Definitions

Bisexual: an individual who is attracted to men and women

Bisexuality: The capacity to feel love towards and sexual satisfaction with someone of either sex

Closeted: an individual who is not open about their sexual orientation

Coming out: a process of self-acceptance and sharing with others one's sexual orientation

Gay: the appropriate term used for individuals, usually male, who are attracted to members of the same sex

Gender Expression: external representation of one's gender, be it masculine, feminine, or somewhere in between

Gender Identity: one's belief that they are male or female

Heterosexism: A form of oppression that targets gays, lesbians and bisexuals. It includes the belief that heterosexuality is the healthy ideal norm, coupled with the assignment of rights and privileges to heterosexuals that are denied to gay, lesbian and bisexual persons

Heterosexuality: The capacity to feel love towards and sexual satisfaction with someone of the opposite sex

Homosexuality: The capacity to feel love towards and sexual satisfaction with someone of the same sex

Homophobia: The irrational fear, hatred and intolerance of gays, lesbians or bisexuals, or of the homosexual feelings in oneself

Intersex: a person whose sex is ambiguous
Lesbian: a female who is attracted to members of the same sex

LBGTQ: acronym for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning

Omnisexual: an individual who is attracted in both sexes, intersex individuals, as well as transgendered and transsexual individuals

Sexual Orientation: a term used to describe one's physical, emotional, and spiritual attraction to other individuals

Transgender: an umbrella term for individuals whose gender identity and/or expression differs from the one they were born with.

