LGBT Icons announced for LGBT History Month 2012

Equality Forum has announced the 31 Icons that will be recognized during LGBT History Month 2012 in October.

“The 217 Icons, including the 31 Icons for 2012, demonstrate the impressive and diverse international impact of the LGBT community,” stated Malcolm Lazin, founder of LGBT History Month and Executive Director of Equality Forum.

Icons are selected for their accomplishments in their field of endeavor, their status as a national hero or their significant contributions to LGBT equality.

LGBT History Month 2012 Icons:

Roberta Achtenberg – Government

Gloria Anzaldua – Author

Ann Bannon – Author

Katherine Lee Bates – “America the Beautiful” Songwriter

Mary Bonauto – Lawyer

Glenn Burke – Athlete

Paul Cadmus – Artist

Truman Capote – Novelist (pictured)

Chris Colfer – Actor

Kate Clinton – Comedian

Ramon Cortines – Educator

Marlene Dietrich – Actor

Jodie Foster – Actor/Director

Jean Paul Gaultier – Designer

Henry Gerber – Activist

Billy Haines – Actor

Mary Kay Henry – Labor Activist

Chris Hughes – Facebook Co-founder

Christine Jorgensen – Transgender Pioneer

Arthur Laurents – Playwright/Director

Don Lemon – News Anchor

Federico Garcia Lorca – Poet

Irshad Manji – Muslim Reformist

Katherine Miller – Activist

Holly Near – Singer

Rupaul – Entertainer

Pierre Seel – Holocaust Hero

Billy Strayhorn – Composer

Jon Stryker – Philanthropist

Tom Waddell – Gay Games Founder

Rev. Robert Wood – Gay Pioneer

Nominate an Icon for GLBT History Month 2011

Equality Forum is accepting nominations for GLBT History Month 2011 Icons. Submit your nomination(s) to nominations@equalityforum.com by Friday, December 17, 2010.

The nominee needs to be a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person, living or deceased, who has distinguished him or herself in their field of endeavor, is a national hero, or has made a significant contribution to GLBT civil rights. For examples of past Icons, visit the archives at www.GLBTHistoryMonth.com for the list of 155 Icons from 2006-2010.

Nominate an Icon for GLBT History Month 2011

Equality Forum is accepting nominations for GLBT History Month 2011 Icons. Submit your nomination(s) to nominations@equalityforum.com by Friday, December 17, 2010.

The nominee needs to be a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person, living or deceased, who has distinguished him or herself in their field of endeavor, is a national hero, or has made a significant contribution to GLBT civil rights. For examples of past Icons, visit the archives at glbtHistoryMonth.com for the list of 155 Icons from 2006-2010.

GLBT History Month 2010

Another GLBT History Month has come and gone but the 2010 overview video recaps all 31 of the important gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender honored this year including:

1.Eric Alva

2. George Washington Carver

3. George Eastman

4. Sharon Farmer

5. Leslie Feinberg

6. Tom Ford

7. E. Lynn Harris

8. David Huebner

9. Kevin Jennings

10. Mara Keisling

11. Kiyoshi Kuromiya

12. Sharon J. Lubinski

13. Jane Lynch

14. Patsy Lynch

15. Matthew Mitcham

16. Jamie Nabozny

17. Cynthia Nixon

18. Catherine Opie

19. Sunil Babu Pant

20. Annise Parker

21. John A. Pérez

22. Eleanor Roosevelt

23. Jalal al-Din Rumi

24. David Sedaris

25. Maurice Sendak

26. Matthew Shepard

27. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

28. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

29. Rufus Wainwright

30. Mel White

31. Emanuel Xavier

GLBT History Month: Rufus Wainwright

Known for his unique style and daring artistic endeavors, Rufus Wainwright is one of the most accomplished singer/songwriters of his generation. He has produced six albums and is the recipient of two Juno Awards and five GLAAD Media Awards.

