Mississippi

Playwright

b. August 21, 1935
d. March 7, 2020

“I had no agenda in writing this play except expressing myself.”

Mart Crowley was a gay American playwright famous for “The Boys in the Band” (1968), a groundbreaking play that shocked mainstream audiences with its open, unapologetic portrayal of gay life.

The son of an alcoholic father and a drug-abusing mother, Edward Martino “Mart” Crowley was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He attended an all-boys Roman Catholic high school and studied theater at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1957 and moved to New York City.

In New York, Crowley worked as a personal assistant for the film director Elia Kazan. He later worked for the actress Natalie Wood, who encouraged Crowley to write.

Inspired by a controversial article titled “Homosexual Drama And Its Disguises” by Stanley Kauffman, a theater critic for The New York Times, Crowley penned his first play, “The Boys in the Band.” About the gathering of gay men for a birthday party, it premiered Off Broadway more than a year before the Stonewall riots, at a time when homosexuality was marginalized and vilified.

“The Boys in the Band” ran for more than two years and a thousand performances, attracting both gay and straight theatergoers. Patrons included prominent figures such as former First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy and New York City Mayor John Lindsay. The play earned praise for its insight and honesty. A film adaptation was released in 1970. As the organized gay rights movement gained momentum, however, “The Boys in the Band” drew criticism for its reinforcement of “unflattering” gay stereotypes.

Crowley wrote and produced five additional plays, including “The Men From the Boys” (2002), a sequel to “The Boys in the Band.” He wrote for television, including the popular ABC mystery series “Hart to Hart,” which he produced. Crowley also appeared in several documentaries.

In 2009 Crowley won a Lambda Literary Award for his collected plays. The same year, in celebration of its 50th anniversary, “The Boys in the Band” was restaged on Broadway. It earned Crowley a 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival. In 2020 Netflix released a cinematic adaptation of the work with many of the same Broadway actors.

Crowley died in New York from complications of heart surgery.

Pop Singer

b. May 4, 1979

“The constant fear of people discovering who you really were and the inevitable shame that would fall upon you and your family dictated how you lived your life every day.”

Lance Bass is an American singer who rose to fame as a member of the pop group NSYNC, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. NSYNC produced two Billboard No. 1 albums, “No Strings Attached” (2000) and “Celebrity” (2001), before splitting up. Bass came out as gay in a People magazine cover story in July 2006.

Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Bass was raised Southern Baptist. He sang in the church choir and in local and state performance groups. He joined NSYNC at age 16 and toured Europe with the group from 1995 to 1997. RCA Records signed the band in 1998, launching their career in the United States.

NSYNC performed five national and international concert tours and sold over 70 million records. “No Strings Attached,” the group’s second album, was the fastest-selling record in history with sales of 1.1 million copies on the day of its release. Two of the band’s best-performing singles, the No. 1 hits “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “Bye Bye Bye” appear on the album. NSYNC received eight Grammy Award nominations between 2000 and 2003, including the 2001 nomination of “Bye Bye Bye” for Record of the Year.

Bass also enjoyed a career in film, television and radio. In 2001 he guest starred on the television drama “7th Heaven.” The same year, he played the lead in the romantic comedy film “On the Line.” In 2005 Bass finished in third place on the seventh season of the television series “Dancing With the Stars.” From 2012 to 2016, he hosted “Dirty Pop with Lance Bass,” a daily radio show on Sirius XM featuring LGBT-related topics.

In addition to his entertainment endeavors, Bass is a space exploration advocate. From 2003 to 2005, he served as World Space Week’s Youth Spokesman, traveling to high schools to encourage students to explore science and space-related careers. Since 2004 he has served on the National Space Society’s board of governors.

In 2014 Bass married Ben Thigpen, a New York City hairstylist, in a ceremony on the E! channel. The broadcast made them the first same-sex couple to wed on an American television network.

The Human Rights Campaign honored Bass with its Visibility Award in October 2006. His autobiography, “Out of Sync,” debuted on the New York Times best-seller list upon its release in October 2007. NSYNC received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2018.

Author

b. February 18, 1934
d. November 17, 1992

"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." 

A self-proclaimed "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," Audre Lorde dedicated her life to combating social injustice. She helped found Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the world's first publishing company run by women of color.

Lorde was the third daughter of immigrant parents from Grenada. She began writing poetry at age twelve and published her first poem in Seventeen magazine at age fifteen. Lorde was strongly influenced by her West Indian heritage, which she explored in her autobiography, "Zami: A New Spelling of My Name."

In 1954, Lorde attended the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where she solidified her identity as both a poet and a lesbian. She entered the Greenwich Village gay scene after her return to New York in 1955.

She continued her studies, receiving a bachelor's degree from Hunter College in 1959 and a master's degree in Library Science from Columbia University in 1961.

Lorde worked as a librarian while continuing to write and publish poetry. In 1962, she married Edwin Rollins. The couple had two children before their marriage dissolved. Much of Lorde's poetry written during these years explores themes of motherhood and love's impermanence.

In 1968, Lorde received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and published her first volume of poetry, "The First Cities" as a poet-in-residence at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. She began a romantic relationship with Frances Clayton that same year that would last until Lorde's death in 1992.

Rich with introspection, Lorde's work contains extensive sociopolitical commentary. As a lesbian woman of color Lorde asserted, "I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and to share not just my triumphs, not just the things that felt good, but the pain, the intense, often unmitigating pain."

Lorde explored her long battle with cancer in her last work, "The Cancer Journals" (1980). In an African naming ceremony shortly before her death, Lorde took the name Gamba Adisa: "Warrior: She Who Makes Her Meaning Known."

Youth Activist

b. 1992

“Stand up like I did. It was hard but it was worth it.”

Constance McMillen became a poster child for LGBT rights after asking permission to bring her girlfriend to the prom. When her school responded by cancelling the prom, McMillen took legal action.

As a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi, McMillen challenged the prom rules forbidding same-sex couples from attending and girls from wearing tuxedos. When the school cancelled the prom, students responded by harassing McMillen.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit requesting that the court order the school to hold an inclusive prom. The case was settled when a U.S. District Court ruled that McMillen’s First Amendment rights had been violated. The Itawamba County School District consented to a judgment in which it paid McMillen $35,000 and $81,000 in attorneys’ fees.

After the settlement, the school held a prom. Only McMillen and seven learning disabled students attended. Parents organized a separate prom that all other students attended, but to which McMillen was not invited.

The school district agreed to implement policies that would prevent future discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for extracurricular and educational activities. This was groundbreaking for a Mississippi school district.

McMillen’s story received national attention. Glamour magazine named her Woman of the Year Award in 2010, and she appeared on national television shows including “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” where she received a $30,000 scholarship.

She was invited to the White House and served as Grand Marshal of the New York Gay Pride Parade.

McMillen transferred to a school in Jackson, Mississippi, and graduated in 2011. She enrolled at Northeast Mississippi Community College to study psychology.