5 LGBTQIA+ Folks That Are Slaying
As a member of the LGBTQIA+ diaspora, I know how important it can be to know your queer history. Moments like Marsha P. Johson at Stonewall, the legalization of gay marriage, and the The Equality Act have led to a strong and beautiful spectrum of a community.
It's the bravery of those who came before us that lights the way for us, especially in the wake of a global pandemic. With Pride events cancelled around the country due to COVID-19, there is no better time to help support and learn about the folks who are currently working hard for the LGBTQIA+ community.
This pride month, we wanted to feature five Queereos (Queer Heroes) who are making the world a better place.
Schuyler Bailar
Schuyler Bailar made news in 2015 when he became the first openly transgender NCAA Division 1 athlete. After taking a gap year before college to both treat an eating disorder and kick off his transition, he started his freshman year on Harvard’s men’s swimming team. Bailar continued to tell his story at conferences, an interview with Ellen Degeneres, and being featured on 60 Minutes. His goal? To be the example he wishes he’d seen as a kid. “I want little kids, specifically younger athletes, to see me and say, ‘Hey, he exists, he’s doing this, I can do it too,’” he said in an interview with Boston.com. Since then Bailar has used his platform to comment on topics like gender identity, transphobia, and to combat mental health stigma. Follow him on Instagram here.
Alphonso David
Alphonso David has spent his career advocating for the disenfranchised. From his time doing pro bono work as a lawyer helping victims of domestic violence to his four years as Deputy Secretary and Counsel for Civil Rights for New York State. He also, “pushed New York to use Medicaid funding to cover the costs of gender transition and to make it easier to change gender identity on government documents.” As of 2019, “[he] is the first civil rights lawyer and the first person of color to serve as president of [Human Rights Campaign]" since it’s creation in 1980. At the helm of a powerful lobbing force like the HRC, there’s no telling what this amazing “queero” can do for the LGBTQIA+ community. Follow him on Twitter here.
ALOK
ALOK [Vaid Menon] is a gender non-conforming writer, performance artist, and fashion designer based in New York. Their work focuses on their journey to fully express themselves, the trauma they’ve endured, and the boundaries they’re still looking to break. ALOK has been featured in major publications like Vogue and Paper Magazine, along with Sam Smith’s music video for “I’m Ready.” They have toured the world showcasing their book “Femme In Public,” while also speaking to how the fashion and beauty industries can be more inclusive of all bodies. In an interview with The Advocate Magazine, ALOK broke down why art and beauty are so powerful in society, "[everyone] is beautiful and we have to create a world that recognizes that by challenging systems which rank certain bodies as more worthy than others.” Follow them on Instagram.
Angelica Ross
While you might know Angelica Ross from her breakout role as Candy Ferocity on the FX show Pose, the actress has lived many lives. She was in the navy, had every hourly job imaginable, became a drag performer, and taught herself to code. It was through building websites for clients that she created her nonprofit TransTech Social Enterprises. TransTech provides an access point into the tech world for the community as well as a platform for established LGBTQIA+ makers. 2019 was a huge year for the successful entrepreneur. Ross hosted the Democrats' LGBTQ Presidential Forum and received a GLAAD Award for her interview on “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah." Follow her on Twitter here.
Leanne Pittsford
Leanne Pittsford is the founder and CEO of Lesbians in Tech, the largest LGBTQIA+ conference in the world. As of 2019, Lesbians Who Tech (LWT) had a membership of“40,000 non-binary, LGBTQ women, queer women of color (and our allies) in tech.” Pittsford utilized this platform into two forward-thinking offshoots to address diversity and economic inequality in the tech. Pittsford first launched include.io—a job platform to connect recruiters to the LGBTQIA+ community, to “[fight] bias in technology by scaling access to direct referrals outside of our bias networks.” The second initiative was the LWT Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund for folks looking to better their economic circumstances by learning how to code. Follow her on Twitter here.
No matter how you identify, these folks are working hard to make the world better for all of us. If want to learn more about them, or how to help their causes this June, take a look at their socials linked above.
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