A list of notable

LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically.

Albania

* Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT organization and recipient of the Civil Rights Defenders of the Year Award 2022 * Kristi Pinderi, LGBT activist and journalist; founder of Pro-LGBT

Angola

* Carlos Fernandes, LGBT activist and a founder/director of the Iris Angola Association. *

Imanni Da Silva Imanni da Silva (born 1981) is an Angolan Model (person), model, human rights activist and visual artist, who is the first transgender model from the African continent. She has competed in several beauty pageants, and now is also a judge in them. ...

, Angolan model and transgender rights activist. *

Titica Titica is an Angolan kuduro musician and dancer. She was named "the new face" of kuduro by the BBC. Career Titica was born in Luanda. Her stage name is Portuguese for "worthless" or "useless"; she chose the name to reclaim the hateful words tha ...

, transgender Angolan singer and goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS.

Argentina

* Mariana Alarcón, human rights activist who worked for labor rights for transgender women *

Claudia Pía Baudracco Claudia Pía Baudracco (22 October 1970 – 18 March 2012) was an Argentine activist for the rights of women, sexual minorities, and LGBT people. Biography Baudracco was born on 22 October 1970 in La Carlota, Córdoba Province. She spent her ...

, led the movement to repeal laws criminalizing transgender identities; co-founder of the

Argentine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Federation Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Lohana Berkins Lohana Berkins (15 June 1965 – 5 February 2016) was an Argentine travesti activist. Biography Berkins was born on 15 June 1965 in Pocitos, Salta. Her father, a soldier, kicked her out at the age of 13. As Berkins got older, she fought agai ...

, founder of the Association for the Fight for Travesti and Transsexual Identity *

Lara María Bertolini Lara María Bertolini (Buenos Aires, 10 April 1970) is an activist, researcher, and author of the book ''Soberanía Travesti, una Identidad argentina'' . She holds a position with the Public Ministry of Argentina and is a law student at the Nat ...

, human rights activist advocating for the rights of travesti, transgender, and non-binary people *

Claudia Castrosín Verdú Claudia Roxana Castrosín Verdú, also known as Claudia Castro, is an Argentine LGBT activist. She presides over La Fulana, an organization that supports lesbian and bisexual women, and is also the vice president of the (FALGBT), through which she ...

, she and her partner were the first lesbian couple to form a civil union in Latin America; vice president of FALGBT *

María Rachid María Rachid (born 8 November 1974) is a politician, social leader of the human rights area and the collective LGBT community in Argentina. She served as vice-president of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism fro ...

, politician and LGBT rights activist, partner of Claudia Castrosín Verdú *

Diana Sacayán Amancay Diana Sacayán (31 December 1975 – 11 October 2015) was an Argentinian LGBT and human rights activist who fought for the legal rights of travesti and transgender people in Argentina. She founded the Anti-Discrimination Movement of ...

, board member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and a leader of the Antidiscrimination Liberation Movement

Armenia

Lilit Martirosyan Lilit Martirosyan is an Armenian LGBTQ+ rights activist known for her 2019 speech to the Armenian Parliament and for founding the Right Side NGO, an Armenian transgender rights group. Early life Lilit Martirosyan is a transgender woman. She reca ...

, trans right activist, founder of the

Right Side NGO Right Side NGO () is the first transgender rights organization in Armenia and the first trans-led organization in the South Caucasus region. Right Side NGO was founded in 2016 as a non-governmental organization and is headquartered in Yerevan. I ...

Australia

* Ron Austin *

Peter Bonsall-Boone Peter "Bon" Bonsall-Boone ( 1938 – 19 May 2017) was an Australian LGBT rights activist. He was a foundation member of the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) and participated in the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Biography Pe ...

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...

Lyle Chan Lyle Chan is an Australian composer, known for his unique approach of writing cumulative works with only one work per genre. His '' AIDS Memoir Quartet'' chronicles his years as an HIV/AIDS activist at the height of the epidemic in Australia. Joh ...

, member of

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...

Rodney Croome Rodney Peter Croome AM is an Australian LGBT rights activist and academic. He worked on the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in Tasmania, was a founder of Australian Marriage Equality, and currently serves as the spokesperson for the Ta ...

Peter De Waal Peter de Waal (born 1938) is an Australian LGBT rights activist and author. He was a foundation member of the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) and participated in the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Biography Peter De Waal wa ...

Alex Greenwich Alexander Hart Greenwich (born 28 November 1980) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of electoral district of Sydney, Sydney since the 2012 Sydney state by-election, 201 ...

Grace Hyland Grace Elizabeth Stevenson, known professionally as Grace Hyland, is an Australian internet personality and LGBTQ rights activist. Hyland rose to prominence on the social media platform TikTok, and has also amassed a large following on Instagram ...

Craig Johnston (politician) Craig Fredric Johnston (born 1951) is an LGBT activist and former politician. He was active in the Australian Labor Party, Communist Party of Australia. He is considered a founding member of the gay rights movement in Sydney in the 1970s and 1980s ...

Michael Kirby (judge) Michael Donald Kirby (born 18 March 1939) is an Australian jurist and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009. He has remained active in retirement; in May 2013 he was appointed by the United N ...

, Justice of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

Julie McCrossin Julie Elizabeth McCrossin (born 2 October 1954) is an Australian radio broadcaster, journalist, comedian, political commentator and activist for women's and gay rights. She is best known for her role as a team captain on the news-based comedy ...

Sally Rugg Sally Rugg is an Australian LGBTIQ activist, feminist and political staffer. Rugg was the GetUp creative and campaigns director between 2013 and 2018. Rugg was one of the many public faces of the "YES" campaign in the Australian Marriage Law P ...

Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in '' Fast Forward'', '' Kath & Kim'' as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films '' Babe'' (1995) and ...

Derek Williams (LGBT rights activist) Derek Leslie Williams (born 20 September 1952) is a New Zealand-born Scottish composer, record producer, conductor, and orchestrator known for his scores for ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'', ''Bodysurfer'', '' Children of the ...

, co-founder of

GaLTaS The Gay and Lesbian Teachers and Students Association (GaLTaS) was an Australian LGBT organisation active from 1991 to 1998 that was established during a wave of gay gang murders, to publicise widespread problems of anti-gay bullying and violen ...

Austria

Helmut Graupner Helmut Graupner is a lawyer in Vienna, considered a leading advocate in LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorp ...

, lawyer and LGBT activist * Gery Keszler, organizer of the

Life Ball The Life Ball in Vienna is the biggest charity event in Europe supporting people with HIV or AIDS. The event is organized by the nonprofit organization AIDS LIFE, which was founded in 1992 by Gery Keszler and Torgom Petrosian. AIDS LIFE suppo ...

Alex Jürgen Alex Jürgen (born September 7, 1976) is an Austrian intersex activist. Jürgen was the first person in Austria to receive a birth certificate and passport with legal recognition of non-binary gender after having fought for it in court. Life A ...

* Ulrike Lunacek *

Hermann von Teschenberg Hermann Freiherr von Teschenberg (6 July 1866 – 6 November 1911) was an Austrian barrister, translator, and an LGBT rights activist. Life Born in Austria, von Teschenberg was the son of a diplomat, Ernst Freiherr von Teschenberg (1836–1886) ...

, barrister, translator, and LGBT rights activist

Bangladesh

Xulhaz Mannan Xulhaz Mannan (, ; 12 October 1976 – 25 April 2016) was an employee of United States Agency for International Development, USAID at the United States embassy in Dhaka and the founder of LGBT history in Bangladesh, Bangladesh's first and only LG ...

Barbados

* Ro-Ann Mohammed, co-founder of the organization Barbados - Gays, Lesbians and All-Sexuals against Discrimination (B-GLAD) * Donnya Piggott, tech entrepreneur, human rights advocate, co-founder of the organization Barbados - Gays, Lesbians and All-Sexuals against Discrimination (B-GLAD)

Belgium

Sonja Eggerickx Sonja Albertine Jeannine Eggerickx (born 8 February 1947) is a Belgian secular Humanist who was president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), now Humanists International, a position she held for nine years until stepping down ...

, teacher, women and LGBT rights advocate * Eliane Morissens, teacher and LGBT activist for labor rights

Belize

Derricia Castillo-Salazar Derricia Castillo-Salazar (born 1988), also known as Derricia Jael Castillo, is a Belizean military officer, aircraft maintenance officer of the Belize Defence Force (BDF) and LGBT activist. She is the co-founder and president of Our Circle (Bel ...

* Caleb Orozco

Botswana

* Katlego Kai Kolanyane-Kesupile, performance artist, musician, writer and LGBT activist * Monica Tabengwa, lawyer and researcher on LGBT rights issues in sub-Saharan Africa *

Caine Youngman Caine Youngman (born in Francistown) is a Human rights defender, human rights activist and member of the LGBT rights movement in Botswana. He first gained international attention in 2011 when he tried to overturn the country's ban on same-sex rela ...

, involved in court cases to legalize same-sex relationships

Brazil

Luiz Mott Luiz Roberto de Barros Mott or Luiz Mott (born 6 May 1946) in São Paulo, is an anthropologist and a gay rights activist in Brazil. Early life Luiz Mott graduated with a degree in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo (USP) during ...

Jean Wyllys Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos (; born 10 March 1974) is a Brazilian lecturer, journalist and politician who rose to fame after winning the fifth season of '' Big Brother Brasil''. He was also notable as being Brazil's second openly gay member of ...

* Toni Reis *

João Silvério Trevisan João Silvério Trevisan (born June 23, 1944 in Ribeirão Bonito, São Paulo) is a Brazilian author, playwright, journalist, screenwriter and film director. He has published eleven books, including novels, essays, short stories, and journalism, a ...

