LGBTQ+ Heroes from History

By Susan Mann, Assistant General Counsel & Director at Bank of America

Throughout the month we are highlighting and celebrating LGBTQ+ pioneers from throughout history. LGBTQ+ people have always existed yet have often been left out of history books and erased. These are people who have shaped history and helped make the world a kinder place. By uplifting their stories, we honor their work and lives, but this also helps to pave the way so that today LGBTQ+ people can see themselves represented in our history books knowing that their identities are valid and something to be proud of.

Edith (Edie) Windsor

Edie Windsor was a leading LGBTQ+ rights activist in the United States, acting as the lead plaintiff in the US Supreme Court case that declared the Defence of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Edie and her long-term partner, Thea Syper, married in Canada in 2007. After Thea’s death in 2009, the Internal Revenue Service held that Edie owed over USD350,000 in inheritance tax because the “unlimited spousal exemption” from US Federal estate taxes only applied to a marriage between a man and a woman. Edie successfully sued the US Government on the basis that this legislation discriminated against same-sex couples, paving the way for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the United States. Edie’s courage and determination eventually led to the overturning of the Defence of Marriage Act.

Dan Savage

Dan Savage is a writer, media pundit and outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ issues. He co-founded the It Gets Better Project in 2010. The It Gets Better Project works to prevent suicide among young LGBTQ+ people.

Campbell X

An award-winning trans filmmaker and the writer-director of the award-winning queer British film, Stud Life. Loved the film for many reasons, including its portrayal of lesbian-gay friendship.

Jim Egan

Born in Canada in 1921, Jim Egan spent most of his life as a journalist and gay activist. In 1948, Egan met his partner of 52 years, Jack Nesbit. In the 1980’s, Egan and Nesbit were denied spousal support under the Old Age Security Act – a move that Egan challenged all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1995. This case led to the inclusion of sexual orientation as grounds for discrimination in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which ultimately paved the way for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Canada. Very meaningful for me as I was in law school in Canada at the time.

Justin Fashanu

In 1990, Justin Fashanu became the world’s first professional footballer to come out as gay. This took a tremendous amount of courage given the level of homophobia in football and sport in general at that time. To date, he remains the UK’s only top-tier male footballer to come out.