Female African American Pioneers Who Were LBGTQ

Not every African American female who was a pioneer was married with children, or simply an old maid as was said decades ago. Some of them were openly gay and others felt the need to keep their personal lives private. This article will look at the accomplishments of 5 such women who dealt with racism, sexism, and hostility because of their sexual orientation. In spite of the times in which they lived, each persevered and left their own mark upon society.

The cover photo is of Michele Rayner-Goolsby who recently made history by becoming the first openly LGBTQ Black woman elected to Florida’s House of Representatives. She describes herself as an “unapologetic Black woman,” and added “Y’all. It just hit me. I’m the first openly Black queer women ever elected in Florida-at any level.”Rayner-Goolsby won in Florida’s District 70. She won the Democratic primary but ran unopposed in the general election.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

Audre Lorde, dedicated her life as well as her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of sexism, classism, racism, capitalism, homophobia and heterosexism. Lorde described herself as “black, lesbian, mother, poet, warrior, and feminist. She made contributions to queer theory, feminist theory, and critical race studies through pedagogy and writing. Her works include “Coal” (1976), “The Black Unicorn” (1978), “The Cancer Journals” (1980) and “Zami: A New Spelling of My Name” (1982). Lorde was quoted as once saying “I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t,”

Stormy DeLarverie 1920-2014

Stormie DeLarverie has been described as a biracial, butch lesbian. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and joined the Ringling Brothers Circus as a teen. Her talent was riding jumping horses. DeLarverie toured as the MC for the black theater circuit from 1955 to 1969. She was the only drag king — of the Jewel Box Revue, which was the first racially integrated drag revue in North America. Stormie worked in New York, City during the 80s and 90s as a bouncer for several lesbian bars,

DeLarverie performed at the Radio City Music Hall and the Appolo Theater. She organized and performed at fundraisers for women who suffered from domestic violence and their children. She also held a number of leadership positions in the Stonewall Veterans Association and also served as a volunteer street patrol worker, which caused her to be deemed the "guardian of lesbians in the Village."

Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)

Marsha P. Johnson was also known as Malcolm Michaels Jr., and was an American gay liberation activist. Johnson, along with fellow trans activist Sylvia Rivera, helped to form STAR, Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries. This was a radical political organization that provided housing and other forms of support to homeless LGBTQ youth and sex workers in Manhattan. She was a self-proclaimed drag queen who said her middle initial "P" stood for "pay it no mind". She was a member of the drag performance troupe Hot Peaches from 1972 through the ‘90s and was an AIDS activist. Johnson was outspoken as a transgender rights activist and is allegedly one of the central figures in the historic 1969 Stonewall uprising.

Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)

Barbara C Jordan, was an American politician, lawyer, and educator. She was also a politician who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. As a Democrat, in 1966 she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction. Jordan was also the first African-American female to be elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Congresswoman in 1972. In 1994, Barbara Jordan received the honor of being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton, This was in recognition of her work "as a political trailblazer". Unlike the 3 previous women in this article, Barbara Jordan never publicly discussed her sexual orientation. Neither did she shy away from acknowledging Nancy earl, who was her life partner for close to 30 years.