GLBT History Month: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular composers in history. His best-known works include the ballets "Swan Lake," "The Sleeping Beauty," and "The Nutcracker"; the operas "The Queen of Spades" and "Eugene Onegin"; and the widely recognized Fantasy Overture “Romeo and Juliet" and "1812 Overture."

GLBT History Month: Matthew Shepard

As a gay college student, Matthew Shepard was the victim of a deadly hate crime. His murder brought national and international attention to the need for GLBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation.

GLBT History Month: Maurice Sendak

Hailed as the Picasso of children’s literature, Maurice Sendak has captured the imagination of readers young and old for more than 40 years. A prolific author and illustrator, he has published over 100 works of children's fiction.

GLBT History Month: Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt transformed the role of First Lady. She served as a diplomat and was a tireless champion of international human rights.

GLBT History Month: Sunil Babu Pant

Sunil Babu Pant is the first openly gay politician in Nepal. His 2008 election to the national legislature followed years of activism on behalf of the Nepalese GLBT community.

GLBT History Month: Matthew Mitcham

Australian diver Matthew Mitcham is one of the few openly gay Olympic athletes. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Mitcham won a gold medal after executing the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history.

GLBT History Month: Sharon J. Lubinski

In 2010, Sharon J. Lubinski became the nation’s first openly gay United States Marshal. She is the first female to hold this post in Minnesota.

GLBT History Month: Kiyoshi Kuromiya

A gay pioneer, Kiyoshi Kuromiya was an early HIV/AIDS expert. He participated in the first organized gay and lesbian civil rights demonstrations. Kuromiya was a self-taught AIDS expert. He founded the Critical Path Project, which provided resources to people living with HIV and AIDS.

GLBT History Month: David Huebner

David Huebner is the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. He is the third openly gay ambassador in United States history.

GLBT History Month: Tom Ford

Tom Ford is a prominent creative entrepreneur whose accomplishments—first in the fashion world and later in the film industry—have earned him worldwide acclaim.

In 2005, Ford formed his own fashion brand, TOM FORD. Two years later, his flagship store opened in New York. By the summer of 2010, TOM FORD had opened 20 more stores worldwide. In addition to his remarkable financial success, Ford has won many prestigious awards, including five from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Ford’s lifetime ambition, however, was to make a film. He says, “I guess I’m just one of these people who when I decide I’m going to do something, I just do it.” In 2009, he wrote, produced, financed and directed “A Single Man,” an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel. The movie centers on a gay man’s mourning over his partner’s tragic death. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for numerous awards, including a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for Colin Firth.

GLBT History Month: Leslie Feinberg

Leslie Feinberg is a leading transgender activist, speaker and writer. Feinberg is a national leader in the Workers World Party and a managing editor of Workers World newspaper.

Feinberg is an outspoken opponent of traditional Western concepts about how a “real man” or “real woman” should look and act. Feinberg supports the use of gender-neutral pronouns such as “ze” instead of he or she, and “hir” instead of him or her and is well-known for forging a strong bond between the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and other oppressed minorities. “Everyone who is under the gun of reaction and economic violence is a potential ally,” Feinberg says.

GLBT History Month: Sharon Farmer

Sharon Farmer was a White House photographer during both terms of the Clinton presidency. She was the first woman and first African-American to direct the office charged with chronicling nearly every second—from the mundane to the monumental—of the nation’s highest office.

GLBT History Month Starts Today!

Retired Staff Sergeant Eric Alva was the first American soldier wounded in the Iraq War. He is a GLBT civil rights activist and a national spokesman for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Alva is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He inherited his middle name from his grandfather and father, both Marine veterans named Fidelis. “Semper Fidelis,” the official Marine Corps motto, means “always faithful.” Serving in the military was Alva’s dream.

In 1990, the 5-feet-1-inch-tall Alva enlisted in the Marine Corps. He made it through the rigors of boot camp and went on to serve for 13 years. In 2000, he was promoted to Staff Sergeant.

