LGBT Athletes
This Las Vegas Raider made headlines in 2021 as the first openly gay National Football League player.
Carl Nassib
Although narrowly construed, this (in)famous Supreme Court case found unconstitutional many sanctions of criminal punishment for those who commit sodomy.
Lawrence v. Texas.
Thank you, next. This former Nickelodeon star and two-time Grammy Award-winning American singer songwriter is known for impressive four-octave range, drawing comparisons to Mariah Carey.
Ariana Grande.
This American Drag Queen served as the key inspiration for Ursula the Sea Witch in Disney's The Little Mermaid.
Divine.
In 1975, this legacy department of the U.S. government denied a visa petition for classification as a spouse to Anthony Corbett Sullivan stating: "You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two <inappropriate word>."
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
This professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury made headlines in February 2022 after Russian customs officials found hashish oil in her luggage.
Brittney Griner.
This Act, named for the two gay men who were dragged behind cars and left to die, expanded the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Founder of the Born this Way Foundation, this 13-time Grammy Award-Winner American singer, songwriter, and actress has famously performed duets with Tony Bennett, Bradley Cooper, Beyoncé, and Ariana Grande.
Lady Gaga.
This gender-bending actor performed in the 1975's Rocky Horror Picture Show with the aesthetic stylings of musician David Bowie.
Tim Curry
The Immigration Act of 1917 banned queer or gender nonconforming immigrants as well as primarily targeted immigrants from this continent.
Asia.
This professional soccer player and Olympic Gold Medalist garnered national attention when she kneeled during the national anthem at an international match in September 2016.
Megan Rapinoe.
This Circuit Court of Appeals found 1983 in Hill v. INS that non-citizens could not be shut out of the country based solely on their own admissions to homosexual identity.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
A former Destiny's Child, this 28-time Grammy Award-winning American singer, songwriter, and actress is also known as Sasha Fierce.
Beyoncé.
This American Drag Queen famously threw the first brick, igniting the Stonewall Riot.
Marsha P. Johnson.
In 1996, this Act restricted federal recognition of marriage to a union of one man and one woman and was later overturned in United States v. Windsor.
Defense of Marriage Act.
This former Republican gubernatorial candidate and Fox News contributor took the gold medal in men's decathalon event at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Caitlin Jenner.
This (in)famous Supreme Court case found that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from their employers against discrimination based on transgender status.
Bostock v. Clayton County.
This singer of the longtime Pride anthem, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)," won two Emmy Awards and six Grammy Awards before tragically drowning in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton in 2012.
Whitney Houston.
"The Library is Open." This 1990s drag ball documentary has been critiqued for making its directors and producers more famous than its cast.
Paris is Burning
A survivor of World War II U.S.-run Japanese internment camps, this actor rose to prominence for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu, helmsmen of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
George Takei.
This ophthalmologist and former tennis player competed in the professional circuit in 1970 set legal precedents in New York, having widely been known for her male-to-female reassignment surgery.
Renee Richards.
This type of defense has allowed people charged with murdering a gay (or trans) person to be released, or have a lessor charge.
Gay (or Trans) Panic Defense.
This longtime LGBT+ activist is the only artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard Chart in each of the last six decades.
Cher.
Named Mabel Earlene Simmons, this character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry is described as an elderly and tough African-American Woman paying homage to Perry's mother and aunt.
Madea.
This U.S. President signed Executive Order 10450 in 1953, which made "sexual perversion" sufficient reason for being fired from federal employment, contributing to the period known as the Lavender Scare.
Eisenhower.