Malcolm L. Lazin

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Malcolm L. Lazin (born December 5, 1943) is an American social activist, prosecutor, entrepreneur and educator. His endeavors include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) civil rights, federal and state law enforcement, developing Philadelphia's waterfront, lighting the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and incorporating Washington Square—the largest revolutionary war burial ground—into Independence National Historical Park.

Lazin is the founder of Equality Forum (a national and international LGBT civil rights organization headquartered in Philadelphia)^[1] and the LGBT History Month icon series.^[2] As Vince Bellino explains, "Equality Forum has, for the last decade, organized LGBT History Month, which honors 31 icons of the movement each year."^[3] Lazin is also the executive producer of three award-winning documentary films and an Off-Broadway play. In 2020 he co-organized the National COVID-19 Remembrance Archived 2020-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, held on October 4 in Washington, D.C.

Lazin's political commentaries following the 2016 U.S. presidential election have been published in the Chicago Tribune,^[4][5] Philadelphia Inquirer,^[6] and Washington Blade^[7] and following the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, by Smerconish. On February 15, 2023, acting as a former federal prosecutor, Lazin asked the office of Congressional Ethics to investigate U.S. Representative George Santos for immigration fraud. Lazin's request and accompanying letter were covered the same day by The New York Times.^[8]

Lazin has received the U.S. Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award (the Department of Justice's highest honor);^[9] the Creative Leadership in Human Rights Award from the National Education Association;^[10] the Lifetime Hero Award of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund;^[11] and is a Prime Mover of the Hunt Alternatives Fund.^[12] He serves as an adjunct professor at the New College of Florida and an Emeritus Trustee of Lebanon Valley College. He has presented lectures on LGBT civil rights at high schools, colleges, and national meetings in the United States and Canada.

Lazin resides in Sarasota, Florida, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was profiled in the June 2019 issue of Sarasota Magazine. Lazin is the 2020 recipient of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) Special Presidential Commendation. He is the first person to receive this distinction who is not a medical doctor. Additionally, the APA selected Lazin as the recipient of its 2021 John Fryer Award.