Marsha P. Johnson, a black LGBTQ liberation activist and drag queen icon, is remembered to this day as an advocate for equal rights and a key figure during the Stonewall Riots in 1969. As a transgender person of color, Johnson was able to spearhead multiple movements throughout the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s; and later established the Street Transvestite (later changed to transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group that focused on helping homeless transgender youth throughout New York City.

Assigned male at birth, Johnson had a tough childhood due to her strict Christian upbringing. Although she engaged in cross-dressing behavior at an early age, these behaviors were quickly reprimanded. She quickly left to Greenwich, New York after high school in order to flee her hometown and start her new life, although she struggled to make ends meet. Because of that, she became a sex worker via prostitution faced homelessness often while struggling with mental illness. On the brighter side, Johnson was able to find joy as a drag queen throughout the city’s nightlife, where she found a community and became a prominent “drag mother” by helping homeless and struggling LGBTQ youth.

Although she lead a life of activism, Johnson has been most recognized, along with Sylvia Rivera, as a leader during the Stonewall Riots, which began as she was celebrating her 25th birthday at the Stonewall Inn– one of the few bars that served the queer community without backlash and police brutality. Things quickly changed at the Inn when police began raiding Stonewall under the guise of a non existing liquor licence. Police brutally arrested cross-dressers, sexually harassed lesbians while “frisking” them, and dragged employees, drag queens, and other gender nonconforming individuals out onto the street, as they had done at many queer hangouts before. After a police officer clubbed a girl over her head for saying that her handcuffs were too tight, the community had decided that they had had enough. From there, Johnson was one of the first individuals to start resisting the police officers raiding Stonewall and a revolution for queer rights began.

“We were throwing over cars and screaming in the middle of the street ’cause we were so upset ’cause they closed the place. We were just saying, ‘no more police brutality’ and ‘we had enough of police harassment in the Village and other places.’ “

-Marsha P. Johnson when recalling the Stonewall Riots

Johnson’s activism didn’t end at Stonewall. Throughout her lifetime, Johnson was on the front lines protesting against oppressive policing and on the behalf of sex workers, homeless youth, transgenders, prisoners, and people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Although she delt with heavy topics and witnessed injustice, she kept fighting with a flower crown and a smile on her face.

Johnson’s tragic demise occurred in 1992 when her body was found floating in the Hudson River. Police officially ruled her death a suicide, but her friends and the community members disagreed because she had not been suicidal. They also pointed that there was a giant open wound on the back of her head and that she had been arguing with a man the night before, therefore it is widely accepted that she was murdered.

In memoriam, numerous books, documentaries, and films have focused on Johnson and her many courageous life events. The construction of a statue in her honor (along with activist Sylvia Rivera) has also started in Greenwich Village, New York; which will be the first ever statue honoring and memorializing a transgender woman.

Although she is highly recognized as an actress in today’s world, Nicole Amber Maines has paved paths as a transgender activist throughout her whole life. Throughout her lifetime, Maines has frequently fought for trans rights and laws and has acted on a variety of movies and television shows such as The Trans List, Supergirl, Royal Pains, and Bit. She has also had a book written about her experiences titled, “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family,” by Amy Ellis Nutt.

Assigned male at birth, Maines struggled with her sense of identity as she noticed her feelings and expressions differed from her twin brother, Jonas. Early on, Maines longed to participate in stereotypical feminine activities and wear female clothing, as she saw herself as “a boy in a girl’s body.” She would continuously ask her parents, “When do I get to be a girl?” and “When will my penis fall off?” around age two. Although her adoptive mother and brother supported her, her father and community (more specifically the school) struggled to understand Maines’ behavior and sense of identity.

As she grew older, Maines began to socially transition within her middle school. Backlash was faced as she was stalked, harassed, and assaulted by a boy in her grade due to the fact that Nicole was using the girl’s bathroom. A lawsuit was filed against the school for siding with the boy and disregarding Nicole’s rights, but the Maines family decided that it would be best to flee the town due to the large conservative populations.

Although Maines had a childhood full of hardships, she flourished after schooling and as she began her career in acting. Throughout her career, Maines has worked hard to raise awareness for the transgender community, especially as she played the first transgender superhero, Nia Nal, on the hit CW television show, Supergirl. She has also made sure to support other transgender individuals during events such as Transgender Day of Visibility and Transgender Day of Remembrance, and has participated in campaigns such as #TransIsBeautiful.

