Thursday, 13 December 2012

December 14th in Queer History


Saint's Day:

Venantius Fortunatus, Italian (c.530-c.603)
Bishop and poet, whose includes some clearly homoerotic verse which has been included in Stephen Coote's "Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse".

St John of the CrossSpanish (1542-1591)
Mystic and poet, whose devotional writing uses extensive homerotic imagery.

Born this day:

David Lewis ( 1903 - 1987) US 
Hollywood film producer who produced such films as Dark Victory (1939), Arch of Triumph (1948), and Raintree County (1957). He was also the longtime companion of director James Whale from 1930 to 1952.

Gerard Reve (1923 –  2006) Dutch 
Gerard Kornelis van het Reve was a Dutch writer who adopted a shortened version of his name, Gerard Reve in 1973.Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature. His 1981 novel De vierde man was the basis for Paul Verhoeven's 1983 film.

Reve was one of the first homosexuals to come out in the Netherlands.He often wrote explicitly about erotic attraction, sexual relations and intercourse between men,which he did in an ironic, humorous and recognizable way, and which contributed to making homosexuality acceptable for many of his readers.

Jobraith (1946 –  1983) US 
American folk and glam rock musician and actor.He was one of the first pop musicians in the United States to openly identify as gay, and one of the first professional musicians to die of AIDS complications.

Boudewijn Buch (1948 –  2002) Dutch
Dutch writer, poet and television presenter.

Paul Zaloom (1951 – ) US 
Actor and puppeteer best known for his role as the character Beakman on the television show Beakman's World.

HervĂ© Guibert   (1955 –  1991) French
French writer and photographer, and a close friend of Michel Foucault. The author of numerous novels and autobiographical studies, he played a considerable role in changing French public attitudes to AIDS.

Kerryn Phelps (1957 – ) Australian 
Australian medical practitioner and public commentator. Professor Phelps was the first woman and first LGBT person to be elected president of the Federal Australian Medical Association (AMA). In 2003 she was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to Health and Medicine.

Bob Paris (1959 – ) US
Writer, actor, public speaker, civil rights activist and former professional bodybuilder. Paris was the 1983 NPC American National and IFBB World Bodybuilding Champion, Mr. Universe.

In the July 1989 issue of Ironman, Paris came out in the media as a gay man.
He and his then-partner, Rod Jackson, had a commitment ceremony in a Unitarian church in 1989, started successful non-profit companies, lectured on a wide variety of LGBT rights issues, and made many television, radio, newspaper and magazine appearances.

Died this day

Lee Kok Cheong (1939 - 1993) Singapore
Teacher / Hate Crime Victim

Kate Fleming (1965 - 2006) US 
Actress / Producer

Dennis deLeon ( 1948 - 2009 ) US 
Activist

Sodomy in history, December 14 th

1808 — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issues a report listing all English statutes in force in Pennsylvania. Neither the Henrican nor Elizabethan buggery law is listed, meaning that Pennsylvania will be dependent on its own sodomy statute to authorize prosecutions.

1914 — The Louisiana Supreme Court rules that the 1896 oral sex law "perhaps" criminalizes cunnilingus, and does criminalize fellatio.

1915 — The California Supreme Court reverses the sodomy conviction of a man for consensual relations after a landlady witnessed him and his partner enter a bathroom together. The Court feels that the evidence is all hearsay.

1967 — The Puerto Rico Supreme Court uses religious references in a sodomy case and decides that government knows best in these issues.

1970 — A California appellate court reinstates the trial of a man challenging the constitutionality of the state’s oral copulation law, saying that a judge can not be expected to know case law.

1987 — The U.S. Court of Military Appeals upholds the sodomy conviction of a Navy officer based on his partner’s diary "found" by investigators.


Sources:

Wikipedia
On this gay day

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