1920: Harvard University establishes an ad hoc committee to investigate homosexual activity at the school. Following two weeks of inquiries, Harvard expels several students. The tribunal becomes known as the “Secret Court” after records filed under that name are discovered in 2002. 1975: “As you no doubt expected, I am declining your invitation to participate in … Read More
May 22 is the birthday of prominent gay pioneer, Harvey Milk. In 2009, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 572 designating every May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day.” Today we honor Harvey, his work and his enduring legacy.
1929: Katharine Lee Bates, author of America the Beautiful, who was in a so-called “Boston Marriage” with Katharine Coman, dies. 2007: Vermont bans gender identity discrimination in the private sector.
1966: A coalition of homophile organizations across the country organizes simultaneous demonstrations for Armed Forces Day. The Los Angeles group holds a 15-car motorcade (which has been identified as the nation’s first gay pride parade) and activists hold pickets in the other cities. 1970: Bella Abzug-running for the 19th District congressional seat in New York City-addresses … Read More
1979: David Kloss of San Francisco wins the first annual Mr. International Leather title in Chicago. 1988: The first-ever Conference on Homophobia Education convenes in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Campaign to End Homophobia and cosponsored by a number of church groups and national gay rights organizations, the symposium is held to work out strategies … Read More
1973: An officially sanctioned gay student dance at Princeton University draws three hundred participants. 1975: Gay porn phenomenon “Jack Wrangler” is born when a sometimes struggling twenty-eight-year-old actor, Jack Stillman, steps onstage between porn films at the Paris Theater in Los Angeles and performs a live striptease in Western drag. The son of an established … Read More
1921: Patrick Dennis, author of Auntie Mame, is born. 1934: Artist and Christopher Isherwood’s muse and partner, Don Bachardy, is born. 1981: Lawrence Mass, a gay physician and writer, publishes the first media mention of AIDS in an article in the New York Native, “Disease Rumors Largely Unfounded”.
2004: Same-sex marriages become legal in Massachusetts. World does not end. 2007: Ted Strickland, governor of the U.S. state of Ohio, issues an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the public sector.
1981: More than twenty people marching in a gay rights demonstration in Helsinki, Finland, are arrested by the police and charged with “encouraging lewd behavior.” 1986: Top Gun opens nationwide in the U.S. and is applauded for years as a homoerotic fantasy.
1981: In the midst of Lesbian/Gay Awareness Week, at the University of Florida, a fraternity-circulated petition asserting, “Homosexuals need bullets-not acceptance” draws the signatures of almost fifty people. “We don’t have anything else to do,” says one of the petition’s organizers. “We’re just out here having a good time. I don’t believe in queers.” 1988: … Read More