October is LGBT History Month and Equality Forum, an LGBT civil rights organization, is celebrating by highlighting 31 icons that have made a difference in the lives of the LGBT community. Each day during the month a new icon will be featured in the spotlight, ranging from rock star Mick Jagger to transgender actress Laverne Cox, and including activists, politicians and athletes.
To be considered as an icon, the person must be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and fit one of three criteria: “1) distinguished him/herself in their field of endeavor; 2) national hero; or 3) made a significant contribution to LGBT civil rights.”
Icons are nominated by the public and then selected by the Equality Forum’s board of directors. This year’s co-chairs were Professor Lillian Faderman, author of The Gay Revolution and Professor Paul Farber from Haverford College. The board of directors managed to narrow down the list of 500 nominees to 31 icons to be featured on the Web site.
“The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, public school or religious institutions,” said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of Equality Forum. “LGBT History Month provides role models, teaches our empowering civil rights history and makes a resounding statement of our important national and international contributions.”
Each LGBT icon has amazing achievements that deserve to be celebrated. You can currently view a number of the icons and a new one will be added daily throughout the month.
2015’s crop of icons includes what some may regard as unusual choices, but that’s what keeps LGBT History Month fresh and exciting. LGBT Weekly took a look at some of this year’s icons.
Mick Jagger
As the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, Jagger has spent the past 50 years in the spotlight. His talent and charisma have won numerous awards, including being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
During the 1970s, Jagger began to experiment with a glam-rock persona that included daring fashion and makeup. He became a fixture at New York’s famed Studio 54, often seen with gay icons like writer Truman Capote, fashion designer Halston and dancer Rudolf Nureyev. Jagger is credited with opening up “definitions of gendered masculinity.”
“Especially in his relationship with gender bending David Bowie, Mick Jagger was among the first superstars to openly embrace sexual fluidity,” said Lazin. “He was on the vanguard of bisexuality.”
He performed with fellow rock star Bowie at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985 and has been romantically linked to Bowie, as well as several other men and women over the years, including The Who’s Pete Townshend.
Laverne Cox
Since her breakout role as a transgender inmate on Orange Is the New Black, Cox has made a name for herself in the entertainment world as an actress, producer and LGBT advocate. She not only made the list of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, earlier this year she became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of the publication.
Cox’s list of achievements continues to grow. She was named one of the Most Beautiful Women by People magazine and received a GLAAD Media Award for her hour-long documentary, Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word.
Angelina Jolie
Jolie is almost as well known for her humanitarian efforts as her eclectic resume of acting roles. She starred in Girl, Interrupted and Maleficent and is well-known as the title character in the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider series. She’s also served as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees goodwill ambassador for over a decade and has traveled around the world to bring attention to war, poverty and violence.
Never one to shy away from the truth, Jolie has been open about her bisexuality for years. She was in a relationship with model Jenny Shimizu in the late ’90s but has been in a highly publicized relationship with Brad Pitt since 2005.
Clive Davis
At the age of 81, Davis came out as bisexual when he published his autobiography, The Soundtrack of My Life in 2013 and wrote about having his first sexual experience with a man in the 1970s. The record producer has won five Grammy Awards and has been president of Columbia Records, founder of Arista Records and J Records and is currently chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment.
William Rufus King
King became vice president of the United States in 1853 under Franklin Pierce and, due to a fatal bout of tuberculosis six weeks later, is known as the shortest-serving vice president. Prior to his short stint as VP, he was a member of the U.S. Congress for almost 30 years and served as minister to France. He also helped draft the Compromise of 1850 in an effort to lessen the growing tension between the North and the South.
King is also known for his long-term relationship with James Buchanan, who served as president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. The two former U.S. senators shared a home in Washington D.C. for ten years and attended many social events together. The two well-known bachelors were rumored to be a couple and nicknamed “Miss Nancy” and “Miss Fancy” by Andrew Jackson.
Bill Tilden
From 1920 to 1925, Tilden was the number one tennis player in the world. He’s also the first American to win Wimbledon as well as a record seven U.S. championships.
“Bill Tilden is arguably the greatest male tennis champion of all times,” said Lazin.
Due to his flamboyant personality, rumors circulated about his sexuality and he was accused of sexual misbehavior with teenage boys on two occasions. Since homosexuality was illegal at the time, there are questions regarding the validity of the accusations and the possibility that he was targeted due to his sexuality.
Tom Stoddard
As one of the first openly gay lawyers, Stoddard helped to improve the rights of LGBT members in America. He worked as an executive director for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1986 to 1992 and helped the organization become one of the top LGBT legal resources in the country. He also taught the first law school course on LGBT civil rights.
Stoddard, who was diagnosed with AIDS, became an advocate for people with AIDS who faced discrimination and he joined the board of the American Foundation for AIDS research.
Frances Perkins
Perkins became the first female United States cabinet officer when she was appointed secretary of labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. While in office, she worked to create child labor laws, a 40 hour work week, Social Security and minimum wage.
Although Perkins married Paul C. Wilson in 1913, she had a long-term romantic relationship with Mary Harriman Rumsey, founder of the Junior League, and lived with her until Rumsey’s death.
Michael Sam
When Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014, he became the first openly gay football player drafted in the NFL. His reaction to being drafted, which included kissing his boyfriend on national television, became a notable moment in sports history.
Sam eventually signed with the Montreal Alouettes, making him the first openly gay player in the Canadian Football League, however he soon resigned citing “personal reasons.”
Evan Wolfson
Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, widely considered to be the “godfather of gay marriage” is an LGBT civil rights leader, who in 2003 launched Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage equality nationwide. Wolfson spent more than a decade working at Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, where he created the National Freedom to Marry Coalition and began leading the ongoing national marriage equality movement for equal marriage protections. He authored the book, Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People’s Right to Marry, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. In 2012, Wolfson was awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction alongside President Barack Obama.
Visit lgbthistorymonth.com to read more about these LGBT icons and others throughout the month. Each icon’s page features a biography, images, video and other resources to help you learn more about the way they influenced LGBT history.
Submissions are currently being accepted through Dec. 11 for next year’s list of icons.
