Cliff Arnesen

VETERAN & BISEXUAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

Canton, MA

Cliff Arnesen was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1948. His father was an alcoholic merchant marine and longshoreman. His...
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Kylar W. Broadus

lawyer; founder, Trans People of Color Coalition

Washington D.C., DC

Kylar William Broadus was born on August 28, 1963 in Fayette, Missouri. His parents—William, a truck driver, and Fannie, a supervisor of housekeeping—instilled in their...
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Grethe Cammermeyer

Bronze Star veteran, DADT challenger

Langley, WA

Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, commonly known as Grethe, was born on March 24, 1942 in Oslo, Norway. At age 9, she and her family immigrated to...
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Jim Darby

teacher, veteran, activist

Chicago, IL

James Darby was born in Chicago on February 26, 1932 where he attended parochial and public schools. His family was devoutly Catholic, hardscrabble and poor....
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Sharon Day

Indigenous HIV community activist; Water Walker

St Paul, MN

Sharon Day was born in 1951 in Northern Minnesota. Both of her parents were enrolled members of Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. She grew up...
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Diane Divelbess

Artist, professor

Langley, WA

Born June 21, 1935, in Phoenix, Arizona, Diane Divelbess has been “an artist all her life.”  She received a BA degree from Scripps College and...
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Phyllis Randolph Frye

first openly transgender judge in U.S.

Houston, TX

At her birth in 1948, Phyllis Randolph Frye was named Phillip. Growing up in Texas, Phillip became an Eagle Scout and was the commander of...
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Manuel Garza

MATTACHINE ACTIVIST, HAIRDRESSER

New York, NY

Legacy of Voices is an oral history project created in 2008 by Lara Spotts and Brian O’Donnell, inspired by their realization that to better understand...
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Monica Helms

Transgender Flag Creator, Activist, and Navy Veteran

Marietta, GA

Monica Helms was born on March 8, 1951, in Sumter, South Carolina. She was born into a family with a strong military background, spending most...
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Lorri L. Jean

Former CEO of Los Angeles LGBT Center

Los Angeles, CA

Lorri L. Jean was born on March 7th, 1957 in Boise, Idaho. She was the eldest child on the family farm, and she was handed...
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Phyllis Jenkins

Award-winning nurse, great-great-grandmother, and healthcare envoy to Africa

New York, NY

Legacy of Voices is an oral history project created in 2008 by Lara Spotts and Brian O’Donnell, inspired by their realization that to better understand...
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Zander Keig

Award-Winning Latine Social Worker, Trans Veteran

Orlando, FL

Zander Keig was born in Torrance, CA, on July 7, 1966. His father joined the Marine Corps and then worked as an engineer, while his...
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David Mixner

CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZER & ACTIVIST, AUTHOR, PLAYWRIGHT

New York, NY

David Mixner was born on August 16, 1946, and grew up dirt poor in the town of Elmer, New Jersey. David says his early values...
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Jennifer Pritzker

PHILANTHROPIST, MILITARY MUSEUM FOUNDER, LGBTQ+ ADVOCATE

Chicago, IL

Born on August 13, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. Col. (IL) Jennifer Natalya Pritzker is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army, as well...
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Alan Steinman

coast guard physician, anti-DADT activist

Olympia, WA

Alan Steinman was born in Newark, Ohio on February 7, 1945. He graduated from MIT in 1966 and went on to receive his M.D. from...
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Jean-Nickolaus Tretter

LGBTQ historian

St Paul, MN

Jean Tretter was born in 1946, in Little Falls, Minnesota, into a German-Catholic family who had immigrated to the United States a century before. During...
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