turkiye. She has also worked with brands such as
Dior, H&M, Marc Jacobs, Moschino, L'Oréal, and Philipp Plein. On
August 2, 2019, Sampaio indicated her association with
Victoria's Secret PINK on her Instagram account, making her the
first openly transgender Victoria's Secret model. Her agent
confirmed that VS PINK had hired Sampaio for a catalog photo
shoot to be released sometime in August 2019.
CNN: Valentina Sampaio Becomes SI's First Trans Model
ABC News: Trailblazing Model
Biographical Notes: Valentina Sampaio
Valentina Sampaio: Interview With
Trans Fashion Model
Brazil Trans Model Fighting for a Better World

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 Schumacher
Gay Film
Director Joel Schumacher Dies
IMDB: Joel Schumacher
NPR: Film Director Joel Schumacher Dies
at 80
Joel Schumacher: Reluctant and Conflicted Gay Trailblazer

Miriam Margolyes |
Actor
Miriam Margolyes (born 1941) is a
lesbian British-Australian actress. Her
earliest roles were in theatre. After
several supporting roles in film and
television, she won a BAFTA Award for
Best Actress in a Supporting Role for
her role in Martin Scorsese's The Age of
Innocence (1993) and was cast in the
role of Professor Sprout in the Harry
Potter film series. Margolyes has spent
many years dividing her time between the
United Kingdom, Australia, and Italy.
She has starred in productions in the
United Kingdom and Australia, including
the Australian premiere of the 2013 play
I'll Eat You Last.
She appeared in many films, including
Yentl, The Awakening, Little Shop of
Horrors, Immortal Beloved, Babe, and
Romeo + Juliet. Her television
appearances include The Black Adder,
Vanity Fair, Frannie's Turn, Stalin,
Dickens in America, Doc Martin, Miss
Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Merlin,
Miriam's Big Fat Adventure, Call the
Midwife, and The Windsors.
Margolyes was born in Oxford, the only
child of Joseph Margolyes, a Scottish
physician and general practitioner from
Glasgow, and property-developer Ruth
Walters. She grew up in a Jewish family,
with ancestors who moved to the UK from
Belarus and Poland. Margolyes attended
Oxford High School and Newnham College,
Cambridge. There, in her 20s, she began
acting and appeared in productions by
the Cambridge Footlights. She
represented Newnham College in the first
series of University Challenge, where
she may have been one of the first
people to say "fuck" on British
television.
Margolyes is openly lesbian. On becoming
an Australian citizen in 2013, she
referred to herself as a "dyke" live on
national television and in front of the
Prime Minister. Since 1968, she
has been in a relationship with Heather
Sutherland, a now retired Australian
professor of Indonesian studies. They
divide their time between homes in
London and Kent in England, Robertson in
Australia, and Montisi in Italy.
Biographical Notes: Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes on
Graham Norton Show
IMDB: Miriam
Margolyes

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

Adam Parkhomenko
| Political Strategist
Adam Julian Parkhomenko (born 1985) is a
gay American political strategist and
organizer who served as National Field
Director for the Democratic National
Committee in 2016. He was the co-founder
and executive director of Ready for
Hillary, a super PAC established to
persuade Hillary Clinton to run for the
presidency of the United States in 2016.
In the 2017 party election, Parkhomenko
was a candidate for Vice Chair of the
Democratic National Committee.
In 2003, while a 17-year-old student at
Northern Virginia Community College,
Parkhomenko set up VoteHillary.org, an
independent website that urged voters to
vote for Hillary Clinton during the 2004
Democratic presidential primary. He
later ran Draft Hillary for President
2004, which was founded in 2003. HillPAC,
Clinton's political action committee,
hired Parkhomenko as a staffer while he
was leading Draft Hillary for President
2004. He worked in various capacities
for Clinton, including a stint as
assistant to Clinton's campaign manager
during the 2008 Democratic primary.
At the age of 23, Parkhomenko ran for
the Democratic nomination for the 47th
district in the Virginia House of
Delegates during the 2009 Virginia state
primary elections. His candidacy was
endorsed by Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark
and Patsy Ticer. He came in third out of
five candidates in the Democratic
primary to replace Al Eisenberg.
In September 2016, Parkhomenko was named
National Field Director for the
Democratic National Committee.
Immediately following the 2016
presidential election, Parkhomenko
announced his run for Vice-Chair of the
Democratic National Committee. His
campaign was unsuccessful. Parkhomenko
co-founded Party Majority PAC, a super
PAC focused on grassroots organizing and
electing Democrats.
Parkhomenko was born in Washington, DC
and raised in Arlington, Virginia. He is
a graduate of Washington-Lee High
School, Northern Virginia Community
College, and George Mason University. It
was while he attended George Mason
University that Parkhomenko founded
Ready for Hillary. He also served as a
reserve police officer during this
period. He lives with his son, Cameron
Julian Parkhomenko, in Arlington.
Adam Parkhomenko: Biographical Notes
Adam Parkhomenko: Democrat Strategist
from Missouri