Maines’ life may seem glamorous and unachievable, but she has remained modest and humble throughout her time as a celebrity. In fact, she has gone through similar experiences as many youth today and she currently enjoys painting, doing make-up, listening to music, and traveling.

Not only has Laverne Cox been recognized as an award-winning actress, but as a trailblazer and advocate for the LGBTQ community as well. She visibly rose above and beyond as she became the first transgender woman of color to produce and star in her own television show, the first transgender individual to star on the cover of TIME Magazine, and the first openly transgender individual to receive an Emmy Nomination. Cox has also been highly recognized as an advocate via social media, and has actively promoted the hashtag #TransIsBeautiful.

“My life changed when I realized I deserve to be seen, to dream, to be fully included, always striving to bring my full humanity.”

-Laverne Cox

Miss Cox turned out to be a beautiful, confident, and inspirational woman even though her upbringing was quite rough. She was born as a physical male in Alabama and was raised by her single mother and grandmother. Cox explained that she was physically and verbally bullied often and called a variety of slurs because she “didn’t act the way someone assigned male at birth was supposed to act,” which lead to her suicide attempt at age eleven.

Cox’s mental health eventually improved as she found creative outlets such as creative writing and dance. This newfound discovery helped Cox decide to attend college at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, where she studied acting and began her career. During her college years, Cox began to identify as a woman and sought out physical transition.

As an actress, Cox has actively aimed to bring LGBTQ representation to light. Her most famous queer inclusive roles have been in television shows and movies such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warm Again (a remake of an iconic queer movie), Orange is the New Black, Freak Show, The T Word , Dear White People, and The Trans List, where she plays characters of queer and gender nonconforming roles.

Unselfishly, Cox has used her platform and recognition to talk about LGBTQ rights and the pressing importance of allyship as a vocal activist. She often has addressed issues faced by trans women of color such as workplace discrimination, homelessness, systematic discrimination, sex trades, criminalization and gender-based violence. Cox has also worked tirelessly with the Supreme Court to fight for transgender legal rights and has called out the long lists of actions that have been taken by the Trump Administration in order to discriminate against gender-nonconforming individuals.

“We are not what other people say we are. We are who we know ourselves to be, and we are what we love.”

-Laverne Cox

Although Christine Jorgensen is most commonly remembered as an American actress, she also paved the way for transgender individuals as she was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having a sex reassignment surgery. This means that Jorgensen was the very first transgender celebrity in Western culture!

Jorgensen born in 1926. In her autobiography, Jorgensen recalled that she had a happy childhood and typical upbringing, but grew up frustrated by the persistent feeling that she was a girl in a boy’s body. Before transitioning, Jorgensen was simply a former army private and clerk from the Bronx (Westchester), therefore it was groundbreaking when she underwent hormone therapy, psychotherapy, and sex reassignment surgeries in Denmark (1952) after her honorable discharge.

“As you can see, I have changed a great deal. But it is the other changes that are so much more important. Remember the shy, miserable person who left America? Well, that person is no more.”

-Christine Jorgensen

After physically transitioning and returning to the United States in 1955, daily tabloids became obsessed with Jorgensen and her transsexualism. Countless articles were written about Jorgensen with headlines such as “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty,” and “Bronx ‘Boy’ is Now a Girl.” “At first I was very self-conscious and awkward,” explained Jorgensen during an interview. “But once notoriety hit, it did not take me long to adjust.”

Although Miss Jorgensen wasn’t the first transgender individual in the United States, she was the first individual to publicly announce her change of gender identity and gain recognition as a transsexual. After coming out, Jorgensen took advantage of her publicity and went on a series of nightclub tours and lectures. “If they decided they wanted to see me, they would have to pay for it,” Jorgensen explained.

“If you understand transgenders, then you understand that gender doesn’t have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity.”

-Christine Jorgensen

Jorgensen’s popularity increased once again in 1959 after she was denied a licence to marry because her birth certificate still identified her as a male. This broke her heart, but Jorgensen later decided not to fight the issue as she figured she would not be able to have children, which was a vital aspect of marriage at the time.

Sadly, Jorgensen died in 1989 at the mere age of 62, as she had been battling bladder and lung cancer for quite some time. She was survived by her two sister, Dorthy, and two nieces. Just a year before her death, Jorgensen explained that she did not regret her decision to transition whatsoever, as the publicity following her transition lead to a sexual revolution in the 1950’s and 1960’s while inspiring other transgender youth at the time.