Míriam Martinho Míriam Martinho (born 1954) is one of the leading Feminism, feminists in Brazil and part of the second generation of feminist journalists, who emerged in the 1980s. She was one of the first people to bring lesbianism openly into the fold of femi ...

Bulgaria

* Desislava Petrova, LGBT activist, former president of

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

Monika Pisankaneva Monika Pisankaneva (, born 1968) is a Bulgarian lecturer and LGBT activist. She worked for the Bulgarian organization BGO Gemini, Gemini, an LTBT rights group, between 1998 and 2001. She founded the Bilitis Resource Center (), an organization whic ...

, lecturer and activist; founder of

Cameroon

* Bandy Kiki, blogger and LGBTQ activist *

Joel Gustave Nana Ngongang Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" in Hebrew and may refer to: * Joel (given name), including a list of people named Joel or Yoel * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazilian football ...

Alice Nkom Alice Nkom (born January 14, 1945) is a Cameroonian lawyer, politician, and human rights activist known for her advocacy in defending the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in Cameroon. She is the first woman in Central Africa to become a lawyer and is ...

, first woman lawyer in Cameroon and LGBTQ rights activist

Canada

* Barry D. Adam (born 1952) – sociologist, author, and HIV/AIDS prevention researcher * Enza Anderson (born 1964) – trans rights activist and journalist *

Florence Ashley Florence Ashley is a Canadian academic, activist and law professor at the University of Alberta. They specialize in trans law and bioethics. They have numerous academic publications, including a book on the law and policy of banning transgender ...

– activist and academic who specializes in trans law and bioethics * Chris Bearchell (1953–2007) – gay liberation activist and

right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the globa ...

advocate *

Alec Butler Alec Butler (born Audrey Butler; 1959) is a Canadian playwright and filmmaker. Life and career Butler was born in 1959, and is non-binary and intersex. Butler uses ''they''/''them'' and ''he''/''him'' pronouns. Assigned female at birth, he ...

(born 1959) – filmmaker and playwright *

Michelle Douglas Michelle D. Douglas (born December 30, 1963) is a Canadian human rights activist who launched a landmark legal challenge in the Federal Court of Canada against the military's discriminatory policies against LGBTQ+ service members.''The Current (ra ...

(born 1963) – human rights activist who challenged military anti-LGBTQ discrimination policies * Jim Egan (1921–2000) – early LGBTQ rights activist known for his role in ''Egan v Canada'' *

Brent Hawkes Brent Hawkes (born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian gay rights activist and clergyman at the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), which is an international LGBT-affirmi ...

(born 1950) – gay rights activist and clergyman * Alan Herbert (1944–2003) – LGBTQ rights activist and one of Canada's first out gay politicians *

George Hislop George Hislop (June 3, 1927 – October 8, 2005) was one of Canada's most influential gay activists. He was one of the earliest openly gay candidates for political office in Canada, and was a key figure in the early development of Toronto's ga ...

(1927–2005) – gay rights activist and one of Canada's first out gay politicians *

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang (stylised in all lowercase), is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical pe ...

(born 1961) – music artist and LGBTQ rights activist * John Alan Lee (1933–2013) – sociologist and early LGBTQ rights activist * Michael Lynch (1944–1991) – gay liberationist and AIDS activist *

Irshad Manji Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of '' The Trouble with Islam Today'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries. She also produced a P ...

(born 1968) – educator, human rights activist, and advocate for LGBTQ Muslims' rights *

Tim McCaskell Tim McCaskell (born 1951) is a Canadian writer, educator, and activist involved in gay rights, HIV/AIDS, and anti-apartheid advocacy. McCaskell began his career as a writer for the gay liberation magazine ''The Body Politic.'' After the 198 ...

(born 1951) – gay rights and AIDS activist * Christin Milloy – LGBTQ activist and Canada's first out transgender provincial-level political candidate * Arsham Parsi – activist and founder of the International Railroad for Queer Refugees * Gordon Price – urban planner, gay rights activist, and former politician *

Svend Robinson Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician. He was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, representing suburban Vancouver-area constituencies in the city of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He was the first ...

(born 1952) – Canada's first MP to come out as gay while in office *

Bill Siksay William Livingstone Siksay (born March 11, 1955) is a Canadian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) who represented the British Columbia riding of Burnaby—Douglas for the New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2011. Early life Siksa ...

(born 1955) – first out gay non-incumbent man to be elected to Canada's House of CommonsBill Siksay's biography at his personal Web site
* Clara Sorrenti (born 1994) – Twitch stream, political commentator, and trans rights activist * Richard Summerbell (born 1956) – scientist, author, and gay activist *

Jenna Talackova Jenna Talackova (born October 15, 1988) is a Canadian model, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who gained media attention in 2012 when she successfully waged a legal battle to be allowed to compete in the Miss Universe Canad ...

(born 1988) – model who successfully waged a legal battle to be allowed to compete in the

Miss Universe Canada Miss Universe Canada or ''The Beauties of Canada'' is an annual national beauty pageant that selects Canada's official representative to Miss Universe—one of the Big Four beauty pageants The Beauties of Canada Organization gained the exc ...

Mark Tewksbury Mark Roger Tewksbury, (born February 7, 1968) is a Canadian former competitive swimming (sport), swimmer. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also hosted the first season of ...

(born 1968) – competitive swimmer who challenged homophobia in the sports world *

Kai Cheng Thom Kai Cheng Thom (born March 12, 1991) is a Chinese-Canadian writer, performance artist, mental health community worker, youth counsellor, and former social worker.Harron Walker"How to Choose Love at the End of the World" ''Vice'', February 14, 2020. ...

(born 1991) – writer, performance artist, and activist *

Thomas Waugh Thomas Waugh is a Canadian critic, lecturer, author, actor, and activist, best known for his extensive work on documentary film and eroticism in the history of LGBT cinema and art. A professor emeritus at Concordia University, he taught 41 years ...

(born 1948) – academic, film critic, and activist

Chile

Luis Larraín Luis Larraín Stieb (30 December 1980 – 17 November 2023) was a Chilean LGBT rights in Chile, LGBT rights activist. In 2013, Larraín succeeded writer Pablo Simonetti as president of Fundación Iguales, a major LGBT rights organization in Chil ...

Pedro Lemebel Pedro Segundo Mardones Lemebel (21 November 1952 – 23 January 2015) was a Chilean essayist, chronicler, performer and novelist. He was coming out, openly gay and known for his cutting critique of authoritarianism and for his humorous depictio ...

Jaime Parada José Jaime Parada Hoyl (born November 2, 1977, in Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean gay rights activist and politician who became the first openly gay person elected to public office in Chile. He serves as the spokesperson for M ...

Pablo Salvador Pablo Salvador is a Chilean gay icon born in Panama as Salvador Sepúlveda Montoya. Salvador is Master in Direction of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Professor of History and Management. The greatest success of Ch ...

China, People's Republic of

* Li Tingting, LGBT rights and feminist activist *

Li Yinhe Li Yinhe ( zh, t=李銀河, s=李银河, p=Lǐ Yínhé; née Li Sanfan; born February 4, 1952) is a Chinese sociologist, sexologist, and activist for LGBT rights in China. Her main academic interests have been sexual norms in contemporary Ch ...

Cornelia Falenius, president of China 1998–2015《同性恋亚文化》 (Subculture of Homosexuality)'', China Today Press,1998.'' *

Cui Zi'en Cui Zi'en (), born 1958, in Harbin in the People's Republic of China, is a film director, producer, film scholar, screenwriter, novelist and an outspoken LGBT activist based in Beijing. He graduated from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences wi ...

Xian Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, LGBT rights activist and founder of Beijing-based lesbian organization Tongyu

Colombia

* Virgilio Barco Isakson (b. 1965) * Armando Benedetti Villaneda (b. 1962) * Blanca Inés Durán Hernández *

Angélica Lozano Correa ''Angelica'' is a genus of herbs, especially the cultivated species ''Angelica archangelica'' Angelica or Angélica may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''Angelica'' (1939 film), a French-Italian film * ''Angélica'' (1952 fi ...

Tatiana de la Tierra Tatiana de la tierra (May 14, 1961 – July 31, 2012) was a Colombian writer, poet and activist. She was the author of the first international Latina lesbian magazine ''Esto no tiene nombre.'' Early life Tatiana de la tierra was born in Villavic ...

Juliana Delgado Lopera Juliana (variants Julianna, Giuliana, Iuliana, Yuliana, etc) is a feminine given name which is the feminine version of the Roman name Julianus. Juliana or Giuliana was the name of a number of early saints, notably Saint Julian the Hospitaller, whi ...

Costa Rica

* Victor Madrigal-Borloz

Croatia

Merlinka Vjeran Miladinović (1 October 1958 - 22 February 2003), also known as Merlinka, was a transgender sex worker and actress best known for the 1995 film ''Marble Ass'', directed by Želimir Žilnik. Merlika identified as both gay and a crossdresse ...

Mima Simić Mima Simić (born Ana Marija Simić; 4 February 1976) is a Croatian writer, an awarded film critic, translator and an LGBTIQ+ media activist. She holds degrees in Comparative literature, Comparative Literature and English Language and Literature fr ...

, LGBTQ activist and Croatia's first openly out

LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

political candidate

Cuba

* Ada Bello, LGBTQ rights activist and medical researcher *

Mariela Castro Mariela Castro Espín (born 27 July 1962) is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana, as well as the National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People, and an activist for LGBT rights in Cuba. C ...

, director of the National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People

Denmark

* Axel and Eigil Axgil, Danish gay rights advocates *

Lili Elbe Lili Ilse Elvenes (28 December 1882 – 13 September 1931), better known as Lili Elbe, was a Danish painter, transgender woman, and one of the earliest recipients of gender-affirming surgery (then called sex reassignment surgery). Elbe was a p ...