Kelly Holmes | Athlete
Dame Kelly Holmes (born 1970) is a
lesbian British middle distance athlete.
Holmes specialized in the 800 metres and
1,500 metres events and won gold medals
for both distances at the 2004 Summer
Olympics in Athens. She set British
records in numerous events and still
holds the records over the 600, and
1,000 metre distances. She held the
British 800 metre record until 2021.
Inspired by a number of successful
British middle-distance runners in the
early 1980s, Holmes began competing in
middle-distance events in her youth. She
joined the British Army, but continued
to compete at the organization's
athletics events. She turned to the
professional athletics circuit in 1993
and in 1994 she won the 1,500 m at the
Commonwealth Games and took silver at
the European Championships. She won a
silver and a bronze medal at the 1995
Gothenburg World Championships, but
suffered from various injuries over the
following years, failing to gain a medal
at her first Olympics in Atlanta 1996
when running with a stress fracture. She
won silver in the 1,500 m at the 1998
Commonwealth Games and bronze in the 800
m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, her first
Olympic medal.
Holmes won the 1,500 m at the 2002
Commonwealth Games and the 800 m bronze
at the Munich European Championships
that year. The 2003 track season saw her
take silver in the 1,500 m at the World
Indoor Championships and the 800 m
silver medals at the World Championships
and first World Athletics Final.
She took part in her final major
championship in 2004, with a double gold
medal-winning performance at the Athens
Olympics, finishing as the 800 m and
1,500 m Olympic Champion. For her
achievements she won numerous awards and
was appointed Dame Commander of the
Order of the British Empire (DBE) in
2005. She retired from athletics in 2005
and has since been made an honorary
colonel with the Royal Armoured Corps
Training Regiment (RACTR). She has
become a global motivational speaker,
published five books, her latest being
Running Life, and made a number
of television appearances.
She came out publicly as gay in 2022.
She said, “This journey has been the
hardest part of life. Living with any
kind of fear is debilitating. Being here
everyday but not fully living every day.
I have lived in fear for 34 years and I
am exhausted and don’t want to anymore."
She now has a long term partner, but
prefers to keep her relationship out of
the spotlight. She has made a
documentary, titled Kelly Holmes:
Being Me, exploring her experiences
as a closeted gay woman.
Kelly Holmes: Biographical Notes
Kelly Holmes: Comes Out as Gay After 34
Years
Kelly Holmes Comes Out as Gay
TV Interview: Who is Dame Kelly Holmes?

