List of LGBT rights activists

Argentina

• Claudia Castrosín Verdú, her and her partner were the first lesbian couple to form a civil union in Latin America; vice president of FALGBT
• María Rachid, politician and LGBT rights activist, partner of Claudia Castrosín Verdú
• Diana Sacayán, board member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and a leader of the Antidiscrimination Liberation Movement

  Australia

• Ron Austin
• Peter Bonsall-Boone
• Bob Brown
• Lyle Chan, member of ACT UP
• Rodney Croome
• Peter De Waal
• Julie McCrossin

  Austria

• Helmut Graupner
• Gery Keszler, organiser of the Life Ball
• Alex Jürgen
• Ulrike Lunacek

  Bangladesh

• Xulhaz Mannan

  Belize

• Derricia Castillo-Salazar
• Caleb Orozco

  Brazil

• Luiz Mott
• Jean Wyllys
• Toni Reis
• João Silvério Trevisan
• Míriam Martinho

  Bulgaria

• Desislava Petrova

  Cameroon

• Joel Gustave Nana Ngongang
• Alice Nkom

  Canada

• Michelle Douglas
• Brent Hawkins
• George Hislop
• Irshad Manji
• Christin Milloy
• Arsham Parsi
• Svend Robinson
• Bill Siksay

  Chile

• Mon Laferte
• Luis Larraín
• Pedro Lemebel
• Jaime Parada
• Pablo Salvador

  China, People's Republic of

• Li Tingting, LGBT rights and feminist activist
• Li Yinhe
• Cui Zi'en
• Xian, LGBT rights activist and founder of Beijing-based lesbian organization Tongyu

  Croatia

• Viktor Đerek

  Colombia

• Virgilio Barco Isakson, founder of Colombia Diversa, an NGO that advocates for LGBT rights in Colombia.
• Armando Benedetti Villaneda, Senator of Colombia, advocates in Congress in favour of recognition of same-sex unions in Colombia.
• Blanca Inés Durán Hernández
• Angélica Lozano Correa
• Tatiana de la Tierra
• Juliana Delgado Lopera

  Denmark

• Axel Axgil, he and his partner were the first same-sex couple in the world to enter a registered partnership
• Lili Elbe, among the first transgender women to correct her gender through surgery. She died from complications, as her uterus transplant got infected in 1931.

  Estonia

• Lisette Kampus
• Kerli
• Peeter Rebane

  Finland

• Sakris Kupila
• Sofi Oksanen

  France

• Camille Cabral
• Pierre Guénin
• Christiane Taubira
• Lilian Thuram, former French soccer player
• Rama Yade, former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights of France
• Harry Hay, a pioneer of gay-rights

  Germany

• Adolf Brand
• Manfred Bruns
• Volker Beck
• Benedict Friedlaender
• Magnus Hirschfeld
• Karl Heinrich Ulrichs

  India

• Anand Grover
• Menaka Guruswamy
• Laxmi Narayan Tripathi
• Anjali Gopalan
• Gopi Shankar Madurai
• Manvendra Singh Gohil
• Harish Iyer
• Ashok Row Kavi
• Akkai Padmashali
• Sridhar Rangayan
• Shaleen Rakesh
• Rose Venkatesan

  Indonesia

• Dede Oetomo

  Iran

• Arsham Parsi
• Elham Malekpoor
• Pegah Emambakhsh
• Shadi Amin

  Israel

• Imri Kalmann former co-chairperson of the Israeli LGBT Association
• Yair Qedar, founder of Israel's first LGBT newspaper

  Ireland

• Mary Dorcey
• Lydia Foy
• David Norris
• Tonie Walsh
• Katherine Zappone

  Italy

• Franco Grillini
• Vladimir Luxuria
• Imma Battaglia

  Japan

• Taiga Ishikawa
• Wataru Ishizaka
• Maki Muraki, head of Nijiro Diversity in Osaka
• Kanako Otsuji, first openly lesbian politician in Japan

  Kyrgyzstan

• Dastan Kasmamytov

  Lithuania

• Romas Zabarauskas
• Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė

  Lebanon

• Georges Azzi

  Mexico

• Patria Jiménez
• Nancy Cardenas, playwright, director, and LGBT+ activist
• Agnés Torres Hernández, psychologist and transgender activist

  Nepal

• Sunil Babu Pant, first openly gay Nepali politician, former head of Blue Diamond Society
• Bhumika Shrestha

  Netherlands

• Willem Arondeus
• Vera Bergkamp, former chairman of the world's oldest LGBT organization
• John Blankenstein
• Boris Dittrich
• Coos Huijsen, first openly gay parliamentarian
• Henk Krol
• Marjan Sax

