Elizabeth Birch (born 1956) is an American attorney and former corporate executive who chaired the board of directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1992-1994. She served as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT organization, from January 1995 until January 2004.

Birch was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, in 1956. Her father was a Canadian Air Force officer and she lived on numerous Canadian Air Force bases in her youth. During high school, she joined Up With People, a student performance group, and toured Europe and North Africa for a year. Birch graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1980 and earned a law degree at the Santa Clara University School of Law. She was an associate attorney with the law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen until joining Apple in 1989.

Birch was worldwide director of litigation for Apple Computer and general counsel for its Claris subsidiary until 1995.

Birch began her LGBT political activity as a member of the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee (BAYMEC), an LGBT political action committee based in a San Jose, California. She was co-chairwoman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1992 to 1994.

Alan Cumming, OBE (born 27 January 1965), is a British stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids films. He has also appeared in independent films like The Anniversary Party, which he co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in; and Ali Selim's Sweet Land, for which he won an Independent Spirit award as producer.

His London stage appearances include Hamlet, the Maniac in Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, for which he received an Olivier Award, the lead in Martin Sherman's Bent, and as Dionysus in The National Theatre of Scotland's The Bacchae. On Broadway he has appeared as Mac the Knife in The Threepenny Opera, the Emcee in Cabaret, for which he won the Tony in 1998, and Design for Living. Cumming also introduces Masterpiece Mystery! for PBS. He currently appears as Eli Gold on The Good Wife, for which he has been nominated for two Emmys, two SAGs^{[disambiguation needed ]}, a Satellite Award and Critics' Circle Award.

Judy Shepard (née Peck; born 1952) is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998. She and her husband are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and advocates for LGBT-rights.

Judy and her husband, Dennis Shepard, have lived in Casper, Wyoming (though they have also lived in Saudi Arabia) since 1976. Judy is the mother of two sons, Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976–1998) and Logan Shepard (born 1981).

On the night of October 6, 1998, Judy's older son Matthew was beaten and pistol whipped in Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew Shepard died six days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado on October 12, 1998 at age 21. During the later murder trial, witnesses stated that Shepard was targeted because he was homosexual. In response, Judy Shepard created the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The foundation's purpose is to advance "social justice, diversity awareness and education, and equality for Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people".