Jim Obergefell |
Activist
Jim Obergefell (born 1966) is a gay
American civil rights activist known as
the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case
Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized
same-sex marriage in the United States.
After his husband, John Arthur, died in
2013, and his inability to legally be
considered Arthur's surviving spouse on
his death certificate, Obergefell took
to court, beginning his years of
fighting for LGBTQ rights. Mere months
after their wedding, Obergefell's
husband John was diagnosed with ALS.
Upon meeting with a local civil rights
attorney, they were told that due to
Ohio's same-sex marriage ban, Obergefell
could not be listed as Arthur's
surviving spouse on his death
certificate. They later filed a lawsuit,
and the Ohio case became known as
Obergefell v. Kasich. A federal
judge agreed to hear the case the
following court day due to Arthur's
illness. The judge ruled in Obergefell's
favor, but the state of Ohio appealed to
a higher court and won, resulting in
Obergefell's appeal to the Supreme
Court. Arthur died and soon, Obergefell
devoted his time and became committed to
legalizing same-sex marriage for all
with the Supreme Court case Obergefell
v. Hodges.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who
wrote the majority opinion for the case,
stated in the court: “No union is more
profound than marriage, for it embodies
the highest ideals of love, fidelity,
devotion, sacrifice, and family. In
forming a marital union, two people
become something greater than they once
were.” After winning the case, Obergefell stated: “This affirms what
millions across the country already know
to be true in their hearts: our love is
equal. The four words etched onto the
front of the Supreme Court ‘equal
justice under law’ apply to us, too.”
President Barack Obama reached out to
congratulate Obergefell and thanked him
for “his leadership that has changed our
country.”
After years of being together,
Arthur was diagnosed with ALS.
Obergefell acted as Arthur’s caretaker
for the rest of their relationship. By
2013, Arthur became bed bound, and
Obergefell and Arthur decided to get
married. Same-sex marriage was illegal
in their home state of Ohio, so in order
to get married, they traveled to another
state. After 22 years of being together,
Arthur died in October 2013.
Biographical Notes: Jim Obergefell
Washington Post: Obergefell Became the
Face of the Gay Marriage Court Case
NPR: Five Year Anniversary of Marriage Equality
Jim Obergefell: We Still Don't Enjoy True Marriage Equality

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 in 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
Suze Orman:
Being Gay is the Foundation of My
Success

Edmund White | Author
Edmund Valentine White III (born 1940)
is a gay American novelist and
memoirist, as well as an essayist on
literary and social topics. Much of his
writing is on the theme of same-sex
love.
Much of his work draws on his gay
experience. His debut novel ‘Forgetting
Elen (1973) is see as commenting on gay
culture in a coded manner set on an
island, followed by ‘The Joy of Gay Sex’
(1977) written with Charles Silverstein.
His 1980 ‘States of Desire’ is a survey
of some aspects of gay life in numerous
cities throughout America. In 1982 he
helped found the Gay Men's Health Crisis
in New York City.
White’s autobiographic novels – ‘A Boy's
Own Story’ (1982), ‘The Beautiful Room
Is Empty’ (1988) and ‘The Farewell
Symphony’ (1997) – are frank and
unapologetic about his promiscuity and
his HIV-positive status.
From 1983 to 1990 White lived in France,
and after returning to America he
maintained his interest in France and
French literature publishing ‘Genet: A
Biography’ (1993), ‘Our Paris: Sketches
from Memory’ (1995), ‘Marcel Proust’
(1998), ‘The Flaneur’ (2000) and
‘Rimbaud’ (2008).
A professor of creative writing at
Princeton University, White lives with
his husband Michael Carroll.
Edmund White: Biographical Notes
Edmund White: American Author
The Guardian: Articles on Edmund White

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 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 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 Receives
HRC Visibility Award
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

Oliver Sacks |
Neurologist
Oliver Wolf Sacks, MD
(1933 – 2015) was a gay neurologist, naturalist,
historian of science, and writer. Born and educated in
Britain, he spent his career in the United States. He
believed that the brain is the "most incredible thing in
the universe." He became widely known for writing
best-selling case histories about both his patients' and
his own disorders and unusual experiences, with some of
his books adapted for plays by major playwrights,
feature films, animated short films, opera, dance, fine
art, and musical works in the classical genre. After
Sacks received his medical degree from Queen's College
Oxford in 1960, he interned at Middlesex Hospital before
moving to the US. He then interned at Mount Zion
Hospital in San Francisco and completed his residency in
neurology and neuropathology at the University of
California Los Angeles (UCLA). He relocated to New York
in 1965, where he first worked in neurochemistry and
neuropathology at the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. In 1966 he began serving as neurologist at
Beth Abraham Hospital's chronic-care facility in the
Bronx, where he worked with a group of survivors of the
1920s sleeping sickness encephalitis lethargica. His
treatment of those patients became the basis of his book
Awakenings (1973). In the period from 1966 to 1991 he
was a neurological consultant to various New York
City-area nursing homes, hospitals, and at the Bronx
Psychiatric Center.
Sacks was the author of numerous
best-selling books, mostly collections of case studies
of people, including himself, with neurological
disorders. He also published hundreds of articles
(peer-reviewed scientific articles and articles for a
general audience), about neurological disorders. He also
wrote insightful articles about the history of science,
natural history, and nature. His writings have been
featured in a wide range of media; The New York Times
called him a "poet laureate of contemporary medicine,"
and "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th
century." Awakenings was adapted into an Academy
Award-nominated film in 1990, starring Robin Williams
and Robert De Niro. Sacks, who was 82 when he died from
metastatic cancer, wrote more than a dozen books drawn
from his patients’ case histories, including “The Man
Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” “Musicophilia,” and
“The Mind’s Eye.” But as much as Sacks had a passion for
the human experience, he spent much of his life
uncomfortable in his own skin: It was only a few months
before his death, in his memoir “On the Move,” that he
publicly disclosed his homosexuality. Sacks was awarded
a CBE for services to medicine in the 2008 Birthday
Honours. Oliver Sacks was survived by his partner Bill
Hayes.
Biographical Notes: Oliver Sacks
PBS and NBC: The Legacy and Final Days of Oliver Sacks
Dr. Oliver Sacks
Website
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

