Notable LGBTQ+ UCLA alumni

Happy Pride Month, Bruins! Pride Month is observed every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan and recognize influential LGBTQ+ people like UCLA alumni Jewel Thais-Williams, Albert Aubin and Steven Canals, whose work has made a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. 

Jewel Thais-Williams

According to a UCLA Alumni newsletter, Jewel Thais-Williams (’71) made history when she founded Catch One, the first Black gay disco in Los Angeles in 1973. Four decades later, the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Norton Avenue, where the nightclub is located, was named after her. Aside from opening a space for gay nightlife, Thais-Williams also co-founded two nonprofits that supported women and children living with HIV/AIDS: the Minority AIDS Project and Rue’s House. To learn more about Jewel Thais-Williams and her work, follow her on Instagram through the link below.

Albert Aubin

Albert Aubin, Ed.D. (’71), worked for the UCLA Career Center for 40 years and was a key figure in creating a more LGBTQ+ friendly environment at UCLA and other University of California (UC) campuses. According to a UCLA Alumni article about his accomplishments at UCLA, Aubin helped develop a UC-wide policy that defined the status of domestic partnerships, a committed relationship between two adults who share a domestic life and later extended benefits previously limited to married couples to be inclusive of domestic partners.

Steven Canals

According to a UCLA Alumni newsletter, screenwriter Steven Canals, M.F.A.’15, is best known as the co-creator and executive producer of “Pose” (2018-2021), a show about the Black and Latinx ballroom subculture in 1980s New York. The critically acclaimed show garnered numerous awards nominations, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series: Drama, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor: Television Series Drama.

To learn more about other notable LGBTQ+ UCLA alumni, click the button below. Happy Pride, Bruins!