Adam J Kurtz (b. 1988), also known as AdamJK, is a Canadian gay artist, designer, and speaker. His work is all about honesty, humor, and a little darkness. His books have sold over a million copies in seventeen languages . He speaks frankly about channeling human emotion into creative work and talking about how you don't have to be "good at art" to make  things.  He also has a art and stationary brand (ADAMJK®) focused on items that are weird, fun, sentimental, and often literal.  

Alan Cumming (b. 1965) is a Scottish actor, singer, and author. He has had dozens of roles on stage and screen and has received a a BAFTA Award, an Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. Some of his most popular roles include Cabaret, Spy Kids, and Schmigadoon!.  He is openly bisexual.
 

Alan Turning (1912-1954) was an English mathematician and computer scientist commonly known as the the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. He is known for his work creating the formalized concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, as well as devising a number of techniques for the Enigma machine that helped crack German military codes during WWII.

Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts and underwent diethylstilbestrol (DES), commonly known as chemical castration, to avoid going to prison. In 2009 The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology and behalf of the British government, he was granted a posthumous pardon in 2013, and in 2017 the "Alan Turing law" was passed that retroactively pardoned men who were convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts.

Alex Newell (b. 1992) is an American singer and actor. They are most known for their role as Unique Adams on Glee, a role they earned through the reality television show The Glee Project. He has also appeared in other television shows as well as Broadway shows. In 2023 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, becoming the first openly nonbinary person to win a Tony Award. Newell identifies as gay, gender nonconforming, and uses all pronouns.

Alison Bechdel (b. 1960) is an American cartoonist. Most known for the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, she has also written the graphic memoirs Fun Home and Are You My Mother? In 2015 Fun Home premiered as a Broadway musical and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won 5 of them, including Best Musical.

Bechdel is also known for creating the Bechdel Test. This test measures the representation of women in media. In order for a piece of work to pass the test it must include three things - has to have at least two women in it, they have to talk to each other, and what they talk about must be something other than a man.

Alok Vaid-Menon (b. 1991) is an American writer and performance artist. Their work explores themes of gender, race, trauma, and belonging while also repsonding to violence against trans and gender non-conforming people. In 2020 their first book Beyond the gender binary was released. They are gender non-conforming and transfeminine, and uses they/them pronouns.  

Andrea Gibson (b. 1975) is an  American poet and activist. Most known for their spoken word poetry, they have written 7 poetry books and released 7 poetry albums. They are a four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, placed fourth in the 2004 National Poetry Slam, and third in the 2006 and 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam, and was the first person to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2008. Their work often discusses LGBTQIA+ topics, gender, and having ovarian cancer and chronic lyme disease. 

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was an American artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. Warhol was gay and did not shy away from his sexuality. He created many art pieces and series based on the male form, as well as many films starring his partners and exploring sexuality. His New York studio, known as The Factory, became a safe haven for the LGBTQIA+ community, Hollywood celebrities, and other artists. He is most famous for his pop art pieces, such as the Campbell's Soup Cans and Marilyn Diptych, but also for his portraits, statues, and work with the punk rock band the Velvet Underground.

Ariana DeBose (b.1991) is an American actress, dancer, and musician. She was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance and has been in several Broadway musicals including Bring It On: The Musical, Motown, Pippin, Hamilton, and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. She received a Tony nomination for her role in Donna Summer and hosted the Tony Awards in 2022 and 2023.

She starred in the 2021 movie adaptation of West Side Story as Anita where she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This made her the first afrolatina and openly queer woman of color to receive an Oscar in an acting category. DeBose identifies as queer.

Aubrey Plaza (b. 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She is known for her role in Parks and Recreation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Legion. She starred in the second season of White Lotus, for which she received Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.

Plaza identifies as bisexual.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an American writer, feminist, and civil rights activist. She dedicated her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia  and would often describe herself as a "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet."

Audre started writing poetry as a teenager which led to her publishing several poetry collection as an adult and was the New York's Poet Laureate the year before she died. Throughout her life she was also a teacher and librarian and fought for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Barbara Gittings (1932-2007) was a prominent American activist for LGBT+ equality and is known for organizing the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, editing their magazine called The Ladder, being on the first picket lines protesting the United States government's ban on employing gay people, and being a part of the movement to get the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness in 1972. She also created the first gay caucus in a professional organization (the American Library Association) which still exists today and is known as the Rainbow Round Table.

ALA named an annual award for the best gay or lesbian novel after Barbara (the Barbara Gittins Award) and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) also named an activist award after her.

Barney Frank (b. 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. In 1987, he publicly came out as gay, becoming the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. His partner at the time was the first partner of an openly gay member of Congress to receive spousal benefits. In July 2012, he married his long-time partner, James Ready, becoming the first member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex while in office. 

