Lgbtq pioneer

Governor Cuomo announced the dedication of the former East River State Park in Brooklyn for Marsha P. Johnson as the first State Park in New York to honor an LGBTQ person and gender diverse woman of dye. Johnson was an LGBTQ civil rights activist and prominent figure in the Stonewall Uprising in 1969 at a Greenwich Village tavern that marked the modern start of the LGBTQ rights movement. She was a founding member of the Male lover Liberation Front, an activist with Operate UP, and co-founded STAR. Johnson died in 1992 at age 46.

In connection with the renaming of Marsha P. Johnson State Park, Mention Parks installed the first phase of public art. Decorative perimeter fence entrance screening honors Marsha P. Johnson in two prominent locations: The North 8th Street main gate on Kent Road, and the corner of North 7th Street and Kent Avenue. Known for adorning herself with colorful flowers, the design reflects Marsha's style and colors. The park also placed interpretive signage outlining Marsha's animation and her role in promoting LGBTQ rights and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. The facility also will receive a fresh park house/education center, upgrade of signature

Programming Pride: 10 LGBTQI+ Pioneers of Computer Science

In honor of Queer Pride and the anniversary of Stonewall, we‘re spotlighting a group of pioneers of computer science: people who were (or are) lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. As it turns out, there are many LGBTQI+ pioneers beyond Alan Turing and Apple CEO Tim Cook. The 10 LGBTQI+ people profiled here are individuals whose existence work and discoveries possess played an integral role in the development of modern computer technology.

Of course, many of these individuals lived and worked in an era when social pressures (and even laws) required them to conceal their true orientation or identity—which makes it all the more fitting that we celebrate them today. We’ve listed them chronologically by birthdate.

Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891): Russian mathematician

Born in Moscow, Sofia Kovalevskaya was the first major Russian female mathematician, the first girl to work as an editor for a scientific journal, and a contributor to the development of the Cauchy–Kovalevskaya theorem. Women at that time were not allowed to formally attend university, but Kovalevskaya was allowed to audit mathematics classes at the University of He

16 queer Black trailblazers who made history

From 1960s civil rights activist Bayard Rustin to Chicago's first lesbian mayor, Lori Lightfoot, Black LGBTQ Americans have drawn-out made history with innumerable contributions to politics, art, medicine and a host of other fields.

“As long as there have been Inky people, there own been Black LGBTQ and same-gender-loving people,” David J. Johns, executive director of the National Ebony Justice Coalition, told NBC News. “Racism combined with the forces of stigma, phobia, discrimination and bias associated with gender and sexuality have too often erased the contributions of members of our community."

Gladys Bentley (1907-1960)

Bentley was a gender-bending performer during the Harlem Renaissance. Donning a foremost hat and tuxedo, Bentley would chant the blues in Harlem establishments fond the Clam Home and the Ubangi Club. According to a belated obituary published in 2019, The New York Times said Bentley, who died in 1960 at the age of 52, was "Harlem's most famous lesbian" in the 1930s and "among the best-known Black entertainers in the United States."

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Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)

Rustin was an LGBTQ and civil rights activist best known f

The Cold Case of an LGBTQ Pioneer Marsha P. Johnson

The Stonewall riots were a key act of resistance for the LGBTQ community — and right in the thick of it was Marsha P. Johnson, “The Rosa Parks of the LGBTQ Movement.”

While some reports indicate that Johnson threw the first brick that led to the uprising, there’s no disputing her role in the struggle for equality. But outside of the LGBTQ society, the stories of Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, a fellow LGBTQ pioneer and transgender woman of shade , are rarely told. The pair were among a small group of people who started meeting while the ashes of Stonewall were still hot. They both founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries and later created the S.T.A.R. Dwelling, which provided food and shelter for LGBTQ youth. They were among founders of the Gay Liberation Front. 

They marched for justice, they organized, they resisted. Both died far too young — Johnson in 1992, under mysterious circumstances, and Rivera a decade later, of complications from liver cancer.

Their stories are being told today, in The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, a new documentary by director David France (

LGBTQ+ Women Who Made History

In May 2019, the city of Modern York announced plans to honor LGBTQ+ activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with a statue. The city of Novel York claimed the monument will be the "first permanent, public artwork identifying transgender women in the world." Johnson and Rivera were prominent figures in uprisings against 1969 police raids at the homosexual bar Stonewall Inn. Their protests increased visibility for the cause of Diverse acceptance. 

In celebration of Identity Month, we honor Gay women who have made remarkable contributions to the nation and helped advance equality in fields as diverse as medicine and the dramatic arts. Here are a few of their stories, represented by objects in the Smithsonian's collections. 

1. Josephine Baker 

Entertainer and activist Josephine Baker performed in vaudeville showcases and in Broadway musicals, including Shuffle Along. In 1925, she moved to Paris to achieve in a revue. When the show closed, Baker was given her hold show and found stardom. She became the first African American woman to star in a motion picture and to carry out with an integrated cast at an Americ