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DID YOU KNOW?
LGBTQ Explorers and Adventurers
There are a number of notable LGBTQ explorers and adventurers who have made significant contributions to history or are doing so today. These contributions consist of world records, historical writings and photographs of their travels and profession, and activism in the fields of anthropology and civil rights.
Exploration demands a certain character. It involves immense risk-taking accompanied by a unique sense of accomplishment and the personal exhilaration resulting from new experiences. Indeed, each of the individuals below has detailed their personal experiences in autobiographies that were avidly consumed by the general public, and often made into award-winning films and documentaries.
For example, do you know:
- the lesbian explorer who was the first woman to sail and ski across Antarctica? She was also a key activist who fought for the State of Minnesota's equal marriage laws?
- the gay geographer who is known as the 'father of modern geography'?
- the gay explorer of Africa and the Middle East who was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire?
- the lesbian woman who disguised herself as a man in order to participate in the early exploration of Hudson's Bay and the Northwest Territories?
- the bisexual explorer who later became a noted anthropologist and author of 23 books? She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1979?
- the Hungarian scientist who discovered the field of studies known as paleontology and paleobiology?
The explorers listed below represent both historical and contemporary individuals. It is notable the number of lesbian explorers on the list – challenging themselves and taking risks and discovering new things are not limited by gender – nor by sexual orientation.
Indeed, many of the historical individuals on the list became explorers specifically because of their sexual orientation. The risk-taking aspect became an outlet for their pent-up anxiety and frustration for having to live a life in secret due to the norms around sexual identity at the time. Exploring became, for many, an escape from their hetero-normative world.
We have identified notable LGBTQ explorers and adventurers from Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Peru, Prussia, Scotland, and the United States. To read more and see the complete list, click HERE
Directory of past 'Did You Know?' Articles See Here
The goal of QueerBio.com is to be the definitive online biographical reference source for the international LGBTQ community. Its database lists over 20,000 contemporary and historical figures who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, two-spirit, or gender fluid (LGBTQ) and includes artists, sports figures, politicians, entertainers, business leaders, academics, activists, and more. The database is widely international in scope and is an ideal source for research and analysis with full search and sort functionality.
The mission is to inspire, educate, and motivate all generations of LGBTQ individuals and others through a collective knowledge of this international community.
Managing Editor: Mark S. Bonham
Search for a Biography
To search for an individual from the database of over 20,000 biographies, simply type the name in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO. Similarly, you can search for a common characteristic such as Country, City, Nobel Prize winners, writers, and so on.
Alternatively, you can view and scroll through the entire list of biographies by viewing the All Biographies section.
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Announcing Our New Documentary Project - Being Different: 101 Global LGBTQ Individuals Who Changed the World
Despite adversity and discrimination, LGBTQ individuals have excelled throughout history. Yet historians and academics have conveniently participated in the heterosexist erasure of these LGBTQ contributions by omitting the LGBTQ status of prominent historical figures from academic and historical documents. Accordingly, there are relatively few comprehensive projects which document and showcase the influence of these LGBTQ efforts.
Being Different: 101 Global LGBTQ Individuals Who Changed The World will be an original documentary outlining the contributions that members of the LGBTQ community have made, individually and collectively, to changing the world.
We are now Crowdfunding to get this project off the ground. We would love to have you as part of our team. You can help us and SUPPORT THIS PROJECT!
SEE THE TRAILER, READ MORE AND CROWDFUND HERE
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Bonham Centre Awards Gala
Annual Awards established in 2007 to recognize individuals or groups that have made a significant contribution to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education. Click here to find out more about the Bonham Centre Awards, past recipients, and present nominees.
Books Available From QueerBio.Com
It's A Fabulous Morning! My Interviews With Fascinating People in the LGBTQ World (Pearse Murray and Mark S. Bonham, 2019) presents fascinating interviews with individuals from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Two Spirit and Ally (LGBTQ) community. Icons such as Lily Tomlin, Chaz Bono, Melissa Etheridge, Mark Tewksbury, John Cameron Mitchell, Kathleen Wynne, Wanda Sykes, Tony Kushner, David Hockney, Edmund White and more provide their personal stories of the community and their lives within it. Compelling insight into events of the community, such as Toronto’s Bath House Raids, is also provided. 262 pages.
A Path to Diversity: LGBTQ Participation in the Working World (Mark S. Bonham, 2017) investigates the current state of employment markets around the world for the LGBTQ community. Included is a discussion of equality in the workplace and why it is important to both the employer and employee, the wage gap, which professions are attractive to LGBTQ individuals and why, and the role of unions and government legislation. A survey of seventy five professions provides a status report for each, and seventy two biographies of influential LGBTQ professionals from around the world is included. 242 pages
Notables: 101 Global LBGTQ People Who Changed the World (Mark S. Bonham, 2015) reveals a group of select global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals whose accomplishments in their profession changed the world in some relevant way. Included are founders of various social movements, innovators in sports, leaders in business and politics, explorers and discoverers, instigators in religious movements, thinkers in philosophy, infamous villains, creators of new academic fields of study, and risk takers in the arts, culture, and entertainment worlds. 212 pages.
Champions: Biographies of Global LGBTQ Pioneers (Mark S. Bonham, 2014) reveals a group of select artists, writers, politicians, lawyers, sports figures, activists, and religious figures from around the world who have helped shape the history of the LGBTQ community. Presented in a convenient notebook format. 114 pages.
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