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) was an African American activist for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin was forced to take a less public role in his activism in 1953 when he was arrested in for being gay and forced to register as a sex offender.  During his life he served as an advisor to Martin Luther King Jr and organized the March on Washington in 1963, which demanded an end to segregation, fair wages and economic justice, voting rights, education, and long overdue civil rights protections. In 2013 he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 2020 was pardoned for his 1953 conviction. Rustin, a movie about his life, was released in 2023.

Billy Eichner (b. 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for starring in Parks and Recreation and for his comedy game show Billy On The Street which earned him three Emmy Nominations. He also co-wrote and starred in the movie Bros, which was the first adult-oriented LGBTQIA+ movie to be released by a major studio and the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio featuring an entirely LGBTQIA+ principal cast.

Billy Porter (b. 1969) is an American actor, musician, and writer. He originated role of Lola in Kinky Boots, which he credits for "cracking open"  his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity.  He won several awards for the role including a Tony Award and Grammy Award.  He became the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys for his role on the television show Pose. In 2020, he was included on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Cara Delevingne (b. 1992) is an English model, actress and musician. As of 2015, Cara openly identifies as bisexual and pansexual, and in 2018 came out as genderfluid and uses She/Her pronouns.

In October 2017, Delevingne made her debut as a novelist of young adult fiction with her new book Mirror, Mirror, which contains an LGBTQIA+ theme. She said she wanted to "tell a story that gives the reader a realistic picture of the turbulent roller-coaster teenage years."

Charles Silverstein (1935-2023) was an American writer, therapist, and advocate. He was best know for his presentation before the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 that led to the removal of homosexuality as a mental illness. He played a key role in changing the psychology field's view of conversion therapy. During his life he also was the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Homosexuality, wrote 7 books, and received the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology from the American Psychological Association in 2011.

Christine Jorgensen (1926-1989) became the first American transgender woman to become famous after having sex reassignment surgery. Jorgensen served in the US Army during and after World War where she spent her time concealing her attraction to men. It was after she had left the military and attended photography school that she started exploring her gender identity and ultimately started taking estrogen and moved to Europe (Denmark, specifically) where she underwent sex reassignment surgery.

Dan Savage (b. 1964) is an American author, journalist, and activist. In In 2010, Savage and his husband began the It Gets Better Project to help prevent suicide among LGBTQIA+ youth.

David Bowie (1947-2016) was an English musician and actor. His career got a big start with the song Space Oddity, which was inspired by the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. During his career he created the character Ziggy Stardust an androgynous, alien rock star who came to Earth before an impending apocalyptic disaster, starred in movies like Labyrinth, and created lots of glam and experimental rock music. 

Divine (1945-1988) was an American actor, drag queen, and singer. Divine was most known for working with John Waters and starring in the films Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, and Female Trouble. He was an inspiration for Ursuala the Seat Witch, in the animated film The Little Mermaid. He was also the first person to play the role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, which set the precdence for having male actors and/or drag queens in that same role. He identified as gay and passed away in 1988. 

Edith "Edie" Windsor (1929-2017) was an American LGBTQIA+ rights activist. Throughout her life she helped many LGBTQIA+ groups become "tech literate" and computerize their mail systems, volunteered for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, and founded Old Queers Acting Up, an improv group utilizing skits to address social justice issues. She was the lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor (2013), a case that determined that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Her winning her case helped in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage across the country. 

Elaine Noble (b. 1944) was the first openly gay person to be elected as a sate legislator; she served in Massachusetts Sate House of Representatives for two terms. Noble helped organize Boston's early Pride marches, was part of the first delegation of LGBTQIA+ people invited to the White House under President Jimmy Carter to discuss LGBTQIA+ issues, and formed a LGBTQIA+ alcohol and drug treatment center called the Pride Institute.

Ellen DeGeneres (b. 1958) is an American comedian, television host, and actress. She got started doing stand-up comedy before landing her own tv sitcom Ellen, which ran from 1994-1998. The show was one of the first in the United States with a  main character to come out as gay, which her character did in 1997, shortly after DeGeneres publicly came out. This event ignited controversy, prompted a parental advisory placement at the beginning of each episode, and hurt her career. In 2008  she married actress Portia de Rossi ​and in 2016 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Elliot Page (b. 1987) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is most known for his acting roles in Juno, the X-Men series, Inception, and Umbrella Academy. In December 2020 Page came out as a trans man, stating that he uses He/Him and They/Them pronouns. In 2021 they appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, making them the first openly trans man to do so and also made history by having their photographer be another transgender person. 
Note: Some of his work will only be found under his dead name.

