14 Historic LGBTQ+ Icons We Didn't Know (And Now We Won't Forget)

Despite what many people think, LGBTQ individuals have existed for all of human history. Due to persecution, many queer icons of their time had to lie low. It’s not like in the 16th century Spain people could keep a record of all the transgender people doing awesome things, like Eleno de Céspedes whose legacy of being an accomplished surgeon only remains because he was tried by the Spanish Inquisition for being a trans man. 

That being said, a lot of queer history is assumed. Historians have to read between the lines since coming out wasn’t an option for a lot of people. Additionally, people didn’t have the same ability to talk about their experiences (and language is always evolving) so we may add labels like “trans” or “intersex” to the modern context that may not be representative of their actual experiences. 

With that being said, here are some LGBTQ trailblazers to add your Pride trivia.