(b. 1882), Danish painter, transgender woman

Ecuador

Orlando Montoya Orlando Montoya Herrera (28 August 1952 – 11 January 2021) was a Colombian LGBT activist living in Ecuador. He was one of the most important figures in the early days of LGBT rights activism in Ecuador and in the campaign for the decriminalizati ...

, Colombian who led Ecuador's decriminalization of homosexuality *

Diane Rodríguez Diane Marie Rodríguez Zambrano (; born 16 March 1982) is an Ecuadorian activist and politician who focuses on human rights and LGBTQ rights in Ecuador. She is the transgender chairwoman of the :es:Asociación Silueta X, Silhouette X Associati ...

* Carina Vance Mafla *

Sandra Álvarez Sandra Cecilia Álvarez Monsalve (born May 30, 1967) is an Ecuadorian politician and LGBT rights activist. She founded the Ecuadorian Organization of Lesbian Women, one of the country's first lesbian organizations. In the 2009 legislative electio ...

(born 1967), founder of the Ecuadorian Organization of Lesbian Women and the first openly LGBT person to hold an elected position in Ecuador’s National Assembly

Egypt

Maher Sabry Maher Sabry (; born 11 April 1967) is an Egyptian theater director, playwright, film director, producer and screenwriter, poet, writer and cartoonist. Biography A gay activist, he was the first director to portray gay and lesbian love in lyrica ...

* Omar Sharif Jr. *

Sarah Hegazi Sarah Hegazi (; 1 October 1989 – 14 June 2020; also rendered Hegazy or Higazy) was an Egyptian writer, LGBTQ activist, and socialist. She was arrested, imprisoned and tortured in Egypt for three months after flying a Rainbow flag (LGBT), rainbo ...

Shrouk El-Attar Shrouk El-Attar () is an electronics engineering consultant and a PCB design expert who was born in Egypt and has been living in the United Kingdom as a refugee since 2007. She is an activist for refugee rights in the UK, and for LGBT rights i ...

El Salvador

Ruby Corado Ruby Corado (born in San Salvador, El Salvador) is an activist who founded Casa Ruby, a bilingual, multicultural LGBTQ organization in Washington, D.C. Established in 2012, Casa Ruby identifies its mission as "to create success life stories amon ...

, Salvadoran LGBTQ rights activist

Estonia

* Lisette Kampus *

Peeter Rebane Peeter Rebane (born 24 April 1973) is an Estonian film director, Film producer, producer and entrepreneur. Education He studied at Oxford University and graduated from Harvard University ''cum laude'' majoring in economics, psychology and visual ...

Finland

Sakris Kupila Sakris Kupila (born 1996 and from Humppila, near Forssa) is a Finnish transgender Medical school#Medical students, medical student and the former Chairperson, chair of Seta (organization), Seta from 2019–20, a major Finnish LGBT movements, LGBT ...

Sofi Oksanen Sofi-Elina Oksanen (born 7 January 1977) is a Finnish writer and playwright. Oksanen has published six novels, of which "Purge" has gained the widest recognition. She has received several international and domestic awards for her literary work. ...

France

* Camille Cabral *

Pierre Guénin Pierre Guénin (19 February 1927 – 1 March 2017) was a French journalist and gay rights activist. He was an early publisher of LGBT magazines in the late 1960s and the 1970s, and the founder of the LGBT film awards in France. He was the founder ...

Fabrice Houdart Fabrice Houdart, FRSA is a human rights advocate and academic specialized on LGBTQ+ rights and corporate governance. Education Houdart holds a Bachelor of Art in Economics from Dauphine University and a Master of Business Administration from ...

Christiane Taubira Christiane Marie Taubira (; born 2 February 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Justice of France in the governments of Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls under President François Hollande from 2012 until 20 ...

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

, former French soccer player *

Rama Yade Rama Yade (born Mame Ramatoulaye Yade; 13 December 1976) is a Senegalese-born French politician and author who has been director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center since 2021. Rama was the French Secretary of Human Rights from 2007 to 20 ...

, former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights of France

Germany

Adolf Brand Gustav Adolf Franz Brand (1874–1945) was a German writer, egoist anarchist, and pioneering campaigner for the acceptance of male bisexuality and homosexuality. Early life Adolf Brand was born on 14 November 1874 in Berlin, which was then par ...

Manfred Bruns Manfred Bruns (1934 – 22 October 2019) was a federal prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice of Germany, and a famous German gay civil rights activist. He was until 2016 a member of the Board of Directors of the Lesbian and Gay Association ( ...

* Volker Beck *

Benedict Friedlaender Benedict Friedlaender (8 July 1866 – 21 June 1908; first name occasionally spelled Benedikt) was a German Jewish sexologist, sociologist, economist, volcanologist, and physicist. Life Friedlaender was born in Berlin as the son of Carl Fr ...

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician, Sexology, sexologist and LGBTQ advocate, whose German citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government.David A. Gerstner, ''Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer ...

Corny Littmann Cornelius "Corny" Littmann (born 21 November 1952) is a German entrepreneur, entertainer, theater owner ( Schmidt Theater). He served as President (2002–2010) of the football club FC St. Pauli. Biography Littmann toured throughout West Germ ...

Karl Heinrich Ulrichs Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (28 August 1825 – 14 July 1895) was a German lawyer, jurist, journalist, and writer. He is today regarded as a pioneer of sexology and the modern LGBT rights movement, gay rights movement. Ulrichs has been described as ...

Greece

* Jason-Antigone Dane, LGBT activist, first person to ask for official recognition as a non-binary person *

Marina Galanou Marina Galanou (died 8 October 2021) was a Greek Transgender, trans activist, publisher, writer, and columnist. Early life Galanou was born in Piraeus, in the city quarter of Piraiki, Greece. She was an active participant in Intersex and LGBT, ...

, trans activist, publisher, writer, and columnist * Zak Kostopoulos, Greek-American LGBT, AIDS, refugee, sex-worker activist * Menelas Siafakas, filmmaker and LGBT activist *

Panos H. Koutras Panos H. Koutras () is a Greek film director, film producer and screenwriter, who made his debut with the feature film ''The Attack of the Giant Moussaka'' (1999), an independent science-fiction parody who gained international recognition in Fra ...

, filmmaker and LGBT activist

Guatemala

Aldo Dávila Aldo Iván Dávila Morales (born 20 September 1977) is a Guatemalan politician who served as deputy of the Congress of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024. Dávila won the 2019 general election as a member of the political party Winaq. He is the first o ...

, politician and first openly gay man and first HIV-positive member of Congress *

Sandra Morán Sandra Morán Reyes (born 29 April 1960) is a Guatemalan politician who served as deputy of the Congress of Guatemala from 2016 to 2020, following her electoral win in the 2015 general election.Erick Martínez Ávila Alexander Erick Martínez Ávila, also known as Erick Martínez, (January 18, 1980 - May 5, 2012) was a Honduran advocate and spokesperson for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) minority rights in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A former journal ...

, journalist and LGBT and AIDS activist *

Claudia Spellmant Claudia Dayanara Spellman Sosa (born in Honduras in the 20th century) is a Honduran LGBT and transgender activist. For her efforts as a human rights activist, human rights defender, Time (magazine), ''Time'' magazine named her as Time 100, one of t ...

, LGBT and transgender activist *

Walter Tróchez Walter Orlando Tróchez (1982-13 December 2009) was a Honduran political activist and LGBT rights leader who was murdered in Tegucigalpa. Another visible LGBT Honduran activist and Zelayista, Erick Martínez Ávila, was murdered on 7 May 2012 in ...

, political activist and LGBT rights leader

Hungary

Gergely Homonnay Gergely Homonnay (24 August 1969 – 1 January 2022) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, teacher, author, human rights, political and LGBTQ-activist Life and career Born in Gyula, Hungary, he studied English and German at the Faculty of Arts in ...

, journalist and LGBT activist * Ildikó Juhász *

Karl Maria Kertbeny Karl Maria Kertbeny (born Karl Maria Benkert, ; also Kertbeny Károly Mária; 28 February 1824 – 23 January 1882) was an Austrian-born Hungarian journalist, translator, memoirist and human rights campaigner. Kertbeny coined the words ''heteros ...

, journalist and human rights activist who coined the terms "homosexual" and "heterosexual"

Iceland

Owl Fisher Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir, also known as Owl Fisher (born 6 January 1991), is an Icelandic journalist, filmmaker, author and non-binary trans activist. Early life Fisher was born in Iceland on 6 January 1991. Fisher announ ...

, youngest trans person to medically transition in Iceland and LGBT activist *

Hörður Torfason Hörður Torfason (born 4 September 1945) is an Icelandic songwriter and activist. He has written plays and poetry, played numerous roles on stage and in several films, directed about 50 stage productions and designed and built stage sets for mos ...

India

* Akkai Padmashali *

Anand Grover Anand Grover is a senior lawyer known for legal activism in Indian law relating to homosexuality and HIV. Along with his wife Indira Jaising, he is a founder-member of the Lawyers Collective. He was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the ri ...

Anjali Gopalan Anjali Gopalan is an Indian human rights and animal rights activist. She is the founder and executive director of The Naz Foundation Trust. In 2012, ''Time'' magazine placed Gopalan on its list of the 100 most influential people in the wor ...

Ashok Row Kavi Ashok Row Kavi is an Indian journalist and LGBT rights activist. Life He was born in Mumbai on 1 June 1947. He graduated with honours in Chemistry from the University of Bombay. Later, he dropped out of engineering college. Due to his early d ...

Gopi Shankar Madurai Gopi Shankar Madurai (born 13 April 1991) is an Indian equal rights and Indigenous rights activist. Shankar was one of the youngest, and the first openly intersex and genderqueer statutory authority and one of the candidates to contest in 2016 ...

