1978: ABC airs “A Question of Love“, a made-for-TV movie about lesbian lovers who find themselves in a custody battle over their children. It stars Gena Rowlands, Jane Alexander and Ned Beatty. ABC airs the movie complete with ‘parental discretion advised’ warnings (for subject matter).
1967: Craig Rodwell opens the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors in the United States, the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop at 291 Mercer Street in New York City. (It moved to 15 Christopher Street in 1973.) Despite a limited selection of materials when the bookstore was first established, Rodwell refused to stock pornography and instead … Read More
1983: A Federal judge concludes that the First National Bank of Louisville did not practice wrongful discrimination – or violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion – when it ordered one of its employees, Samuel Dorr, to either give up his position with gay Catholic group, Dignity, or resign from the bank.
1980: Gay Icon Mae West dies in Los Angeles at the age of 88.
1987: Having raided and closed down gay bar The Detour (now 4100 bar on Sunset Boulevard) the night before, Los Angeles police raid and shut down the One Way bar, over alleged violations to the city’s fire ordinance.
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.
1974: The New Yorker publishes its first gay-themed short story, “Minor Heroism” by Allan Gurganus.
1979: Martin Sherman‘s Bent, about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, starring Richard Gere and David Dukes, begins previews on Broadway.
1961: Washington, DC chapter of the Mattachine Society is formed. Activist Frank Kameny is elected president. 1987: Randy Shilts‘s seminal work on the early years of the AIDS crisis, “And the Band Played On” debuts at No. 12 on the New York Times best seller list. 1989: Massachusetts becomes the second state in the U.S. … Read More
1969: Gay Liberation Front launches the premiere issue of the newspaper Come Out!, “A Newspaper by and for the Gay Community.”