  New Zealand

• Georgina Beyer, first openly transgender mayor
• Suran Dickson
• Kevin Hague
• Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

  Philippines

• Tonette Lopez
• Boy Abunda

  Poland

• Robert Biedroń
• Anna Grodzka
• Krzysztof Garwatowski
• Krystian Legierski
• Paweł Leszkowicz
• Szymon Niemiec

  Romania

• Florin Buhuceanu
• Romaniţa Iordache

  Russia

• Nikolai Alekseev
• Ali Feruz
• Lena Katina
• Igor Kochetkov, head of the LGBT Network
• Yekaterina Samutsevich
• Evgeny Shtorn

  Serbia

• Dejan Nebrigić
• Jelena Karleuša

  Sierra Leone

• FannyAnn Eddy

  Singapore

• Alex Au
• Paddy Chew, first person in Singapore to come out as HIV-positive
• Jean Chong

  Somalia

• Amal Aden
• Sumaya Dalmar

  South Africa

• Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat
• Dawn Cavanagh
• Busi Khewsa
• Simon Nkoli LGBT activist, founder of the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand
• Noxolo Nogwaza
• Funeka Soldaat Leader of Free Gender Organisation in Khayelitsha, Western Cape.
• Midi Achmat, LGBT activist, co-founder of Treatment Action Campaign, Association of Bisexuals, Gays, and Lesbians and the National Coalition of Lesbian and Gay Equality.

  Spain

• Oriol Pamies
• Ángeles Álvarez
• Carla Antonelli

  Sri Lanka

• Rosanna Flamer-Caldera

  Taiwan (Republic of China)

• Josephine Ho
• Chi Chia-wei

  Uganda

• David Kato
• Kasha Nabagesera
• Pepe Julian Onziema

  United Kingdom

• Linda Bellos
• Jeremy Bentham 19th century jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer.
• Bette Bourne actor, performer, founder of the Gay theatrical troupe Bloolips, and one of the very first modern-day UK LGBTQ+ activists and campaigners.
• Christine Burns Trans rights campaigner, formerly a vice president of PfC, awarded MBE for work with PfC and on the GRB.
• A.E. Dyson, literary critic and founder of the Homosexual Law Reform Society.
• Jackie Forster actress, TV Personality and Lesbian campaigner.
• Ray Gosling, writer, broadcaster and gay rights activist in the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.
• Antony Grey, Secretary of the Homosexual Law Reform Society, Grey was also the public face of the Albany Trust
• Liam Hackett, founder of anti-bullying website and charity Ditch the Label
• Derek Jarman Film Director
• Paris Lees, trans rights campaigner, part of Trans Media Watch
• Denis Lemon, Editor of Gay News, involved in blasphemy prosecution brought by Mary Whitehouse.
• Ian McKellen, actor and spokesperson for Stonewall
• Robert Mellors 20th century writer and Gay Liberation Front campaigner.
• Paul Patrick, anti-homophobia activist and educator
• Michael Schofield, sociologist and early gay rights campaigner
• Michael Steed, Liberal politician, academic and gay rights activist in the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.
• Ben Summerskill, former chief executive of Stonewall
• Peter Tatchell politician, human rights and LGBT rights campaigner.
• Stephen Whittle Trans rights campaigner and former vice president of PfC and president of HBIGDA, Law Professor at MMU, awarded OBE for work with PfC and on the GRB