Harish Iyer Harish Iyer, also known as "Aham", ''hiyer'' and "Harrish Iyer" (born 16 April 1979) is an Indian equal rights activist. Iyer engages in advocacy for a number of causes, including promoting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transge ...

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi Laxmi Narayan Tripathi (known as Laxmi, sometimes transliterated as Lakshmi) is a transgender/ Hijra rights activist, bollywood actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and motivational speaker in Mumbai, India. She is also the Acharya Mah ...

Manvendra Singh Gohil 'Manvendra Singh Gohil (born September 23, 1965) is a son and probable heir of former Maharaja of Rajpipla. He is considered to be the first openly gay prince in the world, and he is known for being one of India's foremost LGBT activists. He i ...

Menaka Guruswamy Menaka Guruswamy (born 27 November 1974) is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. She was the B.R. Ambedkar Research Scholar and Lecturer at Columbia Law School, New York from 2017 to 2019. Guruswamy has been visiting faculty at Yale L ...

* Ramachandrapurapu Raj Rao * Rose Venkatesan *

Sonal Giani Sonal Giani is an Indian LGBTQ activist and actress. Known for her advocacy and youth work, she focuses on the social impact of India's anti-LGBTQ law, Section 377. She is the co-founder of LGBTQ youth initiatives ''Yaariyan'' and ''Umangin''. ...

Sridhar Rangayan Sridhar Rangayan (also spelt Sridhar Rangaihn; born 2 April 1962) is an Indian filmmaker who has made films with special focus on queer subjects. His queer films, '' The Pink Mirror'', '' Yours Emotionally'', '' 68 Pages'', '' Purple Skies'', ...

Indonesia

Dede Oetomo Dede Oetomo (born 1953) is a campaigner for LGBT rights in Indonesia and an expert on gender issues in East Java. He pursued postgraduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Whilst there, he founded Lambda Indonesia, a gay support ...

Iran

* Alireza Shojaian * Arsham Parsi * Elham Malekpoor *

Shadi Amin Shadi Amin (; born 1964) is an Iranian writer and activist. She was forced to leave Iran in early 1980s because of her political activities. Amin is currently living in exile in Germany. Biography Prior to leaving Iran, Amin had to hide her sex ...

Iraq

* Amir Ashour *

Zhiar Ali Zhiar Ali (Kurmanji, Kurdish: ; Kurdish alphabets#Sorani alphabet, Sorani alphabet: , , born September 2, 1999) is a former animal rights activist and a Kurdish advocate for LGBT rights. He presently resides in the Netherlands after having been ...

Ireland

Mary Dorcey Mary Dorcey (born October 1950) is an Irish author and poet, feminist, and LGBT+ activist. Her work is known for centring feminist and queer themes, specifically lesbian love and lesbian eroticism. She has published ten books, including seven p ...

Lydia Foy Lydia Annice Foy is an Irish trans woman notable for leading legal challenges regarding gender recognition in Ireland. In 1992, Foy had sex reassignment surgery, and began a 20-year battle to have her birth certificate reflect her gender ident ...

* David Norris *

Tonie Walsh Tonie Walsh (born 25 December 1960 in Dublin, Ireland) is an LGBT rights activist, journalist, disc jockey, founding editor of Gay Community News (Dublin) and founder of the Irish Queer Archive. Biography Walsh spent most of his childhood in ...

Katherine Zappone Katherine Zappone (; born 25 November 1953) is an American-Irish independent politician who served as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from May 2016 to June 2020. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from ...

Israel

Imri Kalmann Imri Kalmann (; born June 17, 1986) is a social Activism, activist and former co-chairperson of the Israeli Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association, LGBT Association. He is an entrepreneur and a Tel Aviv nightlife personality w ...

, former co-chairperson of the Israeli LGBT Association *

Yair Qedar Yair Qedar (; born June 13, 1969) is an Israeli documentary filmmaker, social activist and former journalist. In his project "the Hebrews", he chronicled the lives of Jewish and Israeli figures of the modern Hebrew literary canon. Qedar's 19 fea ...

, founder of Israel's first LGBT newspaper

Italy

Franco Grillini Franco Grillini (born 14 March 1955) is an Italian politician and a prominent Italian gay-rights activist. His story is inextricably linked to the history of Arcigay. Career He was born in Pianoro, Province of Bologna. During the 1970s, he too ...

Vladimir Luxuria Vladimir Luxuria (; born 24 June 1965) is an Italian activist, television personality and actress. Luxuria was a Communist Refoundation Party MP, belonging to The Union (political coalition), The Union coalition led by Romano Prodi. She was the ...

Imma Battaglia Immacolata "Imma" Battaglia (born 28 March 1960) is an Italian left-wing politician and LGBT activist. Biography Battaglia was born in Portici, province of Naples. From the late 1980s to 2000, she was a member of the Centre of Gay Culture "Ma ...

Jamaica

Maurice Tomlinson Maurice Tomlinson (born 1971) is a Jamaican lawyer, law professor, and gay rights activist currently living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has been a leading gay rights and HIV activist in the Caribbean for over 20 years and is one of the only ...

, LGBT and HIV/AIDS activist who challenged the homophobic

Sodomy Law A sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term ''sodomy'' are rarely spelled out in the law, but are typically understood and defined by many courts and jurisdictions to include any ...

Brian Williamson Brian Williamson (4 September 1945 – 9 June 2004) was a Jamaican gay rights activist who co-founded the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG). He was known for being one of the earliest openly gay men in Jamaican society ...

, co-founded the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays

Japan

Taiga Ishikawa is a Japanese politician and LGBT activist. He was elected to the House of Councillors in the 2019 Japanese House of Councillors election, becoming the first openly-gay man to be elected to either chamber of the National Diet. Previously, he bec ...

* Wataru Ishizaka *

Maki Muraki is a Japanese LGBTQ activist. She is the head of the Osaka-based Japanese LGBT rights organization, Nijiiro ("Rainbow") Diversity. Through lectures and media appearances, she is an advocate for gay-friendly policies in office environments in Japan ...

(born 1974), head of Nijiro Diversity in Osaka *

Kanako Otsuji is a Japanese LGBT rights activist, member of the House of Representatives for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and retired karateka and taekwondoin. She is also former member of the House of Councilors, and a former member of the ...

, first openly lesbian politician in Japan

Kenya

* Denis Nzioka *

Edwin Chiloba Edwin Kiprotich Kiptoo (6 February 1997 – January 2023), better known as Edwin Chiloba, was a Kenyan fashion designer, model, and LGBTQ activist. Early life and education Chiloba was born in the small, sparsely populated village of Sergoit ...

(deceased)

Kyrgyzstan

* Dastan Kasmamytov

Latvia

* Kristīne Garina, LGBT activist and co-founder of Mozaīka

Lebanon

* Georges Azzi *

Hamed Sinno Hamed Sinno (; born April 25, 1988) is a Lebanese-American musician and writer. They were the lead singer of the alternative rock band Mashrou' Leila until the group disbanded in 2022. Early life Sinno was born to a Lebanese father who had liv ...

* Sandra Melhem

Lithuania

Romas Zabarauskas Romas Zabarauskas (born 31 May 1990) is a Lithuanian film director, screenwriter, author, and producer. He established the film company Naratyvas in 2012. Zabarauskas, a member of the European Film Academy, completed film studies at the Paris 8 V ...

Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė (born 6 April 1944 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian philologist, professor, human rights activist, feminist writer and politician. She had been a member of Seimas from 2004 to 2008 as a member of Liberal Demo ...

Malta

* Ruth Baldacchino * Gabi Calleja * Mina Tolu

Mexico

Ociel Baena Jesús Ociel Baena Saucedo (9 December 1984 – 13 November 2023) was a Mexican activist for non-binary and LGBT+ rights and electoral magistrate at the State Electoral Court of Aguascalientes. On 1 October 2022, they became the first non-binar ...

, activist and Mexico's first non-binary magistrate *

Nancy Cardenas Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...

, playwright, director, and LGBT+ activist * Gloria Angélica Careaga Pérez, social psychologist and activist *

Agnés Torres Hernández Agnes Torres Hernández, or Agnés Torres (born 1983, Tehuacán – d. 10 March 2012, Atlixco) was a Mexican psychologist, researcher, and transgender activist. Torres advocated for the legal recognition of transgender people in Mexico, and wa ...

, psychologist and transgender activist *

Claudia Hinojosa Claudia Hinojosa is a Mexican academic and an LGBT and human rights activist. She is also noted for being one of the first openly gay candidates to run for Congress in Mexico. She also served as adviser to the Mexican politician, Enoe Uranga. ...

, LGBT and human rights activist, academic *

Patria Jiménez Patria Jiménez (born Elsa Patria Jiménez Flores in 1957 in San Luis Potosí, Mexico) is a Mexican politician and head of '' El Clóset de Sor Juana'' (Sister Juana's Closet). In 1997, representing the PRD. Openly lesbian, she became the firs ...

, the first openly gay member of any Latin American legislature *

Bamby Salcedo Bamby Salcedo (born October 12, 1969) is a Mexican American transgender rights activist. She is the founder of the Los Angeles-based TransLatin@ Coalition. Early life and education Salcedo was born at El Hospital Civil de Guadalajara in Guad ...

, Mexican-American transgender activist *

Julio César Martín-Trejo Julio César Martín Trejo (born Cozumel, Q. Roo, October 11, 1964) is the Anglican bishop in Southern Mexico identified as a strong pro-LGBTQ advocate since 2020. Support of LGBTQ civil rights He has been the diocesan bishop of the Anglican ...

