Wanda Alston (April 7, 1959 – March 16, 2005) was an American

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist, and a government official. She was born in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

. In the 1990s, Alston served in the National Organization for Women (NOW) as an executive assistant. She was also a co-leader in 1995 to the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. She was a political organizer for five marches in

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, and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. She was an elected member of NOW's National Board of Directors. Alston also worked as a political consultant and was active in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. She also worked as an events organizer with the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

. She was active in the recovery movement in Washington, D.C. Alston was an active member of her local church,

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

of Washington. Alston was also a leader in the

community and was the acting director of the Washington, D.C., Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs from 2004 until her death. Alston died on March 16, 2005, as a result of a homicide in her home in Washington, D.C. She was stabbed to death. In June 2019, Alston was one of the inaugural fifty American “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes” inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

’s Stonewall Inn. The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, and the wall’s unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

The Wanda Alston Foundation

The Wanda Alston Foundation is the only housing program in

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solely dedicated to offering pre-independent transitional living and support services to homeless or at-risk LGBTQ youth ages 16 to 24 in all eight wards. The foundation is dedicated to ensuring that LGBTQ youth have access to services that improve their overall quality of life. This is achieved through advocacy and programming. The Wanda Alston Foundation advocates for increased resources for youth while providing programs including: housing, life skills training, linkages to other social services, and capacity building assistance for other community allies. The organization provides temporary housing of up to 18 months to LGBTQ youth in need through Wanda Alston House, a transitional housing program. The organization's Capacity Building Assistance program focuses on four key areas to improve the lives of LGBTQ youth: working with LGBTQ youth of color, understanding the transgender community, utilizing and understanding interventions and public health strategies for LGBTQ youth, and working with LGBTQ youth and their families.Services From the Wanda Alston Foundation (wandaalstonfoundation.org)
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References

External links

The Wanda Alston Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Wanda American women's rights activists American feminists 1959 births 2005 deaths American LGBT rights activists People from Newport News, Virginia Deaths by stabbing in Washington, D.C. People murdered in Washington, D.C. Violence against women in Washington, D.C. Women in Washington, D.C.