Although RuPaul Andre Charles is most commonly recognized from his 2009 hit show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, this American drag queen, singer, songwriter, actor, and model has become an icon for the queer community because of his consistent activism and support. RuPaul has worked to pave the runway for LGBTQ tolerance, acceptance, and education while fighting for equality, which lead to him becoming recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2017.

“You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as long as you call me.”

-RuPaul Charles

RuPaul became accredited with bringing drag into the spotlight. He was highly influential as he became the first openly gay television host in 1996 and was first drag queen to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. Not only did RuPaul raise awareness for the LGBTQ community, but he also participated in charity work throughout his career. During his time as a host on RuPaul’s Drag Race, RuPual was able to launch the careers of over 120 drag queens. He continued to assist the LGBTQ community as the first face and spokesperson of M.A.C. Cosmetics, as he helped raise money for AIDS epidemic awareness. To date, he has raised over $400 million for AIDS related research and treatment.

Throughout his career, RuPaul has focused on helping and teaching others how to love themselves more. He has made sure to assist both contestants and fans with the advice, “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love someone else?” As an avid promoter of self-love, RuPaul has assured countless individuals (drag queens and otherwise) that they are beautiful and perfect no matter their ages, races, genders, sexualities, or identities. This encouragement has brought a positive light to the LGBTQ community that has not always existed due to misunderstandings and criticisms.

RuPaul continues his work, as he has a strong passion for fighting against the patriarchy and destroying conceptual boundaries of toxic masculinity. He is proud of the spaces he has created, as he claims that they have given both himself and others space to “represent their nonconforming and beautiful selves.” As a growing representative and icon for the LGBTQ community, RuPaul has shown no signs of slowing down his support for the community and his career via self love and expression.

“Look at me- a big old black man under all of this makeup, and if I can look beautiful, so can you. Love yourself!”

-RuPaul Charles

Although Claude Cahun has been highly recognized as a French photographer, Cahun made leaps as an early political activist and LGBTQ icon. As an artist, Cahun made it clear that they did not associate with stereotypical gender roles and often portrayed themselves and gender bent or gender neutral within their self portraits.

Cahun was born Lucy Renee Matilda Schwob of Nantes, France in 1894, but later changed their name to represent a more gender-neutral identity. They were born into a middle-class, intellectual Jewish family in France. Cahun’s mother suffered from mental illness and was permanently placed into a psychiatric ward when Cahun was just four years old. From then on, Cahun was raised by their blind grandmother, Mathilde Cahun.

Due to the backlash of her mother’s mental health and consistent antisemitism, Cahun had to change schools frequently and struggled with a sense of belonging. In fact, as a teenager, Cahun suffered with anorexia and suicidal thoughts, and had depressive episodes similar to those of her mother. These feelings persisted throughout their life, but notably lessened as they sought a higher education and attended the University of Paris, Sorbonne.

Cahun later settled down on the island of Jersey with her lifelong partner, Suzanne Malherbe. Cahun called their meeting a “thunderbolt encounter,” and the two worked on countless artistic projects together, as inspired each other greatly. Following this time period, Cahun’s father married Malherbe’s mother, making the two step siblings. Despite this, the two stayed together and recognized one another as lovers. The two moved to Paris in 1919, where they officially adopted their gender neutral names: Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore.

During the 1930’s, Cahun began to take a particular interest in politics due to the rising fascism in Europe. Cahun and Moore began participating in anti-fascism protests together, and even joined a group of political “revolutionaries.” Throughout 1935, Cahun’s political art became heavily distributed in order to stem the tide of war.

In 1937, the couple moved back to the island of Jersey. While living there, they observed the spread of Nazism throughout Europe, and the Nazis invaded Jersey in 1940. Although they originally planned to flee Jersey, the couple decided to stay and take part of the anti-Nazi resistance. One of their main roles was to create anti-Nazi propaganda, which they often slipped into the pockets of German soldiers in order to demoralize the soldiers and convince them to leave. The two continued to participate in the rebellion until they were arrested in 1944 and sentenced to death. For almost a year, Cahun and Moore were kept in separate cells, starved, and beaten until the liberation of the island in May of 1945. Once they returned home, they found that a majority of their art had been destroyed by the Nazis.

