Lesbian Visibility Week: Celebrating 100 trailblazing LGBTQ+ women

To mark Lesbian Visibility Week we celebrate 100 trailblazing LGBTQ+ women making a difference in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space around the world.

Here are just 100 (ranked in alphabetical order) of the very many LGBTQ+ women diversity champions, who are working hard to create change and opportunities for LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities around the world.

1. Dalia Al Faghal

Dalia Al Faghal was the first woman to come out publicly in Egypt. She was met with death threats and attacks on social media, but her bravery led to an open platform of discussion of LGBTQ+ rights. The Egyptian government had previously not wanted to recognize the existence of the LGBTQ+ community and people in the community continue to face torture, often subjected to severe beating and sexual abuse. She was one of the many the leading voices calling for the sacking of Egyptian TV host Yours Fouda for alleged sexual misconduct. Dalia now lives in Sweden and continues to fight for the human rights for queer people and women in the world.

2. Lydia Annice Foy

Lydia Annice Foy is an Irish trans woman who led legal challenges around gender recognition in Ireland, and thanks to her, Ireland passed the Gender Recognition Bill 2014. She had sex reassignment surgery back in 1992, and it was then that her 12-year legal battle to have her birth certificate reflect her gender identity began. This resulted in a declaration in 2007 that the law of the Republic of Ireland was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the law did not change for years after. So she began legal proceedings to enforce the 2007 decision and in 2015, Ireland passed the Gender Recognition Bill.

3. Aderonke Apata

Aderonke Apata is a Nigerian LGBTQ+ activist, former asylum seeker and barrister. She received widespread media attention due to her asylum case in the United Kingdom. Aderonke came to the UK for refuge in 2004 from Nigeria, where she faced persecution for being a lesbian due to the draconian anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the country. However, her claim for asylum was refused in 2012 and she was detained In Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. Shocked when the Home Office tried to argue that she was lying about being in a lesbian relationship in order to avoid removal from the UK, Aderonke began to support other detainees with their cases and provide a space for sharing experiences. Aderonke’s journey through the asylum system left her convinced of the need for self-help for LGBTQ+ people trying to claim asylum in the UK. While partnerships with individuals and organisations with learned experience will always be important, she felt strongly that it’s people who have lived experience of claiming asylum who have unique insight into it’s failings and what needs to change. So, in 2014 Aderonke set up African Rainbow Family, a charity run by and for LGBTQ+ people with lived experience of the asylum and immigration system in the UK.

4. Urooj Arshad

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Urooj Arshad emigrated to the US at 16. She has spent her career working for non-profits advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, especially for Muslim and South Asian LGBTQ+ people. She has presented at International HIV/AIDS conferences, the White House’s LGBTQ+ Pride and Heritage event, national convenings of Muslim leaders, and many more. Urooj is the co-founder of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, which addresses the intersectional impact of Islamophobia, homophobia, and transphobia, and served in the US delegation to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Her work has helped many South Asian and Muslim LGBTQ+ people living in the US.

5. Seimone Augustus

WNBA player Seimone Augustus was one of the first high-profile athletes to publicly come out, in response to a 2012 ballot initiative in Minnesota that would have banned marriage equality in the state. “Everyone thinks that the WNBA is one big lesbo party anyway,” she joked at the time but she was well aware that coming out was a risky move for her career at a time when the WNBA was wary of the stigma surrounding queer women athletes. Her decision to speak up made that choice easier for today’s generation and all the generations to come. She is an eight-time All-Star and four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, and a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the US women’s basketball team.

6. Tammy Baldwin

Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin is the first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to Congress. She continues to challenge the Trump administration on its rollbacks of LGBTQ+ rights, and voted to convict President Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress during his impeachment trial. The openly gay Democrat served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly before being elected to the US House of Representatives in 1999. She achieved the same milestone for the Senate in 2012 and was re-elected in the 2018 midterms.

7. Ange Barry

Ange Barry, CEO of Joy 94.9 Radio Station, is an experienced senior leader in the not-for-profit and finance spaces. She heads up Australia’s only LGBTQIA+ radio station and podcast network thanks to many volunteers who help make it "sparkle". Through the station, she shares updates from collaborative events and offers opportunities for up-and-coming LGBTQ+ talent, as well as promotes collaboration with other communities.

8. Stephanie Battaglino

The founder and oner of Follow Your Heart believes that education is at the very core of allyship. The workplace equality educator and author breaks down what it means to be vulnerable, the importance of authenticity, and the intricacies between gender identity and sexual orientation through her own transition as a transgender woman. Battaglino shares her experience with gender inequality in the corporate world and calls attention to the impacts of everything from bullying to pay gaps between transgender professionals and their cisgender colleagues.

9. Dame Inga Kristine Beale

Dame Inga Kristine Beale DBE is a British businesswoman and the former CEO of Lloyd's of London. In June 2018, it was announced that she would be stepping down as CEO of Lloyd's after leading the global insurance and reinsurance market for five years, embedding modernisation and cultural change during her tenure. Check out her full interview where she talks about being an openly bi-sexual CEO.

10. Yasmin Benoit

Yasmin Benoit is a British model, asexual activist, writer, and speaker. Described as "the unlikely face of asexuality" by Cosmopolitan Magazine, she started the #ThisIsWhatAsexualLooksLike movement for diverse asexual visibility and representation and co-founded International Asexuality Day (April 6). In 2022, she launched the UK's first asexual rights initiative - the Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project - in partnership with Stonewall. Her unconventional approach to activism has been covered throughout British and international press. Check out our interview with Yasmin here.

11. Munroe Bergdorf

As the first transgender model for L’Oréal, Munroe Bergdorf has continued to break ceilings and fight for representation for transgender people, people of color, and other marginalized people in environments where they have been historically ignored. Equally, Munroe has been vocal about the abuse that she has received being openly trans and a woman of color and has campaigned for social media to be more responsive in clamping down on this behavior. The trailblazing model was also named Cosmopolitan’s “Changemaker of the Year.”

12. Selisse Berry

Selisse is the Founder of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, the world's largest non-governmental organization specifically dedicated to creating safe and equitable workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Selisse started Out & Equal in 1996, after her own experience with workplace discrimination, at a time when few LGBT people were out at work and discrimination was widespread. Today, thanks to Selisse’s vision, dedication, and collaboration, 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies welcome lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees with inclusive policies. In 2017, she stepped down as CEO and moved into an advisory role.

13. Marylize Biubwa

Marylize Biubwa is a queer activist from Kenya's Nairobi. When she came out to her family, Marylize was thrown out of her home and told to only return once she was a “normal person”, as the east African country still upholds laws that came into place during the colonial era that criminalise gay sex. She