Celebrate Women's History Month LGBTQ Pioneers

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa

We recognize Gloria for the pioneering role she played in literature.

One of the first openly gay Chicana writers, she was an unashamed lesbian and Latinx person.  This helped influence her works that forged thinking about the feminist, queer, and Latinx experience. 

Anzaldúa is celebrated for her literary and scholar

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Tammy Baldwin.

We recognize Tammy today for the pioneering role they played in politics.

The first to openly gay person to be elected to the United States Senate, she has shattered a barrier that have allowed others to come along with her.

A life long record of public service, she has been a  champion for fairness, equality, and opportunity.  H

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Ellen Marie Barrett.

We recognize Ellen  for the pioneering role she played in the world of religion.

Barrett was the first openly LGBT person to be ordained a priest in the Episcopalian Church in 1977.  Her appointment by Bishop Paul Moore, Jr. was met with much push back.

Having women appointed to the priesthood was a recent occurrence for th

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring the Honorable Deborah Batts.

We recognize Judge Batts for the pioneering role she played in the legal world.

The first openly LGBTQ person to be nominated to the Federal District Court Judge position, she was officially appointed to the position of US District Judge for the Southern District of New York in 1994.

As an openly lesbian lawyer and 

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Gladys Bentley.

We recognize Ms. Bentley for the pioneering role she played in music.

Coming up in the Harlem Renaissance, she embraced a masculine persona entertaining blacks and whites across the country.  She was noted for her unabashed sense of self, a woman who often performed in a top hat, tuxedo with tails, and lavished audiences in fun

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Sandra Bernhard.

We recognize Sandra for the pioneering role she played in comedy.

Known for her comedic talents, she was one of the first actresses to portray an openly bisexual character on TV, when she played Nancy on the hit TV show, Rosanne.  Bernhard has had a career that has spanned decades on TV, film, the stage and in print.

When she's

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Cecilia Chung.

We recognize Cecilia for the pioneering role she has played in the trans community.

An immigrant from Hong Kong,  Cecilia experienced many challenges as a trans woman.  After being rejected by family, society, and even the gay community, she found herself nearly homeless and surviving through sex work, which contributed to her c

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Layshia Clarendon.

We recognize Layshia for the pioneering role she has played in sports.

As strong a person as she is a professional basketball player in the WNBA, she is notably proudly paving her own path for herself and others.  Recognizing from an early age that she was gay, she embraced her identity and found acceptance with her teammate

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Sharice Davids.

We recognize Sharice  for the pioneering role she has played in politics.

One of the first Native American woman elected to Congress, she is also remarkably the first out lesbian  to be elected to Congress from the state of Kansas. 

She is proudly a member of Ho-Chunk Nation and was elected as part of the "rainbow wave" in the 2

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Barbara Gittings.

We recognize Barbara for the pioneering role they played in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

Gittings never shied away from speaking out for equality be it marches, protests, or in editing and compiling LGBTQ literary works.  She was out and proud when most homosexuals decided it was safer and more convenient to stay in the clos

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Andrea Jenkins.

We recognize Andrea for the pioneering role she has played in politics.

The first openly transgender black woman to be elected to public office in a major city, she cracked through a glass ceiling for so many others when she was overwhelmingly elected to the Minneapolis City Council in 2017.

A life long dedication to public serv

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Barbara Jordan

We recognize Ms. Jordan for the pioneering role she played in politics.

The first Black state senator in Texas, the first Southern Black elected to Congress since Reconstruction, and the first Black woman from the South to be elected to Congress, she is remembered as a dominant voice in the fight for civil rights.

In her list of 

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Frida Kahlo.

We recognize Frida for the pioneering role she played in the arts.

A painter almost by accident, we are thankful for the works of art that Kahlo brought to the world.  Inspired by her own realities of love, heartbreak, and loneliness, her works explore questions of culture, religion, feminism, sexuality, and herself.

She was marrie

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Billie Jean King.

We recognize Billie Jean for the pioneering role they played in sports.

The first active prominent athlete to come out publicly, she is a true trailblazer not just in the world of tennis, but in the world of sports and for the LGBTQ community.  

As a tennis player, she broke barriers.  While she dominated the world of tennis, 

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Kathy Kozachenko.

We recognize Kathy for the pioneering role she played in politics.

The first to openly LGBTQ person to be elected to public office, she handily won a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council.  While two fellow council members came out while in the position, Kathy was the first to embrace her sexuality as a candidate.

She bucked norm

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring k.d. lang.

We recognize Lang for the pioneering role she has played in music.

