issues Geena Rocero, transgender model and advocate; founder of Gender Proud, an advocacy and aid organization that stands up for the right of transgender people globally Craig Rodwell (1940–1993), gay rights activist; founder of first gay & lesbian oriented bookshop in the United States; proposed and organized Annual Reminder; proposed and organized New York's Gay Pride march, then called Christopher Street Liberation day; was a founding member and organizer of Gay People In Christian Science. Abby Rubenfeld (born 1953), gay rights activist and attorney; she successfully challenged the sodomy law in Tennessee and she filed the lawsuit that led to Tennessee's inclusion in the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide Vito Russo (11 July 1946 – 7 November 1990) was an LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet (1981, revised edition 1987). Bayard Rustin (1912–1987), openly gay civil rights activist, principal organizer and co-leader of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.; gay rights activist in later life Ryan Sallans (born 1979), out trans man and public speaker – travels around US educating high school and college students on LGBT issues José Sarria (born 1922 or 1923), first openly gay candidate for political office in the United States, founder of the Imperial Court System Tully Satre (born 1989), blogger who gained fame in March 2006 for challenging then-Senator George Allen Dan Savage (born 1964), columnist of Savage Love and author, founder of the It Gets Better Project. Josh Seefried, United States Air Force first lieutenant and co-director of OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military. Michelangelo Signorile (born 1960), gay American writer and a US and Canadian national talk radio host. Charles Silverstein (1935–2023), gay psychologist who was the founder of the Journal of Homosexuality and key in testifying against the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder. Ruth Simpson (1926–2008), founder of the first lesbian community center, former President of Daughters of Bilitis New York, author of From the Closet to the Courts Joe Solmonese (born 1965), former political fundraiser and past president of the Human Rights Campaign A. Latham Staples (born 1977), founder and Chairman of the Empowering Spirits Foundation, current President & CEO of EXUSMED, Inc. Abby Stein (born 1991) is an American advocate for transgender people of Orthodox Jewish background Lou