IPR is featuring research and some of the many LGBTQ+ pioneers who have impacted the world today in celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Brenda Howard was born on Dec. 24, 1946, in the Bronx, New York. She became an activist during the Vietnam War protests in the 1960s. Influenced by the emerging feminist movement, she began advocating for women’s rights and soon extended her activism to include gay rights.
Howard organized a rally and march to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which became the foundation of the annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations worldwide, including the annual New York City Pride March. Howard, along with Robert A. Martin and L. Craig Schoonmaker, is credited with popularizing the term “Pride” to describe these festivities. She played such a prominent role in these Pride celebrations that she was deemed the “Mother of Pride.”
Howard made a mark on the New York City LGBTQ+ community, in particular. She helped guide the city’s LGBTQ+ rights law through the City Council in 1986. Howard also co-founded the New York Area Bisexual Network and was actively involved in various bisexual activism groups.
She continued her activism by participating in the 1993 March on Washington and by taking part in rallies for people living with HIV/AIDS. She also founded the first Alcoholics Anonymous chapter specifically for bisexuals and lobbied for bisexual representation in all areas.
Howard passed away on June 28, 2005. The Brenda Howard Award was created in her memory and is awarded every year to advocates for the bisexual community.
References:
Brenda Howard Nominee – The Legacy Project
Meet “The Mother of Pride,” The Pioneering Bisexual Activist Brenda Howard – them
