Lesbian Visibility Week: Celebrating 50 LGBTQ+ Women Making a Difference

To mark Lesbian Visibility Week, which starts today, we celebrate 50 LGBTQ+ women making a difference in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space around the world.

Here are just 50 of the very many diversity champions working hard to create change and opportunities for LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Munroe Bergdorf

As the first transgender model for L’Oréal, 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 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. Trailblazing model Munroe was named Cosmopolitan’s “Changemaker of the Year.”

Marylize Biubwa

Queer activist from Nairobi, Kenya, Marylize Biubwa uses her social media platforms to dispel myths about women and their sexuality, and myths about people within the LGBTQ+ community. Marylize has been part of and moderated panels in Kenya about gay rights, as well as countries across East Africa, which upholds laws that that criminalize gay sex which came during the colonial era. When she came out to her family, Biubwa was kicked out of her home and told to only return once she was a “normal person.”

Dutee Chand

Dutee Chand was India’s first athlete to come out as queer, revealing in 2019 that she’s in a same-sex relationship. She also showed courage and grace when she battled the Athletic Federation of India’s attempt to suspend her from competition due to her high natural levels of testosterone in 2015. Since then, Dutee has spoken out in support of South African runner Caster Semenya who faced a similar battle, saying, “There is always fear but you need to overcome it.” She is the first Indian sprinter to win the gold medal at the Universiade, and only the third Indian woman to ever qualify for the women’s 100 meters at the Summer Olympics.

Gigi Chao

Executive Director of Cheuk Nang Holdings Limited, Gigi Chao was thrust into the media spotlight when, in 2012, her father and owner of the same company, offered $65 million to any man who would marry her. He upped that offer to $180 million in 2014. Gigi responded to her father’s offers by publishing a letter in the China Morning Post, revealing that she was gay had married her partner, Sean Eav, in 2012. Since 2008, Chao has also been lifting underprivileged youths out of poverty thanks to her charitable organization, the Faith In Love Foundation.

Margaret Cho

Bisexual Korean American comedienne Margaret Cho frequently draws from her own experiences to tackle issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation in a way that is both thought-provoking and hilarious. Her comedy addresses the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community, including discrimination, bullying, and sexual violence. Margaret received the inaugural Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco GLAAD Media Awards in 2000 for her advocacy. The TV writer and stand-up comic has worked with numerous social organizations including Lambda Legal and the National Organization of Women. She has won awards for her work on and off stage representing the concerns faced by LGBTQ+ women of color. Margaret continues to advocate for Asian LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and so many more throughout the country.

Cecilia Chung

Cecilia Chung is a trans Chinese woman, nationally recognized as an advocate for human rights, social justice, health equity, and LGBTQ+ equality. Cecilia has been working tirelessly at local, national, and international levels to improve access to treatment for transgender people and people living with HIV, and to erase stigma and discrimination through education, policy, advocacy, and visibility.

Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox is trailblazer for the transgender community. She has won numerous awards for her activist approach in spreading awareness. Her impact and prominence in the media has led to a growing conversation about transgender culture, specifically transgender women, and how being transgender intersects with one’s race. Her Netflix documentary, released in 2020, tells the story of Hollywood and the media’s evolving view of trans people, the violence that the trans community faces, as well as movies and shows that have opened up opportunities for trans people to appear on screen. She is the first transgender person to be on the cover of Time magazine, be nominated for a Primetime Emmy, and have a wax work in Madame Tussauds. Her activism isn’t just relegated to magazine covers and awards shows. Laverne constantly uplifts trans folks from all walks of life on social media. In May 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New School in New York for her progressive work in the fight for gender equality.

Sharice Davids

Representative Sharice Davids from Kansas is an up-and-coming politician with many firsts to her name. She was the first openly LGBTQ+ Native American elected to the US Congress, the first of only two Native American women elected to Congress, and the first Democrat to represent Kansas in the US House of Representatives since 2011. Before her political career, she was a lawyer and a professional MMA fighter, and spent years living on Native American reservations across the US to work on community development programs.

