A fresh Google Doodle has web users educating themselves on Barbara May Cameron, an impactful figure in the fields of LGBTQ+, Native American, and women’s rights.
Cameron decorates the Google Doodle for May 22, in celebration of the human rights activist’s birthday. If she were alive, Cameron would be 69 years old as of May 22, and no doubt would still be making waves across a number of fields. After dedicating her life to the furtherment of our rights, Cameron is fittingly celebrated as one of the powerful people who made this country a better place.
Who is Barbara May Cameron?
Barbara May Cameron was many things, but she is best remembered for her work fighting for human rights. A creative from the Dakotas’ Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Cameron was a Hunkpapa Lakota who played a major part in increasing visibility for Native American gays. Her work broke barriers, and ultimately led to the formation of several organizations that remain in operation today.
Without Cameron, the Gay American Indians organization would not exist, and the state of several organizations and celebrations would likely be set massively back. She made her mark on the Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade and Celebration — which, in modern days, is largely referred to as San Francisco Pride — as well as the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, after helping to organize the former for a full five years in the early ’80s, and serving as vice president for the latter in the second half of the same decade.
Cameron didn’t spend all of her time fighting for human rights, either. In between organizing impactful events or heading organizations, she also published several essays — in collections like This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, A Gathering of Spirit: A Collection of Writing and Art by North American Indian Women, and New Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book — and continues to be celebrated for her photography and poetry.