Cahun received recognition for their brave participation in the resistance in 1951, as they were awarded the Medal of French Gratitude. Sadly, in 1954 Cahun passed away after a long battle against their deteriorating health, which was very likely due to their time in prison. Although Cahun had died, their legacy remained. Cahun was, and has been, remembered as an inspiration due to their bravery during World War II, along with their boundary breaking expression of gender boundaries and openness to/participation in queer relationships. All in all, Cahun will remain a queer and Jewish icon who represents gender, sexuality, and power.

“Shuffle the cards. Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.”

-Claude Cahun

Although the Royal Family was supposed to represent perfection in the 1700s, Marie Antoinette, the former Queen of France, became an early lesbian icon and heroine throughout her lifetime and following her death. Antoinette was able to keep parts of her sexuality hidden, she later became well known for coded female homoeroticism and and proto-lesbianism.

Antoinette was born as an Australian, but began to represent France after she was wed to Louis XVI, the former Prince of France, at age fourteen in order to fulfill a political alliance between the two empires. The new marriage and political agreements forced Antoinette to disregard all Australian titles and accomplishments, which left her isolated in her new home with a husband that she didn’t love.

Although it wasn’t until 1775 that Antoinette officially became a queen, she was already well known throughout the empire. Her reputation began to build due to the fact that Antoinette spent large sums of money on dresses, her own personal home, and gambling during the period in which France was in a major financial crisis. While citizens were rioting for bread, Antoinette spent her twenty-first birthday gambling for seventy-two hours straight! This wasn’t great PR, but it was Antoinette’s way of protesting her limited political influence and forced marriage.

Antoinette’s relationship with King Louis XVI was almost nonexistent, as Louis cared too much about his locks and was indecisive, shy, and overly suspicious about his wife. In fact, the couple didn’t consummate their marriage until seven years after their official wedding, which was a big deal at the time and lead to public humiliation.

The public wasn’t thrilled about Antoinette in general, therefore pornographic cartoons and pamphlets were created that accused the queen of adultery, incest (even though she didn’t live with any of her blood-family), pedophilia, and lesbianism. The public drew thousands of images that viewed Antoinette having relations with other woman and preforming indecent acts with them. The accusations of lesbianism continued to linger, though, as there was indeed some truth to them.

When humiliation against the queen became increasingly popular, Antoinette sought out comfort and intimacy from those closest to her: her ladies in waiting. Although romantic relationships between female court members wasn’t particularity unusual, but they became unspeakable when sexual encounters came into the scene, as many thought that those acts between women did not yet exist. Antoinette became increasingly close to Princess de Lamballe, a young widow. The queen became so infatuated with Lamballe that she offered her the easiest jobs in the castle and treated her better than her other staff. In the letters between the two, they addressed one another as “my dearest” and “my dear heart” and signed the letters “with a heart entirely yours.”

Antoinette and Lamballe became so close that when the two were separated for the first time, the queen became so depressed that she had Lamballe’s portrait painted onto a mirror in the room she spent most of her time in and kept a miniature figurine of the princess. She also mailed Lamballe a ring engraved with the phrase “bleached by sorrow” and a lock of her own hair, to which Lamballe replied with by sending a watch with a message that said, “to remind [you] of the hours we passed together.” In that same letter, she told Antoinette that she wished to “live or die” near her.

Although her affections laid with Lamballe, Antoinette also had a fairly lengthy affair with Duchess Yolande Polignac. In fact, it was Antoinette that paid of Polignac’s debts, moved her into a thirteen room apartment, and crowned her as a duchess. Another affair the queen had was with Mary Robinson, an English actress and author. Robinson often wrote about the flirtations that occurred between the two and the intimate acts the two partook in.

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The monarch’s famous death was met with the blade of a guillotine in 1793 when she was thirty-seven years old. The execution was to due accusations and charges regarding her “sapphist” cult, treason, theft, and a false charge of sexual assault against her own son. Most of these trials were placed against her due to her disengagement during the Revolution. After two days of trial, her all male jury found her guilty, therefore she was beheaded and her head was placed on a stake.

Although many blamed her tyranny for the French Revolution, Antoinette remained a symbol of feminist action and lesbianism in the early ages, as women would use the image of the passed queen to invocation that they loved other women. Women would also ask, “have you heard the rumors of Marie Antoinette?” as a way to discover whether or not other women had same-sex attractions without being outed to the public.

