Themes 3 : Art & Power and 7 : Diversity and inclusion.

Themes 3 : Art & Power and 7 : Diversity and inclusion.

How does activist art challenge societal norms and contribute to the fight for human rights in the English-speaking world?

Take notes on each presentation

• First openly gay politician elected in California.
• Sponsored a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• Challenged the city’s gay leadership in attempting to gain political rights for homosexuals.
• Gained the support of many gay bar owners who had become frustrated by the lack of support in dealing with police harassment.
• Became an icon and martyr in the gay community.
• Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

Harvey Milk

• Co-founded the group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R).
• 1972: opened the STAR House, a shelter for gay and trans street kids.
• Paid the rent for it with money they made as sex workers.
• Provided food, clothing, emotional support and a sense

of family for anyone staying there or living in the area.

• Participated in many gay liberation marches.
• 1973: were banned from participating in the gay pride parade

as the committee organizing it stated they “weren’t gonna allow drag queens” as they were “giving them a bad name.”

• Their response was to march ahead of the parade.

Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera

• American activist for LGBT equality.
• Organized the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (First lesbian and civil rights organization) from 1958 – 63
• Edited the DOB magazine ‘The Ladder’ from 1963 – 66.
• Worked closely with Frank Kameny in the 1960s to call out the ban on employment of gay people by the United States Government.
• Was part of the movement to get the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness in 1972.
• Was passionate about tearing away the ‘shroud of invisibility’ around homosexuality which had been associated with crime and mental illness.

Barbara Gittings

• The American Library Association awarded her a lifetime membership for her work in promoting positive literature about homosexuality in libraries and named an annual award for the best gay or lesbian novel the Barbara Gittings award.
• The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) also named an activist award after her.

Barbara Gittings

• Was an American writer, feminist and civil rights activist.
• Was passionate about confronting racism, sexism, classism and homophobia.
• Best known for her poetry which excelled in emotional expression and targeted the injustices she saw throughout her life.
• In 1980 she co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the first US publisher for women of color.
• She was also one of the founders of the Women’s Coalition of St Croix an organization dedicated to helping women who survived sexual abuse.
• In the late 1980’s she helped build the Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa to support black woman who were affected by apartheid and other forms of injustice.

Audre Lorde

• In 1985 Lorde was invited to Cuba along with a group of black women writers, the trip was sponsored by The Black scholar and the Union of Cuban Writers. The group visited Cuban poets and discussed if the revolution had truly changed the status of Lesbians and Gays in Cuba.
• Lorde was instrumental in the Afro-German movement in the 1980s, she used her talent with words to fight intersectional racism and inspire German black women to use their voices too.

Audre Lorde

• British sexual health and LGBT rights campaigner.
• Became Secretary-General of the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 1988 and helped set up the Pink Paper (A UK publication addressing gay and lesbian issues).
• She co-founded Stonewall (named after the riots in 1969) in 1989 and then became the policy director of the Terrence Higgins Trust.
• In 2020 she worked with Dan Vo and the National Museum Cardiff to create ‘Queer Tours’ which aimed to uncover hidden LGBTQ+ histories in Cardiff.
• Organizer of Pride History Month at Pride Cymru and chairperson of the HIV Justice Network.

Lisa Power MBE

• Emeritus Professor of the Harvey Milk Institute and a British LGBT rights activist who specializes in challenging oppression in the public sector.
• Since 1967 she has been a teacher, tutor and lecturer on women’s studies, drama and homophobia in schools and universities.
• Was a member of the LGBT advisory group to the Metropolitan Police and an independent adviser to the London Criminal Justice Board as well as being a member of the hate crime independent advisory group for the ministry of Justice.
• She has been a member of the National Union of Teachers LGBT working party and a member of the Southwark anti-homophobic forum.
• Her vast experience helped her consult the Crown Prosecution Services in producing a national policy on prosecuting homophobic crime effectively.

Sue Sanders

• In 2000 she became the co-chair of Schools Out, a group working towards the equality of LGBT people in the education system.
• With help from Schools Out she instituted the first ever UK LGBT History Month in 2004.
• In 2011 she created The Classroom, a website with over 50 lesson plans free for teachers to use to teach LGBT issues across the curriculum.

Sue Sanders

• IPhyll Opoku-Gyimah also known as Lady Phyll is a co-founder, trustee and executive director of UK Black Pride.
• Sits on the Trades Union Congress race relations committee and is also a trustee of Stonewall.
• Along with Rikki Beadle-Blair and John R Gordon she is the editor of Sista! A collection of writings by LGBT women of African/Caribbean descent and a connection to the UK.
• Publicly refused an MBE in 2016 as a protest of LGBT persecution by ‘colonial regimes’.
• Stated 'LGBTQI people are still being persecuted, tortured and even killed because of some laws… that were put in place by British imperialists.'

Phyll Opoku – Gyimah (Lady Phyll)

• IPhyll Opoku-Gyimah also known as Lady Phyll is a co-founder, trustee and executive director of UK Black Pride.
• Sits on the Trades Union Congress race relations committee and is also a trustee of Stonewall.
• Along with Rikki Beadle-Blair and John R Gordon she is the editor of Sista! A collection of writings by LGBT women of African/Caribbean descent and a connection to the UK.
• Publicly refused an MBE in 2016 as a protest of LGBT persecution by ‘colonial regimes’.
• Stated 'LGBTQI people are still being persecuted, tortured and even killed because of some laws… that were put in place by British imperialists.'

Charlie Craggs