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Lea Hopkins (born 1944) [1] is an American LGBT rights activist and poet from Missouri, best known for founding Kansas City's pride parade.

Early life

Hopkins grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. [2] She realized she was gay at age 13. [2] [3] In 1962, she graduated from Sumner High School. [1]

Career

Hopkins was the first Black Playboy Bunny in Kansas City, and the fourth overall in the country. [2] [3] She later became a professional model with the Barbizon Agency, and helped her coworkers negotiate for higher pay. [2]

Hopkins has published several books of poetry, and has written for The Kansas City Star. [2] [4]

Activism

Hopkins moved to New York City in the 1970s, and became involved with the gay liberation movement there. [2] She returned to Kansas City in 1974. [2] Shortly afterward, she joined the city's chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church. [2] She also went on to co-found Kansas City's Christopher Street organization and the Gay Injustices Fund. [1]

In 1977, Hopkins organized Kansas City's first pride parade, which numbered about 25-30 people. [2] [5] A few weeks later, in July 1977, she organized a protest against Anita Bryant, who was speaking at a bookstore in the city. [2] [3]

In April 1980 she was featured in Essence. [6] In August 1980, she was a featured speaker at the Southeastern Conference of Lesbians and Gay Men in Memphis, Tennessee. [7] [8] She was again a speaker at the conference in June 1986 in New Orleans. [9]

In subsequent years, Hopkins worked for GLAAD and was an advisory board member of the Lesbian and Gay Community Centre in the neighborhood of Westport. [10] [11]

In the 1990s, Hopkins served as a spokeswoman for GLAAD on "Out There", a public access program by and about queer people from Kansas City. [10]

In 2022, Hopkins was named Grand Marshal of that year's Kansas City Pride parade. [2]

Personal life

Hopkins had one son, Jason (died 1997), whom she conceived with a friend's help. [2]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hopkins, Lea". UMKC Libraries. November 19, 2017. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Martin, Mackenzie; Hogan, Suzanne (2023-06-08). "Meet Lea Hopkins, the bold, Black lesbian behind Kansas City's very first Pride parade". KCUR. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  3. ^ a b c Abundis, Megan (2022-06-11). "Kansas City woman who organized 1st Pride Parade reflects on progress". KSHB 41 Kansas City News. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  4. ^ Smith, Barbara, ed. (2000). Home girls: a black feminist anthology (Reprinted ed.). New Brunswick New Jersey London: Rutgers University Press. p. 91. ISBN  978-0-8135-2753-6.
  5. ^ "Lea Hopkins helped organize Kansas City's first Pride parade". The Kansas City Star. June 24, 2022. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  6. ^ Roberts, J.R. (1980). "Black Lesbian Literature/Black Lesbian Lives: Materials for Women's Studies". The Radical Teacher (17): 11–17. ISSN  0191-4847. JSTOR  20709273.
  7. ^ Lady, Chicken (1980). "chicken lady". Off Our Backs. 10 (6): 18. ISSN  0030-0071. JSTOR  25793441.
  8. ^ Buring, Daneel (1997). Lesbian and Gay Memphis: building communities behind the Magnolia Curtain. Garland studies in American popular history and culture. New York: Garland Pub. p. 213. ISBN  978-0-8153-2990-9.
  9. ^ Lady, Chicken (1986). "chicken lady". Off Our Backs. 16 (6): 27–28. ISSN  0030-0071. JSTOR  25795096.
  10. ^ a b Montalvo, Nasir (2022-12-09). "Kansas City's Gay & Lesbian Variety Show from the 90's". Kansas City Defender. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  11. ^ Diuguid, Lewis (2007). Discovering the Real America: Toward a More Perfect Union. Universal Publishers. p. 322. ISBN  9781599424217.
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