12 LGBT Icons From History Who Made Pride Possible

It's all well and good to enjoy Pride today, but for a full appreciation of the parades, rallies, protests, and creeping commercialism, you must know about those who came before. Cast your mind back into history and give thanks to the queer pioneers who made our rainbow flag–waving celebrations possible.

"Her majesty, the king" is how this Egyption ruler referred to herself, and she even wore a fake beard. Was she queer? Nonbinary? Trans? It's impossible to know how she would have categorized herself, since she lived over 3,000 years ago. But her strong rule ensured that Egypt would remain a center of power in Africa for generations.

One of the greatest poets to have ever lived, Lorde also fought furiously for civil rights. She exposed injustice to the harsh light of day, and long before "intersectionality" was a buzzword, she fought for women, lesbians, and people of color.

Jorgensen stunned the country when, as a former service member, she left America to obtain gender-affirming surgery. Of course, they didn't use that term for it back then — in fact, they used all manner of terrible terminology. But she volunteered to be a public face for a population that was at the time unknown to almost everyone.

He transformed American drama with his powerful works, such as A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Though he kept quiet about his homosexuality during his life (society required such closeting at the time), he was a vital force in New York's queer arts scene.

He's here to recruit you. Harvey demolished political barriers for queer people with his relentless pursuit of justice and openness and pride. It's impossible to imagine a world in which he hadn't been alive, and heartbreaking to imagine the world we might have if he'd lived longer.

The retired congressman and gentleman from Massachusetts has never suffered a fool gladly in his life and never backed down from a fight. He's been on the front lines of the battle for equal rights since before many of us were alive.

One of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most trusted associates, Rustin was ostracized by colleagues in the civil rights movement because of homophobia. A former nightclub singer, he began to advocate for LGBT equality before he died in the 1980s.

The infamous sidekick of Joe McCarthy and Donald Trump, Roy Cohn is a reminder that as proud as we may be of our community, there will always be a dark underbelly of shame. Bigotry, intolerance, cruelty, and selfishness must always be called out, even (and especially) when it comes from one of our own.

Though accounts of the Stonewall riots are varied and hazy, it's clear that Sylvia Rivera — along with activists like Marsha P. Johnson — fought tirelessly for their underprivileged communities. Without the ruckus they were unafraid to cause, it's likely that June would just be another month.

A 19th-century academic, Ulrichs established much of the foundation of what we understand queerness to be today. He campaigned for equality in Germany and wrote extensively of Europe's underground queer life.

When the National Organization for Women rejected her for being a lesbian, the author of Rubyfruit Jungle didn't fade away into the night — she made noise, protested, and organized, insisting that queer women have just as much place in the movement as any other women. It's a struggle that has echoes today in the exclusion of trans women from certain feminist gatherings.

The founders of one of America's early lesbian publications, they were also the first same-sex couple to be married in California. Their decades of activism connected LGBT people across the country and inspired the community with a vision of a future to fight for.

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