Honoring LGBTQ Leaders for Women’s History Month

Taken from GLBTQ Advocates & Defenders

This Women’s History Month, we have chosen to honor some of the innumerable LGBTQ women, non-binary people, and femmes who have impacted the world throughout history. Our community is powerful, and each person has their own remarkable part to play. We celebrate them this month, and all year long: those who came before us, or are making history right now. At GLAD we remain committed to uplifting these voices and building a world that celebrates them unreservedly.

Brenda Howard

Brenda Howard (December 24, 1946 – June 28, 2005) was heavily involved in planning the first Pride event in 1970 after coordinating rallies to commemorate the 1-month, 1-year, and subsequent anniversaries of the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969. Known by some as “Mother of Pride,” Brenda is widely credited with coming up with the modern idea of the week-long pride event that we see celebrated internationally. Initially active in the feminist and antiwar movements, in 1987 she turned more towards bisexual-specific organizing with organizations like BiNet USA and the New York Area Bisexual Network. She helped plan dozens of marches and brought issues of bisexual representation to the forefront in the queer community, and worked for kink and polyamory visibility. Sadly, she passed away from cancer in 2005, but her legacy lives on Pride celebrations worldwide.

Stay tuned for more of our LGBTQIA+ Women's History spotlight series!