Maya Angelou, poet and civil rights activist, has died at 86 years old.
Angelou, author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was primarily known for her work toward racial equality, but she was in favor of LGBT equality and lobbied in favor of same-sex marriage.
In 2009, she was a part of a team of celebrity writers who placed calls to New York State Senators urging them to vote in favor of marriage equality.
“I would ask every man and every woman who’s had the blessing of having children, ‘Would you deny your son or your daughter the ecstasy of finding someone to love?’ ” she said to the New York Times shortly after the campaign. “To love someone takes a lot of courage. So how much more is one challenged when the love is of the same sex and the laws say, ‘I forbid you from loving this person?’”
Angelou also spoke at the 1996 GALA Festival, a convention of GLBT choruses, in Tampa.
“I am gay,” she said. “I am lesbian. I am black. I am white. I am Native American. I am Christian. I am Jew. I am Muslim.”
In 1993, Angelou read her poem On the Pulse of the Morning at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. The poem includes a mention of gay people.
Video credit: courtesy William J. Clinton Presidential Library.
Angelou’s cause of death is unknown, but she had been reported to be in poor health and had canceled several recent appearances.
