BILLIE JEAN KING is an American former World I

Number One tennis player. She c o was one of the first prominent n s : openly lesbian athletes, and W h o

advocated for gender equality M throughout her career. She is a d e

perhaps most remembered for L G her 1973 match against former B T men's champion Bobby Riggs, H i s t o

which became known as the r "Battle of the Sexes". After y publicly daring King to play him, she defeated Riggs in the match - which was viewed by an audience of 90 million. King is still regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. VIRGINIA WOOLF was a British essayist, novelist I

and literary critic - born in c o

London in 1882 - who is today n s : regarded as one of the iconic W h o

literary figures of the 20th M

Century. She was a founding a d e

member of the Bloomsbury L G

Group: writers and intellectuals B T whose works influenced modern H i s t o

attitudes towards feminism and r sexuality. Woolf openly y discussed the rights of women, also known for her open contribution to mental health visibility. In 1922, Woolf met and began an intimate affair with Vita Sackville-West. Their love letters have since been published. SALLY RIDE was an American astronaut and I

engineer, who became the first c o

American woman, the youngest n s :

American astronaut, and the first W h o

known lesbian or gay astronaut M to travel to space in 1983. Ride a d e

joined NASA's space program in L G

1978. Prior to her first flight as a B T crew member for space shuttle H i s t o

Challenger, she faced ridicule in r the media due to her gender - y and was asked belittling questions during press conferences. After her career in NASA, Ride co-wrote seven books encouraging children to study science. BAYARD RUSTIN was a gay civil rights activist and I

leader across American social c o movements. He organised the n s :

1947 Freedom Ride and became W h o

a strategist for the Civil Rights M

Movement from 1955-1968. He a d e

was the chief organiser of the L G

1963 March on Washington for B T

Jobs and Freedom, where Martin H i s t o

Luther King Jr delivered his "I r Have a Dream" speech. Rustin y was routinely attacked by political opponents due to his sexuality, and often avoided being a public spokesperson. In the 1980s, he overcame that and publicly advocated for gay and lesbian issues. LAVERNE COX is an American actor and LGBT I

rights advocate, who rose to c o mainstream prominence in the n s :

Netflix series "Orange is the New W h o

Black" for which she became; M the first out transgender person a d e

to be nominated for a Primetime L G

Emmy Award for acting, to have B T a Madame Tussauds wax figure H i s t o

and to appear on the cover of r TIME magazine. She has y consistently used her platform to increase awareness of trans issues, championing the rights of trans people of colour. She received an Honorary Doctorate from The New School for her advocacy work. PARIS LEES is a British journalist, media I

personality, and transgender c o rights campaigner. Lees became n s : the first trans woman to present W h o

on BBC Radio 1 and Channel 4, M using her position to advocate a d e

for greater awareness of the L G prejudices faced by trans B T people. In 2018 she became the H i s t o

first trans woman to appear in an r edition of British Vogue. She y later became a permanent columnist for the fashion magazine. Lees is currently involved in the All About Trans project, to change media perceptions of trans people. was a British scientist and I

mathematician. During WWII, c o

Turing initiated major n s : advancements in code-breaking, W h o

a key factor in enabling the Allies M to defeat the Nazis. Yet in 1952 a d e

he was convicted of L G

'homosexual acts' and accepted B T chemical castration as an H i s t o

alternative to prison. In 1954, he r died of cyanide poisoning, which y an inquest determined as suicide. He was posthumously pardoned in 2013, providing impetus for the "" of 2018 which granted pardons to all men convicted of same- sex relations in . STEFAN HOGGAN is a Scottish retired para I

swimmer and triathlete. Born c o with part of his right arm missing, n s :

Hoggan was subject to bullying W h o

at school but built resilience M through sport. Refusing to allow a d e

his disability to interfere, he L G broke through as an upcoming B T athlete, representing the UK in a H i s t o

series of major international r sporting events. Hoggan is a y member of Scottish Disability Sport's Young Persons' Sport Panel, and has continued to open doors for young athletes. He has spoken out against bullying and is an advocate for LGBT education in schools. was an iconic 19th Century Irish I

poet and playwright, known for c o his novel "The Picture of Dorian n s :

Gray" and play "The Importance W h o

of Being Earnest". In 1895, at the M height of his career, Wilde took a d e

the Marquess of Queensberry - L G the father of his lover Lord B T

Alfred Douglas - to court for H i s t o

criminal libel. The trial revealed r evidence that forced Wilde to y drop his charges but resulted in his own arrest for "homosexual activity". He was convicted and sentenced to two years of hard labour. Upon his release, he moved to Paris, France: where he died, aged 46 and in exile. ALICIA GARZA is an American activist, writer, I

self-identified queer woman and c o co-founder of the Black Lives n s :

