‘The fight is not over': National LGBTQ Wall of Honor in NYC to add 5 new inductees

The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor will officially welcome five additional individuals who have had a positive and long-lasting impact on the LGBTQ+ movement through advocacy, politics, the arts and more.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place Thursday night at the historic Stonewall Inn bar on Christopher Street in Lower Manhattan.

"These extraordinary leaders remind us that true progress is born from radicalness, resistance, courage, and risk-taking," Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Kierra Johnson said in a statement.

The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor opened in 2019 and has since highlighted members of the community and their contributions. This year's honorees are ABilly S. Jones-Hennin, Larry Baza, David Mixner, Sakia Gunn, and Cecilia Gentili.

Mixner, a New Jersey native was the first openly gay man to hold a public-facing role in a presidential campaign for former President Bill Clinton, where he served as a presidential adviser. He is well known for opposing Clinton's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy, which barred gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. He was arrested in a demonstration against this policy, which led to a split from Clinton. Mixner also played a key role opposing a 1978 California ballot measure which would have prohibited gay men and lesbians from teaching in the state’s public schools and organizing against the Vietnam War. He died of COVID-19 in March.

Gunn, was murdered in 2003 when she was just 15-year-old in what has been deemed a hate crime in Newark. Her death contributed to social change and justice in New Jersey's largest city, leading to the creation of an LGBT advisory council to the mayor, the Newark Pride Alliance, and the renaming of a street in her honor.

Gentili was born in Argentina but lived most of her life in New York City, where she advocated for the rights of transgender people, especially migrants and sex workers. She co-founded a free clinic for sex workers at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and co-founded DecrimNY, which decriminalized sex work in New York. She was found dead of a fentanyl overdose in February. In April, it was announced that two men were charged with her death for selling her heroin laced with fentanyl.

ABilly S. Jones-Hennin was an activist in Washington D.C. He is known as the founder of the National Coalition of Black Gays and was the logistics coordinator for the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979. In the 1980s, Henin was involved in educating the public about HIV/AIDS, helping develop healthcare programs. In the 1990s he began his disability activism bringing to light homophobia in healthcare. He died of Parkinson's disease in January.

Baza was born in California and was an advocate for the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities, focusing on the inclusion of the community in the arts. Baza served as chair of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture before being appointed to the California Arts Council in 2016. Baza also became one of the first people of color to lead the Pride Committee. He died of COVID-19 in 2021.

The months-long process to choose the honorees for the Wall of Honor includes focusing on individuals who are lesser known but had a lasting impact on the community.

For members and activists of the LGBTQ community, the inclusion of this year's honorees signifies the continuous fight for visibility and support for the community.

"I always say that the fight is not over. We are going to do everything we can to vindicate the rights of our community and to gain visibility." said Liaam Winslet, who directs TRANSgrediendo, a non-profit organization focusing on the rights of Latine transgender immigrants and sex workers. TRANSgrediendo was founded by immigrant and transgender activist Lorena Borjas and supported by Gentili.

Communications Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Cathy Renna said that the monument is important, especially in a political climate where the erasure of LGBTQ+ history is concerning.

"It's particularly powerful now in the current political climate where curricula are being scrubbed of anything related to critical race theory, sex education, or LGBTQ history," Renna told NBC New York. "To have this monument here in a place where people come from literally all over the world is really important."

Meanwhile, LGBTQ Wall of Honor founder and City/County Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez said in a statement that knowing one's history is important.

"As a Latino and LGBTQ activist for over 55 years, I strongly believe more than ever that any community, indeed any civil rights movement, that doesn’t know where it came from and whose shoulders it stands on doesn’t really know where it’s going," Ramirez said.