With a career that has earned her numerous awards and spanned decades and genres , k.d. lang decided early on to kick aside traditional roles set forth by society and live her truth.  Starting with trading in her twang, which earned her early success as a Country mus

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Rachel Maddow.

We recognize Rachel for the pioneering role she has played in TV journalism.

The first to openly gay woman to anchor a prime time news show, she has amassed a following that is endeared to her cutting journalism and political takes.  

Hosting The Rachel Maddow Show during a coveted prime time spot on MSNBC, she has found a remark

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Phyllis Lyon.

We recognize Phyllis today for the pioneering role she played in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

She was the founding member of the Daughters of Bilitis, Phyllis along with her wife, Del Martin, was one of the earliest voices speaking out for LGBTQ equality.

A proud feminist who once spoke openly against the concept of marriage both

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Del Martin.

We recognize Del for the pioneering role she played in the fight for LGBTQ equality and women's rights.

A cofounder of the Daughter of Bilitis with her partner, Phyllis Lyon, she went on to be an active and vocal activist in the LGBTQ community.  Recognizing that women needed a space as proud feminists and lesbians, the Daughters o

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Kate McKinnon.

We recognize Kate for the pioneering role she has played in television and film.

The first openly lesbian cast member on the long running comedy sketch show, Saturday Night Live, she has endeared fans with her hilarious impersonations and her commitment to her craft.

McKinnon has won fans over for her comedy and for her unabashed

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Elaine Noble.

We recognize Elaine for the pioneering role she played in politics.

She is the first openly gay candidate to be elected to a state legislature, a monumental feat considering only one other candidate at the time had campaigned as openly gay and won.

Of course, as with any member of the LGBTQ community, Noble was not defined by her 

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Kim Petras.

We recognize Petras for the pioneering role she has played in music.

Making headlines as one the youngest person to undergo gender confirmation surgery at age 16, she has gone on to excite audiences with her music.

She has been celebrated for living her truth and has earned even more fans for her chart-topping hits, which have large

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Megan Rapinoe.

We recognize Megan for the pioneering role she has played in sports.

She has been a domineering force both on and off the soccer field.  She gained notoriety for a game-tying assist in an exhilarating 2011 World Cup match, and has continued to be a leading force for the U.S. Women's soccer team, including leading them to a World

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Eleanor Roosevelt.

We recognize Eleanor for the pioneering role she played in politics.

Roosevelt is notably the former First Lady and wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  While she was not out, it is well understood that she had romantic affairs with women. 

A strong figure in her own right, she was known to be a fierce vocal and visi

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Kyrsten Sinema.

We recognize the Senator from Arizona for the pioneering role she is playing in politics.

The first  openly bisexual woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, she is also the first woman to be elected to the Senate from the state of Arizona.  Marked early on as a political rising star, at age 43, Sinema will be one to wat

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Katie Sowers.

We recognize Katie for the pioneering role she has played in sports.

Sowers is the first  woman and openly gay person to coach in a Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship game.

Having grown up always wanting to be a football player, she worked her way to success in a sport that offered no handouts to women. 

How di

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Urvashi Vaid.

We recognize Ms. Vaid for the pioneering role she has played in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

A founding member of the Lesbian Political Action Committee (LPAC), the first of its kind, Vaid has helped to drive the conversation about equality.

Having immigrated to the U.S. from India at a young age, she has recognized the vast oppo

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Edith Windsor.

We recognize Edith today for the pioneering role she played in the fight for marriage equality.

Windsor was the plaintiff in the landmark same sex marriage case, United States v Windsor.  She was named the beneficiary and executor of her wife's estate.  When she applied for an estate tax exemption, she was denied the right becau

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Virginia Woolf.

We recognize Virginia for the pioneering role they played in literature.

A brilliant writer and proud feminist, she wrote ten novels and numerous other essays and short stories.  Woolf's works have been praised their unique literary style and subject matter including observations and shifts on cultural, technological, and socie

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Chely Wright.

We recognize Chely for the pioneering role she played in music.

The first to come out publicly as gay in the country music world, she took a brave step when she came out in 2010 in a music genre that had long been viewed as conservatively minded.

Chely's career had experienced success in the 1990s and early 2000s, but was losing i

In celebration of Women's History Month, we are honoring Helen Zia

We recognize Helen for the pioneering role she has played in  journalism.

A daughter of Chinese immigrants, she has made it her life's mission to advocate for human rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ equality.  She has used the power of the pen to document struggles of Asians, Asian Americans, women, and the LGBTQ community, earning n