Luz María Umpierre Writer

Luz María "Luzma" Umpierre-Herrera (born in 1947, Santurce, Puerto Rico) is an American human rights advocate, New-Humanist educator, poet, and scholar. She currently resides in Florida. She works on the topics of activism and social equality, the immigrant experience and bilingualism in the United States, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) issues. To date, she has published ten books of poetry, had her poems published in over 26 different anthologies, and has over 50 essays published in academic journals. Umpierre is also responsible for expanding the curriculum of several American universities to have them include Minority-, Women-, and LGBT-focused scholarship.Umpierre has been the first Puerto Rican, and openly lesbian woman, to receive numerous awards and accolades. In 1990, she received the “Woman of the Year” Award from Western Kentucky University for her multicultural mentorship programs. In 2008, she was granted “Distinguished Alumnae in the Humanities” from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazon. She received the “Michael Lynch Award” from the LGBT Caucus of the MLA (Modern Language Association) in 2012 for her works in LGBT advocacy and activism. She is the current nominee for a South Korean International Award for Human Rights Activism, being the first Puerto Rican lesbian having been nominated (decision expected in May, 2014). Other awards she has received include the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Coalition of Lesbian and Gay Organizations in New Jersey (1990), and receiving the “Outstanding Woman of Maine” U.S. Congress Proclamation (2002). She has also been a guest writer and keynote speaker at numerous colleges and universities, to include Suffolk University, the University of Kansas, Ohio University—Athens, and Rutgers University.