Although politicians often seem full of themselves, Harvey Bernard Milk, an American politician and gay-rights activist, worked hard to better the lives of both himself and the LGBTQ community. Milk became the first openly gay elected official in California after he was elected as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Throughout his lifetime, Milk actively fought to make the world a better and safer place. After young Milk graduated from the New York State College for Teachers, he served during the Korean War throughout the U.S. Navy. Although Milk fought hard, he was dishonorably discharged in 1955 due to his homosexuality- which, at the time, was considered to be a mental defect.

Milk became involved within politics after he ran for San Francisco’s Board of Supervisor in 1973. Unfortunately for Milk, he was defeated. After another political defeat in 1976, he was officially elected again in 1977. Throughout his time on the board, Milk was able to pass strengthened gay rights laws while also fighting for the elderly, small business owners, and ethnic communities.

Sadly, Milk and was assassinated on November 27, 1978 in San Francisco, California. Milk was killed by fellow city supervisor named Dan White after a disagreement over a “proposed drug rehabilitation center,” although a close friend of White claimed that “Harvey Milk died because he was a gay man.” After the murder, White was imprisoned for five years with a charge of manslaughter and was released in 1983. Two years later, White committed suicide by carbon monoxide inhalation. This wasn’t the first disagreement between Milk and White, but with White’s harsh actions, it became the last.

Throughout his lifetime and following his death, Milk became an iconic martyr and a popularized face of the LGBTQ rights movement. In fact, Milk has had such a large impact on society that his birthday, May 22, is a state wide holiday in California.

“Hope will not be silent.”

-Harvey Milk

Although viewed as a positive and pure influence, American actor Alec Guinness struggled with coming to terms with his sexuality throughout his lifetime. Guinness was a bisexual man that remained closeted until his death in 2000 (at the age of 86) due to the fact that he loathed himself for the way he personally identified.

Guinness married Merula Sylvia Salaman in 1938, but reportedly had a number of male partners throughout the marriage. He had even been arrested for public indecency based upon homosexual acts in the 1940s, but kept it out of the public eye throughout wealth and influence. When arrested, Guinness presented a false/less recognized name to the officers in order to avoid scandal. 

Guinness resented his homosexuality to the point where it affected his relationships with others. Ian McKellen, whom worked with Guinness throughout his acting career, recalled that Guinness begged him not to get involved with the fight for gay rights. McKellen was told not to have anything to do with politics, especially involving the LGBTQ community. “That was self-hatred,” explained McKellen.

Family and friends were well aware of his bisexuality but did not bring it up, as Guinness did not like to openly discuss the topic. The ideology that sexuality was sinful was instilled at Guinness at a young age, as his parents belonged to a religion that frowned upon queer relations and identities. Guinness once stated that talking about sexuality could have “stifled a career that [was] at an early stage.”

After his death, Guinness’ loved ones explained that closeting himself may have been a factor that made him such a good actor. “He escaped into his acting and the church as comfort,” a friend explained. It was also thought that Guinness remained closeted because “the church gave Alec a much needed security from the demons of his sexuality.”

“Failure has a thousand explanations. Success doesn’t need one.”

-Alec Guinness

Malcolm X was an American Sunni minister and a human rights activist who gained popularity throughout his work during the civil rights movement. Although his work as a person of color has been highly recognized, Malcolm has faced a lack of recognition as a bisexual man, even within the queer community. The absence of recollection may be due to the fact that Malcolm’s family members made a visible effort to deny his same-sex relationships due to religious beliefs the possibility of scandal.

Malcolm didn’t become highly recognized as a queer person of color during his lifetime, as media recognition was almost nonexistent for intersectional minorities at the time. His presence did, however, help other queer people of color feel less isolated and insecure about their cultural identities and sexual orientations. Seeing a high achieving role model was inspirational and beneficial for intersectional communities to see, and Malcolm fit this role as he was a trailblazer for activism and worked within the human rights campaign.

Throughout his life, Malcolm reportedly had many same-sex relationships. Many of these relationships were on his own will, but a handful were eventually exchanged for money (starting in his teen years until his mid-twenties) when Malcolm began sex work. Malcolm’s consensual relationships with men continued until his marriage to Betty Shabazz in 1958. Biographers have concluded that if Malcolm was not assassinated in 1965, he would have likely joined the gay liberation movement like other civil rights leaders, such as Huey Newton and Angela Davis did.

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