Famous Women Who Made An Impact On LGBTQ Community
People are becoming more and more open about their sexualities in recent years, both on and off the screen. Many celebrities are living their truths and are inspiring us to be more authentic as well, as they are living their truths and inspiring us to live ours as well.
We saw Hayley Kiyoko share with us her heartfelt story about how her music embraces her lesbian identity and how her fans support her throughout her musical journey. Can anything be more heartwarming than that? As a young lesbian girl, Felicia Pearson came out to her uncle when she was twelve years old, and he was supportive of her so much that he even found a lesbian friend to support her.
The celesbian umbrella extends to actors who play lesbian characters but whose sexual orientations may be straight, so let's acknowledge and celebrate those who identify as lesbians both on screen and off-screen so that we can promote inclusiveness.
Who are some famous gay personalities who made an impact on the LGBTQ community?
Sylvia Rivera
In 1969, the Stonewall Inn uprising was one of the most important events in New York City's history. Sylvia Rivera was an activist who took part in that event. Police officers conducted a raid on a bar during which patrons resisted the police's actions. The Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) was founded after these uprisings. Through the GAA, Rivera campaigned to end discrimination against LGBT residents in New York City. Although transgender people played an important role in Stonewall, many of them were people of color. A group called STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) was created by Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. Young LGBT people found home and family in Rivera and Johnson. Their community in New York City was affected by issues they organized through STAR.
Cecilia Chung
As a human rights advocate, attorney, and health equity advocate, her focus is on the rights of the LGBT community, social justice, health equity, and equal access to health care. A native of Hong Kong, in 1984, she moved to San Francisco and has lived there ever since. This is the 20th anniversary of the Transgender Law Center's Director of Evaluation and Strategic Initiatives appointment. In 2008, she was nominated to chair the San Francisco Human Rights Commission as the city's first transgender woman to hold that role. The President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS was headed by her between the years 2013 and 2015. In a panel discussion involving HIV activists and caregivers held as part of the museum's fourth annual commemoration of World AIDS Day, she was invited to speak at the panel discussion featuring HIV activists and caregivers. As part of her presentation, she featured Positively Trans, a national network that was created with the purpose of advocating, empowering, and preserving the stories of transgender people living with HIV, particularly those of color.
Dr. Renee Richards
Having played both as a player and as a doctor, Dr. Rene Richards was one of the first transgender professional athletes to use this Dunlop tennis racket. Following Richards' surgery for gender reversal in 1976, the U.S. Tennis Association insisted that she undergo genetic testing in order to be allowed to participate in the U.S. Open as a woman as a result of her gender reassignment. As a result of Richards' refusal to participate in the tournament, she was barred entirely. The U.S. Tennis Association was sued by her following the historic decision due to the gender discrimination the U.S. Tennis Association had committed. Richards thus achieved the best result at the U.S. Open in the following year when she reached the finals of the women's doubles competition.
Marsha P Johnson
Marsha P Johnson, who played a pivotal role in the emergence of the trans rights movement during the 20th century, was one of the most influential and courageous LGBTQ+ rights activists. In response to a famous question about whether or not she was of a certain gender or of certain sexuality, she claimed that she didn't give a damn about that. In the early sixties, Marsha P Johnson became known by her stage name, and her career began to take off.
It is interesting to note that while Johnson was celebrating her 25th birthday on 28 June 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, where she was celebrating her birthday. They then started harassing, removing, and arresting people who served in the gay bar, frisking homosexuals, dragging women to the bathroom to check their genitals, and arresting anyone thought to be a crossdresser. Two nights of rioting and marching resulted in the first gay pride marches.
Many people are inclined to say that Stonewall was the first encounter between police officers and homosexuals. It is possible that Johnson was among the first. As her biographers have pointed out, the riots were already underway when she came to the bar, although she has claimed that she was leading the resistance. She was sure to become a leading light in the gay and trans rights movement that would follow in her position as co-founder of the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) organization in the years that followed. As drag queens were forbidden in 1973 from participating in the gay pride parade, she nevertheless led the parade, and later on, she was an activist in the 1980s and 1990s in the fight against AIDS.
Conclusion
Telling the truth about lesbians, bisexuals, and queer women is an essential part of telling the story of women in history, especially the history of their rights. The truth needs to be told. The names should be heard. Splitting the world into smaller pieces will make the world a smaller place. The only way to break through these patterns of behavior is to make our history a priority. In writing the history of gays, lesbians, and bisexual women, we must make sure that we do not erase and rewrite the breadth of their accomplishments.
