List of LGBTQ rights activists

This is a list of notable LGBTQ rights activists who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights through political change, legal action or publication. It is ordered by country, alphabetically.

Albania

Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT organization and recipient of the Civil Rights Defenders of the Year Award 2022
Kristi Pinderi, LGBT activist and journalist; founder of Pro-LGBT

Angola

Carlos Fernandes, LGBT activist and a founder/director of the Iris Angola Association
Imanni Da Silva, Angolan model and transgender rights activist
Titica, transgender Angolan singer and goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS

Argentina

Mariana Alarcón, human rights activist who worked for labor rights for transgender women
Claudia Pía Baudracco, led the movement to repeal laws criminalizing transgender identities; co-founder of the Argentine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Federation
Lohana Berkins, founder of the Association for the Fight for Travesti and Transsexual Identity
Lara María Bertolini, human rights activist advocating for the rights of travesti, transgender, and non-binary people
Claudia Castrosín Verdú, she and her partner were the first lesbian couple to form a civil union in Latin America; vice president of FALGBT
María Rachid, politician and LGBT rights activist, partner of Claudia Castrosín Verdú
Diana Sacayán, board member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and a leader of the Antidiscrimination Liberation Movement

Armenia

Lilit Martirosyan, trans right activist, founder of the Right Side NGO

Australia

Ron Austin
Peter Bonsall-Boone
Bob Brown
Lyle Chan, member of ACT UP
Rodney Croome
Peter De Waal
Alex Greenwich
Grace Hyland
Craig Johnston
Michael Kirby, justice of the High Court of Australia
Julie McCrossin
Sally Rugg
Magda Szubanski
Derek Williams, co-founder of GaLTaS

Austria

Helmut Graupner, lawyer and LGBT activist
Gery Keszler, organizer of the Life Ball
Alex Jürgen
Ulrike Lunacek
Hermann von Teschenberg, barrister, translator, and LGBT rights activist

Bangladesh

Xulhaz Mannan

Barbados

Ro-Ann Mohammed, co-founder of the organization Barbados - Gays, Lesbians and All-Sexuals against Discrimination
Donnya Piggott, tech entrepreneur, human rights advocate, co-founder of the organization Barbados - Gays, Lesbians and All-Sexuals against Discrimination

Belgium

Sonja Eggerickx, teacher, women and LGBT rights advocate
Eliane Morissens, teacher and LGBT activist for labor rights

Belize

Botswana

Katlego Kai Kolanyane-Kesupile, performance artist, musician, writer and LGBT activist
Monica Tabengwa, lawyer and researcher on LGBT rights issues in sub-Saharan Africa
Caine Youngman, involved in court cases to legalize same-sex relationships

Brazil

Bulgaria

Desislava Petrova, LGBT activist, former president of Gemini
Monika Pisankaneva, lecturer and activist; founder of Gemini

Cameroon

Bandy Kiki, blogger and LGBTQ activist
Joel Gustave Nana Ngongang
Alice Nkom, first woman lawyer in Cameroon and LGBTQ rights activist

Canada

Barry D. Adam, sociologist, author, and HIV/AIDS prevention researcher
Enza Anderson, trans rights activist and journalist
Florence Ashley, activist and academic who specializes in trans law and bioethics
Chris Bearchell, gay liberation activist and right to privacy advocate
Alec Butler, filmmaker and playwright
Michelle Douglas, human rights activist who challenged military anti-LGBTQ discrimination policies
Jim Egan, early LGBTQ rights activist known for his role in Egan v Canada
Brent Hawkes, gay rights activist and clergyman
Alan Herbert, LGBTQ rights activist and one of Canada's first out gay politicians
George Hislop, gay rights activist and one of Canada's first out gay politicians
k.d. lang, musician and LGBTQ rights activist
John Alan Lee, sociologist and early LGBTQ rights activist
Michael Lynch, gay liberationist and AIDS activist
Irshad Manji, educator, human rights activist, and advocate for LGBTQ Muslims' rights
Tim McCaskell, gay rights and AIDS activist
Christin Milloy, LGBTQ activist and Canada's first out transgender provincial-level political candidate
Arsham Parsi, activist and founder of the International Railroad for Queer Refugees
Gordon Price, urban planner, gay rights activist, and former politician
Svend Robinson, Canada's first MP to come out as gay while in office
Bill Siksay, first out gay non-incumbent man to be elected to Canada's House of Commons
Clara Sorrenti, Twitch streamer, political commentator, and trans rights activist
Richard Summerbell, scientist, author, and gay activist
Jenna Talackova, model who successfully waged a legal battle to be allowed to compete in the Miss Universe Canada
Mark Tewksbury, competitive swimmer who challenged homophobia in the sports world
Kai Cheng Thom, writer, performance artist, and activist
Thomas Waugh, academic, film critic, and activist