Donna Deitch

Award-winning filmmaker and television director Donna Deitch is best known for her 1985 movie Desert Hearts, the first feature film with a mainstream lesbian love story, told in a positive and respectful way. The film was a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, and it inspired Oprah Winfrey to hire Deitch to direct Emmy-nominated mini-series The Women of Brewster Place. She went on to direct episodes in TV dramas like NYPD Blue, ER, Law and Order: SVU and others, and directed docu-series for HBO and Showtime.

Laila El-Metoui

Lauren Esposito

As an arachnologist (a scientist who studies spiders and related animals such as scorpions) Lauren Esposito is the only woman expert on scorpions in the world. She is also the co-founder of 500 Queer Scientists, a visibility movement and professional network that boosts the recognition and awareness of LGBTQ+ people working in STEM fields.

Joanie Evans

Not only was she an influential member of trailblazing lesbian team, Hackney Women’s Football Club ­– the first open and out gay team in Europe – but Joanie Evans is also the co-president of the Federation of the Gay Games, dating back to 2014. In fact, she’s probably one of the longest serving co-presidents who has been there for 4 terms (8 years). She was also the only Black woman on the Federation of the Gay Games board until 2017, now there are two under her leadership. Her main goal, both on the football pitch and in the Gay Games, is to create an open and inclusive playing field for all, particularly for women, regardless of how they identify.

Jennifer Finney Boylan

Jennifer Finney Boylan is an American author and transgender activist who writes for The New York Times. Her autobiography, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, was the first book published by an openly trans author to become a bestseller. She is also a reality TV personality, regularly appearing on Caitlyn Jenner’s show I Am Cait and was chosen as the first openly trans co-chair of GLAAD’s National Board of Directors.

Fallon Fox

Fallon Fox is the first openly transgender athlete in mixed martial arts history. She came out as trans in 2013 after winning her first victories in the MMA women’s division, drawing pushback and transphobic remarks from people like comedian Joe Rogan and fellow fighter Ronda Rousey. Despite the controversy surrounding her, Fallon has remained focused on her martial arts training and a determination to live as her authentic self, deserving of equal treatment and respect. Thanks to women like her, public awareness and education about transgender women in sports continues to make slow but steady progress.

Beth Ford

Not only is Land O’Lakes’s CEO Beth Ford one very few women to head a Fortune 500 company but she is the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to helm a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to lead the dairy company in its almost 100-year history. Her authentic leadership as an out lesbian is well-known in the LGBTQ+ corporate community, and the fact that she is assuming this role as an out lesbian sends an especially powerful message. Beth has been openly gay her whole professional career.

Sarah Garrett

As CEO and founder of SPM Group Ltd, Sarah Garrett runs the British LGBT Awards, Ethnicity Awards and Investing in Ethnicity and Opportunities 4 Women, among other projects. In 2017, Sarah was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for her services in the diversity and inclusion space. One of Sarah’s greatest accomplishments is the “Investing in Ethnicity” program, which aims to start conversations, progress, and promote Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic voices and values in the workplace. The initiative works with organizations to build sustainable solutions that foster and facilitate greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Blair Imani

Queer African American Muslim activist and writer, Blair Imani continues to speak and write about the intersection of Black and Muslim identities. The former executive director of Equality For HER and a member of the Black Lives Matter movement, she gained recognition for being arrested while peacefully protesting the shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA. She’s worked closely with young people on college campuses and at progressive conferences, and is the official ambassador of Muslims for Progressive Values.

Billie Jean King

She’s not only one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all time, Billie Jean King is dedicated activist for gay rights and gender equality. The out lesbian and 39-time grand slam winner is best known for beating Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. Billie is also the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

Sarah Kate Ellis

As CEO of GLAAD (since January 2014), Sarah Kate Ellis continues to move LGBTQ+ equality forward through the power of the media. She began her activism for the LGBTQ+ community in 1992, when she marched on Washington to support the rights of women and then marched again in 1993 to su