Thursday, 27 December 2012

December 27th

Born this day

Marlene Dietrich (1901 –  1992) German / US 
German-American actress and singer, who remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth greatest female star of all time.
Dietrich's personal life was kept out of public view. Dietrich, who was bisexual, enjoyed the thriving gay scene of the time and drag balls of 1920s Berlin.

Fritz Klein (1932 –  2006) US 
Sex researcher, psychiatrist, inventor of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid and author. He was also a pioneering bisexual rights activist, who was an important figure in the modern LGBT rights movement.

Bob Brown (1944 – )
Australian senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens, who was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia.Brown has led the Australian Greens since the party was founded in 1992 until the present.
Since 1997, he has been a regular fixture on the SameSame annual list of the 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians.



Guido Westerwelle (1961 – ) German
German liberal politician, currently serving as the Foreign Minister and a former Vice Chancellor of Germany in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel (since 28 October 2009). He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions. Since 2001, he has been the chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany. A lawyer by profession, he has been a Member of Parliament since 1996.
On 20 July 2004, Westerwelle attended Angela Merkel's 50th birthday party accompanied by his partner, businessman Michael Mronz, thereby tacitly acknowledging that he was gay. It was the first time that he attended an official event with his partner. Today, he is frank about his homosexuality and lives together with his partner Michael Mronz. The couple registered their partnership on 17 September 2010 in a private ceremony in Bonn

Joe Mantello (1962 – ) US 
Actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of Wicked, Take Me Out and Assassins, as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of Angels in America. Mantello directed The Ritz, his sixth production with playwright Terrence McNally, in 2007.

Tobias Billstrom (1973 – ) Swedish 
Politician currently serving as Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy in the Swedish government. At the age of 37, Billström is the youngest member of the cabinet. He is also the first openly bisexual person to serve as minister in a Swedish cabinet

Wilson Cruz (1973 - ) US 
Actor, known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life[1] and a recurring character on Noah's Arc. As an openly gay person of Afro-Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay youth of color.

Peter Zuckerman (1979 – )  US 
Prize-winning journalist and author who has focused his career in court reporting, investigative journalism and adventure stories.
His partner is Sam Adams, the mayor of Portland.

Saint's day

The Gospel of John makes several references to "the disciple Jesus loved", and to "the Beloved Disciple", including references to special priviliges that Jesus gave to this relationship, not granted to other disciples. This is taken by some Biblical scholars as evidence that Jesus had a relationship with this disciple which was at least emotionally intimate, and possibly sexual. 
It is not clear whether this "Beloved Disciple" was John himself (although it could have been), or someone else  possibly Lazarus.
In any event, there are suggestions from elsewhere that John may have had a same-sex relationship with another, his scribe Prochorus, after Christ's death.   

Died this day

Arthur Rhames ( 1957 – 1989 ) US
Guitarist, tenor saxophonist, pianist and melodica stylist, Krishna devotee, and a legend of New York City avant-garde jazz.

Hervé Guibert (1955 – 1991) 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.

Michael Callen (1955  - 1993) US 
Singer, songwriter, composer, author, and AIDS activist. He was a significant architect of the response to the AIDS crisis in the United States.

Sir Alan Bates  (1934 - 2003) UK 
Actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving. He is also known for his performance with Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek, as well as his roles in King of Hearts, Georgy Girl, Far From the Madding Crowd, and The Fixer, which gave him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1969, he starred in the Ken Russell film Women in Love with Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson, with a renowned fireside naked wrestling scene with Oliver Reed.
Although he was married to Victoria Ward from 1970 until her death from a wasting disease in 1992, Bates had numerous homosexual relationships throughout his life, including those with actors Nickolas Grace and Peter Wyngarde, and Olympic skater John Curry. In 1994 Curry died from AIDS in Bates's arms.

Ryan Shay Hoskie (???? - ????)  US 
Sex worker from Albuquerque,New Mexico, whose partially-undressed body was discovered in an alley. He had suffered upper body trauma that led to his death.

Sodomy in history, December 27th

1935 — The Florida Supreme Court holds that a sodomy indictment charging "the abominable and detestable crime against nature per os" is sufficient.

1943 — A California appellate court upholds an attempted crime against nature conviction of drunken teenagers driving around together who, under the influence, tried sex.

1960 — An Ohio appellate court overturns a sodomy conviction of a man who was given a lie detector test and had the test mentioned in his trial. The court felt that this could prejudice the jury.

Sources:

Wikipedia
On this gay day

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