LGBT Activists and Agitators
Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935)
Jane Addams, one of the inaugural honorees of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk, was a social worker, sociologist, and leader in the women’s suffrage movement. In 1931, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is widely regarded as the founder of the social work profession.
George Choy (February 6, 1960 – September 10, 1993)
George Choy was a San Francisco activist who advocated for the rights of LGBT Asian/Pacific Islanders, representing the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) to pass Project 10, a counseling program for LGBT youth in San Francisco schools. He is one of the inaugural honorees of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.
Harry Hay (April 7, 1912 – October 24, 2002)
Harry Hay was a pioneering LGBT activist who cofounded the Mattachine Society, one of the first gay rights organizations in the country, as well as the Radical Faeries, a gay spiritual movement. Hay is one of the inaugural members of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.
Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989)
Christine Jorgensen was an transwoman who in 1951 became the first American widely known to have had gender reassignment surgery. She is an inaugural honoree of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.
Del Martin (May 5, 1921 – August 27, 2008) & Phyllis Lyon (November 10, 1924 – )
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are pioneering lesbian rights advocates in San Francisco who cofounded the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, the nation’s first lesbian rights organization, and then in 1972 were cofounders of the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, the City’s first LGBT Democratic organization. In 2004, they were the first same-sex couple to be married in San Francisco, and, because their marriage was voided several months later, the first same-sex couple again in the City to be married in 2008 after the California Supreme Court struck down Prop. 22. Del Martin is an inaugural member of the Castro Rainbow Honor Walk.
Bayard Rustin (March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987)
Bayard Rustin was a gay African American civil rights pioneer who helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to strengthen Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership, and organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In later years, he became an advocate for LGBT rights. He is an inaugural member of the Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk.
José Sarria (December 12, 1922 or 1923 – August 19, 2013)
José Julio Sarria was San Francisco activist who, as a drag entertainer at the Black Cat in the 1950s, helped advocate and protect the City’s gay and drag communities. In 1961, he became the first openly gay person to run for political office in San Francisco, getting over 6,000 votes and establishing the gay community as a powerful voting block. He was a co-founder of many early gay rights organizations, including the League for Civil Education, the Tavern Guild, and the Society for Individual Rights. In 1964, he proclaimed himself Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton, fictionalized widow of Emperor Norton, and founded the Imperial Court, a now-international philanthropic drag network.