Named one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century” by Life magazine and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Billie Jean King has long been a pioneer for social justice. She is recognized for spearheading the women’s movement in tennis and for her lifelong pursuit of equality in sports and in life.

A pioneer and a voice in the LGBT community, King, along with the late Harvey Milk, became the first two members of the LGBT community to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, when President Barack Obama presented the awards in 2009. Today she remains active in a variety of LGBT causes and organizations. She serves on the board of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and is a founding member of LPAC, first political action committee directly focused on issues that impact lesbians and their families.

King grew up playing tennis in the California public parks and won 39 Grand Slam titles during her career. She led efforts to form the Virginia Slims Series and founded the Women’s Tennis Association. She empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history – the Battle of the Sexes on Sept. 20, 1973.

In 1974 King co-founded World Team Tennis (WTT), the revolutionary co-ed professional tennis league and that same year she founded the Women’s Sports Foundation to advance the lives of women and girls through sports and physical activity. In August 2006, the National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in honor of her accomplishments on and off the court.

Edith "Edie" Windsor, the 83-year-old lesbian from New York, sued the U.S. government in 2010 after she was forced to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate tax on the estate of her wife, Thea Spyer. Edie was subject to this tax burden due to the Defense of Marriage Act. Her case (US v. Windsor) is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A graduate of NYU, Edie studied mathematics and worked for IBM until she took an early retirement to care for Thea, who had been diagnosed with MS. Edie met Thea in NYC in 1963 at the New York restaurant Portofino, where lesbians congregated; after a few years of seeing each other at parties and gatherings – and dancing the night away together – Edie and Thea began dating. They became engaged in 1967, and were married in Canada in 2007. Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer were together for 42 years.

They are the subject of an award-winning 2009 documentary, Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement by Susan Muska and Gréta Olafsdóttir.

Grethe Cammermeyer has a fascinating family history that helped shape her eventual fights for LGBT equality. She was born in Oslo, Norway in 1942 during the Nazi occupation. Her family lived across from Nazi headquarters and her parents used her in their exploits as they supported the Norwegian underground in resisting the Nazis. Her mother would conceal guns and rifles under her mattress as she would push her in the baby carriage along the streets of Oslo. She would dart into an alley and resistance forces would jump out of a doorway, lift up the mattress and charge off into the night with the weapons. Grethe’s childhood heroes were these strong people who were willing to sacrifice their own lives for the freedom they believed in.

Grethe’s family immigrated to the United States in 1951 when she was nine. At 17, she started college at the University of Maryland. In 1961, she joined the Army Student Nurse Program, intent on finishing college and then becoming an Army Nurse.

Lt. Cammermeyer went on active duty after graduation in 1963. Her first active duty assignment was basic training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas where she learned to salute, wear the uniform, march, and carry patients on litters through the desert terrain of Camp Bullis. Later, she spent six months at Martin Army Hospital at Ft. Benning Georgia, then a longer tour in Nuremberg, Germany. It was here that she met and married a fellow soldier.

In 1967 she was sent to the 24th Evacuation Hospital at Long Binh, Vietnam. She was in Vietnam for 14 months, six months as head nurse of a medical unit and then eight months as head nurse of the neurosurgical intensive care unit. This was no doubt the most extraordinary experience any military nurse could have been a part of.

After Vietnam, she and her husband settled in Seattle, Washington. She was forced to leave the military when she became pregnant in 1968, because women were not permitted to have dependents. In 1972, that regulation was changed and she returned to the military in the Army Reserves, ultimately achieving the rank of Colonel in 1987. She completed the Nurse Corps Basic and Advance Course, the Command and General Staff Course and Combat Casualty Course.

After 15 years and four wonderful sons, she and her husband divorced. There were problems which she did not understand at the time, but which turned out to be an identity crisis, as she came to understand that she was a lesbian. Grethe remarks that the “process of a personal journey of self- discovery was difficult and painful, but necessary to find the real me”.

In 1988, now as Colonel Cammermeyer, Grethe accepted the position of Chief Nurse of the Washington State National Guard. In 1989, during an interview for top-secret clearance, to apply for the War College, Grethe told the military "I am a lesbian".

She was separated from the military despite an exemplary military and civilian professional record. On that same day, 11 June 1992, her attorneys filed suit, on my behalf, in Federal District Court in Seattle challenging the existing ban on homosexuals in the military and requesting her reinstatement. They were in and out of court many times during the ensuing 25 months until Judge Zilly ruled the policy was unconstitutional and based on prejudice.

