Peter Adair

1943 – 1996

Film-maker best known for 1977’s Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives, offering a clear, detailed picture of the broad spectrum of the LGBTQ population.

Willem Arondéus

1894-1943

Dutch artist and author who joined the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II. His last words before being executed by the Nazis were “Tell people that homosexuals are not cowards.”

Gloria Anzaldua

1942-2004

Vexillologist, artist, activist and designer of the rainbow flag — the universal symbol of gay pride, hope and inclusion — who was playfully called the Betsy Ross of gay liberation.

Gilbert Baker

1951 – 2017

Vexillologist, artist, activist and designer of the rainbow flag — the universal symbol of gay pride, hope and inclusion — who was playfully called the Betsy Ross of gay liberation.

Bernice Bing

1936-1998)

San Francisco artist and activist whose emotive work combined Abstract Expressionism and Zen calligraphy to explore themes of cultural assimiliation and sexual identity.

Tullalah Bankhead

1902-1968

Openly “ambisextrous” stage and screen actress, gay icon, and pioneering civil rights activist who strongly and publicly opposed racism and segregation.

Bobbi Campbell

1952-1984

Early self-identified person with AIDS whose prolific writing helped inform the public, empower early sufferers, and destigmatize the condition.

Esther Eng

1914-1970

San Francisco native, affectionately known as Big Brother Ha, the first Chinese-American woman to produce a motion picture in Hollywood, direct a film in Hong Kong and film in color.

Leslie Feinberg

1949-2014

Radical activist and author whose book, Stone Butch Blues, familiarized readers with transgender, non-binary and genderqueer terms, pronouns, concepts, and politics.

Sally Gearhart

1931-2021

American teacher, radical feminist, science-fiction writer, and political activist.