LGBTQ+ Heroes
Click on the heroes below to find out a bit more about them - we've attached videos, articles and other information so that you can find out more about all of them. Who are your LGBTQ+ Heroes? We'd love to hear about them - message us them on Instagram and we can add them to our gallery.
Anne Lister - a Yorkshire landowner and industrialist who independently built a financial portfolio including property, shares in canals and railways, mining and quarrying. Lister is often called "the first modern lesbian" for her clear self-knowledge and openly lesbian lifestyle. Read more about her here, and watch ‘The Secret Life of Anne Lister’ here.
Maud Allan - a Canadian dancer, actor and choreographer. She became famous across Europe for her “Dance of the Seven Veils” and was famously sued for being too lewd and was outed after supposedly sleeping with prime minister's wife. You can read more about her here.
Frida Kahlo - a painter, acclaimed after her death for her powerful art. As a bisexual woman, her modern attitudes towards sexuality and her ability to openly explore them solidified her status as an icon among the LGBTQ+ community. Find some facts about her here and watch ‘Frida Kahlo – the Woman Behind The Legend’ here.
Gladys Bentley – a hugely influential blues singer, pianist and entertainer who defied gender norms on stage. Watch a video on her story here
Alan Turing – the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. His code-breaking machines were a major factor in the Allies winning WW2. Watch a brief history of his life here.
Bayard Rustin – a leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, non-violence and gay rights, Rustin is often referred to as Martin Luther King’s ‘right hand man’. Read his incredible story here.
Christine Jorgensen– often known as the first transgender celebrity, Christine made history by challenging the way that people thought about gender norms. Find out more about her here.
Andy Warhol - a leading figure in the 'pop art' movement who lived openly as a gay man before the gay liberation movement. He famously said “I didn't think I should want to change ... Other people could change their attitudes but not me". Read about Andy’s life here and watch a lecture on Warhol’s depictions of queer desire here.
Edith Windsor – An LGBT activist and computer programmer who sued the US government for discrimination against her and her wife. This lead to the Supreme Court dropping the Defense Of Marriage Act, changing the way that US law treated gay marriage forever. Watch her story here.
Harvey Milk – one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US, Harvey Milk was a crucial figure in the fight for gay rights. Watch a brief history of his life here.
Lynn Conway - an American computer scientist, electrical engineer, inventor, and transgender activist. While she worked for IBM she produced engineering innovations that would remain central to IBM’s most advanced computers for year, yet was fired in 1968 after she revealed her intention to transition. Read a story about that here.
Billie Jean King – in 1981, Billie was outed as a lesbian without her consent. Instead of following her team’s advice to deny this, she confirmed that this was true and became the first openly gay athlete. Listen to her talking about that incident and how she overcame it here.
Marsha P Johnson – while she never officially identified as transgender, Marsha P played a major role in the Stonewall riots in 1969 that jump-started the gay liberation movement. Watch this short documentary about Marsha and the Stonewall riots here.
Bishop Gene Robinson - an American retired bishop. He was the first man in an openly gay relationship to be elected bishop, and was voted USA’s 7th most influential gay person. Read an interview with him here.
Stephen Whittle - a British transgender man, activist and writer, co-founded trans rights organisation Press for Change. He was awarded the prestigious Human Rights Award by civil rights group Liberty. Watch a BBC interview with him here and read a Guardian interview with him here
Jackie Kay - an award-winning writer of fiction, poetry and plays, whose subtle investigation into the complexities of identity have been informed by her own life as a black lesbian adopted and raised by a white straight couple. Watch a short film about her work here and read an interview with her here
Laverne Cox - as a hugely successful actor, Laverne uses her platform to speak out against trans discrimination and has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her work in this. Watch a full show that Laverne presented documenting the lives of young trans people here.
Nicola Adams – the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold boxing medal and the first to dance as part of a same-sex couple on Strictly Come Dancing in 2020. Read more about Nicola here.
Jack Monroe - a renowned food writer and campaigner who is known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. Read an interview with them here.
Megan Rapinoe - A 2x World Cup winning footballer who also won the Ballon D’or Feminin and the 2019 Best FIFA Women’s Player. A hugely influential activist who has sued the USSF for gender discrimination over wages, Megan has consistently supported LGBTQ+ right. Watch an interview with her on wage discrimination here.
