Three LGBTQ folks you should know: Baldwin, Roosevelt, and that LGBTQ person in your life
(first in a series!) Today we feature James Baldwin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and that LGBTQ person in your life.
James Baldwin (1924-1987)
“Of gay writer James Baldwin, author Michael Ondaatje famously said, ‘If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one.’ Similar praise for the writer of seminal books such a Notes of a Native Son, Giovanni's Room, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Another Country abounds.
“His influence endures. In a 2013 essay titled ‘Gay Will Never Be the New Black: What James Baldwin Taught Me About My White Privilege,’ seminary student and writer Todd Clayton explained how Baldwin incomparably illuminated the experience of being both gay and black in America. Baldwin's insights on race and sexuality have also been widely quoted within the Black Lives Matter movement.” (Source: https://www.advocate.com/world/2016/7/08/20-lgbt-people-who-changed-world#media-gallery-media-3)
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Eleanor Roosevelt (1844 - 1962)
“Best known for being the longest-serving First Lady alongside her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor’s legacy extends far beyond her time in the White House. Though most every aspect of Eleanor’s life was public, there was a side that most of the public was unaware of.
“Eleanor first met her lifelong friend — and lover — Lorena Hickok in 1928 when Hickok was working with the Associated Press. Although their duties soon forced them to live in different cities, their relationship is documented in over 3,500 handwritten letters to each other. There has been some debate between scholars about the validity of these letters and the intimate relationship between these two women, but as more letters become known, it is increasingly difficult to think that this was what biographer Doris Fabra called an ‘unusually belated schoolgirl crush’.” (Source: https://bi.org/en/articles/famous-bis-eleanor-roosevelt)
That LGBTQ Person in Your Life
Do something — anything — to get to know them better. Whether or not they become famous like Baldwin and Roosevelt, they’re important and interesting and worth knowing.
by Marci McPhee