1. Magnus Hirschfeld
Without the work of Hirschfeld, all of today’s continuing evolutions of LGBTQ+ identities could not have happened. Born in German Pomerania (now Poland), he began his pioneering work at the end of the 19th century. Though trained and working as a physician, Hirschfeld’s work on sexuality and sexual identity ultimately brought (and continues to influence) innovation in areas outside of medicine, such as the social sciences. His tireless educative work on “homosexual rights” had to navigate the very real threat of Nazism: he was both gay and Jewish and the Nazis also loathed the femiminist movements to which he vociferously aligned himself.
2. Lynn Conway
Lynn’s groundbreaking work as a computer scientist, electrical engineer and inventor still shapes our daily lives. Merely one of her pioneering achievements, her VLSI microchip design innovation was the catalyst for what we know today as “digital start-up culture”. She experienced prejudice and abuse when she vocalised her desire to transition from male to female. Lynn overcame many of the barriers put in her path and, in addition to revolutionsing computer science until (and even after) her retirement, also became a noted activist on transgender issues.