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

Kal Penn | Actor
Kalpen Suresh Modi
(born 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is a gay
American television and film actor. He is also a
former White House staff member in the Barack Obama
administration. As an actor, he is known for his role
portraying Lawrence Kutner on the television program
House, as well as the character Kumar Patel in the
Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized
for his performance in the film The Namesake. And
Penn has taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the
Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.
In 2009, Penn joined the Obama administration as the
Principal Associate Director in the White House Office
of Public Engagement. This necessitated that his TV
character, Lawrence Kutner, be written out of House.
Penn briefly left his post in 2010 to film the third
installment of the Harold & Kumar series,
returning to his White House job upon the movie's
completion. In July 2011, he again left the White House
to accept a role in the television series How I Met
Your Mother.
From 2016 to 2019, he played Seth Wright in the
political drama Designated Survivor, where he
also served as a consultant on the show. Additionally,
he served as host of the game show Superhuman. In
2019, Penn portrayed Garrett Modi in the NBC sitcom
series Sunnyside. The following year he went on
to host a political talk miniseries on Freeform called
Kal Penn Approves This Message.
He was born in Montclair, New Jersey to Gujarati Indian
immigrant parents. His mother is a fragrance evaluator
for a perfume company and his father is an engineer. His
father is from Kaira and his mother was born in Baroda.
He is Hindu and is a strict vegetarian. Kal Penn came
out in 2021. He has been with his partner Josh since
October 2010.
Biographical Notes: Kal Penn
Kal Penn Reveals He's Engaged to Fiancé Josh
IMDB: Kal
Penn
You Can't Be Serious: New Book by Kal Penn

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

Leslie Jordan | Actor
Leslie Alan Jordan (1955-2022) is a gay
American actor, writer, and singer. He
is best known for his roles as Lonnie
Garr in Hearts Afire, Beverly Leslie in
Will & Grace, several characters in the
American Horror Story franchise, Sid in
The Cool Kids, and Phil in Call Me Kat.
His television career also includes
guest appearances on Murphy Brown, Lois
& Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,
Star Trek: Voyager, Caroline in the
City, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Reba, Boston
Public, Boston Legal, and Nash Bridges.
He received an Emmy Award for his role
on Will & Grace. One of his best-known
onstage performances was in Sordid
Lives, where he played Earl "Brother
Boy" Ingram, a role he took to the big
screen in the popular cult film of the
same name. In his most recent project,
Call Me Kat, he performs alongside Mayim
Bialik, Swoosie Kurtz, Kyla Pratt, and
Cheyenne Jackson.
Jordan's first autobiographical stage
show was called Hysterical Blindness and
Other Southern Tragedies That Have
Plagued My Life Thus Far, in which
Jordan was backed by a gospel choir
singing satirical songs about racism and
homophobia. Next, he distilled his
experiences growing up as an effeminate,
tiny boy in the South and in show
business into an autobiographical
one-man show, My Trip Down the Pink
Carpet.
Jordan has five million Instagram
followers. His following grew
substantially in response to his posts
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Jordan received GALECA: The
Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics'
Timeless Star award, the group's career
achievement honor given to "an actor or
performer whose exemplary career is
marked by character, wisdom and wit."
Jordan is recognized for his diminutive
size and Southern drawl. He was born and
raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where
he graduated from Brainerd High School.
He said that he had a difficult time
growing up Southern Baptist.
Jordan moved to Los Angeles in 1982,
where he became involved with drugs and
alcohol and was arrested several times.
In 2010, Jordan told talk show host
Wendy Williams that he had been sober
for 13 years.
Biographical Notes: Leslie Jordan
IMDB:
Leslie Jordan
Advocate: Leslie Jordan,
Iconic Gay Comedian, Dead at 67
Leslie Jordan: Best Moments on Will & Grace
Leslie Jordan's Final TV Interview
Leslie Jordan: Just Trying to Get Through the Quarantine
Leslie Jordan
Home Page