Chile

China, People's Republic of

Cui Zi'en
Li Tingting, LGBT rights and feminist activist
Li Yinhe
Xian, LGBT rights activist and founder of Beijing-based lesbian organization Tongyu

Colombia

Costa Rica

Victor Madrigal-Borloz

Croatia

Merlinka
Mima Simić, LGBTQ activist and Croatia's first openly out LGBTIQ+ political candidate

Cuba

Ada Bello, LGBTQ rights activist and medical researcher
Mariela Castro, director of the National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People

Denmark

Axel and Eigil Axgil, Danish gay rights advocates
Lili Elbe, Danish painter, transgender woman

Ecuador

Sandra Álvarez, founder of the Ecuadorian Organization of Lesbian Women and the first openly LGBT person to hold an elected position in Ecuador’s National Assembly
Orlando Montoya, Colombian who led Ecuador's decriminalization of homosexuality
Diane Rodríguez
Carina Vance Mafla

Egypt

El Salvador

Ruby Corado, Salvadoran LGBTQ rights activist

Estonia

Finland

France

Camille Cabral
Pierre Guénin
Fabrice Houdart
Christiane Taubira
Lilian Thuram, former French soccer player
Rama Yade, former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights of France

Germany

Greece

Jason-Antigone Dane, LGBT activist, first person to ask for official recognition as a non-binary person
Marina Galanou, trans activist, publisher, writer, and columnist
Zak Kostopoulos, Greek-American LGBT, AIDS, refugee, sex-worker activist
Panos H. Koutras, filmmaker and LGBT activist
Menelas Siafakas, filmmaker and LGBT activist

Guatemala

Aldo Dávila, politician and first openly gay man and first HIV-positive member of Congress
Sandra Morán, first out LGBT person ever elected to Congress; LGBT and human rights activist

Honduras

Erick Martínez Ávila, journalist and LGBT and AIDS activist
Claudia Spellmant, LGBT and transgender activist
Walter Tróchez, political activist and LGBT rights leader

Hungary

Gergely Homonnay, journalist and LGBT activist
Ildikó Juhász
Karl Maria Kertbeny, journalist and human rights activist who coined the terms "homosexual" and "heterosexual"

Iceland

Owl Fisher, youngest trans person to medically transition in Iceland; LGBT activist
Hörður Torfason

India

Indonesia

Dede Oetomo

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Imri Kalmann, former co-chairperson of the Israeli LGBT Association
Yair Qedar, founder of Israel's first LGBT newspaper

Italy

Jamaica

Maurice Tomlinson, LGBT and HIV/AIDS activist who challenged the homophobic Sodomy Law
Brian Williamson, co-founded the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays

Japan

Taiga Ishikawa
Wataru Ishizaka
Maki Muraki, head of Nijiro Diversity in Osaka
Kanako Otsuji, first openly lesbian politician in Japan

Kenya

Kyrgyzstan

Dastan Kasmamytov

Latvia

Kristīne Garina, LGBT activist and co-founder of Mozaīka

Lebanon

Lithuania

Malta

Mexico

Ociel Baena, activist and Mexico's first non-binary magistrate
Nancy Cardenas, playwright, director, and LGBT+ activist
Gloria Angélica Careaga Pérez, social psychologist and activist
Agnés Torres Hernández, psychologist and transgender activist
Claudia Hinojosa, LGBT and human rights activist, academic
Patria Jiménez, the first openly gay member of any Latin American legislature
Julio César Martín-Trejo, Anglican bishop
Bamby Salcedo, Mexican-American transgender activist

Morocco

Ibtissam Lachgar, psychologist and human rights and LGBT activist

Myanmar

John Lwin, model agency founder, LGBT rights activist
Shin Thant, one of the leading LGBTQ+ rights activists in Myanmar

Nepal

Sunil Babu Pant, first openly gay Nepali politician, former head of Blue Diamond Society
Bhumika Shrestha

