June has become an annual opportunity for big brands to embrace rainbow-themed marketing, but Pride Month is much more than a fleeting chance for the LGBTQIA+ community to wave their flags. All too often, corporate “support” is packed away by July 1, just in time for the next bandwagon event to absorb marketing budgets.

As society strives to become more inclusive and supportive of the queer spectrum, it’s crucial to remember those who paved the way for 21st-century queer individuals to live in a world where gender and sexual expression are safer and more accepted. For a long time, queer icons in the media were predominantly gay (often white) men, with less recognition given to other members of the LGBTQIA+ community: bisexuals, asexuals, intersex individuals, lesbians, pansexuals, and even polyamorous people.

Within the LGBTQIA+ community, everyone has personal icons and shared figures they look to as they navigate their identities and experiences. Some icons are well-known and celebrated, while others are more understated but still play an essential role.

As a young woman who identifies as bisexual, navigating “imposter syndrome” within the LGBTQIA+ community about who qualifies as a queer icon is a profoundly personal experience, yet it’s also a shared one. This struggle for validation underscores the importance of being part of a community.

Material Gworl: Saucy Santana (he/him)

Saucy Santana, a 28-year-old Black queer hip-hop artist, has made a name for himself with his unique style and flair in the mainstream rap scene. Known for hits like “Material Girl” and “Walk,” Santana brings a contagious, femme, bad-bitch energy to a genre often dominated by straight men. Featured as a recurring guest on Love & Hip Hop: Miami, Santana’s music has inspired viral TikTok challenges like the 2021 #WalkChallenge. During an interview on the famous New York radio show and podcast The Breakfast Club, Santana discussed his challenges while making his EP as a femme rapper in a space still grappling with toxic masculinity.

Hailing from Florida, Santana’s unapologetically femme, gay, loud, and proud presence has fans everywhere living their best lives, complete with catchy hooks and luxury vibes.

Pop Punk Princess: Avril Lavigne (she/her)

An unsung icon to queer youth growing up in the early 2000s, Canada’s pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne burst onto the mainstream music scene with a boldness that few female artists dared to display at the time. Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” was a cultural reset, challenging the norms for female artists with her baggy Dickies and plaid ties while singing about teenage angst and boy problems.

From this, the term “Avril gay” emerged within LGBTQIA+ culture, joining the ranks of “Britney gays,” “Madonna gays,” “Princess Diana gays,” and “Bette Midler gays.” Avril Lavigne became a touchstone for those discovering their attraction to multiple genders, transcending feminist archetypes to become a queer icon.

She’s So Major: Lena Waithe (she/her)

Breaking into Hollywood is notoriously tricky, especially for those outside the cisgender, heterosexual norm. Despite these challenges, Lena Waithe, a masculine-presenting lesbian, has significantly impacted as a major Hollywood producer and director. Known for her work on the Emmy-winning Master of None, Them, and the critically acclaimed Queen & Slim, Waithe’s presence in Hollywood is a powerful representation of Black LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly Black gay women who face marginalization across industries.

Waithe’s work is unapologetic in its casting choices and storytelling, often drawing from her own experiences and reflecting the lived realities and traumas familiar to many young queer people—though she has faced criticism for this as well.

Androgynous Icon: Caster Semenya (she/her)

“I am a woman, and I am fast,” is how Caster Semenya responded to the IAAF’s controversial ruling that targeted her, overshadowed by white, cis-gendered European competitors who felt threatened by her success. An award-winning sports icon, wife, and record-breaker, Semenya challenges gender norms. She is South Africa’s intersex icon who identifies as a woman. Alongside her successful athletic career, she has constantly had to address the pressure to alter her body to fit authority standards. Anti-intersex and anti-trans rhetoric is nothing new in sports, but Semenya continues to excel on and off the track despite patriarchal scrutiny.

Smooth Transition: Elliot Page (he/they)

When Elliot Page came out as transgender in 2020, declaring, “I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer,” he became one of the most visible and celebrated trans individuals today. Aware of his privilege as a white man with a large platform, Page uses his voice to highlight the harsh realities of living as a transgender person, particularly for Black and Latinx trans women.

Page stars in the Netflix show The Umbrella Academy and his transition is reflected in the evolution of his character from season one to season three. Since his rise to prominence with the movie Juno, Page has become a beacon of authenticity and a positive influence on changing attitudes toward celebrating queer identities.

District Six Drag: Kewpie (she/her)

South Africa is home to many legendary queer icons who may not be widely known but are no less significant. One such icon is Kewpie, who lived in Cape Town’s District Six from 1942 until she died in 2012. Nightlife is where many queer people, and non-queer people alike, thrive, and Kewpie was no exception. By day, she worked at a salon in District Six, which doubled as a venue for extravagant drag pageants in the 1950s. Known as the “Daughter of District Six,” Kewpie’s unapologetically progressive stance on body politics makes her a queer icon whose legacy lives on through exhibits curated in her honor, inviting visitors to celebrate their most fabulous selves.

The Fashion Icon: Billy Porter (he/him)

Who could forget when Billy Porter debuted a tuxedo gown by Christian Siriano on the red carpet at the 2019 Oscars? As an Emmy Award-winning star of Pose and Tony Award-winning actor from Kinky Boots, Porter consistently makes bold fashion statements, bringing queer realness to both the stage and the red carpet. Porter’s commitment to inclusivity and empowerment through fashion has solidified his status as a contemporary fashion icon.

Porter stated that he felt most masculine when he first wore heels in Kinky Boots. He believes that fashion uniquely and profoundly connects with people, and Porter continues to deliver with every appearance.

Ashlee Marie Preston (she/her)

In the fight against transmisogynoir (transgender misogyny), Ashlee Marie Preston embodies the multi-hyphenate reality that so many queer people live. As the former editor-in-chief of Wear Your Voice Magazine, Preston is the first openly trans person to run for a U.S. government position. She is unafraid to call out those who wrong trans people, most recently criticizing Netflix for exploiting trans pain for profit.

Her story is deeply familiar to those in marginalized groups who navigate gender expression, gender dysphoria, and survival sex work. Black trans women are at the forefront of queer liberation, and Preston is a fearless storyteller fighting for those oppressed by trans misogynoir.

Radical Love: Love hooks (she/her)

The intersectional feminist bell hooks, who penned love letters to all of us in her red-covered book All About Love: New Visions, calls for self-love as the foundation for finding one’s voice in a noisy, patriarchal world. hooks self-identified as “Queer-pas-gay,” with “pas” referencing the French term for “not,” indicating that being part of the queer community is less about who you’re attracted to and more about being at odds with societal norms around queerness.

Her writing is essential for anyone learning about feminism from a place of inclusivity, tenderness, and authentic love of Lovell’s gender identities. Though academic in style, hooks’ work is accessible to anyone on a journey of self-discovery and authenticity.