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.
Born Robert Conway, she grew up in White
Plains, New York. 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

Randy Rainbow | Musician
Randy Stewart
Rainbow (born 1981) is a gay American
comedian and singer, best known for
spoof interviews that blend political
satire and musical parodies from a
progressive perspective.
Rainbow is Jewish and openly gay. He was
born on Long Island, lived in Queens for
17 years, attended community college in
Plantation, Florida, and since July 2019
has resided in Manhattan. Rainbow is his
real last name. Rainbow credits his
grandmother as his greatest comedic
influence. He recalled, "It was really
my grandmother who was the biggest
influence because she'd talk back to the
celebrities and politicians on TV. She
was a combination of Joan Rivers, Elaine
Stritch, Betty White, and Bea Arthur
rolled into one."
After dropping out
of community college in his early 20s,
Rainbow moved back to New York to pursue
a theatrical career. It was then he
began blogging and making comedic
videos. Rainbow created his blog, The
Randy Rainbow Bloggity BLAHg-BLAHg, to
document his theatrical experiences and
"kvetch about my day-to-day as a single
homo in the city."
Rainbow gained a larger audience and
shifted focus during the 2016 American
presidential campaign, with a series of
spoof interviews and musical parodies
skewering the election process and the
candidates, especially Donald Trump, who
became Rainbow's primary subject
following his nomination by the
Republican party and subsequent
election.
Also, Rainbow has released several
recordings on Broadway Records.
Following the launch of his Pink Glasses
Tour, Rainbow released his debut studio
album A Little Brains, A Little Talent
(2021). The album includes several
studio versions of his YouTube parodies,
plus the two original songs "Pink
Glasses," and "Randy Rainbow For
President." The album also features two
bonus tracks: "If Donald Got Fired"
(featuring Patti Lupone) and "Mr. Biden
(Bring My Vaccine)."
Rainbow was nominated for a Primetime
Emmy Award for Best Short Form Variety
Series in 2019,2020,and 2021.
Randy Rainbow Website
Biographical Notes: Randy Rainbow
Mr. Biden Bring My
Vaccine by Randy Rainbow
Randy Rainbow's Satirical Songs
Pink Glasses by Randy Rainbow

Sara Gilbert |
Actor
Sara Gilbert (born
Sara Rebecca Abeles in 1975) is a
lesbian American actress, best known for
her role as Darlene Conner on the ABC
sitcom ‘Roseanne,' for which she
received two Primetime Emmy Award
nominations. She was also co-host and
creator of the CBS daytime talk show
‘The Talk’ and had a recurring role as
Leslie Winkle on ‘The Big Bang Theory.'
As a teenager,
Gilbert dated her Roseanne (and later
The Big Bang Theory) co-star Johnny
Galecki (their characters also dated).
During their relationship she realized
she was a lesbian. She remains close
friends with Galecki. In 2001,
Gilbert began a relationship with
television producer Allison Adler. They
have two children—a son, Levi Hank, born
to Adler in 2004, and a daughter, Sawyer
Jane, born to Gilbert in 2007.
For many years Gilbert remained private
about her sexuality, but in July 2010 as
she prepared to launch her talk show
‘The Talk’ she confirmed that she was a
lesbian. August 2011 Gilbert announced
that she and Adler had separated
amicably. Following the breakup, Gilbert
began a relationship with songwriter,
music producer and former ‘4 Non
Blondes’ leade singer Linda Perry.
Gilbert announced their engagement in
April 2013, and the pair married on
March 30, 2014. Gilbert gave birth to
their son, Rhodes Emilio Gilbert Perry,
on February 28, 2015.
Sara Gilbert: Biographical Notes
Sara Gilbert and Linda Perry Divorce
Sara Gilbert on 'The Talk'

