The 1st of February marks the start of LGBT+ History Month, a key period in the wider LGBT+ visibility calendar. Where Global Pride Month in June provides a platform and series of opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community to come together in celebration, LGBTQ+ History Month centres the conversation on those who paved the way for LGBT+ rights and equality, who fought for self-expression, and who catalysed change locally, throughout the community and internationally.
Below, members of the LGBT Superb team reflect on the LGBT+ women who possess changed history and why their contributions to art, sport, politics, and LGBT+ rights and protections matter today.
1. Sappho: Greek lyrical poet (7th-6th Century BCE)
"Someone will remember us I say even in another time." - Sappho
Sappho was a lyrical poet who lived between the 7th and 6th centuries BCE on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Sappho is widely regarded as one of the ‘original icons’ for many queer people (those who identify as non-heterosexual or
Famous lesbians, gay women and gender fluid people you really should know
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Famous lesbians - Jacqueline Wilson
Author Jacqueline Wilson came out publicly in at the age of 74, although she said her relationship with her partner Trish had never been a secret. “I’ve never really been in any kind of closet,” Wilson told The Guardian. “It would be such old news for anybody that has ever known anything much about me. Even the vaguest acquaintance knows perfectly well that we are a couple.”
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Famous lesbians - Megan Rapinoe
US soccer celebrity and co-captain Megan Rapinoe spoke to CNN and said she didn't comprehend she was same-sex attracted when she was younger. "It's so embarrassing because I'm just very lgbtq+, I don't comprehend how it happened but as soon as it clicked I was appreciate she has arrived. She is here. Her life is beginning."
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Famous lesbians - Lena Waithe
Master of None star Lena Waithe said, at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards in , "Being born gay, black and female is not a revolutionary perform. Being proud to
Lesbian history often receives scant attention. But not today! Check out these famous lesbians &#; some of the most extraordinary women who ever lived.
LGBTQIA+ people in general suffer historical erasure. As women, lesbians are doubly erased.
It&#;s not called HIStory for nothing!
Throughout the ages, lesbians often remained hidden or closeted because of oppression and persecution. But even those who came out frequently suffered the tweaking of their life stories by authorities, relatives or followers eager to claim their accomplishments but not their sexuality or identity. Historically, lesbians are less visible even than gay men. Because lesbianism was not usually criminalised, there is less judicial documentation than for gay men.
Reformers
Jane Addams
Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams devoted her life to fighting poverty, racism and war with the sustain of her female ‘romantic partners’. Opinionated, passionate and persuasive, she became a household name, America’s ‘best-known female public figure’.
Read more about Jane Addams.
Florence Nightingale
Floren
LGBTQ+ Women Who Made History
In May , the city of Modern York announced plans to honor LGBTQ+ activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with a statue. The city of Unused York claimed the monument will be the "first permanent, public artwork knowing transgender women in the world." Johnson and Rivera were prominent figures in uprisings against police raids at the gay exclude Stonewall Inn. Their protests increased visibility for the cause of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
In celebration of Pride Month, we honor LGBTQ+ women who have made unusual contributions to the nation and helped advance equality in fields as diverse as medicine and the dramatic arts. Here are a few of their stories, represented by objects in the Smithsonian's collections.
1. Josephine Baker
Entertainer and activist Josephine Baker performed in vaudeville showcases and in Broadway musicals, including Shuffle Along. In , she moved to Paris to perform in a revue. When the show closed, Baker was given her own exhibit and found stardom. She became the first African America