Netherlands

Willem Arondeus
Vera Bergkamp, former chairman of the world's oldest LGBT organization
John Blankenstein
Boris Dittrich
Coos Huijsen, first openly gay parliamentarian
Henk Krol
Betty Paërl
Marjan Sax

New Zealand

Georgina Beyer, first openly transgender mayor in NZ
Suran Dickson
Kevin Hague
Kassie Hartendorp
Ngahuia Te Awekotuku
Derek Williams, co-founder of GaLTaS

Nigeria

Richard Akuson, lawyer and founder of Nigeria's first LGBT magazine
Bisi Alimi, British-Nigerian LGBT and HIV/AIDS activist
Aderonke Apata, LGBT activist and barrister

Norway

Kim Friele
Christian Møllerop, leader of the Oslo and Akershus LLH

Pakistan

Palestine

Panama

Gilberto Gerald, gay rights and HIV/AIDS activist, co-founder of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Naser Mohamed

Romania

Russia

Nikolai Alekseev
Evgeny Belyakov
Ali Feruz
Igor Kochetkov, head of the LGBT Network
Yekaterina Samutsevich
Evgeny Shtorn
Yulia Tsvetkova
Mikhail Tumasov
Yuma Yuma

Serbia

Sierra Leone

FannyAnn Eddy

Singapore

Alex Au
Paddy Chew, first person in Singapore to come out as HIV-positive
Jean Chong

Slovakia

Somalia

South Africa

Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat
Midi Achmat, LGBT activist, co-founder of Treatment Action Campaign, Association of Bisexuals, Gays, and Lesbians and the National Coalition of Lesbian and Gay Equality
Dawn Cavanagh
Muhsin Hendricks
Busi Kheswa
Simon Nkoli, LGBT activist, founder of the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand
Noxolo Nogwaza
Funeka Soldaat, leader of Free Gender Organisation in Khayelitsha, Western Cape

South Korea

Spain

Ángeles Álvarez
Carla Antonelli
Oriol Pamies
Lucas Platero Spanish educator and researcher

Sri Lanka

St. Lucia

Kenita Placide

Sudan

Ahmed Umar

Sweden

Anna Mohr

Switzerland

Syria

Abdulrahman Akkad

Taiwan

Thailand

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Mounir Baatour

Turkey

Uganda

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Jeremy Bentham, 19th-century jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer
Bette Bourne, actor, performer, founder of the gay theatrical troupe Bloolips; one of the first modern-day UK LGBTQ+ activists and campaigners
Michael C. Burgess, courier and co-treasurer of OutRage!
Christine Burns, trans rights campaigner, formerly a vice president of PfC, awarded MBE for work with PfC and on the GRB
Tanya Compas, queer Black rights activist based in London
A.E. Dyson, literary critic and founder of the Homosexual Law Reform Society
Jackie Forster, actress, TV personality and lesbian campaigner
Moud Goba, LGBTIQ+ human rights activist
Ray Gosling, writer, broadcaster and gay rights activist in the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Antony Grey, secretary of the Homosexual Law Reform Society; the public face of the Albany Trust
Liam Hackett, founder of anti-bullying website and charity Ditch the Label
Derek Jarman, film director
Craig Jones, LGBTQ+ rights campaigner for the UK armed forces, founder of Fighting with Pride and author
Paris Lees, trans rights campaigner, part of Trans Media Watch
Denis Lemon, editor of Gay News, involved in blasphemy prosecution brought by Mary Whitehouse
Ian McKellen, actor and spokesperson for Stonewall (UK)
Robert Mellors, 20th-century writer and Gay Liberation Front campaigner
Andrew Moffat, LGBT education advocate, author and founder the No Outsiders programme
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, British political activist and co-founder of UK Black Pride
Paul Patrick, anti-homophobia activist and educator
Saima Razzaq, LGBT inclusive education activist and Birmingham Pride Head of Diversity and Inclusion
Michael Schofield, sociologist and early gay rights campaigner
Michael Steed, Liberal politician, academic and gay rights activist in the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Ben Summerskill, former chief executive of Stonewall
Peter Tatchell, politician, human rights and LGBT rights campaigner
Stephen Whittle, trans rights campaigner and former vice president of PfC and president of HBIGDA, Law Professor at MMU, awarded OBE for work with PfC and on the GRB
Derek Williams, co-founder of GaLTaS

