1978: Tom of Finland has his first U.S. exhibit at Robert Opel’s Fey Way Gallery in San Francisco. 1979: A gang of teenage boys stands outside Tennessee Williams’s home in Key West, Florida, and begins throwing beer cans and firecrackers at the house while chanting “Come on out, faggot!” The incident is just the latest…
1975: The Chicago Board of Ed. approves a plan that allows, for the first time, the City’s teachers to answer students’ questions about homosexuality. 1977: The Episcopal Church of New York ordains an openly lesbian woman, Ellen Marie Barrett, as a minister. 1980: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence forms in San Francisco. 1982: Paul Lynde,…
1980: The New York State Court of Appeals abolishes the state’s sodomy laws. 1982: The Quebec government overwhelmingly approves a measure that gives domestic partners of gays and lesbians legal protection and access to economic benefits previously restricted to straights. 1984: The Times of Harvey Milk wins the New York Critics’ Award for Best Documentary of…
1980: French film La Cage aux Folles ends its nineteen month run at New York City’s 68th Street Playhouse. 1988: The film adaptation of Harvey Fierstein‘s Torch Song Trilogy opens in New York City.
1978: Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by former City Supervisor Dan White. 1980: Bosom Buddies-a sitcom about two young broke New York men having to dress in drag to live in a low rent (but all girl) hotel, premieres on ABC. It stars Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari.
1980: Gay Icon Mae West dies in Los Angeles at the age of 88.
1980: Two men are killed and six wounded when former transit cop Ronald Crumpley opens fire with submachine gun at NYC gay bar, the Ramrod. He is later found not guilty by reason of insanity. 1982: A California judge tosses Marilyn Barnett’s so-called “palimony” suit against tennis star Billie Jean King out of court.
1980: Barney Frank (D, Mass.) is elected to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district. He continues to serve to this day and has announced his retirement from Congress at the conclusion of his term in 2013.
