Linda Gryczan

Lead Plaintiff to Legalize Gay Sex in Montana

Helena, MT

Linda Gryczan was born on September 23rd, 1953, the oldest of five siblings, and grew up in Western Colorado. At 11 years old, she read...
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Martin J. Jenkins

California Supreme Court Associate Justice

Los Angeles, CA

Justice Martin Jenkins, California’s first openly gay high court justice, has spent much of his life “reconciling” his main identities: his Blackness, his queerness, and...
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Fenton Johnson

kentucky-born author and educator

Tucson, AZ

Fenton Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1953, the youngest of nine children in a bourbon-making family. His parents named him after a monk at...
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John Killacky

disabled writer, arts administrator, Vermont legislator

South Burlington, VT

John Killacky was born on June 24, 1952 in Chicago, and grew up in a working-class Irish Catholic family, the eldest son out of five...
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Sheila Kuehl

Child Actor, first out LGBT legislator in CA

Santa Monica, CA

Sheila Kuehl was born on February 8, 1941. Her family moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles when she was 2 years old because her...
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Cole Nicole LeFavour

Idaho's First Out Elected Official

Boise, ID

Cole Nicole LeFavour was born on February 8, 1964 in Aspen, Colorado. Raised by unconventional parents in a loving, nurturing household, they grew up with...
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Mark Leno

First Openly Gay Man Elected to CA State Senate

San Francisco, CA

Mark Leno was born on September 24, 1951 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mark grew up in a reform Jewish household; his social justice-oriented parents taught him...
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Crystal Lynne Little

Navy veteran, transgender activist

Bay Saint Louis, MS

Crystal Little was born in 1943 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and named Charles. The second of seven kids in his family, Charles never felt a...
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Lee Marquardt

late-blooming lesbian activist

Los Angeles, CA

Lee LeFaive Marquardt was born in 1942 in Jackson, Michigan. During World War II, Lee’s parents worked in factories to support their seven children. Afterwards,...
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Gail A. Marquis

women’s basketball player, 1976 silver medal Olympian

Jersey City, NJ

Gail Marquis was born in New York City in 1954 and grew up in St. Albans, Queens, NY. She grew up in a large family...
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John McDonald

businessman, gay philanthropy visionary

Palm Springs, CA

John McDonald was born in 1932 in Pennsylvania, and grew up in Los Angeles. He received his BA in geology from UCLA, and his law...
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Harriet Miller and Monica Wehrle

Lesbian Activist, Women’s Rights Advocate

Fort Wayne, IN

Harriet Miller and Monica Wehrle’s 48-year Midwestern love story is defined by viewing the world as if women matter, as if lesbians matter.  Harriet was...
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Roland Palencia

PROFESSOR, TRANSFORMATIONAL EXECUTIVE COACH, FILMMAKER

Los Angeles, CA

Legendary LGBTQ activist Roland Palencia believes that “many times the role of children is to finish the unfinished business of their parents.” Roland inherited significant...
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Waiyde Palmer

Agitator living longterm with HIV/AIDS

Oakland, CA

Waiyde Palmer was born on October 17th, 1960 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has four siblings, but is the youngest by a full decade; as he...
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Suzanne Pharr

Co-founder, Southerners on New Ground

Little Rock, AR

Suzanne Pharr was born in 1939, the youngest of eight kids, and raised on a farm near Lawrenceville, Georgia. From day one, she was in...
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Steve Pieters

pastor, HIV survivor, “Eyes of Tammy Faye” interviewee

Los Angeles, CA

Steve Pieters was born on August 2nd, 1952 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He grew up on the campus of Phillips Academy, Andover, where his father worked...
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