Wilson Cruz |
Actor
Wilson
Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría in 1973) is
a American actor and, as an openly gay
person of Puerto Rican ancestry. He has
served as an advocate for gay youth,
especially gay youth of color.
Cruz was
born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents
of Puerto Rican descent. His family
eventually moved to Rialto, California,
where he attended Eisenhower High
School, graduating in 1991. At age 19
Cruz came out to his parents as gay,
first to his mother and then his father.
While his mother was initially hurt and
shocked, she eventually accepted the
news. His father, however, threw him out
of the house, and Cruz spent the next
few months living in his car and at the
homes of friends. He later reconciled
with his father.
Cruz went to Hollywood to seek work as
an actor, intending to be open about his
sexuality from the beginning of his
career. In 1994 he was cast as Enrique
"Rickie" Vasquez, a troubled gay teen,
in the short-lived critically acclaimed
cult classic TV series ‘My So-Called
Life’. This made Cruz the first actor to
play an openly gay character in a
leading role in a television series.
Cruz went on to play J. Edgar Hoover's
servant Joaquin in Oliver Stone's film
‘Nixon’ and had a small role in the
television movie ‘On Seventh Avenue’. In
1996 he appeared with David Arquette as
Mikey in ‘Johns’ about the day-to-day
struggles of male prostitutes.
In 1998, he portrayed Angel in the
Broadway production of ‘Rent' and in
2000 played Victor in the final season
of ‘Party of Five’. He also had a
recurring role as Rafael de la Cruz on
the series ‘Raising the Bar’. Cruz's
other acting credits include roles in
eight feature films, and guest
appearances on seven television series
including a featured role in ‘The Red
Band Society’.
Cruz joined the board of directors of
GLAAD in 1997 in order to assist the
organization through a leadership
transition, and was the Grand Marshal of
the 1998 West Hollywood Gay Pride parade
and the 2005 Chicago Pride Parade.
In 2008, he was the keynote speaker at
the University of Illinois at Chicago's
Lavender Graduation and Rainbow Banquet
honoring graduating LGBTQ students, and
joined the staff of GLAAD in 2012 as a
National Spokesperson and Strategic
Giving Officer.
Wilson Cruz: Biographical Notes
IMDB: Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz: Gay Actor and Activist

Rita Mae Brown | Author
Rita Mae Brown (born 1944) is a
lesbian American writer, New York Times best-selling
author, activist and feminist. She is best known for her
first novel ‘Rubyfruit Jungle’ (1973) which is one of
the most significant lesbian-themed novels in history.
Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, to an unmarried teenage
mother and her mother's married boyfriend, her birth
mother left the newborn Brown at an orphanage. Brown's
mother's cousin, Julia "Juts" Brown, and her husband
Ralph retrieved her from the orphanage, and raised her
as their own in York, Pennsylvania, and later in Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida.
In late 1962 Brown attended the University of Florida at
Gainesville on a scholarship, and in the spring of 1964
she became active in the American Civil Rights Movement,
at which time the administrators of the racially
segregated university expelled her for that involvement.
She subsequently enrolled at Broward Community College.
Later in the 1960s and 1970s she participated in the
anti-war movement, the feminist movement and the Gay
Liberation movement.
Between 1964 and 1969 Brown lived
in New York City, sometimes homeless, while attending
New York University where she received a degree in
Classics and English, and later received a certificate
in cinematography from the New York School of Visual
Arts.
Brown took an administrative
position with the fledgling National Organization for
Women, but resigned in January 1970 over Betty Friedan's
anti-gay remarks and NOW's attempts to distance itself
from lesbian organizations. She claims she played
a leading role in the "Lavender Menace" zap of the
Second Congress to Unite Women on 1 May 1970, which
protested Friedan's remarks and the exclusion of
lesbians from the women's movement. In the early 1970s
she became a founding member of The Furies Collective, a
lesbian feminist newspaper collective in Washington, DC,
which held that heterosexuality was the root of all
oppression.
Starting in 1973, Brown lived in Hollywood Hills in Los
Angeles, and in 1977 she bought a farm in
Charlottesville, Virginia, where she still lives.
Brown received a Ph.D. in
literature from Union Institute & University in 1976 and
holds a doctorate in political science from the
Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC.
Rita Mae Brown has been in
relationships with Judy Nelson (1992), Martina
Navratilova (1979), Fannie Flagg and Elaine Noble.
Rita Mae Brown: Biographical Notes
Fascinating Facts About Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae
Brown: Books

