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Uriah Bell (born December 28, 1978) is a poet, writer, publisher and founder of Rising Voices Press, and most recently, the editor in chief of TRUTH Magazine , a bi-monthly national publication for LGBTQ persons of color.
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Uriah Bell (born December 28, 1978) is a poet, writer, publisher and founder of Rising Voices Press, and most recently, the editor in chief of TRUTH Magazine , a bi-monthly national publication for LGBTQ persons of color.
Bell began formally publishing his writing in 2008 with his freshman collection of poetry Mood Swings - where he decided to expose his personal self in an intimate collection. Although Bell intended Mood Swings to be his only publication, he was encouraged to continue sharing his story, and the stories of others through Mood Swings overwhelming response. In 2009, Bell founded Rising Voices Press, an independent publishing company focused on promoting and publishing the written voices of the Black LGBT community. [1]
In 2010, Bell released his second collection of poetry Epiphany: Poems in the Key of Love (Rising Voices Press), a collection that explores the various platforms of love such as communal love between one and their community circles including the church, intimate love between two individuals and lastly self-love.
In 2011, Bell released his third collection of poems entitled Mood Swings: poems and other rants under Rising Voices Press. [2]
An activist in the struggle around HIV/AIDS, Bell is a 2011 fellow in the Black AIDS Institute's AAHU Community Mobilization College, a dedicated group working to develop mobilization campaigns to rally the Black community around ending and educating themselves on the disparities of HIV/AIDS and working to end the epidemic.
Bell has participated on national and international panels and has led discussions on HIV/AIDS in the Black community, living with HIV/AIDS and overcoming new diagnosis, homophobia in the Black community, LGBT youth suicide, the Black church, and segregation in the LGBT community. [3]
Bell has held the position of chairman of the board of the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition, and sits on the board of directors for Fire and Ink, a non-profit for LGBT writers of African descent, and Shades of Pride / Triangle Black Pride in Raleigh, NC. [4]
In 2012, Rising Voices Press announced TRUTH Magazine published by Rising Voices Press, a national bi-monthly publication for and by LGBTQ people of color. Truth Magazine will focus on the needs of the gay and lesbian community of color via regular content on spirituality, men's and women's health, politics, social activism, wellness, travel, fashion, arts and entertainment and other issues affecting the community. Besides chief publisher, Bell serves as editor-in-chief of Truth Magazine.
The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, is an American professional association dedicated to unbiased coverage of LGBTQ issues in the media. It is based in Washington, D.C., and the membership consists primarily of journalists, students, educators, and communications professionals. The organization was previously known as the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), but changed its name in 2013 to "NLGJA: The Association of LGBT Journalists" to reflect the diversity of the communities it represents. In 2016, it added a "Q", updating its name to "NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists."
Unitarian Universalism, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), as Non-Creedal and Liberal theological traditions, is an LGBTQ affirming denomination.
The rainbow flag, also known as the (gay) pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (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 gay pride began in San Francisco, California, but eventually became common at LGBT rights events worldwide.
Anye Elite is an American singer, rapper and LGBT activist. He is best known for his contributions to Atlanta's gay community.
Humsafar Trust is an NGO in Mumbai which promotes LGBT rights. Founded by Ashok Row Kavi, Suhail Abbasi, and Sridhar Rangayan in 1994, it is one of the largest and most active of such organisations in India. It provides counselling, advocacy and healthcare to LGBT communities and has helped reduce violence, discrimination and stigma against them. Humsafar Trust is the convenor member of Integrated Network for Sexual Minorities (INFOSEM).
Aisha Diori is an Events Director, Community Mobiliser, HIV/AIDS Preventionist, educator, Talk Show Host, Event MC, Pan-Africanist, and has been named "Iconic Mother" in Ball culture. Her father is Abdoulaye Hamani Diori, a Nigerien political leader and business person, and her mother is Betty Graves, the first Ghanaian / Nigerian woman to own a travel agency in Nigeria.
Timothy Terrell West, better known as Tim'm T. West, is an American educator and multi-discipline performance artist, author, hip hop recording artist, poet, activist, and youth advocate. Humboldt State University notes West as a Renaissance man who has achieved success as a performer, activist, author, teacher, and poet. He has been featured in many documentaries about hip hop culture, in addition to his books, he is widely anthologized, and has produced nine hip hop albums including with Deep Dickollective. West has been interviewed by an array of media outlets from Newsweek to the New York Times. He was awarded a "2013 Esteem Award", and in 2015 was named an LGBTQ icon.
The African-American LGBT community, otherwise referred to as the Black LGBT community, is part of the overall LGBT culture and overall African-American culture. The initialism LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. A landmark event for the LGBT community, and the Black LGBT community in particular, was the Stonewall uprising in 1969, in New York City's Greenwich Village, where Black activists including Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. Johnson played key roles in the events.
Kiki is an American-Swedish co-produced documentary film, released in 2016. It takes place in New York City, and focuses on the "drag and voguing scene [and] surveys the lives of LGBT youth of color at a time when Black Lives Matter and trans rights are making front-page headlines". The film was directed by Sara Jordenö and considered an unofficial sequel to the influential 1990 film Paris Is Burning, the film profiles several young LGBT people of colour participating in contemporary LGBT African American ball culture.
Chastity D. Kirven, known as C. D. Kirven is a community organizer, human rights activist, writer, artist, filmmaker, comic book creator, feminist and outspoken LGBT rights activist. Kirven spoke at the Supreme Court during the oral arguments for the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 on March 27, 2013, which was attended by over 10,000 people.
The Montrose Center is an LGBTQ community center located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The organization provides an array of programs and services for the LGBTQ community, including mental and behavioral health, anti-violence services, support groups, specialized services for youth, seniors, and those living with HIV, community meeting space, and it now operates the nation's largest LGBTQ-affirming, affordable, senior living center in the nation, the Law Harrington Senior Living Center. It is a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. It is in Neartown (Montrose).
Jaime Cortez is a Chicano-American graphic novelist, visual artist, writer, teacher, and performer. Cortez is also known for his role as an LGBT rights activist, and HIV/AIDS prevention work.
In the United States, LGBT youth of colour are marginalized adolescents in the LGBT community. Social issues include homelessness; cyberbullying; physical, verbal and sexual abuse; suicide; drug addiction; street violence; immigration surveillance; engagement in high-risk sexual activity; self-harm, and depression. The rights of LGBT youth of colour are reportedly not addressed in discussions of sexuality and race in the larger context of LGBT rights.
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.
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.
LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall in 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, 2019as a part of the Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 events. Each year five additional names will be added.
Everyone is Awesome is a Lego set released in 2021. The Lego product is the first designed to represent the LGBTQIA+ community. It was designed by Matthew Ashton and is themed to represent a pride flag and transgender pride flag, and black and brown colors to represent LGBT people of color.
Ortez Alderson was an African American AIDS, gay rights, and anti-war activist and actor. A member of LGBT community, he was a leader of the Black Caucus of the Chicago Gay Liberation Front, which later became the Third World Gay Revolution, and served a federal prison sentence for destroying files related to the draft for the Vietnam War. In 1987, he was one of the founding members of ACT UP in New York City, and helped to establish its Majority Action Committee representing people of color with HIV and AIDS. Regarded as a "radical elder" within ACT UP, he was involved in organizing numerous demonstrations in the fight for access to healthcare and treatments for people with AIDS, and participated in the group's meetings with NYC Health Commissioner Stephen Joseph as well as the FDA. In 1989, he moved back to Chicago and helped to organize the People of Color and AIDS Conference the following year. He died of complications from AIDS in 1990, and was inducted posthumously into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.