Where Are the Statues of L.G.B.T.Q. Pioneers? Here Are 11 Worthy New Yorkers

The categories of the unhonored are ever expanding. While this statue and memorial was not "official" it reflects stretching the phenomenon beyond the limits of stretching: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/01/new-york-staten-island-ferry-octopus-attack-fake-monument Honor the victims of the Octopus attack!!

There’s nothing great about being lbgtq; you’re just another being on this planet. We need to stop glorifying nothingness and give recognition to people that have actually made a contribution to society. Yes, some have suffered discrimination. But billions around the world have suffered far worse in famine, wars, diseases. Worse yet, this is the type of none-sense that fuels the rage of the Trumpees to vote for an idiot.

Dick Leitsch?

You have to be kidding!

Diane Torr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Torr https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jun/29/diane-torr-obituary

Can it be for living people as well? If so Larry Kramer deserves not just a statue but a halo for the thousands of lives he has saved.

A little irritating that the first female-born woman mentioned is 5th on the list, behind two men and two trans women. Patriarchy's still present even in an article such as this one. Sad.

Thanks for this little gay history lesson. It provided a bit of inspiration to persevere after reading about how effectively the Right has been packing the Courts.

I don't think a statue is the right form to honor either David Wojnarowicz or Keith Haring , both of whom deserve our respect and whose contribution to the city should be honored. How about a billboard on the west side reproducing , "One day this kid.." or in the subways an installation of one of Haring's hacks?

As a lpving grandmom of a transgender grandson, I constantly look for icons & heroes that he can relate to. I am so grateful that you have done this research & have written this article. TY from the bottom of my heart!

Bayard Rustin has a public school named after him on 18th St. Audre Lorde’s name is shared on the Callen-Lorde community health center, also on 18th St.

I celebrate these, and other heroes daily. However, I am, in my old age, moving further and further away from shrines and likenesses being the memorials for these and other brave souls. Better to have manifestations and education that idols made of stone.

There are some fine nominees in this article. I would add Leonard Bernstein, Fr. Mychal Judge, Lorraine Hansberry, Charles Ludlam (magnificent man of the theater, founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company), Tennessee Williams, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears (together, in Brooklyn Heights where they lived), and Cole Porter. There is one hero who was not LGBTQ but deserves recognition: Dr. Mathilde Krim, who was a valiant fighter for persons with HIV/AIDS. Further idea: statues are great and have their purpose. But I think NYC is more than ready to adapt the kind of blue plaques that are affixed to many buildings in London that honor people who made important contributions to art, science, politics, civilization and the public good.

Why not include the heros and sheros who toiled to break through all the first impediments to gay civil rights? The risk takers and ground breakers who had as much to lose as they hoped to gain... Virginia Apuzzo Emory Hetrick Andrew Humm Larry Kramer Damien Martin Rodger McFarlane Ann Northrop Vivian Shapiro Andrew Velez Darrell Yates-Rist

Adrienne Rich! (She taught at CCNY during open enrollment in the early 70's.)

Virtually all of New York's LGBT heroes are being honored every day - in Chicago. I suggest you check out www.legacyprojectchicago.org and look at the street map for "The Legacy Walk" - the world's only outdoor LGBT History Museum. It spreads along a mile thoroughfare and features 40 bronze biographical memorials. The following New Yorkers are included: Audre Lorde, Leonard Bernstein, Antonia Pantoja (originally from Puerto Rico), Lorraine Hansberry (originally from Chicago), Alvin Ailey (originally from Texas), Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, Leonard Matlovich (only lived in New York for a short while), Vito Russo, Billy Strayhorn, Reinaldo Arenas, Cole Porter, The Harlem Renaissance (a "milestone" marker), Christine Jorgensen (only briefly associated with New York), Bayard Rustin, Keith Haring, Harvey Milk (originally from New York), The Stonewall Riot (a "milestone" marker), Fr. Mychal Judge, Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Josephine Baker (originally from St. Louis), and James Baldwin. This striking permanent installation is digitally interactive and linked to a publicly accessible education system with LGBT biography-based lesson plans, study guides, and multimedia. The Legacy Walk was just declared a Historic Landmark for being the only installation of its kind on earth.

