A postage stamp printed in USA showing an image of Harvey Milk.
Credit: © Catwalker/Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

His name appears across San Francisco, on a United States Navy oiler, and on a Presidential Medal of Freedom, but many people do not know his name. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to a government office in California. He was a leader of the gay-rights movement in San Francisco, standing up for his hopes, his friends, and himself. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Later, he was shot to death while serving on the board. Milk’s political service and the circumstances surrounding his death brought widespread attention to the gay rights movement in the United States. This movement later came to be called the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights movement.

Harvey Bernard Milk was born in Woodmere, New York, on May 22, 1930. In 1951, he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the New York State College for Teachers at Albany (now the State University of New York at Albany). He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After being discharged in 1955, Milk returned to New York City to work as a high-school teacher. During the 1960′s, he held jobs as an insurance company actuary (mathematician specializing in risk estimates) and as a Wall Street investment analyst. Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 and opened a camera store on Castro Street the following year.

In 1973, Milk entered politics and ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He ran unsuccessfully again in 1975, failed in his run for the state legislature in 1976, and finally won a seat on the board in 1977. While in office, he helped pass a gay civil rights law and worked to establish alliances between the gay community and various other minority groups. Milk’s popularity with the gay community in the Castro Street area earned him the nickname “the Mayor of Castro Street.”

On Nov. 27, 1978, Dan White, a former member of the Board of Supervisors, shot and killed both Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to a prison term of seven years and eight months. Following the verdict, many of Milk’s supporters, believing that the sentence was too light, demonstrated in the streets of San Francisco. The demonstrations eventually erupted into a number of riots. These events became known as the White Night Riots.

Milk was a Korean war veteran, teacher, actuary, analyst, camera enthusiast, activist, and politician. Milk inspired others to be themselves and seek out the rights they deserve. Milk told his supporters, “Hope will never be silent.”

Transgender activist Jazz Jennings
Credit: © lev Radin, Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer pioneers in a variety of areas.

Pride Month in the United States is celebrated with parades, rainbows, and sharing stories. One important story is that of Jazz – not jazz music, Jazz Jennings. Jennings is an American transgender activist. The term transgender describes individuals whose identity or self-expression does not match their assigned gender. Jennings became one of the youngest people to be documented as transgender. She has received several awards for her activism in support of transgender people.

Jennings was born on Oct. 6, 2000, in southern Florida. She was designated male at birth and given the name Jaron. When she was 2 years old, Jennings showed signs of feeling that she was a girl. One year later, she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition in which a person’s biological or assigned gender does not match the gender with which the person identifies. Jennings has identified as female since she was 5 years old. She became famous in 2007 after being interviewed by the American journalist Barbara Walters on the television news program “20/20.”

Jennings became a popular presence on social media and on the video-sharing website YouTube. She has also starred in the reality television series “I Am Jazz,” which began in 2015. The series follows Jennings’s experiences as a transgender youth, including her gender confirmation surgery in 2018. This kind of surgery alters a person’s physical characteristics to match the person’s gender identity.

In 2007, Jennings and her parents established the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation to support and provide assistance for transgender youths. Jennings also wrote the memoir Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen (2016).

American singer, songwriter, and actor Demi Lovato
Credit: © Debby Wong, Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer pioneers in a variety of areas.

June 1 marks the first day of pride month in the United States. Today we are celebrating Demi Lovato, an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Lovato first became known as an actor on Disney Channel television programs. Lovato then launched a successful pop music career. Lovato is nonbinary. Nonbinary is a term that describes people who have a gender other than male or female. Lovato uses the gender-neutral pronouns they and them.

Demetria Devonne Lovato was born on Aug. 20, 1992, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their mother was a country music singer and a professional cheerleader. Lovato began taking voice, guitar, and piano lessons as a child. They also began acting at a young age. From 1997 to 2007, they played the character Angela on the children’s television series “Barney & Friends” (1992-2009). Lovato was bullied in middle school, so they turned to homeschooling. They earned the equivalent of a high school diploma in 2009.

Lovato began working with the Disney Channel in 2007. They appeared on the Disney TV series “As the Bell Rings” (2007-2008) and “Sonny with a Chance” (2009-2011), in which they played the title character. Lovato also starred in a number of Disney TV movies, including the musicals Camp Rock (2008) and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), and Princess Protection Program (2009). Lovato co-starred with the American pop-rock group the Jonas Brothers in Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 and toured with the group as a singer. Lovato also has been in other TV series and movies. For example, from 2012 to 2013, they were a judge on the American version of “The X Factor” (2011-2013), a reality-TV singing competition. They also provided the voice of Smurfette in the animated movie Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017).

