Mark Segal

Mark Segal is recognized as a significant figure in the history of American LGBTQ+ civil rights. A participant in the Stonewall Riots, Segal was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and the founder of Gay Youth, the nation's first organization to address bullying and suicide among LGBTQ+ youth. He served as a marshal and member of the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day Committee, which created the world's first Gay Pride march. Segal is also known for writing on the sidewalks and walls along Christopher Street to set the stage for the second night of the Stonewall uprising.

Following Stonewall, Segal became known for a form of protest called the "zap." He disrupted a fundraising dinner for Richard Nixon, chained himself to the Liberty Bell, and interrupted Walter Cronkite's evening broadcast of CBS News, which reached 60 million viewers. His campaign to end the invisibility of the LGBTQ+ community in media led him to disrupt live television shows, including "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" and "The Today Show with Barbara Walters." These actions contributed to increased and fairer media coverage of the LGBTQ+ community. Working with Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp, Segal helped enact the nation's first executive order banning discrimination in state government, leading to the creation of the first official cabinet-level commission on LGBTQ+ affairs.

Segal founded Philadelphia Gay News, an LGBTQ+ newspaper in the Philadelphia area. He is one of the founders and a former president of both the National Gay Press Association and the National Gay Newspaper Guild, and was inducted into the National Lesbian & Gay Journalist Association Hall of Fame. His weekly syndicated column, "Mark My Words," has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Newspaper Association. Beyond journalism, Segal partnered with the Obama administration to create the nation's first official LGBT-friendly senior affordable housing apartment building, the John C. Anderson Apartments, a $19.8 million project.

Segal is the author of "And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality," a memoir that was named Best Book by the National Lesbian Gay Journalist Association. His personal papers and artifacts, spanning more than five decades, are part of the collections at the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, and a selection of his artifacts from the first Gay Pride were included in a Gay Pride exhibit at the White House. Segal continues to work with the National Parks Conservation Association to promote the Stonewall story and advocate for inclusive storytelling at park sites. He provides firsthand accounts of LGBTQ+ history and activism, highlighting the impact of advocacy and civil rights efforts in the United States.