Rebecca Hensler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Rebecca Hensler (born 1968 or 1969) is an American atheism and HIV/AIDs activist.
Rebecca Hensler | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Rebecca Hensler (born 1968 or 1969) is an American atheism and HIV/AIDs activist.
Hensler was born in the city of Los Angeles, and spent her childhood and teenage years there. She and her brother attended private school following the passing of Proposition 13 in 1978. She has characterized her education up until 7th grade as "progressive" and "experimental"; in 7th grade Hensler began attending "Los Angeles' oldest and most conservative girls' prep school". She realized she was bisexual in her junior year of high school. [1]
Hensler attended Brown University beginning in 1986, where she became involved in LGBT groups and activism on campus. [1] She graduated in 1991. [2]
Hensler's first forays into activism were in the 1980s, when she attended a march in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. She later also attended a protest following Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984. She attended the 1987 Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights with a group of Brown University students. She was arrested for the first time during a protest in front of the Supreme Court several days after the march. [1]
In 2015, Hensler expressed support for ongoing black civil rights protests in California, comparing them to the activism she had participated in the 1990s. [3]
Hensler joined ACT UP Los Angeles, and moved to San Francisco in August 1988, where she joined early meetings of ACT UP San Francisco. [1] In October 1993, she participated in a protest at the state capitol in an attempt to "deliver the ashes of AIDS victims to the governor's desk". [4] She left the organization when new leaders that discouraged HIV testing and medications took over. [5]
By 1998, Hensler was involved with Mobilization Against AIDS. [6]
She founded the social media and internet support group "Grief Beyond Belief" for grieving people who do not believe in God or an afterlife in 2011. [7] [8] [9] She was encouraged to found it by atheist activist Greta Christina. [8] Hensler's infant son, Nathaniel Judah Hensler, also called Jude, died in 2009 at 90 days due to a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. [2] [10] [11] Hensler also published a book called The Secular Grief Support Handbook. [12]
Hensler has a BA in political activism and a MS in counseling. [13] She works as a school counselor at a public middle school in San Francisco, and lives in the Bay Area with her wife, [14] whom she married in 2013. [2] In 2014, she was appointed dean of James Denman Middle School. [2]
Hensler has multiple sclerosis [15] and is openly bisexual. [16]
A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBT community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reappropriated as a positive symbol of self-identity. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, distinguishing those imprisoned because they had been identified by authorities as gay men or trans women. In the 1970s, it was revived as a symbol of protest against homophobia, and has since been adopted by the larger LGBT community as a popular symbol of LGBT pride and the LGBT movements and queer liberation movements.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI), is a charitable, protest, and street performance movement that uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender, and morality and fundraise for charity. In 1979, a small group of gay men in San Francisco began wearing the attire of Catholic nuns in visible situations using camp to promote various social and political causes in the Castro District.
Youth activism is the participation in community organizing for social change by persons between the ages of 15–24. Youth activism has led to a shift in political participation and activism. A notable shift within youth activism is the rise of “Alter-Activism” resulting in an emphasis on lived experiences and connectivity amongst young activists. The young activists have taken lead roles in public protest and advocacy around many issues like climate change, abortion rights and gun violence.
Romaine Patterson is an American LGBT rights activist, radio personality, and author. She first received national attention for her activism at the funeral of murdered gay student Matthew Shepard; the two became friends when Shepard moved to Casper, Wyoming to attend college. For twelve years up until June 2015, she and Derek Hartley co-hosted the Derek and Romaine show on SiriusXM's OutQ.
William James Kraus was an American gay rights and AIDS activist as well as a congressional aide who served as liaison between the San Francisco gay community and its two successive US representatives in the early 1980s.
LGBT movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied social movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBT people. Some have also focused on building LGBT communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia, homophobia, and transphobia. LGBT movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity, including lobbying, street marches, social groups, media, art, and research. Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes: "For the lesbian and gay movement, then, cultural goals include challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights, benefits, and protections from harm." Bernstein emphasizes that activists seek both types of goals in both the civil and political spheres.
Anne-christine d'Adesky is an American author, journalist and activist of French and Haitian descent living in New York. She has maintained a deep relationship with Haiti, reporting the 2010 earthquake from a feminist angle, especially noting the impact of the disaster on the lives of teenage girls. She has also contributed to humanitarian projects in East Africa, as well as conducting extensive research into HIV/AIDS and its treatment worldwide.
Greta Christina is an American atheist, blogger, speaker, and author.
Micah M. White is credited with being the co-creator of the original call for the Occupy Wall Street protests. His book The End Of Protest: A New Playbook For Revolution was published by Knopf Canada in 2016.
The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.
Recovering from Religion (RfR) is an international non-profit organization that helps people who have left religion, are in process of leaving, or are dealing with problems arising out of theistic doubt or non-belief. RfR provides support groups, telephone and chat helplines, an online peer support community, and online meetings for "people in their most urgent time of need". It is headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas.
Atheism in the African diaspora is atheism as it is experienced by black people outside of Africa. In the United States, black people are less likely than any other ethnic groups to be religiously unaffiliated, let alone identifying as atheist. The demographics are similar in the United Kingdom. Atheists are individuals who do not hold a belief in God or gods. Atheism is a disbelief in God or gods or a denial of God or gods, or it is simply a lack of belief in gods. Some, but not all, atheists identify as secular humanists, who are individuals who believe that life has meaning and joy without the need for the supernatural or religion and that all individuals should live ethical lives which can provide for the greater good of humanity. Black atheists and secular humanists exist today and in history, though many were not always vocal in their beliefs or lack of belief.
Gypsy Taub is a Russian American activist in the San Francisco public nudity movement.
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change.
GO Humanity (Giving and Organizing for Humanity) was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2009 in Georgia by Dale McGowan, originally under the name Foundation Beyond Belief.
Socio-political activism to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS as well as to advance the effective treatment and care of people with AIDS (PWAs) has taken place in multiple locations since the 1980s. The evolution of the disease's progress into what's known as the HIV/AIDS pandemic has resulted in various social movements fighting to change both government policies and the broader popular culture inside of different areas. These groups have interacted in a complex fashion with others engaged in related forms of social justice campaigning, with this continuing on to this day.
Xiye Bastida Patrick is a Mexican climate activist and member of the Indigenous Otomi community. She is one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future New York City and has been a leading voice for indigenous and immigrant visibility in climate activism. She is on the administration committee of the People's Climate Movement and a former member of Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion. She cofounded Re-Earth Initiative, an international nonprofit organization that is inclusive and intersectional “just as the climate movement should be.” Xiye is pronounced "she-yeh", [ʃi-jɛ], meaning not available.
May Boeve is an American environmental activist. She is a founder and executive director of 350.org, a climate NGO. The Guardian called her "the new face of the climate change movement."
 | This United States biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |