Famous gay women

And to cap it all off, she was the first black woman to appear in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren Of The Tropics. 

All of this doesn’t even touch the incredible work she did for civil rights. The salon hosted artists including Claude Debussy, Isadora Duncan, Colette, and Claude Monet. She was an early member of the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance.

She shows that you can be loud, proud, and unapologetically yourself.

Notable Quote:"When you feel powerful, you are willing to stand up for your rights, you are willing to stand up for what you believe in, you're more willing to stand up and be counted."

Learn more:Margaret Cho: Comedy & queer politics are 'absolutely linked'

Sylvia Rivera (1951 - 2002)

Field: Activism

Sylvia Rivera was a pioneering transgender activist and a foundational figure in the LGBTQIA+ rights movement.

For centuries, sapphics have been at the heart of key events and helped change the world as we know it. 

Ahead of International Women’s Day, here are six women who changed the world. 

Josephine Baker 

This French-American actor, singer, activist and everything in between was one of the most influential voices of the 20th century.

Following a long lawsuit with the US federal government,

Edie won her case in 2013. With so little to go on, studying Sappho’s work requires substantial “reading between the lines” around the reality of being an LGB+ woman at this time in history.

Yet, this is precisely what makes her existence and work so key to the modern queer story – there have always been those who attempt to debate and deny the existence of queer people throughout history, and Sappho’s work has long stood against such debate due to the explicitness of her admiration and feelings for other women.

Despite knowing her sexuality, Edie felt she had to marry a man, although her marriage ended in divorce after less than a year. Alongside that, Winaretta helped Marie Curie send mobile radiology units (in limousines, of course) to the front during the First World War.

DIVA magazine celebrates 31 years in print in 2025.

Despite being one of the first openly gay women in the industry, her continued strength, determination, and positivity really does set her apart.

Today, LGBTQ+ athletes still face a battle regarding equal opportunities and acceptance within sports. Continuous visible support for the LGBTQ+ community enables individuals to reach their potential, knowing others will help on this journey, allowing industries to progress.

— China-Marie Kill (she/her) is an Intern at LGBT Great

  4.

Her written works structurally analyse the interplay between race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, citizenship, and other intersectionalities. As a result, King became the first professional sportswoman in tennis to be paid equally compared with her male counterparts. Music-wise, she was one of the most celebrated musicians of the first half of the 1900s.

From fighting for civil rights to breaking barriers in art, politics, and science, these women changed the world.

If you dream of becoming an astronaut, an activist, a writer, or anything in between, the women in this list prove that anything is possible. Her 1983 journey aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger proved that women could do anything.

Sally kept her relationship with her partner, Tam O'Shaughnessy, private during her lifetime, but she is now remembered as a trailblazing astronaut and advocate for women in science.

She has published seventeen novels and multiple collections of short stories and poems to date.

Walker’s bravery and perseverance are real sources of inspiration for me. In addition, she has also been heavily involved in activism and has been affiliated with many liberatory movements in recent history. This is important to me, to tell the truth.”

Following this and throughout her life, King continued to champion women and the LGBTQ+ community.

Her fashion sense helped define the Roaring ‘20s. Davis was briefly married to a man, before famously and publicly coming “out” as a lesbian during an interview with OUT Magazine in 1997.

Regarded as someone ‘intersectional before the term was even coined’, Davis’ has been a powerful voice for the oppressed.

It reminds you that you belong, that your voice matters, and that you have the power to make a difference.

LGBTQIA+ Women Who Changed History

Here are some of the most influential LGBTQIA+ women who made history across different fields.