Brenda Howard

Brenda Howard
Brenda Howard in early 1990s
Born	December 24, 1946
Died	June 28, 2005
Organization	Gay Liberation Front, Gay Activists Alliance, BiNet USA and New York Area Bisexual Network
Political movement	LGBT rights movement
Religion	Reconstructionist Judaism

Brenda Howard (December 24, 1946 – June 28, 2005) was an American bisexual rights activist and sex-positive feminist. Howard was an important figure in the modern LGBT rights movement.

Biography

Brenda Howard was born in the Bronx and grew up in Syosset, Nassau County, New York. She graduated from Syosset High School and from Borough of Manhattan Community College with an AAS degree in Nursing.

In the late 1960s, Howard was active in the movement against the Vietnam War. In 1969 she lived in an urban commune of anti-war activists and draft resisters in downtown Brooklyn New York. Like many other women in the US anti-war movement at the time, Howard became critical of its domination by men, and she soon became involved in the feminist movement as well.

A militant activist who helped plan and participated in LGBT rights actions for over three decades, Howard was an active member of the Gay Liberation Front^[1][2] and for several years chair of the Gay Activists Alliance's Speakers Bureau^[3] in the post-Stonewall era.

She is known as the "Mother of Pride", for her work in coordinating a rally and then the "Christopher Street Liberation Day March" to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Howard also originated the idea for a week-long series of events around Pride Day which became the genesis of the annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world every June.^[4][5] Additionally, Howard along with fellow LGBT Activists Robert A. Martin (aka Donny the Punk) and L. Craig Schoonmaker are credited with popularizing the word "Pride" to describe these festivities.^[6]

A fixture in New York City's LGBT Community Howard was active in the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights which helped guide New York City's LGBT rights law through the City Council in 1986.

In 1987 Howard helped found the New York Area Bisexual Network to help co-ordinate services to the region's growing Bisexual community. She was also an active member of the early bisexual political activist group BiPAC, a Regional Organizer for BiNet USA, a co-facilitator of the Bisexual S/M Discussion Group and a founder of the nation’s first Alcoholics Anonymous chapter for bisexuals.

On a national level, Howard’s activism included work on the 1993 "March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian and Bi Rights and Liberation" where she was female co-chair of the leather contingent and "Stonewall 25" in 1994.

Quotations

The next time someone asks you why LGBT Pride marches exist or why Gay Pride Month is June tell them "A bisexual woman named Brenda Howard thought it should be."

—Tom Limoncelli, in BiSquish, July 27, 2005^[7]

Only a handful of activists in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement were there at Stonewall and never stopped.

—Andy Humm describing Brenda Howard in Gay City News August 11–17, 2005

The Brenda Howard Award

In 2005 the Queens Chapter of PFLAG announced the creation of the "Brenda Howard Award".^[8] This is the first time a major American LGBT organization has named an award after an out bisexual member of the LGBT Community.

This award to be given yearly, recognizes an individual or organization whose work on behalf of the LGBT Community best exemplifies the vision, principals and community service exemplified by the late Brenda Howard and who serves as a positive and visible role model for the Bisexual Community.

See also

• Sylvia Rivera
• Marsha P. Johnson
• Stephen Donaldson (aka Donny the Punk)
• Gay pride
• Gay Activists Alliance
• Socialism and LGBT rights
• New York Area Bisexual Network

References

1. ^ "Gay Liberation Front: In Memorium". Home page. N. A. Diaman. http://www.angelfire.com/on2/glf2000/index.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
2. ^ Teal, Donn (1971). The gay militants. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0812813731. 
3. ^ Kennedy, Joe. "Summer of 77". http://www.gaynewsandviews.com/. 
4. ^ Channel 13/WNET Out! 2007: Women In the Movement
5. ^ The Gay Pride Issue: Picking Apart The Origin of Pride^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Dynes, Wayne R. Pride (trope), Homolexis
7. ^ In Memoriam, Brenda Howard
8. ^ The PFLAG Queens Chapter Names New Award for Bisexual Activist Brenda Howard

External links

• Brenda Howard's Website
• LJ community to celebrate & continue Brenda Howard's activism
• New York Area Bisexual Network (NYABN)
• In Memoriam, Brenda Howard
• Brenda Howard, Bisexual Activist, Dies (Gay City News)
• Brenda Howard, A Long History of Activism (Gay City News)^{[dead link]}
• pioneering activist for gays and bisexuals (Advocate)^{[dead link]}

Persondata
Name	Howard, Brenda
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 24, 1946
Place of birth
Date of death	June 28, 2005
Place of death