, Anglican bishop

Morocco

* Ibtissam Lachgar, psychologist and human rights and LGBT activist

Myanmar

* John Lwin, model agency founder, LGBT rights activist * Shin Thant, one of the leading LGBTQ+ rights activists in Myanmar

Nepal

Sunil Babu Pant Sunil Babu Pant (; born 28 June 1971) is a Nepali human rights activist, monk, and former politician who served as a member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly between 2008 and 2013. Pant's campaigning for LGBT rights led to the Supreme Court ...

, first openly gay Nepali politician, former head of

Blue Diamond Society The Blue Diamond Society (BDS; Nepali: नील हीरा समाज) is an LGBT rights organization in Nepal. It was established in 2001 to advocate for change in the existing laws against homosexuality and to advocate for the rights of N ...

Bhumika Shrestha Bhumika Shrestha (Nepali: भूमिका श्रेष्ठ, born January 11, 1988, in Kathmandu, Nepal) is a Nepalese activist and actress. Shrestha is a third gender activist and is currently working with the Blue Diamond Society. Pe ...

Netherlands

Willem Arondeus Willem Johan Cornelis Arondéus (22 August 1894 – 1 July 1943) was a Dutch artist and author who joined the Dutch resistance, Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II. He participated in 1943 bombing of the Amsterdam civil regis ...

Vera Bergkamp Vera Alida Bergkamp (; ; born 1 June 1971) is a retired Dutch politician. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, she served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 7 April 2021 to 5 December 2023. She was a member of the House of R ...

, former chairman of the world's oldest LGBT organization *

John Blankenstein John Blankenstein (12 February 1949 in De Bilt – 25 August 2006 in The Hague) was a Dutch football referee and gay rights activist. He was notable for being one of the first homosexual athletes to come out in the Netherlands. Professional car ...

Boris Dittrich Boris Ottokar Dittrich (; born 21 July 1955) is a Dutch politician, jurist, author and human rights activist who served as Leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) from 2003 to 2006. A former member of the House of Representatives (1994–2006), he has ...

* Coos Huijsen, first openly gay parliamentarian *

Henk Krol Henricus Cornelis Maria "Henk" Krol (; born 1 April 1950) is a Dutch journalist, publisher, entrepreneur, activist and politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2012 to 2013, and again from 2014 to 2021. Having served as t ...

* Betty Paërl *

Marjan Sax Marjan Sax (born 26 December 1947) is a Dutch feminist lesbian activist, member of Dolle Mina and co-founder of a number of feminist organisations, ethical bank Mama Cash among them. Sax is also an advisor for charity organisations. Life S ...

New Zealand

Georgina Beyer Georgina Beyer (November 1957 – 6 March 2023) was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who represented Wairarapa in the Parliament of New Zealand from 1999 to 2005, after serving as mayor of Carterton from 1995 to 1999. Beyer was the worl ...

, first openly transgender mayor in NZ. * Suran Dickson *

Kevin Hague Kevin Grant Hague (born 18 March 1960) is a New Zealand public servant, activist and a former politician. Hague was a Member of Parliament for the Green Party from 2008 to 2016. Previously he had been a human rights and gay rights advocate, th ...

Kassie Hartendorp Kassie Hartendorp is a community worker, activist and advocate for anti-racism, LGBTQI+ and takatāpui support, workers rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi education. She is the director of ActionStation Aotearoa, a New Zealand community campaigni ...

Ngahuia Te Awekotuku Ngahuia is a Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the M� ...

, co-founder of

Nigeria

* Richard Akuson, lawyer and founder of Nigeria's first LGBT magazine * Bisi Alimi, British-Nigerian LGBT and HIV/AIDS activist * Aderonke Apata, LGBT activist and barrister

Norway

Kim Friele Karen-Christine Friele ( Wilhelmsen; 27 May 1935 – 22 November 2021), known as Kim Friele, was a Norwegian gay rights and human rights activist, famous for being the first gay Norwegian to publicly acknowledge and advocate for her sexuality, in ...

Christian Møllerop Christian Møllerop (b. 9 January 1981) is the leader of the Oslo and Akershus LLH, a Norwegian association for gay and lesbian rights. He was appointed in the spring of 2003. Møllerop has been an active political figure for many years and is esp ...

, leader of the

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

LLH

Pakistan

Faisal Alam Faisal Alam is a gay Pakistani American man who founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Muslims. Alam arrived in the United States from Pakistan in 1987, at t ...

* Nayyab Ali * Almas Bobby * Sara Gill *

Nadeem Kashish Nadeem Kashish is a Pakistani transgender activist, politician and radio show host. She became one of the four transgender people to run for office in the 2018 Pakistan general elections. Personal life Kashish was disowned by her family and ...

* Aradhiya Khan *

Bindiya Rana Bindiya Rana is a Pakistani transgender activist. She is a member of the Khwaja Sara community and the founder and president of Gender Interactive Alliance headquartered in Pakistan. Rana ran for a seat in the provincial assembly in Karachi but los ...

* Nisha Rao

Palestine

Khader Abu-Seif Khader Agami Abu-Seif (; ; born ) is an Israeli/Palestinian copywriter known for his LGBT rights activism. Biography Khader Abu-Seif was born to a Palestinian Arab Muslim family from Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel. His grandparents grew up as Arab Pal ...

Rauda Morcos Rauda Morcos (; ) is a Palestinian–Israeli lesbian poet and LGBTQ activist, whose hometown is in Northern Israel, living in Haifa in Israel. In 2003, she was outed as a lesbian by a national newspaper, leading to dismissal from her job, physica ...

* Bashar Murad * Ghadir Shafie *

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin Ahmed Shihab-Eldin (; born September 16, 1984) is a Kuwaiti journalist and media personality of Palestinian descent. Career He formerly worked at ''Huffington Post'' and Vice Media, Vice, and was a senior reporter for Al Jazeera Plus from 20 ...

Panama

* Gilberto Gerald, gay rights and HIV/AIDS activist, co-founder of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays

Peru

* Belissa Andía Pérez *

Luisa Revilla Luisa Revilla (12 October 1971 – 15 April 2021) was a Peruvian politician and LGBT activist. A member of the Movimiento Regional para el Desarrollo con Seguridad y Honradez (MDSH) party, she served as Provincial Mayor of Trujillo from 2015 to 2 ...

Giovanny Romero Infante Giovanny Romero Infante, also known as Gio Infante, (18 September 1988 – 24 January 2020) was a Peruvian journalist and LGBT activist. Infante was well known, from Peru to the United States, for his advocacy on behalf of sexual minorities. Inf ...

Philippines

Tonette Lopez Tonette Lopez (died April 25, 2006) was the first transgender woman activist in the Philippines and a popular Asian Activism, LGBT activist, HIV/AIDS researcher and journalist. Lopez led the 16th International AIDS Conference in 2005. Gahum Ph ...

Boy Abunda Eugenio "Boy" Romerica Abunda Jr. (; born October 29, 1961) is a Filipino television presenter, publicist, and talent manager. Known as the "King of Talk", Abunda has presented several talk shows centered on the Philippine entertainment indus ...

Poland

Robert Biedroń Robert Biedroń (; born 13 April 1976) is a Polish politician, former mayor of Słupsk, and LGBT activist who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He is the Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equal ...

Anna Grodzka Anna Grodzka (born 16 March 1954) is a Polish politician. A trans woman, she was elected to the Sejm in the 2011 Polish parliamentary elections as a candidate for the left-liberal Palikot's Movement, and was the first openly transgender Membe ...

* Krzysztof Garwatowski *

Krystian Legierski Krystian Legierski (born 22 April 1978 in Koniaków) is a Polish LGBT activist, entrepreneur, member of the The Greens (Poland), Greens. In 2010 Polish local elections, local elections in 2010 he won a seat in the Warsaw City Council, thus becomi ...

Paweł Leszkowicz Paweł Leszkowicz (born 17 December 1970) is a Polish art historian and art curator. He works as a lecturer and researcher at the Department of History of Art, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and lectures at the University of Fine Arts in ...

Szymon Niemiec Szymon Niemiec (born 5 October 1977, in Warsaw) is a Polish priest, gay rights activist, journalist, photographer, and politician. He is the founder of the first Polish Gay Pride parade, ''Parada Równości'' held in 2001. From 2000 to 2006, Nie ...

Portugal

Miguel Vale de Almeida Miguel Vale de Almeida (born August 21, 1960) is a Portuguese anthropologist, LGBTQ activist, and professor at the Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE) in Lisbon. He is the current editor-in-chief of the journal Etn ...

António Serzedelo António José Serzedelo Silva Marques (Lisbon, 15 May 1945) is a Portuguese human rights activist, radio broadcaster, actor and a scholar. He is the oldest live LGBT, LGBTI activist in Portugal (since May 1974). He was the author of the 1st LBGTI ...

Qatar

* Naser Mohamed

Romania

* Lucian Dunăreanu *

Péter Eckstein-Kovács Péter Eckstein-Kovács (born July 5, 1956) is a Romanian lawyer and politician. A former member of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), he was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Cluj County from 1990 to 1992 and ...

Russia

* Nikolai Alekseev * Ali Feruz * Igor Kochetkov, head of the LGBT Network *

Yekaterina Samutsevich Yekaterina Stanislavovna Samutsevich (; born 9 August 1982) is a Russian political activist. She was a member of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot. Criminal history On 17 August 2012, she was convicted of hooliganism motivated by re ...

* Evgeny Shtorn * Mikhail Tumasov * Yulia Tsvetkova

Serbia

Dejan Nebrigić Dejan Nebrigić (; 29 December 1970 – 29 December 1999) was a Serbian gay and peace activist, writer and theatre critic. He was known as the initiator of the first trial of homophobic discrimination in Serbia. He was one of the founders of t ...

Sonja Sajzor Sonja Sajzor (born 26 January 1993) is a DJ, darkwave singer, songwriter, visual artist, and a queer icon in Serbia. Early life Sajzor grew up in Šabac, a small western town of Serbia which is regarded as "conservative" towards LGBT rights. Son ...

