OUT100: Anthony Romero

Photography by JUCO | Retouching by Anna Glen at Wet Noodle

The Moment: October 3, 1957: Aided by the ACLU, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is cleared of obscenity charges for publishing Allen Ginsberg's Howl.

"Every new generation of LGBT Americans needs to be inspired by leaders who come out -- whether in Congress, the nonprofit sector, the NFL, or corner offices of Fortune 100 companies," says Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. This year, Romero has been busy keeping up with the meteoric trajectory of same-sex marriage rights in the U.S., having filed 15 lawsuits since the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013. As he and the ACLU continue to work dili-gently for widespread marriage equality, he himself has become one of the inspirational leaders so needed by new generations.

Photographed at Romero's ACLU office in New York on July 30, 2014

Groomer: Angela DiCarlo

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