Ruth Vanita

South Asian author, activist, and professor

Missoula, MT

Ruth Vanita was born on December 19, 1955 in Rangoon, Burma. She grew up in West Delhi, where she filled her days playing with neighborhood...
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Ron Vanscoyk

rural gay men's community builder

Ukiah, CA

Ron Vanscoyk was born in 1949 in Logansport, Indiana, and moved with his family to San Diego in 1953. Although he was attracted to boys...
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Carmen Vázquez

Puerto Rican-American activist and health care advocate

Brooklyn, NY

Carmen Vázquez was born on January 13, 1949 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico to a WWII veteran and a seamstress. Her parents migrated to New York...
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Bruce Vilanch

Emmy-winning comedian

West Hollywood, CA

Bruce Vilanch was born in 1948 in New York City, and raised by his adoptive parents Jonas and Henne in Paterson, New Jersey. He developed...
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Dick Wagner

Wisconsin LGBTQ politician, historian

Madison, WI

Dick Wagner was born in 1943 in Dayton, Ohio into a traditional German Catholic family (his great grandparents ran a successful beer brewery). Dick attended...
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Wakefield

International HIV/AIDS health advocate

Seattle, WA

Wakefield was born on September 12, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. Both his parents served as role models of strong civic leadership — his father was...
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Honey Ward

"The Experience" workshop leader, wellness activist

Santa Fe, NM

Honey Ward was born and raised in Southern California. At the age of 26, she participated in The Advocate Experience, a transformational weekend workshop (later...
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Sändra Washington

Lincoln City Councilmember, Racial Equity Advocate

Lincoln, NE

Sändra Washington was born on October 6th, 1960, in Columbus, Ohio. She and her identical twin sister, Sharon, spent their first four years in Westerville,...
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Ragland Watkins

interior designer, art gallery director

New York, NY

Rags Watkins was born in San Francisco on Halloween night, 1948. After his parents separated, Rags lived in San Francisco with his mother Peggy Tolk-Watkins,...
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Watts Family

mormon parents and their gay son

Provo, UT

Gary Watts was born in 1940 in Logan, Utah into a committed Mormon family. He attended Utah State University, where he was captain of the...
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William Waybourn

AIDS community activist; founder, The Victory Fund

Linden, VA

William Waybourn was born in 1947 in Houston, Texas, and raised on a farm in Matador, Texas, 95 miles east of Lubbock – in other...
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Robin Webb

Concert Pianist, Composer, Activist Living with HIV/AIDS

Cleveland, MS

Robin Webb was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1957. Robin’s parents loved him and his two brothers unconditionally; he describes them as the “best parents...
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Tim White Eagle

Performance Artist and Musical Director

Seattle, WA

Timothy White Eagle Turner was born in Tucson, Arizona in 1966. His mother was an enrolled member of Mohave (CRIT) tribe. He was adopted by...
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Corky Wick

founder, Mothertongue Feminist Theater Collective

San Francisco, CA

Corinne Sue Wick, today known as Corky, was born in 1935 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin into a large Jewish family. She went to the University of...
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Karen Williams

Black Comic, Host, and Humor Educator

Oxford, OH

Karen Williams was born on August 12, 1952 in the Soundview area of the Bronx. Karen’s parents were only 18 years old when she was...
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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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