* Sajsi MC *

Goran Jevtić (actor) Goran Jevtić ( sr-Cyrl, Горан Јевтић; born 18 January 1978) is a Serbian actor; director and LGBT activist. During his two decade long career, Jevtić has composed a prolific range of performances notable in film, television and theate ...

Lepa Mladjenovic Lepa Mladjenovic (; born 9 November 1954) is a feminist, lesbian, anti-war activist who is a pioneer of second-wave feminism in Serbia. She is a feminist counselor for women survivors of male violence or lesbophobia, a workshop facilitator, a wri ...

Kristian Ranđelović Kristian Ranđelović is an activist for LGBTI+ rights in the Balkan region, focusing on the rights of transgender and intersex people. Ranđelović has developed the first transgender support group in the Balkans. He is one of the co-founders of t ...

Boban Stojanović (activist) Boban Stojanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бобан Стојановић; born 1978) is a Serbian activist. He has participated in events and actions promoting the rights of the LGBT community. Career Born in the Serbian city of Zaječar, Stojanovi ...

Sierra Leone

* FannyAnn Eddy

Singapore

Alex Au Alex Au Waipang, () also known by his Internet pseudonym as Yawning Bread, is an advocate of LGBT rights in Singapore. Au is a blogger and activist who provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects on ...

* Paddy Chew, first person in Singapore to come out as HIV-positive * Jean Chong

Slovakia

Zuzana Čaputová Zuzana Čaputová (; Strapáková; born 21 June 1973) is a Slovak politician, lawyer and environmental activist who served as the fifth president of Slovakia from 2019 to 2024. Čaputová is the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the ...

Imrich Matyáš Imrich Matyáš (24 April 1896, Bratislava – 18 October 1974, Bratislava) was one of the earliest activist in Czechoslovakia to fight for the equal rights of sexual minorities and the decriminalization of homosexuality. He was a contributor to ...

Romana Schlesinger Romana Schlesinger (born 28 July 1986) is a Slovak LGBT rights activist. Between 2010 and 2017 she was the main organizer of the annual Bratislava Pride march. Biography Romana Schlesinger was born on 28 July 1986 in Trenčín in a family of Je ...

Michal Šimečka Michal Šimečka (born 10 May 1984) is a Slovak politician, journalist, and researcher, who served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament between 2022 and 2023. He also became a Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2023. In ...

Somalia

Amal Aden Amal Aden (born 1983) is the pseudonym of a Somali– Norwegian writer. She is an author, lecturer and lesbian activist. Aden is substitute member of the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission and has been a contributor to the newspaper ''Dag og ...

Farah Abdullahi Abdi Farah Abdullahi Abdi (born 21 July 1995 in Beledweyne) is a human rights activist. She is a refugee from Somalia and a Policy Officer for Asylum and Migration at the organisation Transgender Europe. Early life and escape to Malta Farah fled from ...

* Sumaya Dalmar

South Africa

Muhsin Hendricks Muhsin Hendricks (June 1967 – 15 February 2025) was a South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBTQ activist. He was involved in various LGBTQ Muslim advocacy groups and was an advocate for greater acceptance of LGBTQ people within Islam. He ...

* Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat * Dawn Cavanagh * Busi Khewsa *

Simon Nkoli Simon Tseko Nkoli (also spelled Simon Nkodi; 26 November 1957 – 30 November 1998) was an Internal resistance to South African apartheid, anti-apartheid, gay rights, and HIV/AIDS activism, AIDS activist in South Africa. Active in the Congress ...

, LGBT activist, founder of the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand *

Noxolo Nogwaza Noxolo Nogwaza (1987 – 24 April 2011) was a South African lesbian LGBT rights activist and member of the Ekurhuleni Pride Organising Committee. She was raped, then stoned and stabbed to death by assailants in KwaThema, Gauteng. Nogwaza had bee ...

Funeka Soldaat Funeka Soldaat is a lesbian community activist from South Africa, who works with the Triangle Project and is a founder of Khayelitsha-based lesbian advocacy group, Free Gender - both of which are non-profit, non-governmental organizations that ben ...

, leader of Free Gender Organisation in Khayelitsha, Western Cape * Midi Achmat, LGBT activist, co-founder of Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Association of Bisexuals, Gays, and Lesbians (ABIGALE) and the National Coalition of Lesbian and Gay Equality (NCLGE)

South Korea

* Jeong Yol *

Kim-Jho Gwangsoo Kim-Jho Gwang-soo (; born 26 March 1965), also known as Peter Kim, is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, film producer and LGBT rights activist. Career Kim Gwang-soo was born in Seongbuk District, Seoul. He disclosed his sexual orien ...

Kwak Yi-kyong Kwak Yi-kyong (, born 1979) is a South Korean LGBT human rights activist, civil rights activist, and labor rights activist. From 2012 to the present, she has been a representative of Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea(SLRK). In her earl ...

Lee Gye-deok Lee Gye-deok (Korean: 이계덕, born 20 November 1986) is a South Korean singer and activist for civil rights, civil and human rights activist who promotes LGBT rights, typically for gay rights. Political career Lee was elected as a non-adu ...

* Lim Tae-hoon * Yun Hyon-seok

Spain

* Oriol Pamies *

Ángeles Álvarez Ángeles Álvarez Álvarez (born 12 February 1961) is a Spanish politician and feminist activist. She served as a deputy for Madrid from 2011 to 2019. She was also a spokesperson for equality of the PSOE in the Congress of Deputies. She has a lon ...

Carla Antonelli Carla Delgado Gómez (born 13 July 1959), better known by her stage name Carla Antonelli, is a Spanish actress, politician, and LGBT activist. After graduating from a conservatory in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and embarking on an acting career, she ...

* Lucas Platero Spanish

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

Sri Lanka

* Sherman de Rose *

Rosanna Flamer-Caldera Rosanna Flamer-Caldera is a Sri Lankan LGBTIQ rights activist. She is the founder and executive director of EQUAL GROUND (2004-to present), the oldest LGBTIQ advocacy organisation pursuing LGBTIQ rights as part of the larger Human Rights fram ...

St. Lucia

* Kenita Placide

Sudan

* Ahmed Umar

Sweden

* Anna Mohr

Switzerland

Röbi Rapp Röbi Rapp (27 May 1930 – 26 August 2018) was a Swiss actor influential in the European LGBT social movement. He was a female impersonator and cabaret star as well as a member of ''Der Kreis'' (''The Circle''). Biography Rapp was born in Z� ...

Anna Rosenwasser Anna Rosenwasser (; born 1 May 1990) is a Swiss journalist, editorialist, political, pro-LGBTQ-activist and politician who currently serves on the National Council (Switzerland)for the Social Democratic Party since 2023. She came to public fame ...

Anna Vock Anna Vock (13 January 1885 – 4 December 1962) was a Swiss journalist, organizer, and LGBT activist during the interwar period in Switzerland. Although lesbianism was not criminalized like male homosexuality in Switzerland during her activist per ...

Syria

Abdulrahman Akkad Abdulrahman Akkad (Arabic: عبدالرحمن عقاد) is a Syrian political blogger, public speaker, and human rights activist. He currently resides in Berlin. Biography Early life and education Akkad was born in Aleppo to Syrian Muslim p ...

Taiwan

* Josephine Ho *

Chi Chia-wei Chi Chia-wei (; born 2 August 1958) is a Taiwanese gay rights activist. In 2020, he was included on ''Time (magazine), Time''s Time 100, list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Activism In March 1986, Chi became the first pers ...

Thailand

Matcha Phorn-in Matcha Phorn-in (; born 1979/1980) is a Thai feminist and activist for indigenous and LGBT rights. Early life Matcha grew up in Isan,' and was raised by a poor single mother.' These factors led her to be bullied in school. Starting at ag ...

* Vitit Muntarbhorn

Trinidad and Tobago

* Jason Jones *

Jowelle de Souza Jowelle De Souza (born May 12, 1974) is a hairdresser and community organizer active in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. She is well known for being an activist for gay and transgender rights and animal welfare. She is a successful business owne ...

Tunisia

* Mounir Baatour

Turkey

Barış Sulu Barış Sulu is a Turkish politician from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). Sulu is the first openly gay parliamentary candidate in Turkey.Demet Demir Demet Demir (born March 12, 1961) is a Turkish LGBT activist. She was awarded the Felipa de Souza Award in 1997 for her activism. Biography Demir was born in Yalova on March 12, 1961. After her parents divorced, she and her sister moved to Ista ...

Hande Kader Hande Kader (1993 – August 2016) was a politically active Turkish transgender woman. Kader was familiar to millions of Turks as a figurehead for the LGBT community after being photographed at the forefront of the resistance against police forc ...

(deceased) *

Mehmet Tarhan Mehmet Tarhan (born 1978) is a Kurdish conscientious objector who was imprisoned for refusing military service.

Yasemin Öz Yasemin Öz is a Turkish lawyer and LGBT rights activist. Whilst studying law, she founded KAOS GL and writes reports monitoring human rights issues in Turkey. Öz participates in UN Women groups and was given the Felipa de Souza award by OutRigh ...

Uganda

David Kato David Kato Kisule ( – 26 January 2011) was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities ...

Kasha Nabagesera Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (also known as Jacqueline Kasha) (born 1980) is a Ugandan LGBT rights activist and the founder and executive director of the LGBT rights organization Freedom & Roam Uganda (FARUG). She received the Martin Ennals Award ...

Pepe Julian Onziema Pepe Julian Onziema (born November 30, 1980) is a Ugandan LGBT rights and human rights activist. He began his human rights work in 2003. Onziema is the Director of Programs at Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), an Intersex and LGBT, LGBTI advo ...

