Part 1: Our Hall of Fame

Any celebration of the The Advocate's founding in 1967 must honor the heroes for LGBT rights that we've covered for 45 years. With one honoree named per year, the list will be announced in parts and culminate in an event in Los Angeles this month.

BY Advocate Contributors

March 14 2012 2:00 AM ET

HEROES 2002 ROSIE O'DONNELL X560 | ADVOCATE.COM

Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was a sign of the character she would later prove again as secretary of State, becoming an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights worldwide. “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” she said during a landmark speech in 2011 to United Nations members.

While cutting a path through the U.S. Senate that would lead to a run for president, Clinton didn’t shy from promoting LGBT rights. She helped defeat the "Federal Marriage Amendment" proposed by President Bush, pushed for better funding of HIV/AIDS services, and her LGBT supporters noted during the campaign that she was an original cosponsor of the hate crimes bill that would later pass during President Obama’s first year. She also sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that still lingers before Congress.

“You just have to keep pushing that door open,” she told The Advocate in an interview following a debate devoted to LGBT issues. Afterward, she headed to a fundraiser at a West Hollywood bar where LGBT people had watched the debate on television and cheered her on.

“The gay rights movement has been unbelievably successful over a relatively short period of time,” she said in 2007. “I know that if you’re in the midst of it, you see the failures to move forward, not how much forward motion has occurred. The lesson is to keep going, don’t give up. Know that you’re laying the groundwork for people being more understanding and accepting. But just keep going.”
—Lucas Grindley