Famous Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgendered Figures

and Their Allies

Alexander the Great (Macedonian Ruler)
Alger Jr., Horatio (US Author, Founder of Orphanage)
Allen, Chad (Actor, Starred in "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman")
Anderson, Hans Christian (Danish Author)
Anthony, Susan B. (1820-1906)
Anzaldua, Gloria (Latina Writer)
Bacon, Sir Francis (English Statesman, Author)
Barker, Clive (Filmmaker, Author)
Bernhard, Sandra (Comedian)
Bernstein, Leonard (Composer)
Bono, Chastity (Rock Musician, Daughter of Sonny and Cher)
Bowie, David (Rock Star, Actor)
Boy George (Musician)
Brando, Marlin (Actor)
Brown, Julie (Comedian)
Burke, Glenn (Ex-Major League Baseball Player)
Buttons, Dick (English Skater, Olympic Gold Medalist)
Caesar, Julius (Roman Emperor)
Carpenter, Edward (British Author, Gay Rights Activist)
Cather, Willa (US Author)
Cherry, Neneh (African-American Singer)
Choctaw, Jean (French Author, Filmmaker)
Colette (French Writer, Actor)
Daighileff, Sergei (Russian Ballet Impresario)
Daly, Mary (Feminist Writer)
daVinci, Leonardo (Italian Artist)
Dean, James (1931-1955, Actor, Teen Heart-Throb)
Degeneres, Ellen (Comedian/Actress)
Delany, Samuel R. (African-American Science-Fiction Writer)
Dickenson, Emily (1830-1886)
Dior, Christian (French Fashion Designer)
Erasmus, Desiderius (Dutch Monk, Philosopher)
Etheridge, Melissa (Musician)
Everett, Rupert (British Actor)
Flynn, Errol (1909-1959)
Fierstein, Harvey (actor)
Forster, E.M. (English Author)
Fox, Virgil (Concert Organist)
Frank, Barney (US Congressman, D-MA)
Frederick the Great (King of Prussia)
Fry, Stephen (British Actor, Author)
Fuller, Margaret (US writer, Educator)
Galindo, Rudy (Pro-Figure Skater)
Gallagher, Ed (Former College Football Lineman)
Garbo, Greta (1905-1990, Screen Legend)
Gaultier, Jean-Paul (French Fashion Designer)
Gingrich, Candace (Activist)
Ginsberg, Allen (Poet)
Glick, Deborah (New York State Legislator)
Gunderman, Steve (U.S. Congressman, R-WI)
Hadrian (Roman Emperor)
Hamilton, Alexander (Presidential Military Advisor)
Hawkins, Sophie B. (Musician)
Hoover, J. Edgar (1895-1972 (Head of FBI))
Hudson, Rock (1925-1985, Actor)
Hughes, Langston (1902-1967)
Ian, Janis (Musician)
Jackson, Bob (Professional Model/Body Builder and Gay-Rights Activist)
James, Henry (1843-1916)
Joan of Arc (Heroine)
John, Elton (Musician)
Jones, Cherry (Actor)
Jones, Grace (Actor and Diva)
Joplin, Janis (Pop Singer)
Julius III (Catholic Pope)
Kahlo, Frieda (Mexican Artist)
Keynes, John Maynard (English Economist)
King, Billie Jean (Professional Tennis Champion)
Koz, David (Musician)
Kushner, Tony (Playwright)
Lane, Nathan (Actor)
Lang, k. d. (Country-Crossover Singer)
Langly, Steve (African-American Singer)
Lawrence, D. H. (1884-1941)
Lawrence, T. E. (English Soldier, Lawrence of Arabia, Author)
Lorca, Federico Garcia (Spanish Poet, Dramatist)
Lord Byron (English Poet)
Louganis, Greg (World-Class Diver, Author, Actor)
Love, Susan (Breast-Cancer Surgeon and Famous Lesbian Mother)
Lowell, Amy (U.S. Poet)
Madonna (Superstar, Mother)
Marlowe, Christopher (English Author)
Mathis, Johnny (Singer)
Maugham, Somerset (British Writer and Dramatist)
McKellan, Sir Ian (Actor, Lord of the Rings)
McNally, Terrence (Playwright)
Mead, Margaret (Anthropologist, Writer, Educator)
Melville, Herman (U.S. Author)
Mercury, Freddie (Lead Singer, Queen)
Michael, George (Singer)
Michelangelo (Italian Artist)
Monette, Paul (1945-1995, Author)
Montezuma II (Aztec Ruler)
Morrissey (Rock Star)
Munoz, Ric (Athlete)
Navaro, Dave (Musician, Married to Carmen Electra)
Navratilova, Martina (Professional Tennis Champion)
Nijinsky, Vaslav (Russian Ballet Dancer)
Paglia, Camille (Writer and Professor)
Paris, Rob (Professional Model/Body Builder and Gay-Rights Activist)
Peter the Great (Russian Czar)
Phiops (Last Great Pharoah of Egypt)
Plato (Greek Philosopher)
Pop, Iggy (Rock Star)
Porter, Cole (1892-1962 (Song Writer))
Proust, Marcel (French Author)
Queen Christina (Swedish Queen)
Quentin Quisp (British Author)
Richard II (English King)
Richard the Lion-Hearted (English King, Crusader)
Roosevelt, Eleanor (1884-1962 (First Lady and U.S. Ambassador to UN))
Rudnick, Paul (Writer)
Rutherford, Paul (Singer)
Sackeville-West, Vita (British Writer)
Sappho (Greek Philosopher, Poet)
Shakespeare, William (British Poet and Playwright)
Smith, Bessie (Blues Singer)
Socrates (Greek Teacher, Philosopher)
Spencer-Devlin, Muffin (Professional Golfer)
Stein, Gertrude (1864-1946)
Stipe, Michael (Lead Singer, R.E.M.)
Studds, Gerry E. (U.S. Congressman, Dem-MA)
Suede (Blues Singer and Trumpet Player)
Tchaikovsky, Peter Illyich (Russian Composer)
The Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, Folk-Rock Stars)
The Village People (Musical Group, 3 of 5 members)
Thoreau, Henry David (U.S. Philosopher, Naturalist, Peace Activist)
Toklas, Alice B. (U.S. Author)
Tokugawa, Ieyasu (Japanese Shogun and Founder of the Edo Shogunate)
Tomlin, Lily (Comedian/Actor)
Townshend, Pete (Rock Guitarist, Singer and Composer, The Who)
Vaid, Urvashi (National Movement Leader)
Versace, Gianni (Fashion Designer)
Vidal, Gore (Author)
Warhol, Andy (1928-1987, Contempory Pop-Icon)
Williams, Tennessee (American Dramatist)
Whitman, Walt (U.S. Author, Poet)
Wilde, Oscar (Irish Author, Dramaticist)
Woolf, Virginia (English Author)
Yves Saint-Laurent (Fashion Designer)

Common Symbols

When the Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps, the horrors they discovered shocked a disbelieving world. That millions had been systematically tortured and murdered seemed beyond human capacity for violence and hate. The Holocaust forever changed our understanding of the potential for evil.

Concentration camp prisoners were classified by a set of colored triangles; pink was reserved for homosexuals. When liberation came in the mid-1940's, most of the survivors were set free. Homosexuals, however, were taken by U.S. Army personnel from concentration to allied prisons.

Since the 1940's, the pink triangles have become one of the most powerful symbols for gay people and the oppression they have faced throughout Western history. The pink triangle was a commonly used insignia throughout the early gay liberation movements. It appears in photographs and film footage of the early marches and demonstrations. The pink triangle was ubiquitous at the National March of Washington for lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987. It is the reminder and the statement:"Never Again".
 

