PHILADELPHIA, PA – A former President of the United States joins cultural Icon David Bowie and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, as part of the 31 Icons to be celebrated during October’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month 2016.

 

“President James Buchanan will join 30 other living and deceased lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Icons as part of this year’s LGBT History Month starting October 1st,” said Malcolm Lazin, Equality Forum’s Executive Director, the nation’s leading organization on LGBT history.  “The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions.  LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community and makes the civil rights statement about our extraordinary national and international contributions.”

 

From Indian Gay Pioneer Ashok Row Kavi to Supreme Court marriage plaintiff Jim Obergefell, each of the 2016 LGBT History Month Icons will be featured in a free, online (www.LGBTHistoryMonth.com) video, biography, bibliography, downloadable images and other resource materials for use in classrooms, educational institutions, community groups and other venues worldwide.

 

2016 LGBT History Month Icons include:

 

Malcolm Forbes – American entrepreneur and publisher of Forbes magazine

Janet Mock – New York Times bestselling author and transgender rights activist

Diana Nyad – Long distance swimmer and the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida

Ellen Page – Academy Award nominated actress

Tammy Smith – First openly lesbian United States military General

Jose Antonio Vargas – journalist and immigration rights activist

Click here for a full list of this year’s 31 LGBT History Month Icons, as well as relevant source materials and a searchable database of all Icons since 2006 can be accessed via the official LGBT History Month website (www.LGBTHistoryMonth.com)

 

In July of this year, the California State Board of Education voted unanimously on a new History-Social Science curriculum that includes “a study of the role of contributions” of minority groups, including “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans”, making California the first state in the country to teach LGBT history in public school classrooms.

 

Also this year, President Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument, the first-ever national monument dedicated to the LGBT civil rights movement in the United States.  The monument marks the historic site of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City where in June 1969 LGBT people rioted against policy brutality and harassment.

 

Each year 31 LGBT Icons, living or dead, national and international are selected for achievements in their field of endeavor; for their status as a national hero; or for their significant contribution to LGBT civil rights. Equality Forum solicits nominations from the public.  Nationally prominent professors Lillian Faderman and Paul Farber, 2016 LGBT History Month Co-chairs review all nominations and recommend the annual Icons.

 

Equality Forum is currently accepting nominations for LGBT History Month 2017.  The deadline to nominate an Icon for next year’s LGBT History Month is Friday, December 9th, 2016.  You can submit your nomination online, here.

 

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About Equality Forum

 

Equality Forum coordinates LGBT History Month, produces documentary films, undertakes high-impact initiatives and presents the largest annual national and international LGBT civil rights summit. 

 

Equality Forum is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to advance national and international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights with an educational focus.  For more information on the Equality Forum, please visit: www.equalityforum.com