In 2003, on the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Alva was with his battalion in Iraq when he stepped on a land mine. The explosion shattered his right arm and damaged his right leg so severely it had to be amputated.

Alva received a medical discharge and was presented with a Purple Heart by President George W. Bush. He was the Iraq War’s first Purple Heart recipient.

Having survived a war injury, Alva felt he’d been given a second chance at life. He discovered a new calling. “I had to use my voice,” he says. “I had fought and nearly died to secure rights for others that I was not free to enjoy. I had proudly served a country that was not proud of me.”

In 2003, Alva received the Heroes and Heritage Award from La Raza. People magazine honored him with the Heroes Among Us Award (2004). He received the Patriot Award from the city of San Antonio (2004), and the Public Citizen Award from the National Association of Social Workers (2008).

Alva earned a Bachelor of Social Work in 2008, and is studying for a master’s degree in that field. He lives in San Antonio with his long-term partner, Darrell Parsons.

U.S. Department of Education to recognize October as LGBT History Month

The U.S. Department of Education will recognize October as LGBT History Month, with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan providing welcoming remarks at the Department’s first LGBT History Month event.

Equality Forum announced that starting in 2011, GLBT History Month will be renamed LGBT History Month. Information for GLBT History Month 2010 can currently be accessed at www.glbtHistoryMonth.com or www.lgbtHistoryMonth.com.

“For a community deprived of its history, GLBT History Month teaches heritage, provides role models, builds community, and recognizes extraordinary national and international contributions,” said Ora Alger, LGBTA Employees at ED President, U.S. Department of Education. “We salute Equality Forum for spearheading this free educational resource.”

“GLBT History Month is an educational project,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum. “We are delighted to have the U.S. Department of Education recognize and celebrate our community’s history month. We salute GLSEN, GSA Network and Campus Pride for promoting with Equality Forum GLBT History Month to over 6,000 high schools and colleges.”

Each day in October, an Icon is featured with a video, biography, bibliography, downloadable images and other educational resources. The videos are offered without charge to educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, for profit companies and the public.

2010 marks the 5th anniversary of GLBT History Month, featuring 155 Icons from 2006 to 2010. Equality Forum launched GLBT History Month with 20 organizations having a GLBT History Month link on their Web sites. In 2009, over 650 nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and for profit corporations had a GLBT History Month Link, making GLBT History Month the largest collaborative project worldwide for our community.

GLBT History Month celebrates 5th Anniversary this year

2010 marks the 5th Anniversary of GLBT History Month. “In just five years, GLBT History Month has mushroomed into our community’s most collaborative project with over 650 organizations having GLBT History Month links on their Web sites,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum, and founder of GLBT History Month.

“Our community has made profound international contributions as reflected by Alexander the Great, James Baldwin, environmental movement pioneer Rachel Carson, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tchaikovsky, Alan Turing, Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde.”

“Our nation has been enriched by Leonard Bernstein, George Washington Carver, George Eastman, Barney Frank, Philip Johnson, Alfred Kinsey, Annie Leibovitz, Margaret Mead, Suze Orman, Bayard Rustin and Gore Vidal.”

“Our culture would not be the same without Alvin Ailey, Jr., Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Ford, Cary Grant, Keith Haring, Elton John, Jasper Johns, Bill T. Jones, Tony Kushner, k.d. lang, Jane Lynch, Rachel Maddow, Martina Navratilova, Cole Porter, Bessie Smith, Gianni Versace, Andy Warhol and John Waters.”

GLBT History Month celebrates civil rights heroes such as Tim Gill, Barbara Gittings, Jim Hormel, Cleve Jones, Frank Kameny, Bishop Gene Robinson and Matthew Shepard,” said Lazin. Across the spectrum of 155 Icons, we have so much to be proud of in these remarkable role models and historic figures.”