  United States of America

• Kimball Allen, writer, playwright, performer, author of Secrets of a Gay Mormon Felon and Be Happy Be Mormon
• Jacob Appel, New York City-based lawyer, advocate for reparations for gays and lesbians
• Gilbert Baker,, designer of the Rainbow flag.
• Christopher R. Barron, co-founder of GOProud, a political organization representing gay conservatives.
• Vic Basile, first executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, 1983-1989
• Andy Bell, lead singer of the English synthpop duo Erasure.
• Wayne Besen Founder of Truth Wins Out. Former spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.
• Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, 1995-2004
• Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter, director, film, television producer, and founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
• Chaz Bono, transgender son of Sonny Bono and Cher.
• David P. Brill, Boston-based journalist.
• Blake Brockington, African American transgender rights activist.
• Judith Butler, philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminist, queer and literary theory.
• Margarethe Cammermeyer, former colonel in the Washington state National Guard whose coming out story was made into the 1995 movie Serving in Silence, starring Glenn Close.
• Ryan Cassata, American transgender activist, public speaker and singer-songwriter,
• June Chan, Asian American lesbian activist.
• RuPaul Andre Charles, known as RuPaul, American drag queen and gay activist known for the TV show RuPaul's Drag Race.
• Madonna Louise Ciccone, known as Madonna, entertainer and long-term human and civil rights activist. Has offered outspoken support for the gay rights movement.
• Joanne Conte, trans woman, former Arvada, Colorado City Councilor, currently hosts a radio show on KGNU.
• Lynn Conway, trans woman computer scientist and electrical engineer.
• Ruby Corado, Salvadoran activist and founder of Casa Ruby, a bilingual, multicultural LGBT organization in Washington, D.C.
• James Dale is best known for his activism and role in the landmark US Supreme Court case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that challenged the Boy Scouts of America policy of excluding gay youth and adults.
• Alphonso David, Is the first person of color to serve as president for the Human Rights Campaign, as of August 2019. David served as a staff attorney for Lambda Legal where he worked on New York State's first marriage equality case, Hernandez v. Robles. David is also the Former Deputy Secretary and Counsel for Civil Rights for New York State under Andrew Cuomo.
• Ellen DeGeneres is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, producer, and LGBT activist
• Stephen Donaldson, early bisexual LGBT rights activist founder of the first American gay students' organization, first person to fight a discharge from the U.S. military for homosexuality, Also an important figure in the modern bisexual rights movement.
• Julie Dorf, international LGBT human rights advocate and founder of OutRight Action International.
• Fran Drescher, is an outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist.
• John Duran, is a LGBT and AIDS activist, and served as Mayor and Council member of West Hollywood, Ca. An openly gay man, Duran is a founding board member of ANGLE. Duran also served as President of the Board of Directors of Equality California, now the nation's largest statewide LGBT civil rights organization. In addition, Duran is a past board member of the ACLU, Lambda Legal Defense, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
• Danielle Egnew, lesbian musician, actress, producer, and psychic who endorsed and provided campaign materials to Virginia's VoteNO campaign, protecting the legalities of same-sex civil unions in Virginia—also Spiritual leader and founder of The Church of the Open Christ, an inclusive and progressive LGBT ministry.
• Steve Endean,, founder of the Human Rights Campaign Fund
• Arden Eversmeyer, Founder of Lesbians Over Age Fifty and the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project
• Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
• Barney Frank, member of the Democratic Party who served as a member of Congress from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013.
• Aaron Fricke, who sued the Cumberland, Rhode Island school system in 1980 and won a landmark First Amendment case granting him the legal right to attend prom with another boy. He chronicled the experience in the seminal gay coming-of-age memoir Reflections of a Rock Lobster.
• Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known as Lady Gaga, bisexual singer/songwriter who campaigned for the DADT repeal. Released pro-gay anthem "Born This Way". Its also said she has made other songs about the LGBT community and supporting it.
• Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet and political activist.
• Barbara Gittings, founder of the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis who also pushed for the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
• Neil Giuliano, openly gay mayor of Tempe, Arizona and current President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
• Chad Griffin, Former president of the Human Rights Campaign as of 2012, and founder of American Foundation for Equal Rights, a nonprofit organization that supports the plaintiffs in the California Proposition 8 trial.
• James Gruber, original member of the Mattachine Society.
• David M. Hall, author of Allies at Work: Creating a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Inclusive Work Environment, who speaks to corporate audiences across the country and is the co-founder of Out & Equal Philadelphia.
• Harry Hay, co-founder of the Mattachine Society.
• John Heilman Councilmember of West Hollywood from 1984–present.
• Essex Hemphill, African American poet
• Daniel Hernandez Jr., member of Tucson's city commission on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, who was credited with saving the life of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords after the 2011 Tucson shooting.
• Brenda Howard, bisexual LGBT rights activist, an instrumental figure in the immediate post-Stonewall era in New York City. Also an important figure in the modern bisexual rights movement.
• John Paul Hudson, activist, journalist, actor, and author. Helped organize NYC's first gay pride parade following the Stonewall riots, serving as the parade's first grand marshal.
• Richard Isay psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, author and gay activist. Responsible for ending discrimination against gay people by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Wrote "Being Homosexual: Gay Men and their Development", widely considered a groundbreaking work.
