Queers in History: November 16th in Queer History

Events in LGBT history:

1989 - The Center for Homosexual Lifestyles was established in Berlin. It was the first time in Germany that a public office was established specifically to deal with the concerns of lesbians and gay men.

1995 - A directive was issued by the Canadian Government allowing workers in same-sex relationships to take time off in the event of a partner's illness or death.

2009 – David Atlanta, Southern Voice & Washington Blade all cease publication (USA)

Born this day:

Morton Beiser (1936 – ) Canadian
Professor / Psychiatrist

Paula Vogel (1951 – ), US.
Playwright

Glenn Burke (1952 – 1995), US.
Baseball

Anne Holt (1958 – ), Norwegian.
Author, Politician, Lawyer

Waheed Alli (1964 – ) UK.
Politician

Gerard Duphiney (1966 – ) US.
Reality TV [Amazing Race 3]

Jamie Babbit (1970 – ), US.
Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Gus Carr (1983 – ), US
Actor, Dancer, Singer, Songwriter

Ukea Davis (1983 – 2002), US
Hate Crime Victim

Died this day

Russ Conway (1925 - 2000 ), UK.
Pianist

Sodomy laws in history, November 16

1880 — The Ohio Supreme Court affirms its 1876 decision that a man accused of sodomy by another can not sue for slander, but asks the legislature to change that by either outlawing sodomy or making its accusation actionable.

1889 — The Cleveland Street Scandal in England breaks. The Cleveland Street brothel provides teenage boys for many prominent and affluent London men.

1897 — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals rules that common-law crimes are recognized in the District, even without a statute receiving them. This effectively reinstates sodomy as a crime, since there is no sodomy statute under District law, and makes sodomy a crime throughout the United States.

1938 — The Montana Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction based on the fact that a young man and his alleged lover live near each other (and move to stay close when the other moves), hang around together, and are found by police sleeping in the same bedroom—in separate beds. The Court warns of the dangers of basing convictions on such circumstantial evidence.

1944 — The Washington Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction because the state was able to prove only an attempt.

1955 — A Pennsylvania appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man after prejudicial remarks were made by the prosecutor to the jury.

1967 — A Michigan appellate court rejects the contention of a man and woman that the "crime against nature" can be committed only by people of the same sex.

1977 — The Texas Court of Appeals overturns the public lewdness conviction of a Gay man, because his acts never were specified.

1999 — The Rhode Island Supreme Court rules that all pending consensual sodomy prosecutions at the time of the 1998 legislative repeal must be abandoned.