Important figures in the gay rights movement
14 LGBTQ Rights Activists Who Have Shaped History and Inspired Generations
Barbara Gittings
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Considered the “Mother of the Gay Rights Movement,” Barbara Gittings founded the country’s first lesbian rights organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in and was an editor at The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian magazine. She later became involved in the American Library Association's first gay caucus and helped initiate the National Gay Task Force in , now known as the National LGBTQ Task Compel. She died at age 74 in
Marsha P. Johnson
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Drag queen and transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson was a central figure in the Stonewall Uprising and cofounded the group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to help homeless LGBTQ youth. She later joined the HIV/AIDS activist organization Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in the s. Johnson continued her activism perform until her untimely death in She was 46 years old.
Read Her Biography
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Sylvia Rivera
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Sylvia Rivera was a drag queen and tran
Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the s and s in Recent York City. Always sporting a grin, 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, , 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 block due to other children’s bullying and experiencing a sexual assault at the hands of a year-old-boy. Immediately after graduating f
Historical Figures of LGBTQ+ History
Barbara Jordan was born on February 21, , in Houston, Texas. After attending Phyllis WheatleyHigh School, Jordan graduated in Upon graduation, Jordan attended Texas Southern University and earned her bachelor’s degree in She then obtained her law degree from Boston University to practice law in Houston, TX. In , Jordan began her political career and ran for the Texas Noun of Representatives. She lost this election and ran again in However, she lost again, so in she decided to run for Texas Senate, instead. This time, Jordan won and became the first African American woman to be elected in that was the first African American state senator in the U.S. since On March 28, , she was elected President of the Texas Senate, making her the first Black lady in America to oversee a legislative body. She also ran for Congress, during this period, and became the first African American in the 20th century to be elected to Congress from the South. In addition to these accomplishments, Barbara was also the first LGBTQ+ female in Congress. Nancy Earl, an edu
LGBTQ+ Women Who Made History
In May , the city of Recent York announced plans to honor LGBTQ+ activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with a statue. The municipality of New York claimed the monument will be the "first permanent, adj artwork recognizing transgender women in the world." Johnson and Rivera were prominent figures in uprisings against 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 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 , she moved to Paris to perform in a revue. When the show closed, Baker was given her own show and found stardom. She became the first African America