SGL Black Trailblazers
This Black writer, poet, feminist, and civil rights activist was known for her powerful works on race, gender, sexuality, and social justice. She was openly same-gender-loving (SGL), and her influential works include Sister Outsider.
Who is Audre Lorde?
Where was the first recorded same-gender-loving (SGL) couple in history found?
Where is Kemet, the country later renamed Egypt by Greek invaders?
This self-identified drag queen and historical figure is attributed with starting the Stonewall riot, which later became a blueprint for the White-led LGBTQ+ movement.
Who is Marsha P. Johnson?
The Yoruba deity of love and sensuality, often associated with rivers and fertility, has sometimes been described as having warrior-like qualities.
Who is Oshun?
This 2016 Oscar-winning film, directed by Barry Jenkins, explores Black masculinity and same-gender love.
What is Moonlight?
This Black writer and artist was one of the few figures of the Harlem Renaissance who was open about his love for other men. A poet, novelist, and painter, his most famous work, Smoke, Lilies and Jade (1926), is considered one of the first published stories to openly depict same-gender love by a Black writer.
Who is Richard Bruce Nugent?
What are the names of the first same-gender loving couple ever recorded in history?
Who are Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum?
This activist was the first openly same-gender-loving *SGL) Black individual invited by Minister Louis Farrakhan to speak at the 2005 Million Man March commemoration, one of the largest national gatherings of Black people in history.
Who is Cleo Manago?
Among the Igbo people of Nigeria, this practice allowed women to take on male social roles, including marrying other women.
What is female husbandry?
This singer and rapper, known for Old Town Road, has been an outspoken advocate for Black SGL representation.
Who is Lil Nas X?
This man was the head of logistics for the 1963 March on Washington, D.C., featuring Martin Luther King Jr.
Who is Bayard Rustin?
What were the professions of the first recorded SGL couple in history?
They were manicurists and royal servants for the Pharaoh and their family.
This Black SGL woman, poet, and activist co-founded the Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist and LGBTQ/SGL organization.
Who is Barbara Smith?
According to spiritual teacher Sobonfu Somé of Burkina Faso, what group saw SGL people as Gatekeepers, having a foot in both worlds, giving them heightened insight, wisdom, and spiritual responsibility?
Who are the Dagara?
The FX TV show that showcased 1980s ballroom culture and featured a cast of mostly Black and Latinx trans women.
What is Pose?
A celebrated Black freedom fighter, playwright, and author of The Amen Corner and Giovanni’s Room, known for addressing White-racist behavior and sexuality; he was a powerful speaker, and featured in the 2018 documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro.”
Who is James Baldwin?
Who was one of Kemet’s (Egypt’s) most successful pharaohs and one of the earliest known gender-nuanced rulers in history, whose identity was misrepresented until modern X-rays revealed their true gender?
Who is Hatshepsut?
Founded in 1989, this organization became the first in the USA to establish an empowerment center for same-gender-loving, gay-identifying, and bisexual Black men within a Black community.
What is the Black Men's Xchange?
This African spiritual practice in Haiti and the Americas has spirits known as loa, some of whom challenge Western gender norms.
What is Vodou?
The ballroom scene originated in this city, where Black and Latinx LGBTQ+/SGL communities created a vibrant underground culture.
What is New York City?
This self-identifying drag queen was instrumental in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, a Black and Puerto Rican-led protest against police brutality toward homosexuals (this was before White selection of the word gay) and gender-nonconforming people in NYC.
Who is Marsha P. Johnson? Marsha P. Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels Jr.
Who was the King of Buganda (now Uganda) who resisted British colonial influence, Christian missionaries, and reportedly had both male and female partners (bisexual)?
Who is Kabaka Mwanga II?
This organization, founded in 1994, focused on uplifting Black LGBTQ+ people through art, activism, and community-building
What is The Audre Lorde Project?
This ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) concept represents balance, truth, and order and was central to their spiritual and societal beliefs.
What is Ma’at?
This 1976 comedy film starring Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey follows a Black couple’s hilarious and heartfelt reactions when they discover their son is SGL.
What is Norman... Is That You?