LGBT History Month (34 Articles with 290,043 total views)
31 days. 31 icons. Modeled after Black and Women's History Month, LGBT History Month highlights annually the achievements of 31 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender Icons-one each day in the month of October.
October, 2016
Former President of the United States, Cultural Icons and Military General Make List of 2016 LGBT History Month Icons
PHILADELPHIA, PA – A former President of the United States joins cultural Icon David Bowie and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, as part of the 31 Icons to be celebrated during October's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month 2016.
July, 2016
Nation's Premier LGBT Civil Rights Summit Releases 31 LGBT History Month Icons
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Ahead of Equality Forum 2016, scheduled to take place during this summer's Democratic National Convention, the nation's premier lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights summit today released 31 LGBT History Month Icons – seven of whom relate directly to politics and the Democratic National Convention.
October, 2015
LGBT History Month - Angelina Jolie - Actress
Angelina Jolie is an Academy award-winning actress whose films include "Girl, Interrupted," "Changeling" and "Maleficent." She is among the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, having cemented her international success portraying such diverse characters as a video game heroine in the "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" franchise and an HIV-positive supermodel in "Gia." She made her directorial debut with the "Land of Blood and Honey," a drama set during the Bosnian war. She also wrote and produced the film.
LGBT History Month - Antonia Pantoja - Educator and Activist
Dr. Antonia Pantoja was an educator and activist dedicated to the improvement of Latino communities through education. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Pantoja spent much of her life living and working in New York City. In 1957, after receiving her master's degree from Columbia University, she founded the Puerto Rican Forum (originally called the Hispanic American Youth Association, or HAYA), which helped promote economic equality.
LGBT History Month - Arthur Dong - Filmmaker
Arthur Dong is an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker best known for chronicling Asian-American history and LGBT life. He earned an Oscar nomination in 1984 for "Sewing Woman," about his mother's immigration to America from China, which he produced as film student at San Francisco State University. As a result of the film's success, he founded DeepFocus Productions to produce, direct and write projects close to his heart.
LGBT History Month - Barbra Siperstein - Transgender Advocate
Barbra "Babs" Siperstein is the first openly transgender at-large member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Born Barry Siperstein, she transitioned when she was nearly 50 years old. She legally changed her name in 2007. Siperstein is currently a member of the DNC's executive committee. She serves as deputy vice chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and is the political director of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey.
LGBT History Month - Clive Davis - Record Producer
Clive Davis is a record producer who has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was the president of Columbia Records from 1967 to 1973 before founding Arista Records in 1975. He created J Records in 2000 and is currently the chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment.
LGBT History Month - Dusty Springfield - Singer
Dusty Springfield was an English singer and record producer best known for her sultry, soulful sound. Born Mary Isobel Bernadette O’Brien in London (she got the nickname Dusty for playing football with the boys), Springfield was one of the most successful British female performers in history, with six top 20 singles in the United States and 16 in Europe. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the U.K. Music Hall of Fame.
LGBT History Month - Edie Windsor - Marriage Equality Hero
Edith "Edie" Windsor was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor, a landmark legal victory for marriage equality.
LGBT History Month - Edna St. Vincent Millay - Poet
Edna St. Vincent Millay was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet known for her feminism and social activism. From an early age, she spoke out against injustices against women, often rebelling against authority at home and at school. She published her first poems when she was 15. By the time she enrolled in Vassar College, which was then exclusively female, she was having affairs with her classmates. Her poem "The Lamp and the Bell" is about the love shared between women.
LGBT History Month - Elaine Noble - Politician
Elaine Noble served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for two terms starting in 1975, becoming the first-ever openly gay candidate elected to a state office. Noble says that during her controversial, groundbreaking campaign, her windows were shot out, her car was vandalized, and she and her staff suffered ongoing harassment. She still managed to win the election.
LGBT History Month - Elsie de Wolfe - Interior Designer
Elsie de Wolfe, later known as Lady Mendl, introduced the world to the art of interior design. She saw the home as a medium for self-expression.
LGBT History Month - Emery Hetrick & Damien Martin - Educators
In 1979 Dr. Emery Hetrick and Dr. Damien Martin founded the Hetrick-Martin Institute, a nonprofit organization in New York, originally named the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth. The doctors created the institute to advocate for at-risk youth aged 13 to 21. The idea came after hearing about a 15-year-old boy who had been beaten and thrown out of an emergency shelter because he was gay.
LGBT History Month - Evan Wolfson - Marriage Equality Advocate
Evan Wolfson is the founder of Freedom to Marry, a group that advocates for samesex marriage rights in the United States. He is one of the first attorneys to publicly champion marriage equality and the author of the book "Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry." Wolfson was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People. As a lawyer, he argued Boy Scouts of America v. Dale before the Supreme Court.
LGBT History Month - Frances Perkins - U.S. Cabinet Member
Frances Perkins was the first woman appointed to the U.S. cabinet, serving as U.S. secretary of labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945—longer than anyone else who held the post.
LGBT History Month - Frank Mugisha - Ugandan Activist
Dr. Frank Mugisha is one of the most famous and outspoken advocates for LGBT rights in Uganda, a country where being gay is a criminal offense. He is the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and advocates on behalf of LGBT Ugandans who face prison or even death for being openly gay. He has received both the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for his work.
