GLAAD Celebrates Black History Month Honoring LGBT African Americans

While February was declared Black History Month to recognize the many accomplishments and contributions of African Americans, the lives of black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people are often left out of the picture. From civil rights leader Bayard Rustin to community advocate Mandy Carter to well-renowned inventor George Washington Carver, black LGBT people have enriched our nation and our lives.

GLAAD, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the Black AIDS Institute, the Audre Lorde Project (ALP), Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), Black Men's XChange, African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change (AALUSC), Southerners On New Ground (SONG), and LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent encourage journalists to include black LGBT people in their coverage of Black History Month 

Throughout February, GLAAD will feature guest posts from African-American LGBT writers, organizers and activists honoring the accomplishments of those who have paved the way for LGBT people of color and those who today continue to the work to improve the lives of LGBT people. We have also distributed a Black History Month resource kit to various media outlets urging them to include voices of black LGBT people in stories that survey African American history.  Our resource kit includes suggestions for inclusive coverage, story ideas, a list of famous African American LGBT people and various media contacts.

FAMOUS AND NOTABLE LGBT AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE

Alice Walker: author, poet, and advocate
Alvin Ailey: choreographer and advocate
André Leon Talley: editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, current contributing editor
Angela Davis: political advocate, scholar, and author
Audre Lorde: author and advocate
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