A list of notable LGBT rights activists who have worked to advance LGBT rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically.
Stephen Whittle Trans rights campaigner and former vice president of PfC and president of HBIGDA, Law Professor at MMU, awarded OBE for work with PfC and on the GRB[55]
Bishop Allyson Nelson Abrams (born 1970), lesbian bishop and pastor of Empowerment Liberation Cathedral in Silver Spring, MD. Bishop Abrams founded a predominantly LGBTQIA congregation and advocates for the rights of those in the LGBT community. Bishop Abrams teaches that faith and sexuality don't have to be in conflict, they can be in harmony. Bishop Abrams resigned from her Baptist church pastorate after disclosing that she married her wife.
Madonna Louise Ciccone known as Madonna (born 1958), entertainer and long-term human and civil rights activist. Has offered outspoken support for the gay rights movement.[citation needed]
Dallas S. Drake, (born 1960), first openly gay firefighter in Minnesota (1989);[70] co-founder of the MN Gay Homicide Study (1999), later renamed the Center for Homicide Research in 2004.[71][72][73]
Fran Drescher, (born 1957, Flushing, New York) is an outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist.[74]
Danielle Egnew (born 1969), lesbian musician, actress, producer, and psychic who endorsed and provided campaign materials to Virginia's VoteNO campaign, protecting the legalities of same-sex civil unions in Virginia—also Spiritual leader and founder of The Church of the Open Christ, an inclusive and progressive LGBT ministry.[citation needed]
Aaron Fricke (born 1962), who sued the Cumberland, Rhode Island school system in 1980 and won a landmark First Amendment case granting him the legal right to attend prom with another boy.[61] He chronicled the experience in the seminal growing up gay story Reflections of a Rock Lobster.
Patt Gavin (born 1959), gay advocate and author of Almost Paradise, a novel concerning gay marriage.
Hardy Haberman, author, filmmaker, prominent member of the Leather/Fetish/BDSM community[85]
David M. Hall, author of Allies at Work: Creating a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Inclusive Work Environment, who speaks to corporate audiences across the country and is the co-founder of Out & Equal Philadelphia.[86]
Richard Isay (1934-2012) psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, author and gay activist. Responsible for ending discrimination against gay people by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Wrote "Being Homosexual: Gay Men and their Development", widely considered a groundbreaking work.
Janet Jackson (born 1966), American singer, songwriter, and actress.
Janice Langbehn (born 1968), campaigner for marriage equality and same-sex hospital visitation after being denied access to her dying partner, Lisa Marie Pond, in 2007.[97]
Cyndi Lauper (born 1953), founder of the True Colors Fund charity which promotes equality for members of the LGBT community.[98]
Courtney Love (born 1964), a musician and singer, has advocated for LGBT rights and acceptance since the beginning of her career in the early 1990s.[99][100][101][102]
Scott Long (born 1963), Executive Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.[61]
Del Martin (1921–2008), lesbian activist who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Phyllis Lyon.[103]
Meghan McCain (born 1984) columnist, blogger and daughter of senator John McCain. She has on several occasions expressed support for gay marriage, gay adoption and for repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. She posed for the NOH8 campaign with her mother Cindy McCain.
Troy Perry (1940–), founder of UFMCC, an international Protestant Christian denomination. The Fellowship has a specific outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families and communities.
Geena Rocero, transgender model and advocate; founder of Gender Proud, an advocacy and aid organization that stands up for the right of transgender people all over the world.
Craig Rodwell (1940–1993), gay rights activist; founder of first gay & lesbian oriented bookshop in the United States; proposed and organized Annual Reminder; proposed and organized New York's Gay Pride march, then called Christopher Street Liberation day; was a founding member and organizer of Gay People In Christian Science.
Josh Seefried, United States Air Force first lieutenant and co-director of OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military.
Michelangelo Signorile (born 1960), gay American writer and a US and Canadian national talk radio host.
Ruth Simpson (1926–2008), founder of the first lesbian community center. Former President of Daughters of Bilitis New York. Author of From the Closet to the Courts.[61]
Andy Thayer (Born 1960) is an American socialist and gay rights activist, and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network
Urvashi Vaid (born 1958, New Delhi, India) is an American activist who has worked for over 25 years promoting civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.[61][118]
Phill Wilson (born 1956, Chicago, IL), co-founder of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum and founder of The Black AIDS Institute[119][120]
Evan Wolfson (born 1957) is the founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States.
Chely Wright (born 1970, Wellsville, Kansas), first openly lesbian country music singer. Focused on serving as a role model and mentor for children and teens in order to reduce gay related suicides in children.
^"A broken promise of our nationhood; Federation has not been inclusive of all Australians, argues Rodney Croome, and has to be regarded as a failure". Canberra Times (Australia). 26 November 2001. p. 9.
^Lydia Polgreen (9 January 2009). "9 in Senegal To Be Jailed For 8 Years". The New York Times. p. 5. The men were arrested on Dec. 19 at the home of Diadji Diouf, a prominent gay activist who works with AIDS organizations to prevent the spread of the disease in the largely clandestine gay community in Senegal, according to Joel Nana, a program associate for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.Fact
^"Gay archive handed over to National Library". The Irish Times. 17 June 2008. At an event marking the formal transfer of the collection known as the Irish Queer Archive curator Tonie Walsh said it was highly significant that the State was finally taking ownership of lesbian, gay and transgender heritage
^Lea Campos Boralevi (1984). Bentham and the Oppressed. Walter De Gruyter. ISBN3-11-009974-8.
^Burns, Christine (2003). "The Second Transition". In O' Keefe, Tracie. Finding the Real Me: True Tales of Sex and Gender Diversity. Wiley. ISBN0-7879-6547-2.|first3= missing |last3= in Editors list (help)
^ abcdefghijklmnKatz, Jonathan (1985). Gay American history: lesbians and gay men in the U. S. A.: a documentary. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN0-06-091211-1.
^Shilts, Randy (May 1993). Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 173, 294. ISBN0-312-09261-X.
^Donaldson, Stephen (1995). "The Bisexual Movement's Beginnings in the 70s: A Personal Retrospective". In Tucker, Naomi. Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, & Visions. New York: Harrington Park Press. pp. 31–45. ISBN1-56023-869-0.
^Nagourney, Adam; Brooks Barnes; Ian Lovett Contributed Reporting From Los Angeles, Kitty Bennett From St. Petersburg, Fla. (24 March 2012). "Evolving Donor Network in Gay Marriage Drive". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 6 April 2012.Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
^Cyndi Lauper's gay rights charity non-profit arm is at www.truecolorsfund.org/ (see special message from Cyndi Lauper)
^Love, Courtney (1997-10-28). "1997 VH1 Fashion Awards". VH1. I think that great personal style is being true to yourself and speaking your mind, which, since I'm up here, I'm going to do. I feel that keeping gay people in the closet with our attitudes and action is cruel, and it's tacky, and most of all, it's boring. I think that we really need to respect each other and ourselves and respect who we are and what we are, and not be afraid to be what we are, whether we're gay, or straight, or insane [...] It's 1997 and respecting each other's sexuality is about the coolest thing I can think of.Missing or empty |series= (help)
