LGBT Artists, Writers, and Entertainers

James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987)

James Baldwin was an gay African American author famous for books like Giovanni’s Room and Go Tell It On the Mountain. He lived in France much of his life and died in Paris in 1987. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Federico García Lorca (June 5, 1989 – August 19, 1936)

Federico García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theater director. He was executed in 1936 by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Some have speculated that his homosexuality may have been at least in part a motivation for his execution. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997)

Allen Ginsberg was an American Beat poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist best known for his poem “Howl,” which he wrote in San Francisco. The poem was banned for obscenity until Judge Clayton W. Horn declared it to contain redeeming artistic value. Ginsberg is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990)

Keith Haring was an American artist and social activist whose art was heavily political. When he died of AIDS-related complications in 1990, Madonna donated the proceeds from the first stop in her Blond Ambition tour to AIDS charities in his memory. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954)

Frida Kahlo was a bisexual Mexican painter famous for her self-portraits. She had a volatile marriage with Mexican painter Diego Rivera, but continued to have affairs with both men and woman, including singer Josephine Baker, during their open marriage. She is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Yukio Mishima (January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970)

Yukio Mishima was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, and film director who was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. After a failed coup d’état attempt, he committed ritual suicide by seppuku. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946)

Gertrude Stein was an American author born in Oakland who spent much of her life in Paris with her partner, Alice B. Toklas where salons were attended by luminaries like Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. She is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Sylvester (September 6, 1947 – December 16, 1988)

Sylvester was an American singer and the “Queen of the Castro” famous for disco hits like “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Dance (Disco Heat).” Before making it big, he performed regularly at the Elephant Walk in the Castro with his backup singers Two Tons of Fun (later the Weather Girls), who became famous for the hit “It’s Raining Men.” He died in his Castro home on Collingwood Avenue of AIDS-related complications in 1988.

Oscar Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900)

Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and playwright famous for The Portrait of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, among others. After stopping in San Francisco in the 1880s as part of a North American lecture tour, he famously quipped, “It’s an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city and possess all the attractions of the next world.” In 1895, Wilde was convicted of gross indecency for the crime of homosexuality and sentenced to two years’ hard labor. He was released in 1897 but his health had deteriorated, and he died in 1900. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983)

Thomas Lanier “Tennessee” Williams III is an American playwright and author famous for The Glass Menagerie,  A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, among others. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.

Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 – 28 March 28, 1941)

Virginia Woolf is a British author famous for works like Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Orlando. Believed now to have suffered from bipolar disorder, she committed suicide in 1941 by drowning herself. She is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.