• Janet Jackson, American singer, songwriter, and actress.
• Cheryl Jacques, former member of the Massachusetts State Legislature and the president of the Human Rights Campaign from January through November 2004. She resigned from this post less than a month after the passage of 11 state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.
• Helen G. James, American equality activist
• Dale Jennings, co-founder of the Mattachine Society.
• Marsha P. Johnson was an American gay liberation activist and transgender woman. Known as an outspoken advocate for gay rights, Johnson was one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall uprising of 1969.
• Cleve Jones, conceived the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and worked with Harvey Milk; co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation
• Christine Jorgensen, first person to become widely known for having sex reassignment surgery in the United States
• Konrad Juengling, writer and LGBT activist
• Frank Kameny, participant in many gay rights rallies of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably the push in 1972–1973 for the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
• Norm Kent Publisher of the Template:South Florida Gay News and nationally respected constitutional rights and criminal defense attorney, the former chair of the Template:National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and radio talk show host Template:Www.normkentshow.com
• Morris Kight, founder of Los Angeles' Gay and Lesbian Front and Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
• Lisa Kove, Executive Director of the Department of Defense Federal Globe and President of Empowering Spirits Foundation.
• Larry Kramer, author and playwright who helped form the prominent gay rights organizations Gay Men's Health Crisis and AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power.
• Janice Langbehn, campaigner for marriage equality and same-sex hospital visitation after being denied access to her dying partner, Lisa Marie Pond, in 2007.
• Cyndi Lauper, founder of the True Colors Fund charity which promotes equality for members of the LGBT community.
• Malcolm L. Lazin, founder and executive director of and LGBT History Month, executive producers of three LGBT documentary films, organizer of the at Independence Hall on July 4, 2015, executive producer of the Off Broadway play and overseer of the largest number of government approved, nationally significant .
• Courtney Love, a musician and singer, has advocated for LGBT rights and acceptance since the beginning of her career in the early 1990s.
• Scott Long, Executive Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.
• Phyllis Lyon, lesbian activist who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Del Martin.
• Del Martin, lesbian activist who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis with longtime partner Phyllis Lyon.
• Tim McFeeley, former executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, 1989-1995
• Harvey Milk, openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California who was assassinated in 1978 by Dan White.
• David Nelson, founder of Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats, and Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah.
• Gavin Newsom, heterosexual mayor of San Francisco, California who directed his office to issue wedding licenses to same-sex couples in February 2004. This process was halted the next month by the California Supreme Court.
• Jack Nichols, journalist, writer, activist and co-founder of the Mattachine Society of Washington D.C. with Frank Kameny.
• Tyler Oakley is an openly gay American LGBTQ+ rights activist, YouTuber, and author. He also focuses on social issues such as health care, education, and suicide prevention.
• Romaine Patterson, lesbian talk show host and founder of Angel Action.
• Troy Perry, founder of UFMCC, an international Protestant Christian denomination. The Fellowship has a specific outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families and communities.
• Sylvia Rivera, gay liberation and trans activist, founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance.
• Brandan Robertson. LGBT rights activist in evangelical communities, writer on intersection of faith and LGBT issues
• Geena Rocero, transgender model and advocate; founder of Gender Proud, an advocacy and aid organization that stands up for the right of transgender people all over the world.
• Craig Rodwell, gay rights activist; founder of first gay & lesbian oriented bookshop in the United States; proposed and organized Annual Reminder; proposed and organized New York's Gay Pride march, then called Christopher Street Liberation day; was a founding member and organizer of Gay People In Christian Science.
• Vito Russo was an American LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet.
• Bayard Rustin, openly gay civil rights activist, principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.; gay rights activist in later life
• Ryan Sallans, out trans man and public speaker - travels around the country educating high school and college students on LGBT issues.
• José Sarria, first openly gay candidate for political office in the United States, founder of the Imperial Court System.
• Tully Satre, blogger who gained fame in March 2006 for challenging then-Senator George Allen
• Dan Savage, columnist of Savage Love and author. Founder of the It Gets Better Project.
• Josh Seefried, United States Air Force first lieutenant and co-director of OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military.
• Michelangelo Signorile, gay American writer and a US and Canadian national talk radio host.
• Ruth Simpson, founder of the first lesbian community center. Former President of Daughters of Bilitis New York. Author of From the Closet to the Courts.
• Joe Solmonese, former political fundraiser and past president of the Human Rights Campaign.
• A. Latham Staples, founder and Chairman of the Empowering Spirits Foundation, current President & CEO of EXUSMED, Inc.
• Abby Stein is an American advocate for transgender people of Orthodox Jewish background.
• Andy Thayer is an American socialist and gay rights activist, and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network
• Urvashi Vaid is an American activist who has worked for over 25 years promoting civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.
• Phill Wilson, co-founder of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum and founder of The Black AIDS Institute
• Evan Wolfson is the founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States.
• Chely Wright, first openly lesbian country music singer. Focused on serving as a role model and mentor for children and teens in order to reduce gay related suicides in children.