Fallon Unlimited

Read more about the Icons of the LGBTQIA+ Community in the June Issue of Fallon Unlimited.

*𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐿 𝐿𝐼𝐹𝐸*

𝗟𝗚𝗕𝗧𝗤𝗜𝗔+ 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸

𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸 was an American politician and 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒚 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒂. Although regarded as one of the biggest gay icons in history, Milk was never open about his s*xuality nor was he active in fighting for gay rights until his 40′s.

In the 70′s, Milk moved from New York City to San Francisco to pursue his political career – he was unsuccessful for three years and took advantage of the economic and political growth of the community in San Francisco. Milk's theatrics in campaigns earned him a larger audience and in 1977 won him a seat as a city supervisor.

Milk served almost a year in office, during which he sponsored a 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. Unfortunately, this has come to an end when Harvey Milk was assassinated with Mayor George Mascone.

Despite his short stay in office, Milk has become a gay icon and a martyr in San Francisco; In 2002, 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒌 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝑮𝑩𝑻 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔".

After his death, he was awarded [posthumously] the 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 in 2009.

“𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛, 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑊𝑒'𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒.”
― 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒚 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒌

So, when everything seems to be unclear, and everything does not fall into place like you intended it to, remember Harvey Milk’s dedication and tenacity. And in his own words, “𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. “

*𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐿 𝐿𝐼𝐹𝐸*

𝑳𝑮𝑩𝑻𝑸𝑰𝑨+ 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑨𝒖𝒅𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆

“ 𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘨𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 “ - 𝘊𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘢 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 (𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘯; 𝘗𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 2)

We’re not going to sugarcoat it; 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻-𝗼𝗳-𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 nowadays but imagine being all three at a time where these were looked down upon and no one had the right to voice it out.

𝑨𝒖𝒅𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆 was an american writer, a feminist, a librarian, and a civil rights activist. She always described herself as “𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒃𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕”; she dedicated her life and talent in tackling controversial (at the time) issues such as injustice specifically towards to 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗮. This strong woman 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒈𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅.

Lorde famously said, "𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯; 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 – 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 – 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵."

Audre Lorde 𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒕; she also identified issues of race, class, age and ageism, s*x and s*xuality. Later in her life, she tackled issues about chronic illness and disability as she lived her later years with cancer. Audre Lorde wrote these as 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏. She made a point that, “𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥.” and this is true, everyone has different experiences and we can only address issues with authenticity if you have experienced it; that is when you can spread your learnings through experience for everyone to also learn from it.

There has been a lot of causes/awards named after this wonderful woman, such as:

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏-𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓, an organization in New York City named after Michael Callen and Audre Lorde. An organization dedicated to providing medical health care to the city's LGBT population. Callen-Lorde is the only primary care center in New York City created specifically to serve the LGBT community.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒅𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕, founded in 1994, is a Brooklyn-based organization for LGBT people of color. This organization focuses on community organizing and radical non-violent activism around cumulative issues within NYC; especially issues relating to LGBT, AIDS, HIV, pro-immigration, prison reform, and organizing among the youth of color.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒅𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅, an annual literary award presented by Publishing Triangle to honor works of le***an poetry, first presented in 2001.

So, next time you’ve been dis-empowered by a White Cis-Person for being yourself (whether you’re black, woman, or q***r, or all three) 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒖𝒅𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆. 𝑩𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅.

*𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐿 𝐿𝐼𝐹𝐸*

𝑳𝑮𝑩𝑻𝑸𝑰𝑨+ 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅

The Bis*xuals have always felt invisible in the modern LGBTQIA+ Community, main reason being them [𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴] being attracted/in a relationship with the opposite s*x. Little did they know that the very first LBGT Pride was organized by a Bis*xual Woman, 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅.

Brenda Howard, also known as the “𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆”, was an activist. She was present in many protests like: The Movement against the Vietnam War in the late 60′s, the Feminist Movement, the LGBT Rights Movement and others.

She was also a member of the 𝑮𝒂𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 and the chairperson for the 𝑮𝒂𝒚 𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆'𝒔 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒖 for several years in the post-Stonewall era.

In the late 80′s, Brenda Howard helped found the 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝑩𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 to cater to the growing Bis*xual Community in the region. Not only that but Brenda also was an active member of 𝑩𝒊𝑷𝑨𝑪/𝑩𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆 (an early Bis*xual Political Activist Group) and was the founder of Alcoholics 𝑨𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 and she didn’t stop there.

She took her activism to the national level when she worked on both the 1987 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒃𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒚 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 and the 1993 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒃𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝑮𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒊 𝑬𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 where she was female co-chairperson of the leather contingent and 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 25 in 1994.

Brenda Howard now has an award named after her, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅.

It was created in 2005 by the Queens Chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Le****ns and G**s). 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑳𝑮𝑩𝑻 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏.

The annual award 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝑮𝑩𝑻 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 best exemplifies the 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔. 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅, and who serves as a positive and visible role model for the entire LGBT community.