Lovato’s first music album, Don’t Forget, was released in 2008 and became a hit. Their later albums include Here We Go Again (2009), Unbroken (2011), Demi (2013), Confident (2015), and Tell Me You Love Me (2017). Lovato’s most popular songs include “This Is Me” (2008), “Skyscraper” (2011), “Heart Attack” (2013), “Cool for the Summer” (2015), and “Sorry Not Sorry” (2017). Lovato has written or co-written many of their songs.

In their personal life, Lovato has struggled with eating disorders, drug addiction, and a mental illness called bipolar disorder. They wrote the inspirational book Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year (2013). Lovato has been recognized for their public advocacy (support) of mental health and of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) causes.

Dr. Rachel Levine.
Credit: © Daniel Shanken, Reuters/Alamy Images

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

Summertime celebrates joy and growth; spring brings new beginnings. This spring, Rachel Levine made history when she became the first openly transgender person to be confirmed to a federal government position by the United States Senate. Transgender is a term for individuals whose identity or self-expression does not match their assigned gender. In January 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Levine, an American physician, for assistant secretary for health for the Department of Health and Human Services. Levine was confirmed on March 24, 2021.

Born Richard Levine in Melrose, Massachusetts, north of Boston, on Oct. 28, 1957, Levine was assigned male at birth. Levine grew up in nearby Wakefield, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree, Levine attended Tulane University School of Medicine. Levine moved to New York City to train in pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. In 1993, Levine accepted a position at the Polyclinic Medical Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Three years later, in 1996, Levine began working at the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey. Around 2010, Levine began publicly presenting herself as a woman.

In 2015, Levine was named Pennsylvania’s physician general. Three years later, she was named Pennsylvania’s secretary of health. As a state official, Levine focused her efforts on maternal health, immunization, and the opioid drug-abuse crisis.

.Credit: Bank of England

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

On what would have been his 109th birthday, the English mathematician, computer pioneer, and codebreaker Alan Turing is getting a very special gift: a 50-pound (£50) note. It’s not just an old £50 bank note, however. This bank note—and millions of others—will have his face on it.

Following a public nomination process in 2019, Turing was selected to be the new face of the £50 note. His image will replace images of the engineer and scientist James Watt and the industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton. An image of Elizabeth II will remain on the obverse side of the note, or the side that bears the principal design.

Turing was recognized not only for his important contributions to the development of electronic digital computers, but also for the discrimination he faced as a gay man. After World War II (1939-1945), Turing was prosecuted for his relationship with a man. He was given the choice of either imprisonment or probation with the condition of undergoing female hormone treatment. On June 7, 1954, at the age of 41, Turing took his own life.

In 2009, the British government issued an apology. Four years later, Turing was given a royal pardon, releasing him for the legal penalties for his crime. In 2017, the Turing Law was passed, which pardoned thousands of gay and bisexual men who had been convicted of sexual offenses that have since been eliminated.

Alan Turing (far right) was an English mathematician and computer pioneer. He made important contributions to the development of electronic digital computers.
Credit: Heritage-Images/Science Museum, London

Turing was born on June 23, 1912, in London. He studied mathematics at Cambridge University and Princeton University. In 1936, he developed a hypothetical computing machine—now called the Turing machine—that could, in principle, perform any calculation. The device had a long tape divided into squares on which symbols could be written or read. The tape head of the machine could move to the left or to the right. The machine also had a table to tell it the order in which to carry out operations. The Turing machine became an important model for determining what tasks a computer could perform. During World War II, Turing helped crack German codes.

After the war, he worked on a project to build the first British electronic digital computer. In 1950, he proposed a test for determining if machines might be said to “think.” This test, now called the Turing test, is often mentioned in discussions of artificial intelligence (AI).

Credit: © Phil Dent, Getty Images

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

As COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, many people are returning to sporting events. While fans cheer for their teams and order hot dogs from their seats, they will sing such classic songs as “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.”

These sporting-event anthems were recorded by the rock group Queen, which gained popularity in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Leading this band—just as a captain leads a sports team—was the British rock singer, songwriter, and musician Freddie Mercury (1946-1991). He was known for his soaring, operatic vocals and theatrical stage presence.

Mercury was born on Sept. 5, 1946, in Zanzibar, to Parsi parents from India. His real name was Farrokh Bulsara. He was given the nickname Freddie while attending a British boarding school. Around this time, he began taking piano lessons. He later played in rock and roll bands. In 1964, Bulsara’s family moved to Middlesex, England.

In the late 1960′s, Bulsara attended Ealing Art College in London. Around this time, he befriended several musicians in a local band called Smile. They were lead singer and bassist Tim Staffell, guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor. Inspired by the group, Bulsara began singing and playing piano with several rock groups. He joined Smile as lead singer after Staffell left the group. In 1970, encouraged by Bulsara, the group changed its name to Queen. Soon after, Bulsara changed his last name to Mercury. Bassist John Deacon joined the group in 1971.