Father Mychal Judge was a fire chaplain to NYC Fire Department who led a gay life away from the church. He was the first person die on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center.

The LGBT movement — I'm dropping the Q because it's a superfluous byproduct of identity politics; we can't keep adding letters to suit everyone's shifting persona and whim, and it's turning us into a joke — is a coalition created to advance our mutual political interests. Once those goals have been achieved, it will probably be disbanded, as it should — we will never be truly integrated into society as long as we live in a ghetto of our own creation that is branded with letters. I hope we get rid of that garish rainbow flag, too. As a certain kind of "non-scene" gay, I have far more in common with a straight man than I do with a lesbian or a transgendered person, and it will always be that way for a huge majority of gays and bi men. Bi men likely will one day be in the majority, but are only now being brought into the conversation after being shut out as being gay men who aren't brave enough to admit they're really gay. The correct thing in my view would be to choose three, one each to represent lesbians/bi women, gays/bi men, and transgendered. I think people ignore statues, by and large; they are also expensive. I think renaming streets is a fine-enough tribute.

The amazing Spivy LaVoe aka Madame Spivy. The Brooklyn-born "lesbian Noel Coward" entertainer operated the nightclub Spivy's Roof atop 139 East 57th Street, New York City during the 1940s and 50s. It provided a safe place for then talented up-and-coming gay entertainers (Liberace, Paul Lynde etc.) and provided a mecca for gay life patronage. Spivy was also known for her risqué ground-breaking recordings ("Seven Gay Sophisticated Songs,"1939). She later appeared in films with Brando, Quinn and for director Hitchcock. A true pioneer for the LGBTQ community that should be remembered and honored. BTW that nightclub's building still stands and should receive historical status from the City as well.

Kathy Acker, openly bisexual, was an American experimental novelist, playwright, essayist, postmodernist and sex-positive feminist writer. Mercedes de Acosta, lesbian, was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. De Acosta wrote almost a dozen plays, only four of which were produced, and she published a novel and three volumes of poetry.

Harvey Milk, born in Woodmere NY, graduated SUNY Albany. When Milk was a San Francisco Supervisor he was murdered in 1978, along with Mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled supervisor who had previously resigned. Diane Feinstein became Mayor. Milk should be honored.

What a great list of deserving people. Rich diversity and stunning accomplishment well deserving of greater recognition.

Thank you so much for recognizing these people rather than relying on the ones who have chased fame. You ignored many who feel they deserve statues and focused on those that would never have dreamed a statue would be erected to honor them. Again, thank you.

Why is it that 50 years after coming out, I'm still fighting for the same things I was in the late 60's? There are still, after 50 years, almost no heroes or icons for the gay community to love, look up to, or emulate. Statues are a good start. They're visible and spark curiosity and further investigation, but having these individuals and the many, many more worthy of mention in history books would be more powerful. If we don't honor these people, we aren't honoring ourselves.

Pauli Murray should be added. An early American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, a women's rights activist, Episcopal priest, and author. She helped found the National Organization or women, pioneered using restaurant sit-ins to fight segregation in DC, an accomplished writer, provided legal basis for the Plessy argument used by RBG, and many more fights for social and economic justice. She often dressed as male and loved women. Recently, she has been described as transgender. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray https://paulimurrayproject.org/pauli-murray/biography/

I missed seeing mention, in Bayard Rustin's biography, of his husband, Walter Neagle. Because they couldn't marry at the time, Rustin adopted him. Read about it here: https://www.npr.org/2015/06/28/418187875/long-before-same-sex-marriage-adopted-son-could-mean-life-partner . Both wonderful men.

This person isn’t a New Yorker but deserves recognition: Leonard Matlovich. He was the first gay service member to purposely out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays,

Don’t forget the Harlem Renaissance, which was fueled by the creative genius of the gay black Americans who congregated there. There won’t be enough room for all the potential statues.

This is very disappointing - women are not adequately represented. Please correct this omission.

Is there already a statue of James Baldwin? Or have you overlooked him?

Rodger McFarlane, first ED of Gay Men's Health Crisis. Considering that he was born in Alabama, it seems particularly fitting in this week.

Monuments are good, but a few paragraphs in a history book are even better. a regular high school history book.