Elton John (b. 1947) is an English musician and actor. He has released over 30 albums, composed music for The Lion King and its stage adaptation, Aida, and Billy Elliot the Musical,  has starred in many movies (often as himself), and became an EGOT winner in 2024. In 1992 he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation which support HIV related programs and care in 55 countries. In 1976 he came out as bisexual and in 1992 came out as gay. He has been sober for over 30 years and in 2005 was one of the first couples to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom with his now husband.

Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) was a British musician. Mercury was the frontman for the band Queen and was often known for his flamboyant stage persona. He is regarded as one of the greatest rock singers in history. On November 22 1991, Mercury released a statement saying that he was HIV positive and had AIDS. On November 24 he passed away from complications to the illness. 

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican surrealist painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico, her chronic pain, and taboo subjects. She got polio as a kid which left her disable but inspired her to go to medical school. After she was injured in a bus accident at 18, which caused her lifelong pain and medical problems, she decided to become an artist.

During her life, Frida would often  dress in masculine clothes as a way to project power and independence and took pride in her unibrow, mustaches, and armpit hair.  She also had several relationships with women throughout her life and has been regarded as a LGBTQIA+ and disability rights icon.

George Chauncey (b. 1954) is a historian, the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University, and the director of the Columbia Research Institute on the Global History of Sexualities. He was awarded the 2022 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity by the Library of Congress. Chauncey's known for his pioneering work, "Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940", his book "Why Marriage? The History of Shaping Today's Debate over Gay Equality", and his testimony and work as an expert witness in more than 30 court cases related to LGBTQ+ rights including the marriage equality cases United States v Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v Hodges (2015).

George Takei (b. 1937) is an American actor, author, and activist. As a child he and his family were forced to live in internment camps during World War II. He is most known for his role on Star Trek  and in 1986 received a star on the Hollywood  Walk of Fame. In 2005 he came out as gay and in 2008, he and his husband were the first same sex couple to apply for a marriage license in  West Hollywood.

Gilbert Baker (1951-2017) was an American artist, designer, and activist. After serving as an openly gay man in the military, Baker used his artistic talents in his political efforts, creating banners for anti-war and pro-gay marches and protests. He began work on the creation of a new symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community because he wanted to replace the pink triangle, a Nazi relic from World War II.  He worked with friends to hand dye and sew the first Rainbow Flags. His pride flag first flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978. Throughout his life, Baker created fashion exhibits, photographs, flags, and costumes often about the LGBTQIA+ community and served as an important trailblazer for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Hank Green (b. 1980) is an American vlogger, writer, and entrepreneur. He is most known for his YouTube channesls Vlogbrothers (run with his brother John Green), Crash Course, and Sci Show. He is also known for his work on TikTok where he will answer weird questions (often relating to science) and share weird facts. He has written two books - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor. Green identifies as bisexual.

Harvey Milk (1930-1978) was an American politician. Throughout his life he had many different jobs including high school teacher, insurance actuary, production associate for Broadway musicals, and a camera store owner. In 1977 he won the San Francisco City-County Supervisor position, making him  the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. One big impact he had during his 10 month time as city supervisor was sponsoring a bill that banned discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. The bill passed with a 11-1 vote. On  November 27, 1978 Milk was assassinated by Dan White, a former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk’s bill.

A year before his assassination, Milk  recorded a tape to be played in the event that he was killed. On it he  said "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

Hayley Kiyoko (b. 1991) is an American  singer, actress, and writer. Her music style is dance-pop and electro pop. Through her music she tries to normalize lesbian relationships in a society and music industry that she sees as being very heteronormative.  Kiyoko has been dubbed as "Lesbian Jesus" by her fans.  Her first book Girls Like Girls was published in 2023. 

Ian McKellen (b. 1939) an English actor. He is most known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings films and in the X-Men films. During his career he has acted in several plays, movies, and TV shows and has been nominated for dozens of awards. He came out as gay in 1988. 

J. Harrison Ghee (b.  1989) is an American  actor, singer,  and dancer. They are most known for their work on Broadway and have appeared in Kinky Boots, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Some Like It Hot. In 2023 they won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, becoming the first openly non-binary person to win a Tony Award in that category and the second openly non-binary person ever to win a Tony Award. Newell identifies as non-binary, pansexual, and uses any pronouns.

James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an American writer and activist. During his life he wrote 17 pieces of work including novels, short stories, and plays. Themes of masculinity, race, class, and the gay liberation movement were present in his works. In 1948 he moved to France on a writing grant in hopes that he would be treated better there as a black, gay man. Baldwin did most of his writing in Europe. In the late 1950s he moved back to the United States to travel the country to talk about racism and the civil rights movement. However, being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community was not accepted in the civil rights movement during that time. Since his death, the movies If Beale Street Could Talk and I Am Not Your Negro were made based off of his work. If you want to read James Baldwin's works this flowchart from A Room of One's Own Bookshelf is a great starting point!

