UNC is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month. The Gender & Sexuality Resource Center has provided the campus with opportunities to get involved as well as help display Rainbow flags across campus in various departments. The goal of the Rainbow Flag Campaign during LGBTQ+ Month is to create a visible network of support for students who identify across the gender and sexuality spectrums. You can view the history of the Pride Flags here. Below are highlighted historical figures of LGBTQ+.
Major Griffin-Gracy (“Miss Major” or “Major”)
b. October 25, 1940 (Age 77)
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a black transgender genderqueer woman,
activist and community leader.
She has spent her life working on
a variety of causes in her communities nationally specifically with a focus on assisting
transgender persons who are disproportionately
incarcerated.
Sylvia Rivera
b. July 2, 1951 – d. February 19, 2002
Sylvia Rivera, was an American LGBT liberation activist and selfidentified drag queen
of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent who was
born and raised in New York City.
She was described as the Rosa Parks
of the modern transgender movement.
Bayard Rustin
b. March 17, 1912 – d. August 24, 1987
Bayard Rustin was a black American man who was a successful organizer
for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights in the United
States
Marsha P. (“Pay No Mind”) Johnson
b. August 24, 1945 – d. July 6, 1992
Marsha, a black, transgender woman, drag queen was a key figure in the
LGBTQ+ rights movement of the United States and is attributed with
spearheading the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
