LGBTQ personalities have had a tremendous impact on our society, fighting for equal rights and breaking down stereotypes. From the first gay liberation movements to the present day, these personalities have been leaders, artists, activists and pioneers in many fields. In this article, we’ll explore the stories of 26 LGBTQ personalities who changed the world by fighting for equality, breaking down social barriers, and inspiring future generations. We’ll see how these personalities faced discrimination and barriers, and how their work helped establish a more inclusive world for LGBTQ people.
By exploring the stories of these LGBTQ personalities, we will see how they have contributed to the evolution of our society in terms of equal rights and acceptance of diversity. We will discover how they fought against discrimination and prejudice, and how they inspired generations to come to express themselves freely and be proud of who they are. We’ll see how their work has helped establish laws and policies that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, and how they’ve helped create more inclusive and supportive communities.
List of 26 LGBT personalities :
Eleanor Roosevelt
the former First Lady of the United States, was a dedicated philanthropist who played a crucial role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the United Nations. Throughout her time in the White House and beyond, she actively promoted social activism. While married to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt was romantically involved with journalist Lorena Hickok. Hickok was the first woman to have a front-page story in The New York Times. Their romance is documented in a collection of around 4,000 letters, in which Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: “Oh, how good it was to hear your voice. Jimmy wasn’t far away, so I couldn’t try to tell you what it meant to me, or say “I love you and I adore you” like I wanted to.
Andy Warhol
Was an American artist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur, considered one of the most important figures in the visual arts movement known as pop art. He was openly gay, and his work often explored themes of gender and sexuality.
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Frida Kahlo
A talented painter who was also openly bisexual. Her works, especially her self-portraits, allowed her to address taboo subjects such as female sexuality, female beauty standards, and pain. His paintings also celebrated Mexico’s indigenous culture, which caught the attention of Mexican painter Diego Rivera. They eventually got married, but during the marriage Frida Kahlo had affairs with men and women such as Josephine Baker and Leon Trotsky.
Harvey Fierstein
Is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter, widely known for his roles in the film Torch Song Trilogy, and on Broadway’s Hairspray and La Cage Aux Folles. He is also openly gay.
Nancy Cardenas
Author and director, is considered one of the first Mexican personalities to have publicly revealed her homosexuality on television. Her gender identity was integral to her job; she wrote poetry and plays that dealt with homosexuality. In addition to writing these lines, Nancy Cárdenas has actively campaigned against prejudice against homosexuals in Mexico and fought for equal rights for all, regardless of their sexuality.
Simon Nkoli
He is considered a hero of the LGBTQ community in South Africa. As the founder of GLOW (Gay and Lesbian Organization of the Witwatersrand), Simon Nkoli has advocated against apartheid, for LGBTQ rights and in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 1990 he organized the first Gay Pride event in Johannesburg with GLOW. He was also successful in convincing the African National Congress, the ruling political party in South Africa, to officially recognize the rights of LGBTQ people in the country. Five years later, Simon Nkoli went public with his HIV status and worked to end the stigma of HIV/AIDS.
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Rupert Everett
is an English actor, comedian and writer, who has appeared in films such as My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Next Best Thing. He is openly gay.
Billie Jean King
Is a former American world No. 1 professional tennis player. She is also a lesbian and a strong advocate for LGBT rights and gender equality in sports.
Ifti Nasim
A Pakistani gay poet, emigrated to the United States to avoid persecution for his sexuality in his home country. His poetry collection Narman is said to be the first written and published in Urdu to deal with homosexuality. Ifti Nasim also founded SANGAT/Chicago, an organization that supported the South Asian LGBTQ community. In 1996 he was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.
Sylvia Rivera
A queer queen and a drag queen who fought tirelessly for the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people. She is said to have thrown the first brick at police during the Stonewall Riots. Following the incident, she co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with Marsha P. Johnson, an organization that provided housing and support to homeless gay youth. Rivera has also fought against the exclusion of transgender people in New York City through the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, a law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. She continued this fight throughout her life, even meeting with the Empire State Pride Agenda on her deathbed to discuss the inclusion of transgender people in society.
