The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as Lambda Legal, is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) through impact litigation, societal education, and public policy work.
Urvashi Vaid was an Indian-born American LGBT rights activist, lawyer, and writer. An expert in gender and sexuality law, she was a consultant in attaining specific goals of social justice. She held a series of roles at the National LGBTQ Task Force. She is the author of Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (1995) and Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics (2012).
James Willis Toy was a long-time American activist and a pioneer for LGBT rights in Michigan.
Mary Morten, a lifelong activist in Chicago, has dedicated her voice to advocate for marginalized communities. Morten was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1996. Morten served as the first African-American president of the Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women, is an author and filmmaker on African-American lesbian experiences, and has led organizations such as the Chicago Abortion Fund and Chicago Foundation for Women. Of note, Morten directed the City of Chicago's Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian issues in 1996.
Denise Leese Eger is an American Reform rabbi. In March 2015, she became president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in North America; she was the first openly gay person to hold that position.
The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports action and activism on behalf of LGBTQ people and advances a progressive vision of liberation. The past executive director was Rea Carey from 2008-2021 and the current executive director is Kierra Johnson, who took over the position in 2021 to become the first Black woman to head the organization.
William Brandon Lacy Campos was an American poet, writer, columnist, LGBT and HIV/AIDS activist. He authored the poetry collection It Ain't Truth If It Doesn't Hurt and his writings were included in books and poetry anthologies. He was HIV-positive from his mid-20s and spoke about his serostatus, his methamphetamine addiction and his experiences as a person of color.
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is an American civil rights organization serving primarily Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Since 2003, NBJC has collaborated with national civil rights groups and LGBT organizations, advocating for the unique challenges and needs of the African American LGBT community in the United States.
The David Bohnett Foundation is a private foundation that gives grants to organizations that focus on its core giving areas – primarily Los Angeles area programs and LGBT rights in the United States, as well as leadership initiatives and voter education, gun violence prevention, and animal language research. As of 2022, the foundation has donated $125 million to nonprofit organizations and initiatives.
Darlene Nipper is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist and the deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force since 2008. She has previously worked for the city government of Washington, DC, the BET Foundation, the National Mental Health Association, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - where she served as chief operating officer. She has been an "out and active lesbian who has been in a committed relationship [since 1996]."
Cecilia Chung is a civil rights leader and activist for LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, health advocacy, and social justice. She is a trans woman, and her life story was one of four main storylines in the 2017 ABC miniseries When We Rise about LGBT rights in the 1970s and 1980s.
Elizabeth Frances Schwartz is an American attorney, author, and advocate for the legal rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
Henry M. Tavera was an AIDS activist, artistic director, and archivist based in the Mission District of San Francisco, California; his 1979 move to the region put him at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic via his involvement in various HIV/AIDS service organizations as well as AIDS theatre. He also did work around Chicano Gay Activism and teaching/advising. Tavera died on February 27, 2000, at 56 years old from kidney cancer.
Pat Norman was an American activist for women's rights, as well as the rights of the African American and LGBT communities.
Virginia "Ginny" Apuzzo is an American gay rights and AIDS activist. She is a former executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. She served as executive deputy of the New York State Consumer Protection Board and as the vice chair of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council. She was also President of the New York State Civil Service Commission and Commissioner of the New York State Department of Civil Service. In 1996, she became the Associate Deputy Secretary of Labor at the United States Department of Labor, and in 1997 she became the Assistant to the President for Management and Administration under the Clinton administration. In 2007, she began serving on the Commission on Public Integrity, where she worked until her retirement.
David Fair is an American activist who has been a leader in the labor, LGBT, AIDS, homeless and child advocacy movements in Philadelphia, PA since the 1970s. He has founded or co-founded several advocacy and service organizations, including the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force (1977), the Philadelphia Gay Cultural Festival (1978), Lavender Health (1979), the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Union of the Homeless (1985), Philly Homes 4 Youth (2017), The Coalition for Queer Equity, and the Philadelphia Coalition on Opioids and Children (2018), and led the creation of numerous local government health and human service initiatives, including the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (1987) and the Division of Community-Based Prevention Services (2001), the Parenting Collaborative (2003), and the Quality Parenting Initiative (2014) for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.
Kenyon Farrow is an American writer, activist, director, and educator focused on progressive racial and economic justice issues related to the LGBTQ community. He served as the executive director of Queers for Economic Justice, policy institute fellow with National LGBTQ Task Force, U.S. & Global Health Policy Director of Treatment Action Group, public education and communications coordinator for the New York State Black Gay Network, senior editor with TheBody.com and TheBodyPro.com, and co-executive director of Partners for Dignity and Rights. In 2021, Farrow joined PrEP4All as managing director of advocacy & organizing.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". The wall is located inside of the Stonewall Inn and is a part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty nominees were announced in June 2019, and the wall was unveiled on June 27, 2019, as a part of the Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 events. Each year five additional names will be added.
Janet Inez Weinberg was an American LGBTQ activist, advocate for people with HIV/AIDS and advocate for disability rights, based in New York City. She was a fund-raiser and executive for social service organizations including Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), Educational Alliance, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center.
Michael Adams is an attorney and LGBT+ civil rights advocate in the United States. He has been the CEO of Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders in New York City since 2006.
