45. David Kilmnick

You might say last year is when David Kilmnick really came out. It was a year ago this month when the New York State Legislature passed the Marriage Equality Act and as head of the Long Island Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual Services Network, he planned a mass same-sex marriage to celebrate. Last fall, Kilmnick expanded his Bay Shore community center to include a Garden City counterpart. And shortly thereafter, he established the nation’s first Gay PTA. Before all this, Kilmnick was most quoted in reaction to bias crimes targeting the community. Now he’s leading the way through the unchartered territory of new civil rights.