LGBT History Month - Jack Nichols - Gay Pioneer
In 1961, along with Frank Kameny, Jack Nichols cofounded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the the first gay civil rights organization in the nation's capital. Four years later, Nichols and other members of the organization conducted the first gay rights protest at the White House.
LGBT History Month - Jackie 'Moms' Mabley - Comedian
Born Loretta Mary Aiken, Jackie "Moms" Mabley was one of the first, most successful women to work in comedy. Mabley appeared on popular television variety shows like 'The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." A veteran of the African- American vaudeville tradition known as the Chitlin' Circuit, the comedian overcame a tragic childhood (her parents were killed and she was raped) to become one of the raunchiest, most beloved comedians of her generation.
LGBT History Month - Jane Addams - Activist
In 1889 Jane Addams cofounded Hull House, a social settlement on Chicago's Near West Side. Social settlements were established to attract educated, middle- and upper-class people to poor urban areas. Addams also cofounded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization created in 1920 to defend and preserve individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
LGBT History Month - Jason Collins - Basketball Player
Jason Collins is a retired professional American basketball player who played for 13 seasons with the NBA. During the 2012-13 season, Collins came out in Sports Illustrated before signing with the New Jersey Nets, making him the first openly gay athlete to play on any professional sports team in North America.
LGBT History Month - Laverne Cox - Transgender Actress
Laverne Cox is an American actress, producer and LGBT advocate best known for her role as a transgender prison inmate in the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black." She is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy Award for acting and the first to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
LGBT History Month - Michael Sam - Football Player
In 2014 Michael Sam became the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL. The defensive end was drafted by the St. Louis Rams and spent time on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad. He signed with the Montreal Alouettes in 2015, but stepped away from the team just months later, citing "personal reasons."
LGBT History Month - Mick Jagger - Rock Star
Mick Jagger is the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, a British rock band whose popularity has spanned more than 50 years. As one of the most influential and charismatic front men in history, Jagger has received many awards and accolades. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and was knighted in 2003. Rolling Stone magazine names him among the top 20 on its List of 100 Greatest Singers.
LGBT History Month - Miriam Ben-Shalom - Soldier
Miriam Ben-Shalom is the first openly lesbian service member to be reinstated by the U.S. Army after she was discharged in 1976 for being gay.
LGBT History Month - Richard Blanco - Inaugural Poet
Richard Blanco is the youngest, the first Latino and the first openly gay person to be named a U.S. inaugural poet. He read his poem "One Today," written soon after the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, at President Barack Obama's second inauguration. He describes the poem as "a unique snapshot of where we are as a country."
LGBT History Month - Robin Roberts - TV Broadcaster
Robin Roberts is an award-winning broadcast journalist and co-anchor of ABC News' "Good Morning America." She became an outspoken advocate for cancer research, after being diagnosed twice with the disease. She won a 2012 Peabody Award for her reporting on the issue.
LGBT History Month - Sahaykwisa - Transgender Native American
Sahaykwisa was a female Mohave Indian shaman (a healer with supernatural powers), who specialized in the treatment of venereal diseases. Scholars have limited information about her life. She was a gender-nonconforming lesbian, or hwame (a female who choses to live as a male), and often told people she had been turned into a man by white man's magic. Sahaykwisa was also a hunter and an industrious farmer— jobs typically performed by men.
LGBT History Month - Staceyann Chin - Poet/Performer
Staceyann Chin is a spoken-word poet and performance artist dedicated to LGBT rights. She has been out since 1998, soon after co-writing and performing in the Tony-nominated Russell Simmons "Def Poetry Jam" on Broadway. She has also appeared in one-woman Off-Broadway shows and at the famed Nuyorican Poets Café. Her work has been featured in more than 21 publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Born in Jamaica, Chin is of Chinese- and African-Jamaican descent, a subject she has written about often. She appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss what it was like growing up gay in Jamaica.
LGBT History Month - Tim'm T. West - Performer
Tim'm T. West, born Timothy Terrell West, is a hip-hop performance artist, poet, activist and educator. He has produced nine albums, written extensively about hiphop culture and has been a spokesperson for a new generation of openly gay musicians.
LGBT History Month - Tom Stoddard - Equality Attorney
Tom Stoddard was a lawyer who helped advance LGBT rights in America. He served as an early executive director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York from 1986 to 1992, where he fought against discrimination in employment, housing, health care and the military. Under his leadership, Lambda became one of the most important LGBT legal organizations in the country.
LGBT History Month - William 'Big Bill' Tilden II - Tennis Champion
Bill Tilden is considered one of the greatest men's tennis champions in history. He was the No. 1 player in the world for six years, from 1920 to 1925. During that time, he became the first American to win Wimbledon.
LGBT History Month - William Rufus King - U.S. Vice President
William Rufus King was the 13th vice president of the United States for six weeks before he died of tuberculosis, making him the shortest-serving vice president in American history. He was the third vice president to die in office.
LGBT History Month for October
Erie Gay News is proud to once again participate in LGBT History Month, a project of Equality Forum. This project is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2015.
LGBT History Month
31 days. 31 icons. Modeled after Black and Women's History Month, LGBT History Month highlights annually the achievements of 31 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender Icons-one each day in the month of October.
Connect With Us