She was reinstated in the National Guard in June of 1994 and resumed her previous position as Chief Nurse. In March 1997, after 31 years of dedicated service to America she was retired with full military privileges.

Grethe has received many honors and won many awards during the course of her military service. She was the first recipient of the Administrator's Award for Excellence in Nursing in 1985, chosen out of 34,000 registered nurses in the VA. Her other awards and honors include the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service (Vietnam), Nurse of the Year by the Department of Veterans Affairs (1985), and Woman of Power

Tammy Smith made history in August 2012 when her wife Tracey Hepner promoted her to brigadier general. With the simple act of having her wife place a General’s star on her shoulder, Smith became the first gay or lesbian flag officer to serve openly in the US military. An Oregon native, in 1986 Smith was commissioned as an Army Second Lieutenant, graduating from the University of Oregon Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. Smith was selected for Brigadier General having served in the Army for 26 years, including duty in Afghanistan, Panama, Costa Rica, the Pentagon, and numerous stateside posts. Her awards and decorations include the bronze star medal and senior parachutist wings. She holds a Doctor of Management degree in Management and Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix and is also an Army War College graduate. In a March 2013 interview Smith described the significance of her promotion as “Leadership is about being a role model. I don’t think I’m a role model because I’m gay. I believe I’m a role model because I adhere to Army values by being true to my authentic self.”

Decades before indie labels were the norm, and years before women had any real access to the industry, Cris Williamson was busy changing the face of popular music. In 1975, the twenty-something former schoolteacher released the recording, The Changer And The Changed, on Olivia Records. This music became the soundtrack of a movement, and was key in the launch of what would become known as “women’s music,” music, which was created, performed, and marketed specifically to women. Today, that record remains one of the best-selling independent releases of all time.

For forty-some years, Cris has toured the acoustic circuit. She continues to criss-cross this country, selling out Carnegie Hall three times, and headlining among others, the Newport, Kerrville, Vancouver and Moab Folk Festivals. Always the teacher, Cris facilitates Songwriting Workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Cris's upcoming release, Songs of the Soul, an illumination of Spirit, is due for release in early 2012.

Vickie Shaw is the funniest comedian EVER! She said so herself! Vickie has been making people laugh until their faces hurt and ribs cracked! She has traveled the entire US and many overseas locations making people laugh. She gets her comedy from her life, with her partner Sargent Patch, their three children and now three grandchildren. She has been in movies, "Laughing Matters More", television, Comedy Central, four comedy specials on the LOGO Channel, Late In Life Lesbians, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, just to name a few. She headlines on Olivia Cruises, HRC events, Lambda Legal, GLAAD, and the list just gets bigger. If you have a chance to see her you absolutely must. Don't miss her.

C.C. Carter is a seasoned Chicago Slammer and performance poet who brings the house down whether performing to an intimate crowd of 10 or in a public arena of 10,000. Her poetry and performances make her one of the few spoken word artists to showcase regularly at women’s music festivals including the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, National Womyn’s Music Festival, and Sistahfest as well as garnering her opening credits for Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Cheryl Clarke and Dorothy Allison. Her one woman show, Living Large In a Shrinking America – sold out all three shows in Provincetown during women’s week; critics deemed it “hilariously funny and perfectly timed.”

Whether giving keynote performances on the complexities of the Marriage Equality act, performing at human rights rallies or presenting performance lectures on college and university campuses of the intersections of diversity, C.C. gives voice to her layered truths of being femme, lesbian, multicultural and a mother.

C.C. has received numerous awards and honors for her arts and activism, including the induction into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. Her work is currently anthologized in over 15 collections of poetry and prose including Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Black Women's Erotica, Does Your Mama Know and Women Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution.

Roxanna is a beloved member of the Olivia family. Her debut with Olivia was on an Alaska cruise in 1992. Since then, she's joined us several times a year! Her brilliant comedy, writing, musicianship and singing endears her to audiences everywhere. A woman of many talents, Roxanna is a mother, high school teacher, producer, writer and director. Her past credits include work with Dolly Parton, Kirk Douglas and many others. The late Phyllis Hyman, and more recently, Suede, have both recorded Roxanna's song "Remember Who You Are." Whether you are seeing Roxanna for the first time or tenth time, she always makes you laugh and warms your heart.