2026 Icons

  1. Giorgio Armani
  2. Gabriel Attal
  3. Alvin Balltrop
  4. Frieda Belinfante
  5. Michael Bennett
  6. Rachel Crandall-Crocker
  7. Barry Diller
  8. Ernestine Eckstein
  9. Laïla El-Métoui
  10. Edward Enninful
  11. Andrea Gibson
  12. Marsden Hartley
  13. Muhsin Hendricks
  14. Patricia Highsmith
  15. Robert Joffrey
  16. Julie Johnson
  17. Lani Ka’ahumanu
  18. King James I
  19. Calvin Klein
  20. Abraham Lincoln
  21. Chris Pappas
  22. Pauline Park
  23. Paul Rudolph
  24. Amber Ruffin
  25. St. Vincent
  26. Jessica Stern
  27. Charles Sumner
  28. Jewel Thais-Williams
  29. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
  30. Alok Vaid-Menon
  31. Edmund White

Lilli Vincenz
2011 Icon



Gay Pioneer          

b. September 26, 1937

“We were laying the groundwork for what we hoped would be later activism that would give homosexuals equal rights.”

Lilli Vincenz is a pioneering gay rights activist. In 1965, she was the only lesbian to participate in the first White House picket. From 1965 to 1969, Vincenz demonstrated each Fourth of July in front of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. These protests, called Annual Reminders, launched the gay and lesbian civil rights movement.

Vincenz was born in Hamburg, Germany, and grew up during World War II. Her father died when she was 2 years old. In 1949, after her mother married an American, the family moved to the United States.  

In 1959, Vincenz earned bachelor’s degrees in French and German from Douglas College. The following year, she received a master’s degree in English from Columbia University.

After college, Vincenz enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps and worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After serving nine months, she was outed by her roommate and was discharged for being gay.

In 1963, Vincenz joined the Mattachine Society of Washington (MSW). She was in the MSW delegation that held the first meeting with the Civil Service Commission to discuss discriminatory policies toward gays and lesbians.

In 1971, Vincenz helped launch the Frank Kameny for Congress campaign. This marked the first time an openly gay person ran for public office in the United States.

Vincenz filmed two important gay rights demonstrations: the 1968 Annual Reminder in Philadelphia and the first anniversary of Stonewall, known as the first New York Pride Parade.

From 1971 to 1979, Vincenz hosted a monthly Gay Women’s Open House in Washington to provide a safe setting for socializing and discussing common concerns.  

In 1990, Vincenz earned a Ph.D. in human development from the University of Maryland. Vincenz has written for numerous publications and has appeared on television and in film.

She resides in Arlington, Virginia, with her partner, Nancy Ruth Davis.