2024 Icons

  1. Ron Ansin
  2. Laphonza Butler
  3. Maki Carrousel
  4. Desmond Child
  5. Margaret Chung
  6. Christian Cooper
  7. River Gallo
  8. Robert Garcia
  9. Rob Halford
  10. Jeanne Hoff
  11. Susan Love
  12. George Michael
  13. Kevin Naff
  14. Fabian Nelson
  15. Yannick Nézet-Séguin
  16. Robyn Ochs
  17. Pat Parker
  18. Mark Pocan
  19. Herb Ritts
  20. Beth Robinson
  21. Richard Schneider
  22. Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber
  23. Jackie Shane
  24. Ari Shapiro
  25. Sam Smith
  26. William Dorsey Swann
  27. Peter Tatchell
  28. Diana Taurasi
  29. Colton Underwood
  30. Luther Vandross
  31. Joel Wachs

Icon Selection Co-chairs

Jim Obergefell

Jim ObergefellJim Obergefell was the plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges. The 2015 decision legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. The federal government recognized same-sex marriage in 2013 when it struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the United States v. Windsor. The Obergefell case tackled state legality. Obergefell and his partner, John, flew from Ohio to Maryland to marry legally as John was dying from ALS. A few months later, Obergefell sued to have his name listed as the surviving spouse on his partner’s death certificate. Obergefell and Pulitzer Prize winner Debbie Cenziper are the co-authors of "Love Wins."

 

Sharon Ullman

Sharon UllmanSharon Ullman is a professor of history at Bryn Mawr College. She specializes in 20th-century America with an emphasis on popular culture, media, and gender. She is the author of "Sex Seen: The Emergence of Modern Sexuality in America and Sexual Borderlands: Constructing an American Sexual Past" (with Kathleen Kennedy). Her current research project, "Brainwashing: The Anxious Mind of Cold War America," is under contract with NYU Press. Her courses include topics such as the history of sexuality, the culture of the cold war, and film and national identity.