Born this day
Governor of New York and New Jersey between 1701 and 1708, and is perhaps best known for his cross-dressing while in office. Cornbury came to be regarded in the historical literature as a moral profligate, sunk in corruption: possibly the worst governor Britain ever imposed on an American colony.
Cornbury is reported to have opened the 1702 New York Assembly clad in a hooped gown and an elaborate headdress and carrying a fan, imitative of the style of Queen Anne. When his choice of clothing was questioned, he replied, "You are all very stupid people not to see the propriety of it all. In this place and occasion, I represent a woman (the Queen), and in all respects I ought to represent her as faithfully as I can."
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 – 1687) French
Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style.
He was known to be a libertine. Although his life is full of meteoric heights, his love affairs with men and women also brought him down in scandal several times at the great displeasure of Louis XIV.
Ernst Rohm (1887 – 1934) German
An officer in the Bavarian Army and later an early Nazi leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Battalion"; SA), the Nazi Party militia, and later was its commander. In 1934, as part of the Night of the Long Knives, he was executed on Hitler's orders as a potential rival.
Röhm and other SA leaders such as his deputy Edmund Heines were more or less openly homosexual.(In 1931, the Münchener Post, a Social Democratic newspaper, obtained and published Röhm's letters to a friend in which Röhm discussed his sexual affairs with men).
Owen Dodson (1914 – 1983) US
A poet, novelist, and playwright, he was one of the leading African American poets of his time, associated with the generation of black poets following the Harlem Renaissance. Dodson's poetry varied widely and covered a broad range of subjects, styles, and forms. He wrote at times, though rarely, in black dialect, and at others quoted and alluded to classical poetry and drama. He wrote about sexuality and about religion.
Anthony Edward Dyson (1928 – 2002) UK
Literary critic, university lecturer, educational activist and pioneer gay rights campaigner, Dyson single-handedly took the initiative in forming the Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS) in May 1958.
Joke Swiebel (1941 – ) Dutch
Politician, a former MEP (Member of the Europen Parliament) and founder of the LGBT Rights Intergroup.
Rita Mae Brown (1944 – ) US
Writer, best known for her first novel "
Rubyfruit Jungle". Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time. Brown is also a mystery writer and screenwriter.
She is listed at number 74 in the book "The Gay 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Gay Men and Lesbians, Past and Present".
Herbert Muschamp (1947 – 2007) US
Architectural Critic for The New York Times from 1992 ro 2004. He was openly gay, and the centrality of gay men in the cultural life of New York City was central to his writing. He continued to write until his death from lung cancer in Manhattan in 2007.
Gordon Marsden (1953 – ) UK
British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool South since 1997. Marsden is openly gay and lives with his partner.
John Galliano (1960 – ) UK
Fashion Designer
Thierry Paulin (1963 – 1989) French
Serial Killer, active in the 1980's. Together with his lover, Jean-Thierry Mathurin. Together, they murdered and robbed a series of elderly women, using their gains to finance drugs and a lavish lifestyle.
He died of AIDS in 1989.
Erwin Mortier (1965 – ) Belgian
Author, originally writing in Dutch.
Colman Domingo (1969 – ) US
Actor, playwright and director.
Siri Hall Arnoy (1978 – ) Norwegian
Politician for the Socialist Left Party. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus in 2001, but was not re-elected in 2005. She then served in the position of deputy representative during the term 2005–2009.
Hall Arnøy is openly lesbian.
Jonny Staub (1979 – ) Canadian
Radio and television personality. In 2001, at age 22, he was the youngest DJ in a major time slot in the Vancouver market.
Staub is one of Canada's first openly gay DJs in the Vancouver radio market.
Died this day
Jeffrey Dahmer (1960 - 1994 ) US
Serial Killer and sex offender, Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His murders involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. On November 28, 1994, he was beaten to death by an inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution, where he had been incarcerated.
Terry Lester (1950 - 2003 ) US
Actor, whose big break came when he joined CBS daytime soap The Young and the Restless in 1980. After leaving it in 1989, he worked on the soaps Santa Barbara for a year, and As the World Turns .
Lester kept his personal life under wraps, but a 2002 In Magazine LA article on former soap star Thom Bierdz claimed that Lester, along with Michael Corbett and Bierdz, made up a trio of gay actors who worked on The Young and the Restless in the 1980s.
Leroy F Aarons (1933 - 2004 ) US
journalist, editor, author, playwright, founder of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. In 2005 he was inducted into the NLGJA Hall of Fame.
Tony Holland (1940 - 2007 ) UK
Television screenwriter best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Holland entered into a civil partnership with Paul Wade in May 2007.
Sodomy laws in history, November 28
1951 —The Oklahoma Court of Appeals upholds a consensual sodomy conviction and refers to Washington Confidential as proof that homosexuality is overrunning the nation.
