The Pink List: Tell us your LGBT heroes

[xchrom]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-pink-list-tell-us-your-lgbt-heroes-2360506.html

The Independent on Sunday's annual Pink List returns next month, celebrating the 101 most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women in Britain.

Since the list was last published in 2010, we can add to the list an England cricketer (Steven Davies), an X Factor winner (Joe McElderry) and a chart-topping singer (Jessie J). But influence is not all about hitting a boundary or appearing at Glastonbury on a gilded throne.

Of course, it takes courage to be gay in the public eye – particularly in the world of sport, for instance, or for women who aspire to thrive in a career in television. Last year, we awarded the joint number one position to the rugby player Gareth Thomas and Mary Portas, the Queen of Shops.

[Meeker Morgan]

1. Number one on *my* list is Harry Hay.

Very under appreciated these days.

[xchrom]

2. harry hay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hay

Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. (April 7, 1912 – October 24, 2002) was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.

Hay was exposed early in life to the principles of Marxism and to the idea of same-sex sexual attraction. He drew upon these experiences to develop his view of homosexuals as a cultural minority. A long time member of the Communist Party USA, Hay's Marxist history led to his resignation from the Mattachine leadership in 1953. Hay's involvement in the gay movement became more informal after that, although he did co-found the Los Angeles chapter of the Gay Liberation Front in 1969. Following a move to New Mexico with his longtime companion John Burnside in 1970, Hay's ongoing interest in Native American spirituality led the couple to co-found the Radical Faeries.

Hay's belief in the cultural minority status of homosexuals led him to take a stand against assimilationism. This stance led him to offer public support to controversial groups like the North American Man Boy Love Association and to criticize both the mainstream gay rights movement and some of the movement's radical components, including the AIDS activist group ACT UP.

Hay died on October 24, 2002, following a series of illnesses.



***for those who may not know.
he was a non-conformist first & last.
i went to a couple of the Radical Fairy meet ups in the woods in nor cal w/ friends.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. I'll add to this as the thread goes on.

(What a great idea, BTW, XCHROM. Jesus.)


I'll start w. Gore Vidal and Glenn Greenwald.

Don't know why. They were the first to come into my head.

[xchrom]

4. I'd have to go along w/ gore Vidal as one of mine. Nt

[yardwork]

6. I'll add Bayard Rustin and James Baldwin.

[Stargleamer]

5. Tennessee Williams

He said a few times that this country had become a plutocracy, and he was right.

[mitchtv]

7. Allen Ginsburg for me

he seems to belong here

[irisblue]

8. shawn hamilton, kellye pinkleton,

rob harley, michael dutcher, joe stefanko and carla rothan and of course the craig covey....craig helped found stonewall columbus in the early 1980s. kellye, shawn, joe,carla, and michael helped move the pride event from a small, very underreported/under appreciated event of 20,000 to over a 200,000 person in the early 2000s on next to no money. some nearly unknown women and men making GLBTQ life better in the american midwest.

[closeupready]

9. I always admired Martina Navratilova.

Greg Louganis, too.

[Sub Atomic]

10. Freddie Mercury.

He showed me that it was OK to shine as brightly as you wanted to shine.


I'm only sorry that society has forced me to forget that incredible lesson.

[dsc]

11. Alan Turing

Total genius who saved England from the NAZIs, invented the computer, and did so while still an outlaw. His death is tragic.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. No one here would really know them.

Though there are certainly some famous people (Ellen is one), many of my heros/ines are people I met in real life that showed me it was OK to be who I was, who supported me when I felt I had none, and demostrated what it meant to be "proud." They are my heroes!

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. Interesting that everyone's mentioning people who were accomplished...

... and well known for their respective accomplishments prior to/distinct from their public coming out. Perhaps that's as it should be.

I'll push the envelope a bit: I like Private Bradley Manning a lot.

An imperfect hero, perhaps. But a hero.

I hope I have his kind of guts if/when that kind of moral/ethical dilemma arises.


Keeeee-rist.

[xchrom]

14. ...

:thumbsup:

[Amimnoch]

15. Mark Bingham.

National hero, and through his actions, and his death did much to help raise the awareness that we don't all fit into one little stereotypical mold.