Famous gay activists
Gay Activists Alliance
overview
The Queer 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 homosexual liberation activist group in the adv 1970s. While the pickets and efforts 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 Pride 8, 1970, organized by GAA and GLF, inspired GAA’s most famous, operative, and imaginative ploy. This was the “zap,” a straight, surprise public confrontation with political figures and corporate and governmental entities regarding gay rights and discrimination, designed to gain gay and straight media attention. Morty Manford and Evans called it “a hybrid of media theatre and political demonstration.” Robinson is g
LGBTQ+ Women Who Made History
In May 2019, the city of Modern York announced plans to honor Gay activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with a statue. The capital of New York claimed the monument will be the "first permanent, universal artwork recognizing genderqueer women in the world." Johnson and Rivera were prominent figures in uprisings against 1969 police raids at the gay bar Stonewall Inn. Their protests increased visibility for the cause of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
In celebration of Pride Month, we honor Diverse women who hold made remarkable contributions to the nation and helped advance equality in fields as diverse as medicine and the dramatic arts. Here are a scant 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 perform in a revue. When the show closed, Baker was given her own reveal and found stardom. She became the first African American woman to luminary in a motion picture and to perform with an integrated cast at an A
15 LGBTQ Activists of the Past and Present You Should Know
It’s LGBTQ Identity festival Month — a time to celebrate love, but also to champion equality and LGBTQ rights.
Throughout June, cities around the world hold been hosting marches in honor of LGBTQ event . In many countries today, people are free to join these marches, join whomever they choose, and openly show their cherish. But that’s still not the case for LGBTQ communities in every land, and even in countries where it is harmless to march, there is still a long way to go before authentic equality is achieved.
Without these incredible activists, the LGBTQ rights movement would not be where it is today.
In honor of Movement 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 modify, 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 representative in her own
Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Always sporting a smile, Johnson was an important advocate for homeless Homosexual 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 perception of self, she felt pressured to stop 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 High School, Johnson moved to New York City with one bag of clot