14 LGBTQ Rights Activists Who Have Shaped History and Inspired Generations
Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, and Elliot Page are just a few LGBTQ rights activists who have made an impact.
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LGBTQ activists have long been at the forefront of creating change. Over the years, these trailblazers have helped moved the needle on gay and transgender rights, whether they were on the front lines of the Stonewall Riots, writing about their identities, raising awareness about the HIV/AIDS crisis, or using their platforms to speak out against anti-LGBTQ laws.
From early pioneers in the gay liberation movement to modern activists, groundbreaking advocates like Marsha P. Johnson, Edith Windsor, and Jim Obergefell dedicated their lives to the never-ending pursuit of equality. In celebration of Pride Month in June, here are some of the most prominent LGBTQ activists in the United States, both past and present.
Barbara Gittings
1932–2007
Considered the “Mother of the Gay Rights Movement,” Barbara Gittings founded the country’s first lesbian rights organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in 1958 and was an editor at The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian magazine. She later became involved in the American Library Association's first gay caucus and helped start the National Gay Task Force in 1973, now known as the National LGBTQ Task Force. She died at age 74 in 2007.
Marsha P. Johnson
1942–1992
Drag queen and transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson was a central figure in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and cofounded the group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to help homeless LGBTQ youth. She later joined the HIV/AIDS activist organization Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in the 1980s. Johnson continued her activism work until her untimely death in 1992. She was 46 years old.
Sylvia Rivera
1951–2002
Sylvia Rivera was a drag queen and trans activist who played a prominent role in the gay liberation movement. She is best known for her participation in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, but her legacy extends beyond that event. After Stonewall, Rivera joined the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance and teamed up with Marsha P. Johnson to c0-found STAR. She later joined ACT UP during the HIV/AIDS crisis and continued her activism until her death in 2002 at the age of 50.
Harvey Milk
1930–1978
Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in U.S. history. Milk became an outspoken force in politics when he first ran for San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1973. After losing two elections, he finally won a seat in 1977 and was inaugurated in January 1978. He served on the board for just 11 months before he was assassinated.
Audre Lorde
1934–1992
Poet and writer Audre Lorde was a civil rights, gay liberation, and women’s liberation activist who emphasized the importance of embracing intersectional identities. In 1979, she gave a powerful speech at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, in which she highlighted the need to address racism, sexism, and classism within the LGBTQ movement. Lorde died at age 58 in 1992.
Billie Jean King
1943–present
Trailblazing tennis star Billie Jean King, 81, was the first prominent female athlete to come out as a lesbian. After being outed in 1981, she told the world the truth about her sexual orientation and subsequently lost her endorsements.
Since retiring from tennis in 1983, King has continued her work as an influential social activist, advocating for more opportunities for women and LGBTQ people in sports and beyond. She currently serves on the Elton John AIDS Foundation's board of trustees and continues to support and fund efforts to combat homophobia and reduce LGBTQ suicide rates.
Larry Kramer
1935–2020
Larry Kramer was a writer and outspoken activist who drew attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis that disproportionately killed gay men and trans women. He cofounded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in 1982 to support and advocate for men with AIDS and later wrote the semi-autobiographical play The Normal Heart about the rise of the AIDS epidemic. In 1987, he helped organize the radical AIDS activist group ACT UP, which successfully pushed the FDA to speed up its drug approval process for faster access to life-saving treatments for the disease. He was 84 at the time of his death in 2020.
Bayard Rustin
1912–1987
In addition to being a key player in the Civil Rights Movement, Bayard Rustin got involved in the fight for LGBTQ rights later in his life. Shortly after meeting his partner Walter Neagle, Rustin embraced the gay liberation movement in the 1980s and became an early advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness and education. In 1986, he famously testified on behalf of New York’s Gay Rights Bill, asserting that “gay people are the new barometer for social change.” He died a year later at 75 years old.
Edith Windsor
TK[[<can you add her birth year please?]]–2017
Best known for her landmark U.S. Supreme Court victory, Edith Windsor made history as a leading figure in the fight for marriage equality. She was the lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor, which overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2013. The legal victory paved the way for federal recognition of same-sex marriages. After decades of advocacy, she died in 2017 at the age of 88.
Jim Obergefell
1966–present
Activist Jim Obergefell, 58, will go down in history for his role in the fight for marriage equality. He was the named plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which granted same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry in 2015. Since the decision, Obergefell has continued his activism and even briefly pursued a political career. He regularly gives speeches about LGBTQ rights at events and colleges and is a board member of the nonprofit Family Equality.
George Takei
1937–present
Known for his role as Sulu in Star Trek, actor George Takei is also a vocal advocate for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. Since coming out as gay in 2005, he has used his celebrity to promote LGBTQ rights and speak out against discriminatory policies. The 88-year-old has received numerous accolades for his activism, including the Human Rights Campaign’s Upstander Award in 2015 and the Legal Defense Fund’s National Equal Justice Award in 2025.
Laverne Cox
1972–present
Actor and filmmaker Laverne Cox made history as the first openly trans person to be appear on the cover of Time magazine in 2014 and subsequently became the first trans woman to win an Emmy Award the following year. Throughout her career, the 53-year-old has worked to uplift the LGBTQ community and advocate for trans rights through her documentaries The T Word and Free CeCe and has partnered with organizations like GLAAD and The Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Elliot Page
1987–present
In addition to his screen work in shows like The Umbrella Academy, actor Elliot Page is a staunch advocate for LGBTQ rights. The 38-year-old Oscar nominee came out as trans and nonbinary in 2020 and has used his platform to become an outspoken critic of discriminatory policies targeting the trans community. Page also helped fund the youth-led Trans Prom at the U.S. Capitol in 2023.
Kelley Robinson
1985–present
Kelley Robinson, 40, is the first Black, queer woman to serve as president of the LGBTQ rights organization the Human Rights Campaign. She has used her position to advocate for the successful passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, mobilize LGBTQ voters in the 2024 presidential election, and push back against discriminatory legislation in states across the United States.
Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
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