December 24th in Queer History

Born this day

Hans von Marees (1837 – 1887) German.
Painter, who mainly painted country scenes in a realistic style.

Robert Joffrey (1928/30 – 1988) US 
Dancer, teacher, producer and choreographer, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets for his company, the Joffrey Ballet.
Joffrey died on March 25, 1988 of AIDS at the age of 57. In 2000, Joffrey was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame.

Dean Corll (1939 – 1973) US 
Serial Killer, also known as the "Candy Man", who, together with two youthful accomplices named David Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley, abducted, raped, tortured and murdered a minimum of 28 boys in a series of killings spanning from 1970 to 1973 in Houston, Texas.

Brenda Howard (1946 –  2005) US
Bisexual rights activist and sex-positive feminist. Howard was an important figure in the modern LGBT rights movement.

Deborah Glick (1950 – )  US 

Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. The first openly LGBT member of the New York Legislature,she has focused on areas relating to civil rights, reproductive freedom, Lesbian and Gay rights, environmental improvement and preservation, and the arts.

Bob Smith (1958 – ) US 
Comedian and author, who was the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show and the first openly gay comedian to have his own HBO half-hour comedy special.

Lee Daniels (1959 –) US 
Actor, film producer, and director.

Jim Roth (1968 – ) US 
A Democrat, Roth was appointed by Republican Governor Mary Fallin to serve on the Oklahoma State Election Board as the panel's lone Democrat.

Died this day

Prince Aribert of Anhalt (1866 - 1933) German.
Prince of the German Duchy of Anhalt.

Edmund Goulding (1891 - 1959) US 
Film writer and director.

Louis Aragon (1982 –  1897) French
Poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.

John Damien (1933 - 1986 )  Canadian 
Damien worked in horse-racing in Ontario for twenty years, as a trainer, jockey and racing steward for the Ontario Jockey Commission. He was one of the top three racing judges in Ontario when on February 7, 1975, he was dismissed without notice after his gay sexual orientation came to the attention of the Commission, an independent agency of the Ontario provincial government.

Pat Bond (1990 –  1925) US 
Actress, who starred on stage and on television, as well as in motion pictures. For many people, she was the first gay woman they saw on stage.

John Boswell  (1947 - 1994 ) US 
Prominent historian and a professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of homosexuality and religion, specifically homosexuality and Christianity.

Nizah Morris (1955 - 2002 ) US 
Transgender entertainer.

Sodomy in history, December 24th

1912 — A report issued by Utah’s State Board of Insanity recommends sterilization of persons convicted of sexual crimes.

Sources:

Wikipedia

glbtq emcyclopedia

On this gay day