Ukraine

* Bogdan Globa *

Vitalina Koval Vitalina Koval is a Ukrainian human rights activist. She campaigns for women rights and LGBTI rights. She is from Uzhhorod. Activism Vitalina Koval organised social events for LGBTI people but these were largely secret. She then set up a commu ...

United Kingdom

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.

5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, 19th-century jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. *

Bette Bourne Bette Bourne (; born Peter Bourne; 22 September 1939 – 23 August 2024) was a British actor, drag queen, and activist. His theatrical career spanned six decades. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s when he adopted the name "Bette" and a rad ...

, actor, performer, founder of the Gay theatrical troupe Bloolips, and one of the first modern-day UK LGBTQ+ activists and campaigners. * Michael C. Burgess, courier and co-treasurer of

OutRage! OutRage! was a British political group focused on lesbian and gay rights. Founded in 1990, the organisation ran for 21 years until 2011. It described itself as "a broad based group of queers committed to radical, non-violent protest, non-viol ...

* Christine Burns, trans rights campaigner, formerly a vice president of PfC, awarded MBE for work with PfC and on the GRB * Tanya Compas, queer Black rights activist based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

* A.E. Dyson, literary critic and founder of the

Homosexual Law Reform Society The Homosexual Law Reform Society was an organisation in the 20th century that campaigned in the United Kingdom for changes to the set of laws which criminalised homosexuality at the time. History In 1954, the Conservative government set up a D ...

Jackie Forster Jackie Forster (née Jacqueline Moir Mackenzie; 6 November 1926 – 10 October 1998) was an English news reporter, actress and lesbian rights activist.p.270 From the Closet to the Screen – Jill Gardner Early life Forster's father was a c ...

, actress, TV personality and lesbian campaigner *

Moud Goba Moud Goba is a Zimbabwean LGBTIQ+ human rights activist. She is a refugee in the United Kingdom where she arrived as a young asylum seeker fleeing Zimbabwe after years of persecution for being a lesbian. Early life Goba grew up in Harare, Zim ...

, LGBTIQ+ human rights activist. *

Ray Gosling Raymond Arthur Gosling (5 May 1939 – 19 November 2013) was an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and gay rights activist. He wrote and presented several hundred television and radio documentaries and regional programmes for BBC Radio 4 ...

, writer, broadcaster and gay rights activist in the

Campaign for Homosexual Equality The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) was a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...

. *

Antony Grey Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright (6 October 1927 – 30 April 2010), better known by his pseudonym Antony Grey, was an English LGBT rights activist. Grey was credited by Lord Arran to have "done more than any single man to bring this social prob ...

, Secretary of the Homosexual Law Reform Society; the public face of the

Albany Trust The Albany Trust is a British organisation which describes itself as a "specialist counselling and psychotherapy charity, focusing on a positive approach to sexuality and relationships". It was founded as a registered charity in May 1958 to compl ...

* Liam Hackett, founder of anti-bullying website and charity Ditch the Label *

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

, film director * Craig Jones (Royal Navy officer), LGBTQ+ rights campaigner for the UK armed forces, founder of Fighting with Pride and author.

*

Paris Lees Paris Lees is an English author, journalist, presenter and campaigner. She topped ''The Independent on Sunday''s 2013 Pink List, came second in the 2014 Rainbow List, and was awarded the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT in the 2012 National ...

, trans rights campaigner, part of

Trans Media Watch Trans Media Watch (TMW) is a British charity founded in 2009 to improve media coverage of transgender and intersex issues. By improving media coverage, TMW strives to "foster social acceptance and civil recognition for trans persons", and to pr ...

Denis Lemon ''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1976 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK. "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" is a poem by J ...

, Editor of ''Gay News'', involved in blasphemy prosecution brought by Mary Whitehouse * Andrew Moffat, LGBT education advocate, author and founder the ''No Outsiders'' programme *

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

, actor and spokesperson for

Stonewall (UK) Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe. Named after the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York ...

* Robert Mellors, 20th-century writer and

Gay Liberation Front Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of several gay liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. Similar organizations also formed in the UK, Australia and Canada. The GLF p ...

campaigner *

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah (born November 1974), also known as Lady Phyll, is a British political activist known for her work for racial, gender and LGBT+ equality. She is Co-Founder and Chief Executive of UK Black Pride and former executive dire ...

, British political activist and co-founder of

UK Black Pride UK Black Pride (UKBP) is a black gay pride event in London that has taken place since 2005. It is Europe's largest celebration of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and Caribbean heritage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer ...

* Paul Patrick, anti-homophobia activist and educator *

Saima Razzaq Saima Razzaq is a British political activist and educator, co-chair of SEEDS (Supporting the Education of Equality in Schools) and Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Birmingham Pride. Razzaq actively campaigns for LGBT inclusive education in sc ...

, LGBT inclusive education activist and

Birmingham Pride Birmingham Pride is a weekend-long LGBTQ+ festival held annually in the Gay Village, Hurst Street, Birmingham, England, over the spring bank holiday weekend. Birmingham Pride is the UK's largest two-day gay pride festival. It usually featur ...

Head of Diversity and Inclusion * Michael Schofield, sociologist and early gay rights campaigner *

Michael Steed Michael Steed (25 January 1940 – 30 August 2023) was a British psephologist, political scientist, broadcaster, activist and Liberal Democrat politician. He wrote extensively on political parties and elections. Education and early life Mich ...

, Liberal politician, academic and gay rights activist in the Campaign for Homosexual Equality *

Ben Summerskill Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill (born 6 October 1961) is chair of The Silver Line and director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, a consortium of 135 charities working across the GB criminal justice pathway. He was the chief executive of the UK- ...

, former chief executive of Stonewall *

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

, politician, human rights and LGBT rights campaigner *

Stephen Whittle Stephen Thomas Whittle (born 29 May 1955) is a British legal scholar and activist with the transgender activist group Press for Change. Since 2007, he has been Professor of Equalities Law in the School of Law at Manchester Metropolitan Univers ...

, trans rights campaigner and former vice president of PfC and president of HBIGDA, Law Professor at MMU, awarded

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for work with PfC and on the GRB *

, co-founder of

United States

Kimball Allen Kimball Allen (born February 22, 1982) is an American writer, journalist, playwright, and actor. He is the author of two autobiographical one-man plays: ''Secrets of a Gay Mormon Felon'' (2012) and ''Be Happy Be Mormon'' (2014). The latter premi ...

, author of '' Secrets of a Gay Mormon Felon'' and ''

Be Happy Be Mormon Kimball Allen (born February 22, 1982) is an American writer, journalist, playwright, and actor. He is the author of two autobiographical one-man plays: ''Secrets of a Gay Mormon Felon'' (2012) and ''Be Happy Be Mormon'' (2014). The latter premi ...

'' * Jacob Appel,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based lawyer, advocate for reparations for gays and lesbians * Gilbert Baker (1951–2017), designer of the

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. History In the 18th century, American Revolutionary ...

Christopher R. Barron Christopher R. Barron (born December 15, 1973) is an American political activist best known as the cofounder of GOProud, a political organization representing gay conservatives. He is the president of CapSouth Consulting, a political consulting ...

, co-founder of

GOProud GOProud was an American tax-exempt 527 organization supported by fiscally conservative gay men, lesbians, and their allies. GOProud advocated for "free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights" and worked at the federal an ...

, a

political organization A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in polit ...

representing

gay conservatives LGBTQ conservatism refers to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals with conservative political views. Terminology LGBTQ conservatism is an umbrella term which may be divided into two specific sub-categories, ea ...

* Paul Barwick *

Vic Basile Victor Basile is an author and American LGBT rights activist who was the first executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (then the Human Rights Campaign Fund), serving in that position from June 1983 to June 1989. Basile served in the Clin ...

, first executive director of the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

Wayne Besen Wayne Besen (born 1970) is an American journalist and LGBTQ rights advocate. He is a former investigative journalist for WABI-TV, a former spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, and the founder of Truth Wins Out. Besen came out to his parents b ...

, founder of

Truth Wins Out Truth Wins Out (TWO) is an organization formed by Wayne Besen to fight what he considers "anti-gay religious extremism", especially the ex-gay movement. History Besen formed Truth Wins Out on June 7, 2006, as a response to the belief that a p ...

, former spokesman for the

* Elizabeth Birch, former executive director of the

Dustin Lance Black Dustin Lance Black (born June 10, 1974) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBT rights activist. He is known for writing the film ''Milk'', for which he won the Oscar for best original screenplay in 2009. He has also subsequen ...

, founding board member of the

American Foundation for Equal Rights The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) was a nonprofit organization active in the United States from 2009 through 2015. The organization was established to support the plaintiffs in ''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' (formerly ''Perry v. Brown'' ...

Chaz Bono Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, ''The Sonn ...

, transgender son of

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...

and

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Jennifer Finney Boylan Jennifer Finney Boylan (born June 22, 1958) is an American author, transgender activist, professor at Barnard College, and a former contributing opinion writer for the ''New York Times''. In December 2023, she became the president of PEN America ...

(1958 - ), transgender author, professor, and trans rights activist, former co-chair of

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

's National Board of Directors. * David P. Brill (1955–1979),

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

-based journalist * Blake Brockington (1996–2014), African American transgender rights activist. *

Jenny Bruso Jenny Bruso is an American hiker, influencer, and an activist for inclusivity and body positivity. She is best known for starting the Instagram account ''Unlikely Hikers'' in 2016 in Portland, Oregon. She is an adviser to outdoor fitness companie ...

, hiker, influencer, and an activist for inclusivity and body positivity *

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In ...

, philosopher and gender theorist *

Margarethe Cammermeyer Margarethe "Grethe" Cammermeyer (born March 24, 1942) is a Norwegian-American former military officer. She served as a colonel in the Washington National Guard and became a gay rights activist. Early life and education Born in Oslo, Norwa ...

