Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
are said to be the founders of the modern lesbian civil rights movement. Phyllis was the first openly lesbian on the board of the National Organization for Woman. Del led a campaign to get the American Psychiatric Association to take homosexuality off the mental health list. Together they founded Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, the first national lesbian organization. They also helped launch the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in 1964 w hich brought national religious leaders and gay/lesbian activists together to discuss the rights of homosexuals. The couple first married in 2004 in San Francisco. A California appellate court ruling subsequently invalidated their marriage. Then in 2008 after a Supreme Court ruling the couple officially remarried in 2008 as the first lesbian/gay couple to be married in California.
Cleve Jones
cofounded San Francisco’s AIDs Foundation in 1983 making him among the first to respond to the AIDs epidemic. He is also the founder of the NAMES Project AIDs Memorial Quilt. The idea came to him while at a memorial service honoring a friend. Since then the quilt has become the world’s largest community arts project. It memorializes over 85,000 Americans killed by AIDs. Other accomplishments are the UNITE HERE project and the Sleep with the Right People campaign. UNITE HERE is a union that focuses on homophobia issues. Sleep with the Right People encourages tourists to stay only in places that respect the rights of their workers.
Margarethe (Garethe) Cammermeyer (Ph.D.)
became the Chief Nurse of Washington State National Guard in 1988. The following year she revealed to the military that she was a lesbian. She was then separated from the military regardless of her extremely qualifying skills and exemplary record. She is the highest-ranking military officer to be discharged from the military. In June of 1992 attorneys filed suit in Federal District Court challenging the ban on homosexuals in the military and requesting reinstatement for Garethe. The court ruled the discharge as unconstitutional and Garethe was reinstated. She also received the first Administrator’s Award for Excellence in Nursing and is an outspoken advocate for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Keith Boykin
Keith Boykin attended law school at Dartmouth. After school be served in the White House as a special assistant to President Clinton. During Clinton’s term, Keith was the highest-ranking openly gay person in the White House. He was responsible for helping organize and participate in the United State’s first meeting between the president and the LGBT community leaders. He was written many books on LGBT topics. One of which, Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black American, was on the New York Times bestseller list. With his other books he has been awarded the Lambda literary Award. Across the country at Universities and Colleges his books are used in the classroom.
Kye Allums
Kye was the first openly black transgender male in sports history. Born a female, Kye identified as a male since childhood. He earned a basketball scholarship at George Washington University, an NCAA Division 1 school, on the women’s team. His junior year he made the decision to complete his transition. Currently he fights for transgender inclusivity. Kye is the founder of Project I Am Enough, a project dedicated to encouraging self-love & self-definition for everyone. Time Magazine recognized Kye as one of 21 transgender people who influenced American culture.
Laverne Cox
Laverne is the first transgender woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show. Also she was the first transgender woman of color to have produced and starred in her own television show. Best known for her role as Sophia Burset, a transgender woman in a women’s prison, on the Netflix original Orange is the New Black. Time Magazine named this character the fourth most influential fictional character of 2013. Laverne is a renowned speaker all over the country. She speaks on moving beyond gender expectation to live more authentically.
are said to be the founders of the modern lesbian civil rights movement. Phyllis was the first openly lesbian on the board of the National Organization for Woman. Del led a campaign to get the American Psychiatric Association to take homosexuality off the mental health list. Together they founded Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, the first national lesbian organization. They also helped launch the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in 1964 w hich brought national religious leaders and gay/lesbian activists together to discuss the rights of homosexuals. The couple first married in 2004 in San Francisco. A California appellate court ruling subsequently invalidated their marriage. Then in 2008 after a Supreme Court ruling the couple officially remarried in 2008 as the first lesbian/gay couple to be married in California.
Cleve Jones
cofounded San Francisco’s AIDs Foundation in 1983 making him among the first to respond to the AIDs epidemic. He is also the founder of the NAMES Project AIDs Memorial Quilt. The idea came to him while at a memorial service honoring a friend. Since then the quilt has become the world’s largest community arts project. It memorializes over 85,000 Americans killed by AIDs. Other accomplishments are the UNITE HERE project and the Sleep with the Right People campaign. UNITE HERE is a union that focuses on homophobia issues. Sleep with the Right People encourages tourists to stay only in places that respect the rights of their workers.
Margarethe (Garethe) Cammermeyer (Ph.D.)
became the Chief Nurse of Washington State National Guard in 1988. The following year she revealed to the military that she was a lesbian. She was then separated from the military regardless of her extremely qualifying skills and exemplary record. She is the highest-ranking military officer to be discharged from the military. In June of 1992 attorneys filed suit in Federal District Court challenging the ban on homosexuals in the military and requesting reinstatement for Garethe. The court ruled the discharge as unconstitutional and Garethe was reinstated. She also received the first Administrator’s Award for Excellence in Nursing and is an outspoken advocate for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Keith Boykin
Keith Boykin attended law school at Dartmouth. After school be served in the White House as a special assistant to President Clinton. During Clinton’s term, Keith was the highest-ranking openly gay person in the White House. He was responsible for helping organize and participate in the United State’s first meeting between the president and the LGBT community leaders. He was written many books on LGBT topics. One of which, Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black American, was on the New York Times bestseller list. With his other books he has been awarded the Lambda literary Award. Across the country at Universities and Colleges his books are used in the classroom.
Kye Allums
Kye was the first openly black transgender male in sports history. Born a female, Kye identified as a male since childhood. He earned a basketball scholarship at George Washington University, an NCAA Division 1 school, on the women’s team. His junior year he made the decision to complete his transition. Currently he fights for transgender inclusivity. Kye is the founder of Project I Am Enough, a project dedicated to encouraging self-love & self-definition for everyone. Time Magazine recognized Kye as one of 21 transgender people who influenced American culture.
Laverne Cox
Laverne is the first transgender woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show. Also she was the first transgender woman of color to have produced and starred in her own television show. Best known for her role as Sophia Burset, a transgender woman in a women’s prison, on the Netflix original Orange is the New Black. Time Magazine named this character the fourth most influential fictional character of 2013. Laverne is a renowned speaker all over the country. She speaks on moving beyond gender expectation to live more authentically.