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Alice Walker
Best known as the author of The Color Purple, Walker is a novelist, activist, and Pulitzer Prize recipient.
Open about her sexuality, she’s had long-term romantic relationships with men and women throughout her life.
Langston Hughes
“What happens to a dream deferred?” This iconic line came from renowned Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes.
In the early 20th century it was career suicide to be openly gay - so Hughes remained in the closet. But he didn’t hide it from his close friends and colleagues.
Bayard Rustin
A longtime activist, Bayard Rustin was close to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was the primary architect of the 1963 March on Washington.
But, because of his sexuality, he spent time in jail for “sex perversion,” was the victim of beatings and blackmail, and was often fired from positions in the civil rights movement.
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is best known for her Black liberation and prison abolition work. While a Black Panther, she graced the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, and served time in prison - but continues her activism to this day. Davis came out as a lesbian in 1997.
James Baldwin
An award-winning writer and activist, Baldwin is best known for his novel “Giovanni’s Room.” Baldwin moved to France to escape homophobia and racism in the United States. His writing eloquently explored the experience of being Black and gay.