, former colonel in the United States National Guard, Washington National Guard whose coming out story was made into the 1995 movie ''Serving in Silence'' * Gloria Casarez (1971–2014), Latina lesbian civil rights leader and LGBT activist in Philadelphia. Philadelphia's first director of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) affairs. * Ryan Cassata, transgender activist, public speaker and singer-songwriter * June Chan, Asian American lesbian activist * RuPaul, RuPaul Andre Charles, known as RuPaul, drag queen and gay activist known for the TV show ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' * Madonna (entertainer), Madonna Louise Ciccone, known as Madonna (entertainer), Madonna (born 1958), entertainer and long-term human and civil rights activist; has offered outspoken support for the gay rights movement * Joanne Conte, trans woman, former Arvada, Colorado City Councilor, currently hosts a radio show on KGNU * Lynn Conway, trans woman computer scientist and electrical engineer *

, Salvadoran activist and founder of Casa Ruby *James Dale (activist), James Dale, known for landmark US Supreme Court case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, ''Boy Scouts of America v. Dale'' (2000) that challenged the Boy Scouts of America policy of excluding gay youth and adults *Alphonso David (born 1970), the first person of color to serve as president for the

, as of August 2019, served as a staff attorney for Lambda Legal where he worked on New York State's first same-sex marriage case, ''Hernandez v. Robles'' also the Former Deputy Secretary and Counsel for Civil Rights for New York State under Andrew Cuomo * Ellen DeGeneres (26 January 1958, Metairie, Louisiana), comedian, television host, actress, writer, producer, and LGBT activist * Stephen Donaldson (activist), Stephen Donaldson (1946–1996), early bisexual LGBT rights Activism, activist founder of the first American gay students' organization, first person to fight a discharge from the U.S. military for homosexuality, also an important figure in the modern Bisexual community, bisexual rights movement * Julie Dorf (born 1965, Milwaukee, Wisconsin), international LGBT human rights advocate and founder of OutRight Action International * Fran Drescher, (born 1957, Flushing, New York), outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist. * Mason J. Dunn (born 1985), lawyer, educator, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate based in Massachusetts. * John Duran * Sarah Kate Ellis (born 1971), President & CEO of

. * Steve Endean, (1948–1993), founder of the Human Rights Campaign Fund * Arden Eversmeyer (born 1931), Founder of Lesbians Over Age Fifty (LOAF) and the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project (OLOHP) * Matt Foreman (gay rights activist), Matt Foreman (born 1953), executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) * Barney Frank (born 1940), member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as a member of Congress of the United States, Congress from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013 * Aaron Fricke (born 1962), sued the Cumberland, Rhode Island school system in 1980 and won a landmark First Amendment case granting him the legal right to attend prom with another boy, an experience he chronicled in the gay coming-of-age memoir ''Reflections of a Rock Lobster'' * Lady Gaga, bisexual singer/songwriter who campaigned for the Don't ask, don't tell, DADT repeal; released pro-gay anthem Born This Way (song), "Born This Way" (2011) *Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), Beat poet and political activist. * Barbara Gittings (1932–2007), founder of the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis who also pushed for the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM). * Neil Giuliano *Alexander John Goodrum (1960–2002) was an African-American transgender civil rights activism, activist * Chad Griffin (born 1973), Former president of the

, and founder of

, a nonprofit organization that supports the plaintiffs in the Perry v. Brown, California Proposition 8 trial * James Gruber (1928–2011), original member of the Mattachine Society * Hardy Haberman, author, filmmaker, prominent member of the Leather/Fetish/BDSM community, and activist involved in founding of first LGBT group in Dallas, TX * David M. Hall, author of ''Allies at Work: Creating a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Inclusive Work Environment'', speaks to corporate audiences across the country, co-founder of Out & Equal Philadelphia. * Harry Hay (1912–2002), co-founder of the Mattachine Society * John Heilman * Essex Hemphill (1957–1995), African American poet * Daniel Hernandez Jr. (born 1990), member of Tucson's city commission on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, who was credited with saving the life of U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords after the 2011 Tucson shooting * Brenda Howard (1946–2005), bisexual LGBT rights Activism, activist, an instrumental figure in the immediate post-Stonewall era in New York City, also an important figure in the modern Bisexual community, bisexual rights movement * John Paul Hudson (1929–2002), activist, journalist, actor, and author; helped organize NYC's first gay pride parade following the Stonewall riots, serving as the parade's first grand marshal * Sally Huffer (born 1965), board member of multiple LGBT non profit organizations * Richard Isay (1934–2012) * Cheryl Jacques (born 1962), former member of the Massachusetts State Legislature and the president of the

from January through November 2004. She resigned from this post less than a month after the passage of 11 state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. * Helen G. James * Dale Jennings (activist), Dale Jennings (1917–2000), co-founder of the Mattachine Society * Marsha P. Johnson (1945–1992) * Cleve Jones (born 1954), conceived the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and worked with Harvey Milk; co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation *Christine Jorgensen (1926–1989), first person to become widely known for having sex reassignment surgery in the United States * Franklin E. Kameny, Frank Kameny (1925–2011), participant in many gay rights rallies of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably the push in 1972–1973 for the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM) * Norm Kent *Morris Kight (1919–2003), founder of Los Angeles' Gay and Lesbian Front and Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center * Lisa Kove (born 1958), executive director of the Department of Defense Federal Globe and President of Empowering Spirits Foundation * Larry Kramer (1935–2020), author and playwright who helped form the prominent gay rights organizations Gay Men's Health Crisis and AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) * Kiyoshi Kuromiya (1943–2000), author and civil rights, anti-war, gay liberation, and HIV/AIDS activist. * Janice Langbehn (born 1968), campaigner for same-sex marriage and same-sex hospital visitation after being denied access to her dying partner, Lisa Marie Pond, in 2007 * Cyndi Lauper (born 1953), founder of the True Colors Fund charity which promotes equality for members of the LGBT community * Malcolm L. Lazin * Audre Lorde * Courtney Love (born 1964), a musician and singer, has advocated for LGBT rights and acceptance since the beginning of her career in the early 1990s * Scott Long (human rights activist), Scott Long (born 1963), executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. * Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Phyllis Lyon (1924–2020), lesbian activist who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Del Martin * Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin (1921–2008), lesbian activist who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Phyllis Lyon * Tim McFeeley * Aldyn Mckean, singer and gay rights/AIDS activist. * Harvey Milk (1930–1978), openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California who was assassinated (along with mayor George Moscone) in 1978 by Dan White * David Nelson (Utah activist), David Nelson (born 1962), founder of Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats, and Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah. * Jack Nichols (activist), Jack Nichols (1937–2005), journalist, writer, activist and co-founder of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., with Frank Kameny *Barbara Noda, advocates for LGBT rights in the San Francisco Bay Area *Tyler Oakley * Romaine Patterson (1978–), lesbian talk show host and founder of Angel Action * Troy Perry * Charles Pitts * Sylvia Rivera * Brandan Robertson * Geena Rocero * Craig Rodwell *Abby Rubenfeld * Vito Russo * Bayard Rustin (1912–1987), openly gay civil rights activist, principal organizer and co-leader of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.; gay rights activist in later life * Ryan Sallans (born 1979), out trans man and public speaker – travels around US educating high school and college students on LGBT issues * Graciela Sanchez (born 1960), American social justice activist and founder of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center * José Sarria (born 1922 or 1923), first openly gay candidate for political office in the United States, founder of the Imperial Court System * Tully Satre * Dan Savage * Richard L. Schlegel (1927–2006), Pennsylvania activist whose wrongful termination suit is considered an early landmark case for gay rights. * Josh Seefried, United States Air Force first lieutenant and co-director of OutServe-SLDN, OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military. * Drew Shafer (1936–1989), gay activist from Kansas City, Missouri, known for bringing the homophile movement to KC, and publishing ''The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice''. * Michelangelo Signorile * Charles Silverstein (1935–2023), gay psychologist who was the founder of the ''Journal of Homosexuality'' and key in testifying against the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder.'''' * Ruth Simpson (activist), Ruth Simpson (1926–2008), founder of the first lesbian community center, former President of Daughters of Bilitis New York, author of ''From the Closet to the Courts'' * Nadine Smith (born 1965), LGBTQ+ rights activist * Joe Solmonese (born 1965), former political fundraiser and past president of the

* A. Latham Staples (born 1977), founder and Chairman of the Empowering Spirits Foundation, current President & CEO of EXUSMED, Inc. * Abby Stein (born 1991), advocate for transgender people of Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish background * Lou Sullivan * Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network * Urvashi Vaid (1958–2022), Indian-American activist who has worked for over 25 years promoting civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons. *Elisha Wiesel (born 1972), hedge fund manager and activist * Phill Wilson (born 1956, Chicago, Illinois), co-founder of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum and founder of The Black AIDS Institute. * Evan Wolfson *William E. Woods (1949–2008), a gay rights activist in Hawaii who in 1991 set in motion the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. * Chely Wright

Uruguay

* Delfina Martínez * Marcela Pini

Venezuela

* Tamara Adrián, lawyer, LGBT and trans activist who became Venezuela's first openly trans elected official * Daniel Arzola, writer, artist, and activist * Quiteria Franco * Feliciano Reyna

Vietnam

* Lương Thế Huy

Zambia

* Kapya Kaoma * John Abdallah Wambere

Zimbabwe

* Rikki Nathanson * Tsitsi Tiripano

References

External links

Gay rights and LGBTQI movements in Europe
at Encyclopedia of European History
LGBT Rights Movement & Activitsts
at Gale Publishing {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Lgbt Rights Activists LGBTQ rights activists, Lists of activists, LGBT rights activists Lists of LGBTQ-related people, Activists