October 18 in LGBTQ History
1953: Tim Gill, American software entrepreneur, philanthropist, and creator of the Gill Foundation, one of the first major foundations to benefit the LGBTQ community, is born in Hobart, Indiana.
1953: Tim Gill, American software entrepreneur, philanthropist, and creator of the Gill Foundation, one of the first major foundations to benefit the LGBTQ community, is born in Hobart, Indiana.
1953: Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behavior in the Human Female goes on sale reporting that “2 to 6% of females, aged 20-35, were more or less exclusively homosexual in experience/response.” 1970: In New York City, Gay Activists Alliance stages the first of an orchestrated campaign of “zaps” in protest of continuing police harassment, heckling Mayor John … Read More
1953: Tim Gunn, fashion guru and guide is born today. “Make it work!” 1978: The Village People’s first major hit, disco single “Macho Man”, begins a six-week run in the nation’s Top 40. It will eventually go gold. 1986: The Chicago City Council, by a vote of 30 to 18, defeats a proposed gay rights ordinance for the … Read More
1610: The Virginia Colony passes the first anti-sodomy law of the American colonial period. 1919: Anders als die Andern (“Different from the Others“), the first pro gay film, premieres in Berlin. Magnus Hirschfeld is a producer and makes a cameo appearance. The movie stars Conrad Veidt. 1953: A Mattachine Foundation circular estimates total membership in the society at … Read More
1953: President Dwight Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450, banning homosexuals from working for the federal government or any of its private contractors. The Order lists homosexuals as security risks, along with alcoholics and neurotics. 1972: Testifying before Congress, J. Edgar Hoover assures the House Appropriations Committee that there are no gay activists in the Bureau, … Read More