2024 National LGBTQ Wall of Honor
at the Historic Stonewall Inn
The International Imperial Court System and the National LGBTQ Task Force are honoring seven legends of the LGBTQ movement as 2024 National LGBTQ Wall of Honor inductees at the historic Stonewall Inn. The ceremony will occur on June 27 at 6:00 PM ET at 53 Christopher Street, New York, NY.
2024 Stonewall Wall of Honor
CECILIA GENTILI
Cecilia Gentili was an Argentine American advocate for the rights of transgender people and sex workers. Born in Argentina, she moved to New York City. She held leadership positions at the LGBTQ HIV/AIDS care nonprofits GMHC and APICHA, co-founded a free clinic for sex workers at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, co-founded DecrimNY, an organization which successfully decriminalized sex work in New York and repealed the "Walking while trans law", and founded Trans Equity Consulting. Gentili also filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's removal of non-discrimination protections for gender identity in the Affordable Care Act.
DAVID MIXNER
David Benjamin Mixner was an political activist and author. He was best known for his work in anti-war and gay rights advocacy. Mixner played a key role in defeating Proposition 6 in California, which sought to ban gays and lesbians from being schoolteachers. He also organized the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in 1969, drawing millions of protesters nationwide. Mixner later became involved in Bill Clinton's presidential campaigns but criticized Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which led to a rift between them. Mixner continued his activism throughout his life, focusing on issues like nuclear disarmament, AIDS awareness, and LGBT rights. He was honored for his activism and writing, including receiving an honorary doctorate from Washington College in 2015.
SAKIA GUNN
Sakia Gunn was a 15-year-old African American lesbian who was murdered in 2003 in what has been deemed a hate crime in Newark, NJ. In 2008 a documentary was released about Gunn's murder, titled "Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project." Gunn's death sparked outrage from the city's gay and lesbian community. The community rallied the mayor's office, requesting that police officers to patrol the Newark Penn Station/ Broad Street corridor 24-hours a day, the creation of an LGBT advisory council to the mayor, and that the school board be held accountable for the lack of concern and compassion when dealing with students at Westside High School (which Gunn attended) immediately following the murder. The Newark Pride Alliance, an LGBT advocacy group, was founded in the wake of Gunn's murder.
ABILLY S. JONES-HENNIN
ABilly S. Jones-Hennin was an LGBT rights activist based in Washington, D.C. Beginning in the late 1970s, Jones-Hennin was active in African-American LGBT organizing, helping to found a number of groups, and acted as the logistics coordinator for the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979. In the 1980s, he was involved with HIV/AIDS education and helped to develop healthcare programs with the Whitman-Walker Clinic. From the 1990s until his death, Jones-Hennin became involved with disability activism, speaking specifically about homophobia in healthcare settings.
LARRY BAZA
Larry Baza was a lifelong advocate of the arts and served as chair of San Diego’s Commission for arts and culture, before being appointed to the California Arts Council in 2016. He also served on countless panels, boards and commissions, including the National Endowment for the Arts, Centro Cultural de la Raza, Chicano Federation of San Diego County, National Association of Latino Arts and culture, San Diego Community Foundation, Diversionary Theatre and most recently a trustee at the Museum of Us in Balboa Park. But his zest for advocacy wasn’t focused solely on the arts, he was known as a champion for the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities, fighting for issues of equality and social justice. Larry joined the San Diego Pride Committee in 1989, and became co-chair along with Vertez Burks in 1992, marking the first time Pride was headed by two people of color. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Larry said “… We can’t forget what we are not a part of, what we’ve no access to and how much further we have yet to go.”
The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice, and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we have made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. Those barriers must go.
The International Imperial Court System is the oldest LGBTQ service organization in the world, established in 1965 by Latino World War II veteran Jose Julio Sarria who in 1961 became the first openly gay candidate for public office. There are now over 65 Imperial Court Chapters in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Court led the successful national campaigns for the Harvey Milk U.S. postage stamp in 2014 and the U.S. Navy Ship Harvey Milk.
