Lea Hopkins (born 1944) [1] is an American LGBT rights activist and poet from Missouri, best known for founding Kansas City's pride parade.
Hopkins grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. [2] She realized she was gay at age 13. [2] [3] In 1962, she graduated from Sumner High School. [1]
Hopkins was the first Black Playboy Bunny in Kansas City, and the fourth overall in the country. [2] [3] She later became a professional model with the Barbizon Agency, and helped her coworkers negotiate for higher pay. [2]
Hopkins has published several books of poetry, and has written for The Kansas City Star. [2] [4]
Hopkins moved to New York City in the 1970s, and became involved with the gay liberation movement there. [2] She returned to Kansas City in 1974. [2] Shortly afterward, she joined the city's chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church. [2] She also went on to co-found Kansas City's Christopher Street organization and the Gay Injustices Fund. [1]
In 1977, Hopkins organized Kansas City's first pride parade, which numbered about 25-30 people. [2] [5] A few weeks later, in July 1977, she organized a protest against Anita Bryant, who was speaking at a bookstore in the city. [2] [3]
In April 1980 she was featured in Essence . [6] In August 1980, she was a featured speaker at the Southeastern Conference of Lesbians and Gay Men in Memphis, Tennessee. [7] [8] She was again a speaker at the conference in June 1986 in New Orleans. [9]
In subsequent years, Hopkins worked for GLAAD and was an advisory board member of the Lesbian and Gay Community Centre in the neighborhood of Westport. [10] [11]
In the 1990s, Hopkins served as a spokeswoman for GLAAD on "Out There", a public access program by and about queer people from Kansas City. [10]
In 2022, Hopkins was named Grand Marshal of that year's Kansas City Pride parade. [2]
Hopkins had one son, Jason (died 1997), whom she conceived with a friend's help. [2]
A pride parade is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events sometimes also serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most occur annually throughout the Western world, while some take place every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, a pivotal moment in modern LGBTQ social movements. The parades seek to create community and honor the history of the movement. In 1970, pride and protest marches were held in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco around the first anniversary of Stonewall. The events became annual and grew internationally. In 2019, New York and the world celebrated the largest international Pride celebration in history: Stonewall 50 - WorldPride NYC 2019, produced by Heritage of Pride commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, with five million attending in Manhattan alone.
A dyke march is a lesbian visibility and protest march, much like the original Gay Pride parades and gay rights demonstrations. The main purpose of a dyke march is the encouragement of activism within the lesbian community. Dyke marches commonly take place the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades. Larger metropolitan areas usually have several Pride-related happenings both before and after the march to further community building; with social outreach to specific segments such as older women, women of color, and lesbian parenting groups.
The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held at the end of June most years in San Francisco, California, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies.
Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.
A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon by members of the LGBT community. Said figures usually have a devoted LGBT fanbase and have acted as allies to the LGBT community, often through their work. Alternatively, if they have not acted as allies, they have been "openly appreciative of their gay fanbase". Many gay icons also have a camp aesthetic style, which has been described as part of their appeal to LGBT individuals.
The rainbow flag, also known as the gay pride flag or simply pride flag, is a symbol of LGBT pride and LGBT social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBT pride began in San Francisco, California, but eventually became common at LGBT rights events worldwide.
The Guadalajara Pride is an event that celebrates diversity in general and seeks equal rights for LGBT people, is celebrated in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico.
PrideFest St. Louis is an annual LGBT pride event in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is organized by Pride St. Louis, an LGBT non-profit organization in the Greater St. Louis area.
The Edmonton Pride Festival is a 2SLGBTQ+ pride festival, held annually in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Houston has a large and diverse LGBT population and is home to the 4th largest gay pride parade in the nation. Houston has the largest LGBT population of any city in the state of Texas.
New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest LGBTQ populations and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBT advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."
Throughout Dallas–Fort Worth, there is a large lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Since 2005, DFW has constituted one of the largest LGBT communities in Texas.
Twin Cities Pride, also known as Twin Cities GLBT Pride, is a nonprofit organization which runs an annual celebration in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota every June focusing on the LGBT community.
The Milano Pride is a parade held at the end of June each year in Milan, Italy, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, intersexual and queer (LGBTQ+) people and their allies. Until 2012, the event has been held each year but with a different name. Milano Pride is one of the largest gay and lesbian organized events in Italy. Its aim is to demonstrate for equal rights and equal treatment for LGBT people, as well as celebrate the pride in Gay and Lesbian Culture.
The Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival is the second oldest and second largest pride parade in New York City. It is held annually in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights, located in the New York City borough of Queens. The parade was founded by Daniel Dromm and Maritza Martinez to raise the visibility of the LGBTQ community in Queens and memorialize Jackson Heights resident Julio Rivera. Queens also serves as the largest transgender hub in the Western hemisphere and is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.
Maureen Brady is an American writer, editor and educator. She is best known for her novels Ginger's Fire, Folly, and Give Me Your Good Ear. She currently lives and works in New York City and Woodstock, NY.
LGBT culture in St. Louis is strongly influenced by larger regional divisions, such as racial division and the city/county divide. Recorded history and resource flow have tended to prioritize white individuals and the city's central corridor, creating a perception of LGBT culture in St. Louis that does not always align with regional demographics. For the purposes of this article, St. Louis describes the metropolitan area, including neighboring counties in Missouri and Illinois.
The New York City Drag March, or NYC Drag March, is an annual drag protest and visibility march taking place in June, the traditional LGBTQ pride month in New York City. Organized to coincide ahead of the NYC Pride March, both demonstrations commemorate the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn, widely considered the pivotal event sparking the gay liberation movement, and the modern fight for LGBT rights.
In Washington, D.C., LGBT culture is heavily influenced by the U.S. federal government and the many nonprofit organizations headquartered in the city.
Elaine Mikels was an American activist and social worker. In 1960 she opened Conard House, the first psychiatric halfway house in San Francisco. She wrote an autobiography, Just Lucky I Guess: From Closet Lesbian to Radical Dyke (1993). Her papers are held in the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives.