Lea Hopkins

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. "Hopkins, Lea". UMKC Libraries. November 19, 2017. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  2. 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. 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. 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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