Matter movement. Garza is W h o

credited with inspiring the M rallying call following a 2013 a d e

open love-letter to black people L G which she published on B T

Facebook, closing with "...our H i s t o

lives matter - Black Lives r Matter". In 2015, Garza led the y Freedom Ride to Ferguson, Missouri - where she helped to establish chapters of BLM across the States, and has organised a series of protests against police brutality in the United States. AUDRE LORDE was a Caribbean-American I

writer, civil rights activist and c o feminist. A prominent essayist n s : and poets; Lorde discussed W h o

intersectionality, gender, M sexuality and race, whilst being a d e

credited for her intense L G emotional expression. Lorde B T publicly came out as a lesbian H i s t o

by reading 'Love Poem' in 1973. r Lorde politicised every aspect of y herself, including her battle with cancer, articulating her experiences in powerful prose. Poet Sonia Sanchez describes Lorde as "...a burst of light at a time when a lot of darkness was moving amongst us." MARK ASHTON was a British gay rights activist, I

who co-founded Lesbians and c o

Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). n s :

The group operated during the W h o

UK miners' strike of 1984-85, M raising funds for the striking a d e

miners. The personal bonds L G forged between the miners and B T

LGBT activists had a lasting H i s t o

legacy. A resolution supporting r LGBT rights passed at the y Labour Party's 1985 conference, after block voting from the National Union of Mineworkers. Ashton died shortly after being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1987. The group LGSM is the focus of the 2014 movie "Pride". MAUREEN COLQUHOUN was a British economist and I

former Labour Party politician. c o

Elected as the Member of n s :

Parliament for Northampton W h o

North in 1974, she was a vocal M advocate of women's causes. In a d e

1975, Colquhoun became L G

Britain's first known gay or B T lesbian MP, and began a H i s t o

relationship with Barbara Todd. r Afterwards, she was deselected y by her constituency party, who claimed her sexuality and feminism was the reason why. Whilst this was overturned by Labour's National Executive Committee, she lost her seat in the next election. SYLVIA RIVERA was an American transgender I

rights activist and a founding c o member of both the US Gay n s :

Liberation Front and S.T.A.R - a W h o

group which provided housing M and support to homeless trans a d e

youth. A regular attendee at the L G

Stonewall Inn, she is said to have B T been present during the 1969 H i s t o

riots. Throughout her life, Rivera r was homeless and spent time y living at the Christopher Street Docks in New York City. She always fought for those within the LGBT community whom she felt were being left behind by mainstream society and the wider rights movement. MEGAN RAPINOE is an American professional I

football player, who is the co- c o captain of Reigns FC in the n s :

National Women's Soccer W h o

League. She helped the United M

States win the 2015 FIFA a d e

Women's World Cup and gold at L G

2012 London Olympics. Rapinoe B T began playing football at an H i s t o

early age, whilst growing up in r California. She has been y outspoken about the stereotyping of lesbians and women in sport, and in 2019 was named the Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated. She is an advocate of many LGBT rights organisations. GILBERT BAKER was an American artist, best I

known for being the original c o designer of the rainbow flag - a n s : global symbol of LGBT equality. W h o

In 1978, he hand stitched M together brightly coloured fabric a d e

into the rainbow flag, which was L G first displayed at the San B T

Francisco of that H i s t o

year. In 1994, Baker created a r mile long rainbow flag - the y world's longest at the time - to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the uprising. His flag has become a worldwide symbol, and global landmarks have been lit up in Baker's rainbow colours. MARSHA P. JOHNSON was an American civil rights I

activist and 'street queen' from c o

Manhattan, NYC. A fixture within n s : the Christopher Street LGBT W h o

community, Johnson is best M known for her involvement in the a d e

1969 Stonewall uprising; where L G patrons resisted oppressive B T police raids. She was involved in H i s t o

the gay liberation movement r and was a founding member of y S.T.A.R (Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries), where she advocated for homeless trans people, drag queens and runaway youth. Johnson died under suspicious circumstances in 1992 but her legacy lives on. STORMÉ DELARVERIE was a drag king, butch lesbian I

and civil rights activist who is c o known for her involvement in the n s : uprising at the Stonewall Inn in W h o

Manhattan, 1969. Described by M friends as rebellious, DeLarverie a d e

is considered the spark that L G ignited the riots after being B T clubbed by police officers H i s t o

during a raid. Turning to the r observing crowd, she is alleged y to have cried: "Why don't you do something?" - after which the bar's patrons fought back. Later, she was a volunteer street patrol worker, protecting those who attended the city's lesbian bars from violence. HANS SCHOLL was a founder of the White Rose I

resistance group, which c o emerged in 1942 in Nazi n s :