This column makes me so happy! Thank you, Ginia. Julia

Never-Never Land: Boyd McDonald, sometimes referred to as "Saint Boyd."

27% representation of women and lesbian rights pioneers over 100 years. Yeah, thanks.

Whitman and O'Hara are both represented at the harborside of Battery Park City, where a verse of each adorns the grill barricade in foot high lettering. For many years, a large wall on Houston St @ 2nd Avenue displayed a huge Haring mural. It was a shame when it got removed. A fitting tribute would be to have it recreated.

There are so many candidates worthy of statues that it is necessary to approach this issue systematically. How many statues are there in NYC? How many of these statues are of men, women, whites, blacks, other POC, LGBTQ etc., and how do these numbers compare to these groups’ percentage representation in the NYC population? If these percentage figures are not consistent across the various sub-groups then the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs needs to do something about it. It’s pretty easy to do a count of statues, compare it to the latest census figures and develop a plan of action for rectifying the omissions over some period of time. (And, yes, an algorithm can be developed for accounting for candidates who are twofers and threefers, e.g., black women bisexuals, gay Hispanic males, et al.) The harder task will be to develop reasonable selection criteria for putting candidates higher or lower on the list for having statues made of them.

Whitman deserves inclusion, despite his fame, because he was pushing the envelope throughout the 19th century. Dr. Baker is the only person on your list who is pre-20th century (and late in the century).

Henri Matisse said, "Creativity takes courage." By this quote, he meant that a true artist is someone who doesn’t conform to what the world says, but focuses more on what he feels and expresses through his art. The 11 people you have put on a pedestal deserve to be profiled, praised, and studied because of their achievements that obviously took courage. They were not afraid to pursue their passion in the face of great obstacles that included their sexual identity. In the same way you are focusing on the L.G.B.T.Q label, I could also drop a few names and labels to profile a very famous artist's accomplishments. Michelangelo said, "The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Only God creates. The rest of us just copy."

How about Craig Rodwell? Gay activist prior to Stonewall, both with the Mattachine Society of New York and independently, and then founder of the beloved and sorely missed Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshope -- which opened in 1967, two years before the Stonewall uprising. I miss him still.

What about Al Carmines, minister, poet, actor, singer, composer, playwright? He was at the heart of the Off Off Broadway theatre movement and wrote one of the first commercially successful gay musicals. Straights and gays mixed easily and happily at Judson Poets Theatre, working and playing together under his benevolent eye, guided by his creative genius.

Sigh. As usual, spotlight on the boys (drag queens included). If you think men were the majority powering this movement you are mistaken. Sadly, once again women of that moment are buried in history because AT that moment, their voices were ignored—even though a LOT of heavy lifting was done by us. I was there, front and center. I know. Same old Viet Nam era “get the coffee, girlie” attitude. God bless Edie Windsor, but do your research. There were far more women doing far more things for gay rights and gay protections. Enough already.

Great material for lesson plans for joint projects between the Art and Social Studies departments in the public schools. Thank you.

Some incomplete info about Billy Strayhorn. He in fact was open about his sexuality - to the extent he didn't hide it - which in the often hyper-masculine world of jazz was almost unheard of.

Frank O'Hara (1926-1966) certainly deserves to be memorialized in NYC. He was a poet, curator, critic and playwright who worked at the Museum of Modern Art. He was among America's greatest poets and a worthy heir to Walt Whitman.

You forgot LEE BREWSTER. I helped him on the magazines and his direct mail business when he was working out of his first-floor apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, before he moved to the Tenth Av. store front, the loft behind the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and finally the to the 14th street site. He funded the cases that REPEALED the crossdressing laws in NYC, and his Mardi Gras tours originated the transgender conventions that are now held yearly throughout the country. And this was all back in the days when most of us were too scared to climb out from under the rocks we hid under, BEFORE the internet accelerated the tipping point toward Transgender rights. Check your own obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/24/nyregion/lee-brewster-57-style-guru-for-world-s-cross-dressers.html and/or contact Bibi Scarpy (Antoinette Scapinato) for more information.

50th Stonewall Anniversary is well time enough to acknowledge LGBTQ Leaders in ways that are societally “normative.” Thanks for this amazing article. Next step. Get them created and put up!