The group’s first album, Queen, was released in 1973. The albums Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack were released in 1974. The group’s third album, A Night at the Opera (1975) was a breakthrough for the group. It featured the huge hit “Bohemian Rhapsody,” written by Mercury. It has been called one of the greatest songs in rock and popular music. The song is a six-minute musical suite, containing several movements, including a piano ballad section; a layered, operatic vocal passage; and a charging, hard rock segment. A groundbreaking promotional music video accompanied the song’s release. Years before the era of MTV, when music videos became commonplace, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” video greatly added to the song’s popularity.

Queen combined hard rock and flamboyant (showy) “glam” rock with layered guitars and intricate vocal harmonies. Queen’s many hits include “Bicycle Race” (1978); “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Killer Queen,” and “You’re My Best Friend” (all 1979); “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (both 1980); “Somebody to Love” (1981); “Under Pressure” (with the British singer David Bowie, 1981); and “I Want to Break Free” and “Radio Ga Ga” (both 1984).

Mercury also performed as a solo artist. He recorded the albums Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988). He also recorded a number of singles, including “Time” (1986) and “The Great Pretender” (1987).

Mercury died of complications from AIDS on Nov. 24, 1991. Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe
© Romain Biard, Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

The professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe is a champion both on and off the field. As a midfielder for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Rapinoe is known for her dynamic skills as a scorer and playmaker. In soccer, a playmaker controls a team’s offense, often coordinating scoring chances through precise passing. Off the field, Rapinoe—along with her soccer-playing twin sister, Rachael—runs soccer training clinics. She has also worked with a number of human rights organizations, including groups devoted to LGBTQ+ rights.

Rapinoe helped the U.S. Women’s National Team to win a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. In 2015 and again in 2019, she helped lead the United States to FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament championships. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). FIFA is the governing body for soccer, which is called football in many parts of the world. In 2019, Rapinoe was awarded the Golden Ball as the World Cup tournament’s best player. Rapinoe also played on the U.S. World Cup team in 2011 and the U.S. Olympic team in 2016. In 2019, Rapinoe earned the Best FIFA Women’s Player award as soccer’s best female player. The award replaced the Ballon d’Or in 2016.

Megan Anna Rapinoe was born on July 5, 1985, in Redding, California. She began playing soccer when she was young. In high school, Rapinoe played for Elk Grove Pride United, a team for players under age 19, and the Elk Grove Pride of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, a semiprofessional league in the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States. Rapinoe then played soccer at the University of Portland in Oregon, where she helped the team win a college national championship in 2005. She also played on U.S. national youth teams before debuting for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2006. Injuries caused her to miss international tournaments in 2007 and 2008.

From 2009 through 2012, Rapinoe played in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league and the United Soccer League’s W-League. Rapinoe also played for Olympique Lyonnais in France’s top women’s league. Since 2013, Rapinoe has played for the Seattle Reign FC (now OL Reign) of the National Women’s Soccer League, the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States.

James Baldwin
Credit: Allan Warren (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature LGBTQ+ pioneers in a variety of areas.

The Black novelist, essayist, and playwright James Baldwin (1924-1987) has gained fame for his works about racial injustice and sexual identity. Baldwin was born in the United States, but he lived much of his life in France. Whether writing in the United States or abroad, he offered fiery protests against racial inequality.

Baldwin promoted civil rights and encouraged people to accept social differences in several powerful essay collections. These include Notes of a Native Son (1955), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), The Fire Next Time (1963), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Devil Finds Work (1976). These five collections and other nonfiction pieces were compiled in The Price of the Ticket (1985).

Baldwin also explored interracial conflict in his fiction and drama, including the novel Another Country (1962), the play Blues for Mister Charlie (1964), and the short-story collection Going to Meet the Man (1965). In his novel Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone (1968), Baldwin presented his most detailed portrayal of civil rights activities during the 1960′s.

James Arthur Baldwin was born on Aug. 2, 1924, in the Harlem district of New York City. He was a minister as a teenager, and many of his works use the rich language and tone of Biblical scripture, Black sermons, and gospel and blues music. His early writings explore the characters’ psychological struggles with their religious faith and relationships. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), and first play, The Amen Corner (1955), portray tensions within Black families and churches. Baldwin explored the subject of homosexuality in his second novel, Giovanni’s Room (1956), and in other works of fiction.

Baldwin’s other works include the novels If Beale Street Could Talk (1974) and Just Above My Head (1979). A motion picture adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk was released in 2018. Baldwin also wrote poetry and nonfiction with other writers and civil rights activists. He wrote one children’s book, Little Man, Little Man, that portrays the world of a black child growing up in Harlem during the 1970′s. The book was originally published in 1976 and reissued in a new edition in 2018. His essays were gathered in Collected Essays (published by the Library of America in 1998) and The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings (2010). The Library of America also published two volumes of Baldwin’s fiction, Early Novels & Stories (1998) and Later Novels (2015). Baldwin died on Dec. 1, 1987.