Janella Monáe (b. 1985) an American musician, writer, and actress. Their music style is R&B and progressive soul and often sings about black resistance, feminism, and self-love. In April 2022 her first book The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories From Dirty Computer was published, a science-fiction book that talks about liberation, queerness, race, gender, and memory. Monáe identifies as bisexual and pansexual and is also nonbinary, using She/Her and They/Them pronouns.

Jeanne Manford (1920-2013) was an American schoolteacher and activist. In 1972 her son Morty, a gay activist, was beaten for being gay. In response, she wrote a letter to the New York Post where she identified herself as the mother of a gay protester and complained about police inaction. On March 11, 1973, she along with 19 other people found Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are LGBTQIA+. In 1993 she was the grand marshal of the first pride parade in Queens, New York and one month after her death in 2013 she was posthumously with the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal.

John Waters (b. 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer,  actor, and artist.  He is most known for his films including Multiple Maniacs,  Pink Flamingos,  Hairspray,  and Cry-Baby. All of his films are set and shot in Maryland and much of his work focuses on the working class, race, and gender. He is recognizable by his trademark pencil mustache. Lots of his work has achieved a cult status and in his earlier movies he liked to push the boundaries of what made people comfortable. He is openly gay. 

Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an American artist. He grew up loving art and drawing and moved to New York City to study art. Haring loved New York as it became a place to organize art shows and express his identity as a gay man in a supportive environment. He first got noticed for his art work by making graffiti on subway panels. He quickly rose to fame and continued to make public art works, making over 50 by the time of his death. Haring also believed in making his art as accessible as possible to all people, including youth. In 1989 he was diagnosed with AIDS and fought hard against the stigma of the disease. He passed away in 1990 from AIDS-related complications.

Kristen Stewart (b. 1990) is an American actress. She is most known for her roles in Twilight, Charlie's Angels, and Happiest Season. In 2022 she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in Spencer, making her one of the few openly LGBTQIA+ actresses to earn that nomination. She came out as bisexual in 2017.

Lady Gaga (b. 1986) is an American musician, actress, and activist. Her music style covers a variety of genres including pop, dance, jazz, and electronic. She has won dozens of awards for her music and acting including 13 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and 2 Golden Globes. Lady Gaga has been outspoken about her chronic illness fibromyalgia which is a main subject in her documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two. She has also been an LGBTQIA+ advocate her whole career and identifies as bisexual.

Laverne Cox (b. 1972) is an American actress and activist. She is widely known for her role in Orange Is the New Black, where she became the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category. Throughout her career she has remained an LGBTQIA+ rights activist, gaining lots of attention when she arrived at the 2019 Emmy Awards carrying a rainbow clutch with the phrases "Oct 8", "Title VII", and "Supreme Court". This  was in reference to the U.S. Supreme Court case R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in which her date was one of the lawyers representing Aimee Stephens, a trans woman who was fired from her job at a funeral home.  Cox also executive produced the documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen.

Lea DeLaria (b. 1958) is an butch American comedian and actress. She is most known for her role as Big Boo on Orange Is The New Black.  Throughout her life she has been open about her idenity as a butch dyke. She is also known as the originator of the term U-haul lesbian.

Leslie Feinberg (1949-2014) was a butch lesbian, transgender activist and author. Zie's first book Stone Butch Blues, is a historical fiction novel about a butch lesbian in 1970s America and won awards including the 1994 American Library Association Gay & Lesbian Book Award (now the Stonewall Book Award). Feinberg also wrote the book Transgender Warriors, which laid the groundwork for much of the terminology and awareness around LGBTQIA+ and gender studies.  Throughout hir life, Feinberg fought for LGBTQIA+ rights, working class rights, and disability rights. Feinberg used all pronouns, depending on the situation but often used she/her and zie/hir for herself. She passed away in 2014, due to complications from Lyme disease. 

Leslie Jordan (1955-2022) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. He was best known for his roles on  American Horror Story and Will and Grace, which he won an Emmy Award for in 2006. Jordan was very open about being sober and had been sober for over two decades at the time of his death. He gained a new popularity during the 2020 quarantine for his TikTok videos and published his autobiography in 2021 titled "How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived."

Lil Nas X (b. 1999) is an American rapper and singer. He gained popularity with his song Old Town Road, when it became a viral hit on TikTok in 2019. He has won two Grammy Awards, one for Best Music Video for Old Town Road and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance also for Old Town Road (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus). In June 2019, he came out as gay.