Grant Wood
Grant DeVolson Wood (1891-1942)
was a gay American painter and representative of
Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the
rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known
for American Gothic (1930), which has become an iconic
example of early 20th-century American art.
Wood was born in rural Iowa in 1891. After graduating
from Washington High School, Wood enrolled in The
Handicraft Guild, an art school run entirely by women in
Minneapolis in 1910. He is said to have later returned
to the Guild to paint American Gothic. A year later,
Wood returned to Iowa, where he taught in a rural
one-room schoolhouse. In 1913, he enrolled at the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago and performed some work
as a silversmith. Close to the end of World War I, Wood
joined the US military, working as an artist designing
camouflage scenes as well as other art. From 1922 to
1935, Wood lived with his mother in the loft of a
carriage house in Cedar Rapids, which he turned into his
personal studio at "5 Turner Alley."
From 1922 to 1928, Wood made four trips to Europe, where
he studied many styles of painting, especially
Impressionism and post-Impressionism. However, it was
the work of the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck
that influenced him to take on the clarity of this
technique and to incorporate it in his new works. In
1932, Wood helped found the Stone City Art Colony near
his hometown to help artists get through the Great
Depression. He became a great proponent of regionalism
in the arts, lecturing throughout the country on the
topic. As his classically American image was solidified,
his bohemian days in Paris were expunged from his public
persona. From 1934 to 1941 Wood taught painting at the
University of Iowa's School of Art. During that time, he
supervised mural painting projects, mentored students,
produced a variety of his own works, and became a key
part of the University's cultural community.
It is thought that Wood was a closeted homosexual, and
that there was an attempt on the part of a senior
colleague, Lester Longman, to get him fired both on
moral grounds and for his advocacy of regionalism.
Critic Janet Maslin states that his friends knew him to
be "homosexual and a bit facetious in his masquerade as
an overall-clad farm boy." University administration
dismissed the allegations and Wood would have returned
as professor if not for his growing health problems.
The day before his 51st birthday, Wood died in Iowa of
pancreatic cancer. When Wood died, his estate went to
his sister, Nan Wood Graham, the woman portrayed in
American Gothic. The World War II Liberty Ship SS Grant
Wood was named in his honor. In 2009, Grant was awarded
the Iowa Prize, the state's highest citizen honor.
Grant
Wood: Biographical Notes
The Art Story: Grant Wood
Video Bio: Grant Wood

Wendy Carlos | Musician
Wendy Carlos (born Walter Carlos,
1939) is a transgender American musician and composer
best known for her electronic music and film scores.
Born and raised in Rhode Island, Carlos studied physics
and music at Brown University before moving to New York
City in 1962 to study music composition at Columbia
University. Studying and working with various electronic
musicians and technicians at the city's
Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, she helped
in the development of the Moog synthesizer, the first
commercially available keyboard instrument created by
Robert Moog. Carlos came to prominence with
Switched-On Bach (1968), an album of music by Johann
Sebastian Bach performed on a Moog synthesizer, which
helped popularize its use in the 1970s and won her three
Grammy Awards. Its commercial success led to several
more albums, including further synthesized classical
music adaptations, and experimental and ambient music.
She composed the score to two Stanley Kubrick films -- A
Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980) -- and
Tron (1982) for Walt Disney Productions. In 1979, Carlos
raised public awareness of transgender issues by
disclosing she had been living as a woman since at least
1968, and in 1972 had undergone sex reassignment
surgery.
Biographical Notes: Wendy Carlos
NPR: New Biography of Trans Woman Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos: Beauty and trauma of Being Openly Trans
Wendy Carlos: Switched On
Bach
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