Lea Hopkins (born 1944) is an American

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

activist and poet from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, best known for founding Kansas City's

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

Early life

Hopkins grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She realized she was gay at age 13. In 1962, she graduated from Sumner High School.

Career

Hopkins was the first Black

Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a cocktail waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a straples ...

in Kansas City, and the fourth overall in the country. She later became a professional model with the Barbizon Agency, and helped her coworkers negotiate for higher pay. Hopkins has published several books of poetry, and has written for ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

''.

Activism

Hopkins moved to

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 ...

in the 1970s, and became involved with the gay liberation movement there. She returned to Kansas City in 1974. Shortly afterward, she joined the city's chapter of the

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...

. She also went on to co-found Kansas City's

Christopher Street Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue. It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher St ...

organization and the Gay Injustices Fund. In 1977, Hopkins organized Kansas City's first pride parade, which numbered about 25-30 people. A few weeks later, in July 1977, she organized a protest against

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (March 25, 1940 – December 16, 2024) was an American singer and anti-gay rights activist. She had three top 20 hits in the United States in the early 1960s. She was the 1958 Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ...

, who was speaking at a bookstore in the city. In April 1980 she was featured in ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

''. In August 1980, she was a featured speaker at the Southeastern Conference of Lesbians and Gay Men in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. She was again a speaker at the conference in June 1986 in New Orleans. In subsequent years, Hopkins worked for

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 ...

and was an advisory board member of the Lesbian and Gay Community Centre in the neighborhood of Westport.{{Cite book , last=Diuguid , first=Lewis , title=Discovering the Real America: Toward a More Perfect Union , publisher=Universal Publishers , year=2007 , isbn=9781599424217 , pages=322 , language=en In the 1990s, Hopkins served as a spokeswoman for GLAAD on "Out There", a public access program by and about queer people from Kansas City. In 2022, Hopkins was named Grand Marshal of that year's Kansas City Pride parade.

Personal life

Hopkins had one son, Jason (died 1997), whom she conceived with a friend's help.

References

Living people 1944 births 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers African-American female models American LGBTQ rights activists African-American LGBTQ people Lesbian poets Activists from Kansas City, Missouri LGBTQ people from Missouri