Judy Abdo

Santa Monica mayor, shelter founder

Santa Monica, CA

Judy Abdo (née Ulrich) was born on October 23, 1943. She describes her early childhood in Inglewood, California as “idyllic” — she hosted classmates to...
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Don Bachardy

Painter; Christopher Isherwood’s lover

Santa Monica, CA

Don Bachardy was born May 18, 1934 in Los Angeles, CA. Growing up, he worked in a grocery store and spent his free time going...
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Terri de la Peña

Chicana writer, early Santa Monica family descendant

Santa Monica, CA

Terri de la Peña was born on February 20, 1947 in Santa Monica, California. Her father was a descendant of the Marquez family, one of...
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Marianne Diaz

community mental health activist

Phillips Ranch, Pomona, CA

Marianne Diaz was born in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in Lennox, a poor neighborhood in the flight path of Los Angeles International Airport....
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L. Frank

Tongva, Ajachmem, and Rarámuri artist, indigenous language activist

Santa Rosa, CA

Editor’s Note: L. Frank’s pronoun is pó, calling us to practice Native language to convey two-spirit and Native identity nuances the English language cannot. Frank...
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Jewel Thais-Williams

queer black dance club founder

Los Angeles, CA

Jewel Thais-Williams was born on May 9, 1939 in Gary, Indiana. The fifth of seven children, Jewel moved with her family to San Diego when...
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Chuck Williams

businessman; founder, The Williams Institute

Malibu, CA

Chuck Williams was born in Los Angeles to parents who moved to California to get away from their uptight religious families in Texas. From early...
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Mia Yamamoto

Japanese-American transgender attorney and trailblazer

Los Angeles, CA

Mia Frances Yamamoto’s parents were among 17,000 American civilians of Japanese ancestry who were interred by the US government at Poston, Arizona after the Japanese...
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