Events this day in queer history:
1977 - Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, making him the first openly gay man to be elected in a major US city. Dan White, who would murder Harvey Milk just over a year later, was also elected.
1988 - Oregon voters repealed an executive order which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation among state government employees.
1992 - The East Nashville Cooperative Ministry denied membership to Dayspring Christian Fellowship, a mostly gay and lesbian congregation.
1995 - In Zimbabwe, Tribal Chief Norbert Makoni addressed Parliament, saying gays and lesbians should be sentenced to whipping.
1995 - Representatives of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) approached television stations in four US cities to buy advertising time for two ads, one on the prevention of suicide among gay and lesbian youth and one about gay bashing. All stations refused to air the suicide ad, and only two cable stations and one network affiliate station would air the gay-bashing ad. They were told the ads offended community standards.
1996 - Transgender activists protested outside the offices of the American Psychiatric Association in Washington DC.
Born this day
Anne Seymour Damer (1748 - 1828) UK. SculptorEnglish sculptor.
Charles Demuth (1883 – 1935) US. Painter
American watercolorist who turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism. One of America's first modernist painters, he was also one of the earliest artists in the USA to expose his gay identity through forthright, positive depictions of homosexual desire.
Gerald Chapman (1949 – 1987) UK. Theatrical director.
English theatre director and educator who in 1974, at a time when Gay Liberation was just beginning in the UK, joined other gay activists and playwrights to set up one of the first Gay Theatre seasons in the UK.
Roy Simmons (1956 – ) US. American Football
American football player who played for the National Football League. In 1992, he came out of the closet as gay on the Phil Donahue Show.
Chi Chi LaRue (1959 – ) US. Porn Director
American film director of gay, bisexual and straight pornography. He is best known in his drag persona as Chi Chi LaRue and has also directed under the names Lawrence David and Taylor Hudson
American actress who portrayed the roles of Marla Hooch in A League of Their Own(1992), Broomhilde in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Essie in Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Openly lesbian,Cavanagh stars in Exes & Ohs, a lesbian comedy on Logo TV.
Craig Chester (1965 – ) US. Actor / Screenwriter
American actor and screenwriter, best known for his performances in independent films in the 1990s. Openly gay himself, he agrees that being open and honest can be harmful to an actor's career. In his 2002 autobiography, "Why the Long Face? The Adventures of a Truly Independent Actor", he chronicles the lost battles of being an openly gay actor, concluding that "being in the closet is good for business."
Sam Sparro (1982 – ) Australian. Singer / Music Producer
Australian singer-songwriter, music producer, and former child actor. Sparro is openly gay. He did an interview for Attitude magazine and was featured on the front cover.
Died this day
George Quaintance (1902/3 - 1957 ) US. Artist / Photographer
American artist famous for his "idealized, strongly homoerotic" depictions of men in physique magazines.
Gottfried von Cramm (1909 - 1976 ) German. Tennis
German amateur tennis champion and twice French Open champion. In 1938, von Cramm was arrested by the German government, tried for homosexuality, and sentenced to 1 year imprisonment. This criminal conviction later caused several problems in his tennis career, and also led to his dismissal from military service in 1942 - even though he had already been awarded an Iron Cross for action on the Eastern Front.
After his death, Von Cramm was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1977. Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Gottfried von Cramm in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.
Warren Casey (1935 - 1988 ) US. Composer, Lyricist, Author.
American theatre composer, lyricist, writer, and actor. He is best known for being the writer and composer, with Jim Jacobs of the stage and film musical Grease. Casey was gay, and he died of AIDS-related complications in Chicago at the age of 53.
Frances Faye (1912 - 1991) US. Singer, Actress
American cabaret and show tune singer and pianist. She was married twice in the 1940s. In the late 1950s, a woman named Teri Shepherd became her manager and lifelong partner
Larry Levan (1954 - 1992). US DJ
DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. Levan was openly gay and got his start alongside DJ Frankie Knuckles at the Continental Baths. In September 2004, Levan was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding achievement as a DJ.
Jean Marais (1913 - 1998 ). French Actor
Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais was a French actor and director, who starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau (who was for a time his lover), most famously Beauty and the Beast and Orphée
Sodomy laws in history, November 8
1912 — The Michigan Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction despite possible prejudice against the defendant.
1944 — The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court and orders an investigation of an Indiana man’s claim of false imprisonment on sodomy charges.
1961 — The North Carolina Supreme Court rules that penetration must be proven to convict for sodomy.
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