Germany. Along with his sister W h o

Sophie Scholl, fellow students M and academics at the University a d e

of Munich; Scholl organised the L G group, which created and B T distributed anti-Nazi leaflets. H i s t o

Years earlier, Scholl was r arrested for being in a same-sex y relationship, which he was open about. Contemporary scholars regard his trial for as being a crucial factor behind the resistance of both Scholl and his sister. Both were arrested and executed in 1943. CAROL ANN DUFFY is a Scottish poet and playwright, I

considered one of Britain's most c o successful modern poets. She n s : became the first woman, Scot, W h o

and lesbian to have been M appointed Britain's Poet a d e

Laureate in 2009. Her poetry L G explores themes including B T contemporary culture, gender H i s t o

issues, and social inequality. r Duffy describes her own style as y adopting "simple words, but in a complicated way". She holds honorary doctorates from numerous universities, and her work is studied in schools throughout Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. CHRISTINE BURNS is a British trans rights I

campaigner, known for her work c o with "Press For Change (PFC)" - n s : which advocates for transgender W h o

equality across the UK, using M social education and legal case a d e

work. PFC worked with the L G

Home Office to develop the B T principles of the Gender H i s t o

Recognition Act (2004), with r Burns becoming one of the first y to receive a gender recognition certificate when the bill passed. She is also an internationally recognised health advisor, and the author of "Trans Britain: Our Journey From the Shadows". SYLVESTER JAMES was an American singer and I

activist. He is best known for his c o song "You Make Me Feel (Mighty n s :

Real)", released in 1978. Publicly W h o

gay and famous for his M androgynous appearance, a d e

Sylvester was a fixture within the L G

San Francisco LGBT community B T both before and after he H i s t o

achieved commercial success. r Diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, he y sought to raise awareness of the impact that the virus was having within the African-American community. Prior to his death in 1988, he ensured that royalties from his music would be donated to AIDS charities. BOOAN TEMPLE is a British feminist and lesbian I

rights activist, who is best c o remembered today as being one n s : of the campaigners who W h o

stormed the BBC News studio in M

1988 during the live six o'clock a d e

news to protest against the L G introduction of , the B T law which banned "promotion of H i s t o

homosexuality" in schools across r the UK. Temple said that the y group's efforts took place because "by getting on the news, we would be the news". She would continue to campaign against Section 28 until the law was finally repealed over a decade later. SHANE ORTEGA is a Native American retired Staff I

Sergeant, who was the first c o openly transgender person to n s : serve in the United States Army. W h o

From 2008, Ortega began to M advocate for the rights of LGBT a d e

people serving in the military, at L G a time when the Don't Ask, Don't B T

Tell law - which barred lesbian, H i s t o

gay or bisexual people from r serving openly - was still in y place. Since retiring, Ortega has remained outspoken about the experiences of LGBT Americans in the military, and has campaigned against Donald Trump's 2017 ban on trans people serving in the US Army. RUBY ROSE is an Australian model and actor, I

who rose to global prominence c o in her role in the Netflix series n s :

"Orange Is the New Black". Rose W h o

came out as a lesbian at the age M of 12, and suffered bullying and a d e

taunts from other pupils at L G school. An outspoken advocate B T for LGBT equality, in 2019 she H i s t o

was cast as the titular character r on the television series y Batwoman - which is the first ever superhero series to be led by a lesbian character. Rose describes her gender expression as gender-fluid, and has spoken about who she is to let young people know they aren't alone. JACKIE FORSTER was a news reporter and lesbian I

rights activist. Born in London, c o she attended St Leonard's n s :

School in Fife, Scotland. After W h o

coming out publicly, she joined M the Campaign for Homosexual a d e

Equality and attended the first L G

British Pride march in 1972. She B T was a founder of the UK Gay H i s t o

Liberation Front as well as r Sappho magazine - which ran y from 1972-1981, covering and supporting lesbian causes. Until her death, Forster was a member of the Lesbian Archive and Information Centre (LAIC) - which is now part of the Glasgow Women's Library. PATRICK HARVIE is a Member of the Scottish I

Parliament. From 1997 until his c o election, he worked at the Gay n s :

Men's Project, and during this W h o

time he was active in M campaigning for the repeal of a d e

Section 28, which banned the L G

"promotion of homosexuality" in B T schools. Shortly after his first H i s t o

election win in 2003, Harvie r proposed civil partnership y legislation - which sparked debate around the issue. In 2008, he was elected as co- convener of the Scottish Green Party - a historic move, as he became the first out bisexual party leader in Scotland. RITA MAE BROWN is an American author, feminist I

and lesbian rights activist, who c o was a key participant in the US n s :

