Here are just some of the LGBT+ icons that we lost in 2017.
Lil Peep, Hip-Hop artist and rapper
In November, Lil Peep, real name, Gustav Åhr, a well-known Youtuber, Hip-Hop and rapper who had accumulated millions of plays died while on tour. His death was confirmed on social media by his manager Chase Oretega, who said, “I’ve been expecting this call for a year. Mother f***” His death was later confirmed to be a drug overdose.
Henry Badenhorst Gaydar Founder
The founder of one of the world’s biggest gay chat sites, Gaydar, died at the age of 51 in November. Local media in Johannesburg reported that a 51-year-old man was seen falling from the 23rd floor of Michaelangelo Towers. Gaydar was founded by Badenhorst along with his partner Gary Frisch in 1999 after a mutual friend of theirs spoke about how he was too busy to find a boyfriend. The pair created the website shortly after. Badenhorst and Frisch’s personal relationship ended in 2006, but they remained business partners until Frisch’s death.
Edith Windsor – gay marriage activist
Edith Windsor, who helped end the ban on same-sex marriage in the US died at the age of 88 in September. Ms Windsor’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, announced that the same-sex marriage activist had died in New York, US. The cause of her death was not given, but Ms Windsor had been struggling with a heart condition for years.
