For Black History Month, GLAAD created the following list of well-known LGBTQ Black Americans—past and present. The already impressive list continues to grow and many more names could be added to it, including those of Bay Area community leaders such as Ken Jones, Melanie DeMore, Honey Mahogany, Dr. Tyler TerMeer (see interview in our prior issue), San Francisco Bay Times columnists Andrea Shorter and Derek Barnes, former Bay Times columnist Brett Andrews, Carolyn Wysinger, and numerous others.
Alice Walker: author, poet, and advocate
Alvin Ailey: choreographer and advocate
André Leon Talley: editor-at-large for Vogue magazine
Angela Davis: political advocate, scholar, and author
Audre Lorde: author and advocate
Azealia Banks: musician
Bayard Rustin: chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.
Bessie Smith: blues singer
Bill T. Jones: artistic director, choreographer, and dancer
Countee Cullen: poet
Darryl Stevens: actor
Don Lemon: reporter for CNN and news anchor
Doug Spearman: actor
E. Denise Simmons: mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the 2008–2009 term, first openly lesbian African American mayor in the U.S.
E. Lyn Harris: author
Emil Wilbekin: former openly gay editor-in-chief of Vibe Magazine, managing editor at Essence
Felicia “Snoop” Pearson: actress
Frenchie Davis: musician
Frank Ocean: musician
Glen Burke: Major League Baseball player
Isis King: America’s Next Top Model contestant
James Baldwin: author
Janet Mock: activist, author
Jasika Nicole: actress
Jean-Michel Basquiat: artist
John Amaechi: NBA player
Josephine Baker: dancer, singer, and actress
June Jordan: author
Kevin Aviance: female impressionist and entertainer
Kylar Broadus, lawyer, first trans-identified person to testify before Congress
LZ Granderson: ESPN columnist
Langston Hughes: poet and social advocate
Laverne Cox: actress, producer, and transgender advocate
Lee Daniels: film producer and director
Linda Villaros: author, journalist, and public speaker
Ma Rainey: blues singer
Maurice Jamal: filmmaker and director
Meshell Ndegeocello: singer
Paris Barclay: television director and producer
Patrik-Ian Polk: director, producer, screenwriter, singer, and actor
Roy Simmons: NFL player
RuPaul: actor, drag queen, and singer-songwriter
Sheryl Swoopes: WNBA player
Stacy Ann Chin: author and poet
Tracy Chapman: singer
Wade Davis, NFL player
Wanda Sykes: actress and comedian
Published on February 10, 2022
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