Marsha P. Johnson
Spent much of his life fighting for equal rights. A black transgender woman and sex worker, she was a mother figure to drag queens and homeless transgender women on Christopher Street in New York City. She stood by Sylvia Rivera during the Stonewall Riots and co-founded STAR with her. Marsha P. Johnson was a central figure in the early gay rights movement in the United States, which began in the 1970s.
Josephine Baker
A well-known performer of the Jazz Age. Bisexual, she was probably the most successful African-American dancer in France. She used her fame to advocate for an end to segregation, refusing to perform at separate venues and speaking out at the 1963 March on Washington. During World War II, Josephine Baker served as a spy for France, providing intelligence she overheard while dancing for German soldiers.
Harvey Milk
An American politician and the first homosexual to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was assassinated in 1978.
Alan Turing was a British mathematician and computer scientist who played a key role in breaking German codes during World War II. He was persecuted for his homosexuality and committed suicide in 1954.
Ellen DeGeneres
Is an American comedian, television host, actress, and LGBT rights activist. She came out as a lesbian in 1997 and has since become one of the most prominent LGBT figures in the media.
Audre Lorde
an African-American feminist, poet and civil rights activist. She wrote extensively on issues of race, gender and sexuality, and was a leading voice in the feminist movement of the 1970s and 80s.
James Baldwin
an American writer, poet and civil rights activist. He was openly gay and wrote extensively about the intersection of race and sexuality in his work.
Oscar Wilde was an openly gay Irish playwright and poet at the end of the 19th century. He was arrested and convicted of “gross indecency” in 1895 and served two years in prison.
Virginia Woolf
an English writer and one of the greatest modernists of the 20th century. She was openly bisexual and wrote about gender and sexuality in her work.
Martina Navratilova
Is a Czech-American former professional tennis player, who was one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. She is also a lesbian and LGBTQ rights activist.
Wanda Sykes
Is an American comedian, actress, and writer, known for her stand-up comedy, her acting roles in television shows and movies, and her work as a writer for television shows. She came out as a lesbian in 2008.
Neil Patrick Harris
Is an American actor, comedian, and magician, best known for his roles on the television series How I Met Your Mother, and Doogie Howser, MD. He came out as gay in 2006.
Tim Cook is an American business executive and CEO of Apple Inc. He came out as gay in 2014, becoming the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Laverne Cox
Is an American actress and LGBT rights advocate. She is best known for her role in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, and is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category.
Ellen Page
Is a Canadian actress and producer, best known for her role in the movie Juno. She came out as a lesbian in 2014.
Jodie Foster
Is an American actress, director and producer, who won two Oscars for her work in films such as The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs. She came out
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
Considered by some to be the founding father of the modern gay rights movement. He is also known as the first person to come out publicly as gay. According to Volkmar Sigusch, a German researcher in sexual sciences, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs played a decisive role and had a strong influence on the gay rights movement all over the world. As a judge in Germany, he was forced to resign in 1854 when a colleague discovered he was gay. He then decided to devote himself to the fight for the rights of homosexuals. He wrote several essays on homosexuality, and on August 29, 1867, he addressed the Congress of Jurists in Munich, calling for equal rights for all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Michael Dillon
Was the first transgender man to undergo phalloplasty, a surgical erection of a penis. He would also be the first person to receive testosterone hormone therapy as part of his transition. Michael Dillon went on to train as a doctor and served as a doctor in the British Navy. When the press found out that Michael was born female, he sought refuge in India to escape media attention. There he took religious vows and became a monk in a Buddhist monastery.
Bayard Rustin
A close friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. and is best known for organizing the March on Washington in 1963. He never hid his homosexuality and because of this his role in the American civil rights movement was minimized. Opponents used his sexuality against him and threatened to spread rumors about his relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. As a result, Bayard Rustin was forced to work behind the scenes to avoid any controversy that could harm Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington. Nevertheless, he continued to work for civil rights and gay rights. He also helped bring attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis within the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).
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