United States

Kimball Allen, author of Secrets of a Gay Mormon Felon and Be Happy Be Mormon
Jacob Appel, New York City-based lawyer, advocate for reparations for gays and lesbians
Gilbert Baker, designer of the rainbow flag
Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin since 2013, first openly LGBTQ senator.
Christopher R. Barron, co-founder of GOProud, a political organization representing gay conservatives
Paul Barwick
Vic Basile, first executive director of the Human Rights Campaign
Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, former spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign
Elizabeth Birch, former executive director of the Human Rights Campaign
Dustin Lance Black, founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights
Chaz Bono, transgender son of Sonny Bono and Cher
Jennifer Finney Boylan, transgender author, professor, and trans rights activist, former co-chair of GLAAD's National Board of Directors
David P. Brill, Boston-based journalist
Blake Brockington, transgender rights activist
Jenny Bruso, hiker, influencer, and activist for inclusivity and body positivity
Judith Butler, philosopher and gender theorist
Margarethe Cammermeyer, former colonel in the Washington National Guard whose coming out story was made into the 1995 movie Serving in Silence
Gloria Casarez, Latina lesbian civil rights leader and LGBT activist in Philadelphia; Philadelphia's first director of LGBT affairs
Ryan Cassata, transgender activist, public speaker and singer-songwriter
June Chan, Asian American lesbian activist
Joanne Conte, trans woman, former Arvada, Colorado City Councilor, currently hosts a radio show on KGNU
Lynn Conway, trans woman computer scientist and electrical engineer
Ruby Corado, Salvadoran activist and founder of Casa Ruby
James Dale, known for landmark 2000 US Supreme Court case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that challenged the Boy Scouts of America policy of excluding gay youth and adults
Alphonso David, first person of color to serve as president for the Human Rights Campaign; served as a staff attorney for Lambda Legal where he worked on New York State's first same-sex marriage case, Hernandez v. Robles also the Former Deputy Secretary and Counsel for Civil Rights for New York State under Andrew Cuomo
Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, television host, actress, writer, producer, and LGBT activist
Stephen Donaldson, early bisexual LGBT rights activist founder of the first American gay students' organization, first person to fight a discharge from the U.S. military for homosexuality, also an important figure in the modern bisexual rights movement
Julie Dorf, international LGBT human rights advocate and founder of OutRight Action International
Fran Drescher, outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist
Mason J. Dunn, lawyer, educator, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate based in Massachusetts
John Duran
Sarah Kate Ellis, president & CEO of GLAAD
Steve Endean, founder of the Human Rights Campaign Fund
Arden Eversmeyer, founder of Lesbians Over Age Fifty and the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project
Sallie Fiske, journalist and LGBTQ activist
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Barney Frank, member of the Democratic Party who served as a member of Congress from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013
Aaron Fricke, sued the Cumberland, Rhode Island school system in 1980 and won a landmark First Amendment case granting him the legal right to attend prom with another boy, an experience he chronicled in the gay coming-of-age memoir Reflections of a Rock Lobster
Lady Gaga, bisexual singer/songwriter who campaigned for the DADT repeal; released pro-gay anthem "Born This Way"
Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet and political activist
Barbara Gittings, founder of the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis; pushed for the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Neil Giuliano
Alexander John Goodrum, transgender civil rights activist
Chad Griffin, former president of the Human Rights Campaign; founder of American Foundation for Equal Rights, a nonprofit organization that supported the plaintiffs in the California Proposition 8 trial
James Gruber, original member of the Mattachine Society
Hardy Haberman, author, filmmaker, prominent member of the Leather/Fetish/BDSM community, and activist involved in founding of first LGBT group in Dallas, TX
David M. Hall, author of Allies at Work: Creating a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Inclusive Work Environment, speaks to corporate audiences across the country, co-founder of Out & Equal Philadelphia
Harry Hay, co-founder of the Mattachine Society
John Heilman
Essex Hemphill, poet
Daniel Hernandez Jr., member of Tucson's city commission on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, who was credited with saving the life of U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords after the 2011 Tucson shooting
Brenda Howard, bisexual LGBT rights activist, instrumental figure in the immediate post-Stonewall era in New York City, also an important figure in the modern bisexual rights movement
John Paul Hudson, activist, journalist, actor, and author; helped organize NYC's first gay pride parade following the Stonewall riots, serving as the parade's first grand marshal
Sally Huffer, board member of multiple LGBT non profit organizations
Richard Isay
