Remembering can be an act of resistance

Alan Turing changed the course of history through his work during the Second World War and laid the foundations for modern computing. Yet in 1952 he was prosecuted for being a gay man under laws that criminalised same-sex relationships in Britain. Decades later, in 2017, “Turing’s Law” posthumously pardoned tens of thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted under those historical laws.

Oscar Wilde’s literary brilliance reshaped English literature, yet he too was imprisoned because of his sexuality. His life remains one of history’s clearest examples of the human cost of discrimination. Wilde understood his identity through the language and traditions available to him, drawing on classical ideas of love and beauty, and his experiences profoundly influenced works including The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Marielle Franco was a Black, bisexual feminist, human rights defender and elected councillor in Rio de Janeiro. Throughout her life, she championed the rights of marginalised communities, challenged discrimination and held those in power to account. In 2018, she was assassinated after leaving an event focused on the political empowerment of Black women—a killing widely understood as an attack not only on one individual, but on the values she represented.

Franco’s life is a reminder that, in many parts of the world, standing up for equality and justice comes with profound personal risk. Her legacy endures not because her work was finished, but because others continue the struggle she gave her life to advance. Remembering Marielle Franco means recognising both the courage it takes to speak out and the responsibility we all share to ensure those voices are never silenced.

Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson created stories that celebrated kindness, individuality and belonging. Through the Moomins, she invited generations of readers to imagine worlds where difference was embraced rather than feared.

Behind those stories was a woman navigating her own identity and relationships at a time when openness carried significant personal risk.

Jansson’s work reminds us that culture shapes movements as much as politics does. Stories create empathy, challenge assumptions and help people imagine societies built on acceptance rather than exclusion.

Through music, performance and public advocacy, Janelle Monáe has challenged expectations around gender, sexuality and identity while creating space for others to do the same. They have consistently spoken out against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, restrictions on gender-affirming care and attacks on trans communities. Their work demonstrates that visibility can be transformative when it is rooted in authenticity and connected to the wider struggle for collective liberation.

Remembering contemporary figures matters because the fight for equality is not only part of our history. It is being written every day.

Belarusian queer artist Sergey Shabohin’s work explores gender, sexuality, feminism and power while bringing marginalised histories and communities into public view. Through his artistic practice, he has challenged dominant narratives and helped shape contemporary art and queer activism in Eastern Europe despite an increasingly difficult political environment.

Sergey played an anchoring role in the development of Belarusian contemporary art, shifting it from partisan modes towards public facing and system challenging art-activism, and remains an inspiring figure in the queer art-activist movement in Eastern Europe.

Shabohin’s work demonstrates how art can expose injustice, preserve memory and create space for resistance where other forms of expression are constrained.

Simon Nkoli was an anti-apartheid activist and one of South Africa’s first openly gay activists. At a time when both his race and his sexuality made him a target, he refused to separate the fight against apartheid from the fight for LGBTI+ equality. Instead, he argued that true freedom could never exist while any community remained excluded.

Following the end of apartheid, Nkoli played an important role in ensuring that South Africa’s new Constitution became the first in the world to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

His legacy reminds us that equality is strongest when movements stand together. The struggle for LGBTI+ rights has always been connected to broader struggles for dignity, democracy and human rights.