EDGE Editors Honor Our LGBT Heroes

In honor of Pride Month, EDGE editors were asked to profile their favorite unsung heroes of the LGBT community.

From a transgender activist and author who unceremoniously led the wave against bullying and teen suicide to a recently deceased butch lesbian referred to as the "Rosa Parks" of the modern gay rights movement, to a celebrated author, to a ground-breaking recording artist and world traveler and activist, each letter of the LGBT spectrum is represented.

Kate Bornstein: The Role-Less Role Model

I met author, performance artist and trans activist Kate Bornstein in 2000, when she and her partner, Barb, were living in the apartment next to mine. I had no idea who she was. To me at the time, she was that cool neighbor who lent me books and bummed the occasional cigarette (we've both since quit).

A man, woman, father, husband, wife, grandmother, top, bottom -- you name it, at one time or another, Kate's been it. A marketing research analyst could go insane trying to find which M, F, L, G, B, T, Q, I or A square to check to describe Bornstein, whose self-identity and indomitable spirit is too huge to be labeled or contained in any box. "I transgress gender," she writes. "You could call me transgressively gendered. You could call me transgender. Me, I call myself a traveler."

It is through her experience, living many roles and identities but refusing to be pigeonholed into one, that Bornstein embodies a wisdom and sensitivity that is unmatched. In 2006, four years before Dan Savage ever uttered "It gets better," Bornstein imparted this wisdom in the book "Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws" to help teens and outcasts combat bullying and discover self-worth. Kate Bornstein can relate to everyone because Kate has been everyone. And there is no one like her.

Kate is currently battling lung cancer, anyone interested in helping offset the costs associated with her treatment can donate here. Please give. The world needs Kate Bornstein.

Bobby McGuire, Managing Editor & Associate Publisher

Ethan Mordden: The Storyteller

I first began reading Ethan Mordden in the late 1980s. My boyfriend had a copy of "I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore," his first series of short stories about gay life in New York and Fire Island. The stories follow the life of Mordden's fictional alter ego, Bud, and his relationships. What I loved most about them were their portrait of a world apart -- gay life just prior to and during the health crisis in the city that many gay men came to see as Oz. The tales continued through what I called the "Buddies" cycle, following Bud's life through to 2005 with the fifth volume, "How's Your Romance," giving Mordden the opportunity to echo a tumultuous time in gay life with wit, style and humanity.

He has written volumes on the Hollywood musical, the studio system, the great female movie stars -- but it has been Broadway and the musical where he excels. By devoting a volume to each decade, he offers one of the most comprehensive and knowledgeable accounts of the growth of the American musical yet written. The series is a must-have for lovers of Broadway; and though you might not agree with everything he writes, his ability to tell the story of this evolving art form is unparalleled.

There isn't a day that I don't refer to one of his volumes, if only to find out more about a title ("The Cat and the Fiddle"), or a personality (Michael Kidd), or an entire musical genre (the operetta). Ethan Mordden captures what can best be called a "gay sensibility" in both his subjects and his style. I can't think of anyone in the community I admire more.

Robert Nesti, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Storm DeLarverie: The Revolutionary

A proud butch dyke, Storm DeLarverie was often referred to as the "Rosa Parks" of the LGBT rights movement for her fierce determination to stand up for the rights of our community and for the way she took care of people. She is credited for having thrown one of the first punches during the Stonewall Uprising in June 1969, which spawned the modern gay rights movement.

"It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience -- it wasn't no damn riot," declared DeLarverie at a Stonewall Veterans Association talk.

DeLarverie was a black lesbian who often passed for a black man, even though she could have easily passed for a white woman. During the '50s and '60s she toured as the only black drag king of the Jewel Box Revue, the country's first racially integrated female impersonation show.

DeLarverie worked as a bouncer at New York City clubs in the '80s and '90s but preferred to think of it as looking after her "babies" in the community, and making sure they were all safe. She brought this level of care to her volunteer work with those dying of AIDS at St. Luke's Hospital in the '80s.

In her golden years, DeLarverie had to leave her longtime home in the Chelsea Hotel, and under the legal guardianship of Lisa Cannistraci, her friend and owner of Henrietta Hudson, relocated to a nursing home in Brooklyn.

DeLarverie passed away peacefully in her sleep during the Memorial Day weekend, at 94 years old. As the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots approach, take a moment to give thanks to this groundbreaking pioneer for our very existence. May her memory live on.

Winnie McCroy, Women, Health & HIV Editor

Devont "Dev" Hynes (aka Blood Orange): The Troubadour

While pop stars like Lady Gaga, Macklemore, Katy Perry and several others continue to pander to the LGBTQ community with one-dimensional songs of "empowerment" and unoriginal dance beats, British songwriter Devont "Dev" Hynes (aka Blood Orange)'s sophomore 2013 album "Cupid Deluxe" explores the trials and tribulations of LGBTQ youth in a nuanced, poignant and inclusive way over a soulful, grooving soundscape containing airy sax solos, funky bass riffs and sharp guitar plinks.

Hynes, who does not identify as gay but not as straight either, grew up in East London with friends who were out and proud. He was bullied and beaten, however, for the way he dressed and over his perceived sexuality and gender identity. He became obsessed with New York City and ballroom culture after watching the seminal documentary "Paris Is Burning;" his 2011 album "Coastal Grooves" was even dedicated to Octavia St. Laurent, and it's not uncommon to see Hynes slickly vogueing in his music videos.

"Cupid Deluxe" does not have any sprawling gay anthems like "Born This Way" or "Same Love," but its heart-wrenching centerpiece, "Uncle ACE," is named after the New York City subway lines than many of the city's LGBT homeless youth call home. Hynes' music covers a vast amount LGBTQ issues, including prostitution and HIV, on 11 tracks; it's an honest and respectful depiction of a marginalized group painted in a way pop music has had trouble conveying. "Cupid Deluxe" is important because when it falls into the hands of one of the people Hynes sings about, they, for maybe the first time ever, may feel like music is made for them, instead of a sales pitch.

Jason St. Amand, National News Editor

Charlie Rounds: The Emissary

I first met Charlie Rounds at a welcome reception in Prague as I was about to embark on the inaugural cruise for Brand g Vacations, an LGBT tour operating company that he helped found. No stranger to the gay travel market, he worked at RSVP Vacations from 1988 to 2010, but it is his unwavering passion for global civil and social rights that warrants the title of an LGBT hero. I think he'll probably give a whimsical eye-roll at the bestowment, but it is well deserved.

Charlie is currently working on creating the first ever National LGBT Day of Giving and has previously served on the boards for Amnesty International's Executive Directors Leadership Council, Minnesota AIDS Project and the Civil Marriage Collaborative, among others. He also serves as president of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) Foundation, which expands educational opportunities for students in LGBT tourism, offers assistance for emerging LGBT destinations and explores the issues and challenges related to LGBT global travel.

During that Danube River cruise, Charlie arranged for a meeting in Bratislava between guests and the local office of the Open Society Foundation, where we had an opportunity to interact with members of the local LGBT community. It was a transformational experience -- one that reminded me of the freedoms we have in the U.S. "As we demand that people respect us, we respect them. We are setting the stage for the travel industry to integrate with LGBT people from around the world," Charlie said on our last night on board. "We had a dream that we could change the landscape of gay travel. You are our allies. Our friends. Our family. And this is only the beginning."

Matthew Wexler, National Style & Travel Editor