The Rainbow Flag has been adopted by the gay and lesbian community as its own design. It depicts not the shape of the rainbow but its colors in horizontal stripes. Created in 1978 for San Francisco's Gay Freedom celebration by local artist, Gilbert Baker, it was inspired by the "Flag ofraces," which has five stripes - one each for the colors of human kind's skin, flown at the 1960 college campus demonstrations.

Major gay and lesbian parades in New York, Houston, Vancouver and Toronto began to fly the six-stripe Rainbow Flag, and it is now prominently displayed at all homosexual events. In New York, the Rainbow Flag drapes the coffins of people who have died of AIDS, and is frequently displayed on church doors. The AIDS ward of the Sydney, Australia hospital flies the Rainbow Flag as a symbol of hope. A gay yacht club in the Netherlands uses a buoy based on the Rainbow Flag. In a few short years, the flag has spread world-wide to represent movement. Its success is not due to any official recognition but to a widespread, spontaneous adoption by members of the community it represents.
 

Chosen by the Gay Activist Alliance in 1970 as the symbol of the gay movement, the lambda is the Greek letter "L." A battle flag with a lambda was carried by a regiment of Greek warriors known for their fierceness and willingness to fight. This group was also accompanied by their young male lovers.
 

The double-bladed ax comes from a myth as the scepter goddess Demeter (Artemis). It may have originally been used in battle by female Scythian warriors. The labyrs appears in ancient Cretan art and has become a symbol of lesbianism.
 

The singular symbol is derived from the astrological symbol for Mars, the planet named for the Greek god of war, the divine patron of warriors. The arrow is a phallic symbol and the double symbol represents man loving man.
 

The singular form of this symbol, also known as "the mirror of Venus," represents the planet Venus, copper metal, and femininity. The double woman's symbol represents woman loving woman.

Homophobia Hurts Everyone

Homophobia is defined by dictionary.com as "fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men" or "behavior based on such a feeling." Homophobia is the essential force that oppresses GLBT people much the same way that racism oppresses African Americans to this day. Homophobia is perpetuated in society in many ways and overcoming homophobia still means winning legal battles as well as helping individuals create their own opinions on homosexuality based on personal interaction instead of general societal perceptions.

"Combating homophobia" is a term that many people use in a variety of ways. It can mean getting signatures to support domestic partnership legislation, attending support group meetings, and even just speaking up when someone uses "gay" as a synonym for "stupid." But for most GLBT people, "combating homophobia" simply means living your life openly. It's an opportunity for you to attach a name and a face to the words gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. It's a lot more difficult for people who enjoy your company to continue their own homophobia, conscious or not. Think of it as a grassroots movement for acceptance.

As Erica from the Cherokee High School (Marlton, New Jersey) Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) said in the interview for JIM IN BOLD, "What I think people need to realize is that homophobia is contagious, not homosexuality."

Homophobia locks all people into rigid gender-based roles that inhibit creativity and self-expression.

Homophobia conditioning compromises the integrity of heterosexual people by pressuring them to treat others badly, actions contrary to their basic humanity.

Homophobia inhibits one's ability to form close, intimate relationships with members of one's own sex.

Homophobia generally restricts communication with a significant portion of the population and, more specifically, limits the family relationships.

Homophobia is one cause of premature sexual involvement, which increases the chances of teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Homophobia combined with sexphobia (fear and repulsion of sex) results in the elimination of any discussion of the life-styles and sexuality of sexual minorities as part of school-based sex education, keeping vital information from all students.

Homophobia can be used to stigmatize, silence and, on occasion, target people who are perceived or defined by others as gay, lesbian, or bisexual but who are in actuality heterosexual.

Homophobia prevents heterosexuals from accepting the benefits and gifts offered by sexual minorities: theoretical insights, social and spiritual visions and options, contributions in the arts and culture, to religion, to family life, to all facets of society.

Homophobia inhibits appreciation of other types of diversity, making it unsafe for everyone because each person has unique traits not considered mainstream or dominant. Therefore, we are all diminished when anyone of us is demeaned.

Homophobia diverts energy from more constructive endeavors.

Page last updated: 11.09.07
Contact the Webmaster

Disclaimer: The links from this page are the web pages of student organizations at Lebanon Valley College. These pages do not in any way constitute official College content and Lebanon Valley makes no effort to pre-approve, review or edit these pages. The views and opinions expressed in these web pages are strictly those of the student organization that maintains the pages, and the authors of the pages themselves. Comments should be directed to them.