Yesterday, we began our look at some of the most important LGBT people in history who have made significant societal contributions. We're asking some of today's top LGBT voices to name LGBT figures or moments they consider essential to learn about. A Top 20 list, using the nominations/votes of the Bilerico Project readers and contributors, will be posted on Thursday.

The jumping-off point, of course, is the passage of the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful Education Act, the new law in California that, in part, requires schools to instruct about the societal contributions of LGBT people throughout history.

Yesterday, we heard from ACT UP activist Larry Kramer, Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson, U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Blogactive.com blogger Mike Rogers, bi activist Amy Andre, writer Toshio Meronek, and Bilerico Project associate editor Jill Weiss.

Below, seven more LGBT voices sound off.

Among them is A.J. Lopp, a longtime Bilerico Project reader who emailed us last month with the idea to compile this list. He labored over his own thoughtful selections particularly arduously, acknowledging that there's no way to name every important LGBT person.

These individual Top 5 lists like A.J.'s don't seek to be representations of the five most important lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people in the world. Rather, by viewing Top 5 lists from various LGBT voices, we can understand a broader spectrum of LGBT people who have made significant and far-reaching contributions to society. Even if 100 individuals devised their own Top 5 lists, we could probably see a representation of 500 distinct LGBT historical figures or moments. So many advancements in so many fields - whether it's science, art, politics, entertainment, civil rights, sociology, psychology, or even within the LGBT movement itself - have been achieved by so many people.

These lists, then, attempt to preserve many of those names and ensure that their contributions are remembered.

A bit of historical reflection never hurt anyone, did it?

