Stonewall Moments: Honoring Icons in LGBTQ+ Activism

The world is different today because 55 years ago, a brave group of people at Stonewall Inn in New York City responded to violence by organizing the foundation of the modern LGBTQ+ equality movement. This LGBTQ+ Pride Month, AARP has chosen to recognize six iconic individuals whose work has moved the needle toward justice and equality. We are highlighting their “Stonewall moments,” a term that, to us, means those times when individuals stood up on behalf of all of us to make the world a better place.

This mindset is at the heart of AARP’s mission. Our founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, challenges us “to live up to our better selves, to believe well of our fellow men and perhaps by doing so to help create the good we believe in, to experiment, to explore, to change, and to grow.”

These icons used their positions to challenge the status quo. Learn more about their Stonewall moments.

Harvey Milk (1930-1978)

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay politician in California. Elected to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco in 1977, he led the fight for equality at the local level, including authoring a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing and employment.

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)

Bayard Rustin was a leader in the civil rights movement and a principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, during which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Rustin was not involved in the LGBTQ+ rights movement until later in life but in the 1980s spoke forcefully about the need for society to change its treatment of the LGBTQ+ community.

Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002)

Sylvia Rivera was a strong advocate for the transgender community in which she lived, including fighting for a New York City-wide gay rights, antidiscrimination ordinance in the early 1970s. Rivera focused on intersections of discrimination in poverty, racism, and sexual orientation and gender identity.