Barbara Jourdan (1936-1996)

For Juneteentth, there is no better LGBTQIA+ hero than Barbara Jourdan, trailblazing civil rights leader, whose voice resonated through the halls of Congress as the first Black woman from the South to serve in the House of Representatives. A magna cum laude graduate of Boston University Law School, Jourdan first worked in private practice in Houston, where she was born and raised. As a Democratic representative, she was known for her ability to reach across the aisle and while in Congress, she sponsored or cosponsored over 300 bills, many of which are still in effect today.  After retiring from the House, she taught political science at the University of Texas at Austin and continued championing ethics, education and civil rights. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during her first term as a Representative, she is a model of courage and resilience, never letting her health problems stand in the way of serving the country that she loved. President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.