(New York, NY, June 27, 2019) – The oldest LGBTQ organization in North America, The International Imperial Courts of the U.S.A, Canada and Mexico, established in 1965, and the oldest national LGBTQ advocacy organization, the National LGBTQ Task Force, dedicated the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the historic Stonewall Inn on June 27 at 10 AM at 53 Christopher Street, New York, NY.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor celebrates LGBTQ leaders who have paved the road to liberation and contributed significantly to progress for LGBTQ people. The inaugural fifty artists, activists, federal workers, and others will be honored with their own space in the bar where the modern LGBTQ activist movement started in 1969.
“This National LGBTQ Wall of Honor will remind our community whose shoulders we stand on and the pioneers, trailblazers and heroes of our civil rights movement,” said National LGBTQ Wall of Honor founder and National Co-Chair Nicole Murray Ramirez, Queen Mother I of the Americas. “Indeed, a movement that does not know where it came from does not really know where it’s going. The Imperial Courts and the Task Force would like to acknowledge and thank Kurt Kelly and the Stonewall Inn for sharing our vision and their outstanding support in making this historic wall a reality,” said Murray Ramirez.
“The 50 leaders recognized represent some of our most vibrant changemakers and serve as a reminder that each one of us has a role to play in achieving freedom for LGBTQ people. While we create this wall as an honor, we know that our liberation will be achieved by bringing down walls and ending barriers. I invite everyone to honor those who have come before us and to be inspired to work for all that lies ahead,” said Rea Carey, executive director, National LGBTQ Task Force.
The first 50 Names to be put on the Wall of Honor were selected by the Stonewall 50 Wall of Honor Board of Governors made up of 18 LGBTQ leaders including Wilson Cruz, Mandy Carter, Marsha Botzer, Rev. Troy Perry, and Stuart Milk.
DEDICATION SPEAKERS:
Queen Mother Nicole Murray Ramirez, International Imperial Courts of USA, Canada and Mexico
Judy and Dennis Shephard, Matthew Shephard Foundation
Kierra Johnson, National LGBTQ Task Force
Stuart Milk, Harvey Milk Foundation
The Honorable Toni Atkins, CA State Senate President Pro Tempore
Mandy Carter, National Black Justice Coalition
Karina Samala and Kamryn Whitley, Long-time Transgender Activists
Chase Xavier Matys-Gleason, 12-year old Trans Activist
About the Imperial Court and the National LGBTQ Task Force:
The Imperial Court has chapters in 70 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Court led the successful national letter writing campaigns that resulted in the issuing of a Harvey Milk postage stamp in 2014 and the announcement of the U.S. Navy Ship Harvey Milk, which begins construction in July 2019.
The National LGBTQ Task Force is the oldest national LGBTQ advocacy group in the country. The National LGBTQ Task Force builds power, takes action and creates change to achieve freedom and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. As a progressive gender, racial, economic, and social justice organization, the Task Force works toward a society that values and respects the diversity of human expression and identity.
Sponsors:
Stoli Vodka
Mile High Comics
Faces Nightclub Sacramento
The Imperial Council of San Francisco Inc.
The Imperial Sovereign Gem Court of Idaho, Inc.
The Royal Grand Ducal Council of Alameda & Contra Costa Counties Inc.
Imperial Court de San Diego Inc.
The Imperial Court of Washington D.C.
Imperial Sovereign Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire
Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire
Imperial Court of New York
The Imperial Court of Hawaii
Imperial Court of Kentucky
Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco
Emperor 1 of The Americas Terry Siidie
Emperor XVII After Norton Jerry Coletti
National LGBTQ Task Force
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor first 50:
Wanda Alston (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Alston)
Gilbert Baker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Baker_(artist))
James Baldwin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin)
Melvin “Mel” Boozer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Boozer)
Michael Callen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Callen)
Stormé DeLarverie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm%C3%A9_DeLarverie)
Paula L. Ettelbrick (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/nyregion/paula-l-ettelbrick-legal-expert-in-gay-rights-movement-dies-at-56.html)
Leslie Feinberg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Feinberg)
Barbara Gittings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gittings)
Keith Haring (http://www.haring.com/)
E. Lynn Harris (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Lynn_Harris)
Henry “Harry” Hay, Jr. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hay
Diana Hemingway (https://swopusa.org/blog/2017/01/30/diana-hemingway-swop-south-florida/)
Essex Hemphill (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_Hemphill)
Brenda Howard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Howard)
C. Wayne Hussey, Alaska LGBTQ activist, founded the ICOAA court system in Alaska
Marsha P. Johnson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_P._Johnson)
June Jordan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Jordan)
Christine Jorgensen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Jorgensen)
Franklin Edward “Frank” Kameny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Kameny
Alfred Charles Kinsey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Kinsey)
Kiyoshi Kuromiya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyoshi_Kuromiya)Crystal LaBeija (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_LaBeija)
Christopher Lee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee_(activist))
Audre Lorde (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde)Jeanne Sobelson Manford (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Manford)
Dorothy Louise Taliaferro “Del” Martin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Martin_and_Phyllis_Lyon)
Leonard Philip Matlovich (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Matlovich)
Harvey Milk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk)
Jeffrey Montgomery (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Montgomery)
Pat Parker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Parker)
Chuck Renslow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Renslow)
Adrienne Rich (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Rich)
Sylvia Rivera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Rivera)
Craig Rodwell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Rodwell)
Eric Rofes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rofes)
Vito Russo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Russo)
Bayard Rustin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin)
José Julio Sarria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Sarria)
Matthew Wayne Shepard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard)
Randy Shilts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Shilts)
Barbra Casbar Siperstein (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbra_Casbar_Siperstein)
Lou Sullivan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Sullivan)
Dr. Virginia Uribe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Uribe)Bruce Raymond Voeller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Voeller)
Patricia Nell Warren (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Nell_Warren)
Janet Weinberg (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/obituaries/janet-weinberg-dead.html)
Edith “Edie” Windsor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Windsor)
Soni Wolf (https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Soni-Wolf-who-founded-Dykes-on-Bikes-and-fought-12885930.php)
Pedro Zamora (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Zamora)
Contacts:
Nicole Murray Ramirez, International Imperial Court, 619-241-5672
Sarah Massey, National LGBTQ Task Force, 202-639-6308
