Sylvia Rivera was lauded for her courage in the Stonewall riots. Harvey Milk campaigned tirelessly for gay rights. And most people recognize their names, because multiple places and institutions are named after them.
But there were many other transformative figures in L.G.B.T.Q. history who worked under the radar to effect change.
Lorenza Böttner was one. A transgender woman, she lost her arms as a child, then taught herself to paint sensual, visually arresting self-portraits with her mouth and feet.
E. Lynn Harris reshaped a segment of the publishing industry with novels about glamorous and successful Black men who loved other men.
And Cecilia Gentili, an undocumented sex worker, used her experiences and gift for storytelling to lobby for the rights of transgender people.
The adversity they faced didn’t keep them from living authentic lives — or from helping others to do so. Here are their stories, and those of a few more like them.
1972-2024
Cecilia Gentili
Ms. Gentili liked to joke that she had a master’s degree in being an immigrant, a sex worker, a trans woman and an addict. Each experience shaped her activism. She was also a compelling storyteller who used that talent to lobby for trans rights.
She was a lead plaintiff in a successful lawsuit against the Trump administration, which sought to undo protections for trans people in the Affordable Care Act. She also lobbied for the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act in New York in 2019. Read her obituary.
1946-1983
Jobriath
He was known as the American Bowie for his space-alien persona and theatrical performances. (In his debut appearance, he wore a magenta one-piece suit with a bubble helmet that unfurled into flower petals.) Being one of the first openly gay rock stars cost him his career, but he remained unapologetically himself. “I’m a true fairy,” he said. “There’s a lot of people running around, putting makeup on and stuff, just because it’s chic. I just want to say that I’m no pretender.” Read his obituary.
1959-1994
Lorenza Böttner
After losing her arms in a childhood accident, Ms. Böttner learned to use her mouth and feet to create an astonishing oeuvre of self-portraits. She painted canvases with her feet while dancing, used makeup to alter her face dramatically in photographs and once depicted herself as the Venus de Milo.
“I wanted to show the beauty of the crippled body,” she said. “I saw how many statues were admired for their beauty and, through an accident, they, too, had lost their arms — but have lost nothing of their aesthetic appeal.” Read her obituary.
1955-2009
E. Lynn Harris
He was a novelist whose protagonists — affluent, powerful Black men who were athletes, lawyers and businessmen — struggled with their attraction to both men and women. Mr. Harris lived openly as a gay man, but drew on the feelings of denial and shame he had experienced for years to illustrate the dilemmas his characters encountered.
After quitting his job as a computer salesman, he saw 10 of his books become New York Times best-sellers. More than four million copies are in print.
“He wasn’t considered a literary writer,” his agent said. “He always said he’d like to learn someday to be a good writer, and the people around him all said, ‘Keep still.’ Because his writing touched people.” Read his obituary.
1951-1991
Lou Sullivan
Mr. Sullivan was a gay transgender writer and activist who challenged the assumption that transgender men would naturally lead straight lives after transitioning. Assigned female at birth, he was repeatedly denied care because he was attracted to men. He spent much of his life confronting ideas about masculinity, and helped build resources and a community for people who identify as female-to-male.
Of participating in the 1981 pride parade in San Francisco, he wrote: “My opened shirt blew in the wind — the sun tanning my stomach — feeling lean and alive and beautiful — saying I am a man — saying I love men.” Read his obituary.
1946-2025
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
She emerged from homelessness and poverty to become a community leader with a mordant sense of humor and the desire to help younger trans people. In 2023, The Guardian called her “the most celebrated trans activist and elder alive today.”
She boycotted Pride parades when organizers bowed to corporations, spat in a police officer’s face at the Stonewall riot in New York in 1969, drove San Francisco’s first needle-exchange van and ran a nursing service for gay men with AIDS. In 2015, her life became the subject of the documentary “Major!” Read her obituary.
1943-2000
Kiyoshi Kuromiya
Born in an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II, he became a self-taught expert on AIDS after he was diagnosed with the disease in 1989. In Philadelphia, he supported AIDS patients by providing them with free internet access and running an underground organization that supplied free marijuana to alleviate pain.
Working on a computer in a small apartment, he communicated with patients, activists and policymakers around the world. His online social campaign was an early testament to the power of the internet. Read his obituary.
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