Gay Liberation Movement in the W h o

1960s. Brown protested the M

National Organisation for a d e

Women's exclusion of lesbian L G women and was involved in the B T famous 'Lavender Menace' zap - H i s t o

which was organised by an r informal group of lesbian y feminists - during the Second Congress to Unite Women in 1970. She co wrote 'The Woman Identified Woman' manifesto, now considered a foundational turning point document in the movement for women's rights. TIM HOPKINS is a Scottish campaigner, who is I

a founding member of LGBT c o charity The Equality Network. He n s : campaigned against Section 28 W h o

in the 1980s, and helped to M organise Scotland's first gay a d e

pride march in 1995. Hopkins has L G played a key role in most of B T

Scotland's LGBT policy and H i s t o

legislative advancements; r notably including the repeal of y Section 28, the introduction of LGBT-inclusive hate crime laws and equal marriage. In 2015, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh, in which he was described as a tireless activist. PEDRO ZAMORA was a Cuban-American I

television personality and c o

HIV/AIDS activist. With his n s : appearance on MTV's "The Real W h o

World: San Francisco", Zamora M became one of the first gay men a d e

living with AIDS to appear on L G national television. His B T commitment ceremony with his H i s t o

partner, Sean Sasser, was the r first ever televised same-sex y ceremony. Zamora made his career as an AIDS educator, lecturing at schools, colleges and churches across the country. After his death, then- President Bill Clinton publicly thanked Zamora for his work. BARBARA GITTINGS was an American activist, and I

organiser of the New York c o chapter of Daughters of Bilitis, n s : the USA's first lesbian rights W h o

organisation. Gittings was M involved in many of the earliest a d e

LGBT actions and movements L G across the States. In the 1960s, B T she co-led the first protests H i s t o

against the ban on the r employment of gay people in y the US Government. Later, she became a leading voice in the movement urging the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness. She also fought against gay conversion therapy. LARRY KRAMER is an American author, I

playwright, and activist. He co- c o founded both the Gay Men's n s :

Health Crisis in 1982 during the W h o

early days of the AIDS epidemic, M and AIDS Coalition To Unleash a d e

Power (ACT UP) - a direct action L G advocacy group. Frustrated with B T the apathy towards those H i s t o

affected by the epidemic, and r inaccessible treatment, Kramer y became a prominent voice for a community which had been disregarded. Kramer was tireless in his efforts to raise awareness. His award-winning autobiographical play 'The Normal Heart' explores this era. LADY PHYLL OPOKU-GYIMAH is a British LGBT rights I

campaigner, the co-founder and c o

Executive Director of UK Black n s :

Pride - founded in 2005 to give a W h o

voice to minority communities M within the wider movement. She a d e

has been outspoken about her L G experiences as a black, lesbian B T woman - and the various H i s t o

prejudices and challenges that r she has both faced and y overcome. In 2016, she publicly refused an MBE in the New Year Honours to protest the persecution of LGBT people across the Commonwealth, under laws put in place by the former British Empire. DAVID LEE PEARSON is a multiple gold medallist I

Equestrian and Paralympian, c o considered one of the most n s : successful athletes in British W h o

history. Throughout his career, M he has won 30 gold a d e

medals representing Britain for L G

European, World, and B T

Paralympic titles. Born with H i s t o

Arthrogryposis Multiplex r Congenita, Pearson lives with y plastic splints around his legs and was unable to stand on his feet until he was 6 years old. Ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Pearson was outspoken in protest of Russia's anti-gay policies. KATHARINA LINDNER was a German academic and I

footballer, who was the striker c o for Glasgow City Football Club n s : from 2005 until 2011. In her time W h o

with the team, the club won five M

Scottish Premier Women's a d e

League titles, two Scottish L G

Women's cups and two Scottish B T

Women's Premier League cups. H i s t o

She has been described as "one r of the finest players ever to play y in Scotland". Lindner was also a lecturer at the University of Stirling, and specialised in gender, sports and queer theory. Her most cited work critically analysed how women are objectified in media. JANELLE MONÁE is an American singer, songwriter I

and actor. Throughout her c o career, she has received eight n s :

Grammy Award nominations W h o

Themes in her music include M race, sexuality, and women's a d e

empowerment and liberation. L G

She has been outspoken against B T gender stereotyping, racism and H i s t o

misogyny - and has advocated r for LGBT young people, y dedicating her third studio album to those experiencing bullying at school. Monae has said that she identifies with both bisexuality and pansexuality, and in 2020 she tweeted the hashtag #IAmNonBinary.