Famous gay activists
Gay Activists Alliance
overview
The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) was formed in December 1969 by Jim Owles, Marty Robinson, Arthur Evans, Arthur Bell, and others, who became disaffected by the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), the first LGBT group formed right after Stonewall. Focused exclusively on “the liberation of gay people,” GAA became the most influential American gay liberation activist group in the early 1970s. While the pickets and actions by earlier homophile groups in the 1960s, like the Mattachine Society’s Sip-In at Julius’, had been peaceful, the post-Stonewall groups, including GAA, GLF, and Radicalesbians, were more confrontational.
The success of the Snake Pit protest on March 8, 1970, organized by GAA and GLF, inspired GAA’s most legendary, effective, and imaginative ploy. This was the “zap,” a direct, surprise universal confrontation with political figures and corporate and governmental entities regarding gay rights and discrimination, designed to gain gay and vertical media attention. Morty Manford and Evans called it “a hybrid of media theatre and political demonstration.” Robinson is g
Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the male lover rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in Novel York City. Always sporting a glow, Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those effected by H.I.V. and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights.
Marsha P. Johnson was born on August 24, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Assigned male at birth, Johnson grew up in an African American, working-class family. She was the fifth of seven children born to Malcolm Michaels Sr. and Alberta Claiborne. Johnson’s father worked on the General Motors Assembly Line in Linden, NJ and her mother was a housekeeper. Johnson grew up in a religious family and began attending Mount Teman African Methodist Episcopal Church as a child; she remained a practicing Christian for the rest of her life. Johnson enjoyed wearing clothes made for women and wore dresses starting at age five. Even though these clothes reflected her sense of self, she felt pressured to end due to other children’s bullying and experiencing a sexual assault at the hands of a 13-year-old-boy. Immediately after graduating from Thomas A. Edison Sky-high School, Johnson moved to New York City with one bag of clot
15 LGBTQ Activists of the Past and Present You Should Know
It’s LGBTQ Celebration Month — a age to celebrate devotion, but also to champion equality and LGBTQ rights.
Throughout June, cities around the world have been hosting marches in honor of LGBTQ pride. In many countries today, people are free to join these marches, marry whomever they choose, and openly show their affection. But that’s still not the case for LGBTQ communities in every region, and even in countries where it is safe to march, there is still a extended way to travel before true equality is achieved.
Without these incredible activists, the LGBTQ rights movement would not be where it is today.
In honor of Pride Month, Global Citizen is celebrating the brave activists fighting for LGBTQ rights in places where it can be dangerous to do so, and the inspiring champions for change, without whom there might never have been a Pride Month.
While certainly not an exhaustive list by any means, these are 15 LGBTQ activists you should know.
1. Marsha P. Johnson
Image: Courtesy of Netflix
Marsha P. Johnson is sometimes referred to as the “Rosa Parks of the LGBT movement,” but Johnson is a celebrated legend in her hold
LGBTQ+ Women Who Made History
In May 2019, the capital of New York announced plans to honor LGBTQ+ activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with a statue. The metropolis of New York claimed the monument will be the "first permanent, public artwork recognizing trans women in the world." Johnson and Rivera were prominent figures in uprisings against 1969 police raids at the gay exclude Stonewall Inn. Their protests increased visibility for the cause of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
In celebration of Event Month, we honor LGBTQ+ women who have made remarkable contributions to the nation and helped advance equality in fields as diverse as medicine and the dramatic arts. Here are a few of their stories, represented by objects in the Smithsonian's collections.
1. Josephine Baker
Entertainer and activist Josephine Baker performed in vaudeville showcases and in Broadway musicals, including Shuffle Along. In 1925, she moved to Paris to act in a revue. When the show closed, Baker was given her own show and create stardom. She became the first African American woman to celebrity in a motion picture and to perform with an integrated cast at an A