Cheryl Jacques, former member of the Massachusetts State Legislature; former president of the Human Rights Campaign, resigned shortly after the passage of 11 state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage
Helen G. James
Dale Jennings, co-founder of the Mattachine Society
Marsha P. Johnson
Cleve Jones, conceived the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and worked with Harvey Milk; co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Christine Jorgensen, first person to become widely known for having sex reassignment surgery in the United States
Frank Kameny, participant in many gay rights rallies of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably the push in 1972–1973 for the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Norm Kent
Morris Kight, founder of Los Angeles' Gay and Lesbian Front and Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Lisa Kove, executive director of the Department of Defense Federal Globe and President of Empowering Spirits Foundation
Larry Kramer, author and playwright who helped form the prominent gay rights organizations Gay Men's Health Crisis and AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power
Kiyoshi Kuromiya, author and civil rights, anti-war, gay liberation, and HIV/AIDS activist
Janice Langbehn, campaigner for same-sex marriage and same-sex hospital visitation after being denied access to her dying partner, Lisa Marie Pond, in 2007
Cyndi Lauper, founder of the True Colors Fund charity, which promotes equality for members of the LGBT community
Malcolm L. Lazin
Audre Lorde
Scott Long, executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch
Courtney Love, a musician and singer, has advocated for LGBT rights and acceptance since the beginning of her career in the early 1990s
Phyllis Lyon, lesbian activist who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Del Martin
Deacon Maccubbin, founder of Washington D.C.'s first Pride parade and the Lambda Literary Awards
Madonna, entertainer and long-term human and civil rights activist; has offered outspoken support for the gay rights movement
Del Martin, lesbian activist, co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Phyllis Lyon
Sarah McBride, first openly transgender member of the United States Congress, author and LGBTQ rights activist.
Tim McFeeley
Aldyn Mckean, singer and gay rights/AIDS activist
Harvey Milk, openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California; assassinated in 1978 by Dan White
David Nelson, founder of Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats and Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah
Jack Nichols, journalist, writer, activist and co-founder of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., with Frank Kameny
Barbara Noda, advocate for LGBT rights in the San Francisco Bay Area
Tyler Oakley
Romaine Patterson, lesbian talk show host and founder of Angel Action
Troy Perry
Charles Pitts
Jack Quillin, LGBTQ+ activist
Sylvia Rivera
Brandan Robertson
Geena Rocero
Craig Rodwell
Abby Rubenfeld
RuPaul, drag queen and gay activist known for the TV show RuPaul's Drag Race
Vito Russo
Bayard Rustin, openly gay civil rights activist, principal organizer and co-leader of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.; gay rights activist in later life
Ryan Sallans, out trans man and public speaker, travels around US educating high school and college students on LGBT issues
Graciela Sanchez, social justice activist, founder of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
José Sarria, first openly gay candidate for political office in the United States, founder of the Imperial Court System
Tully Satre
Dan Savage
Richard L. Schlegel, Pennsylvania activist whose wrongful termination suit is considered an early landmark case for gay rights
Josh Seefried, United States Air Force first lieutenant and co-director of OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military
Drew Shafer, gay activist from Kansas City, Missouri, known for bringing the homophile movement to KC, and publishing The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice
Michelangelo Signorile
Charles Silverstein, gay psychologist who was the founder of the Journal of Homosexuality and key in testifying against the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder
Ruth Simpson, founder of the first lesbian community center, former President of Daughters of Bilitis New York, author of From the Closet to the Courts
Nadine Smith, LGBTQ+ rights activist
Joe Solmonese, former political fundraiser and past president of the Human Rights Campaign
A. Latham Staples, founder and chairman of the Empowering Spirits Foundation; president & CEO of EXUSMED, Inc.
Abby Stein, advocate for transgender people of Orthodox Jewish background
Lou Sullivan
Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network
Urvashi Vaid, Indian-American activist, has worked for over 25 years promoting civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons
Adela Vázquez, San Francisco based Cuban transgender activist, member of Proyecto ContraSIDA por Vida, and others.
Elisha Wiesel, hedge fund manager and activist
Phill Wilson, co-founder of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum and founder of the Black AIDS Institute
Evan Wolfson
William E. Woods, gay rights activist in Hawaii who in 1991 set in motion the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US
Chely Wright

Uruguay

Venezuela

Tamara Adrián, lawyer, LGBT and trans activist who became Venezuela's first openly trans elected official
Daniel Arzola, writer, artist, and activist
Quiteria Franco
Feliciano Reyna

Vietnam

Lương Thế Huy