Queers in History

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Tammy Baldwin

b. February 11, 1962

“There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it’s now O.K. to express ourselves publicly.We make that day by doing things publicly until it’s simply the way things are.”

A self-proclaimed “forceful supporter of civil rights and those whose voices are not heard,” Baldwin spearheaded efforts to pass inclusive hate crimes legislation and the Employment Non- Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is the first out lesbian elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As of 2011, she was one of four openly gay members and the first openly gay non-incumbent elected to Congress. In November 2012, she won election to the US Senate election for Wisconsin. In doing so, she became the first openly lesbian or gay US senator.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Baldwin was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. She graduated from high school at the top of her class and attended Smith College, where she majored in government and mathematics.

In 1986, Baldwin was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors, her first public office. During this time, she earned her degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. After practicing law from 1989 to 1992, she won a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

In 1998, Baldwin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, making her the first congresswoman from Wisconsin. She was elected to her sixth term in 2008. She serves on the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee of Energy and Commerce and on the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties of the Committee of the Judiciary.

Baldwin is a leading advocate for universal health care, as well as a proponent of renewable fuel sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A self-proclaimed “forceful supporter of civil rights and those whose voices are not heard,” Baldwin spearheaded efforts to pass inclusive hate crimes legislation and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). She has authored legislation that would extend benefits for same-sex partners to federal employees.

Baldwin lives with her partner, Lauren Azar.

February 11th in Queer History

Born this day

John Wallowitch  (1926 –  2007) US
Singer

Pratibha Parmar  (1955 –  ) UK
Director / Producer / Author

Tammy Baldwin  (1962 –  )
US Politician

Aubrey O’Day (1984 –  ) US
Reality TV [Making the Band]/ Singer / Actress / Songwriter / Fashion Designer

Died this day

Lori Shannon (1938 - 1984 )US
Drag Queen

George Hopkins (1896 - 1985 ) US
Set Designer

Mark Ashton (1961 - 1987) UK
Activist

Bernard Price (1925 - 2000) UK
Actor

Alexander McQueen (1969 - 2010 ) UK
Fashion Designer

Sodomy in history, February 11th

1779 — Vermont adopts English common law, making sodomy a capital crime.

1860 — Texas passes a sodomy law, going off the common-law crimes statute. The new penalty is 2-15 years.

1958 — A New York appellate court overturns the disorderly conduct conviction of a man because there was absolutely no proof that he had loitered or solicited.

1963 — Colorado restores the "crime against nature" law to its indeterminate sentencing law.

1974 — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals rules that Gay bath houses are public nuisances per se.

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Monday, 10 February 2014

February 10 th in Queer History

Born this day

Anne Kaiser  (1968 –  ) US
Politician

Nichcalo Dion Crayton [Jazzmun]  (1969 –  ) US
Drag Queen / Actor / Entertainer

Ivri Lider  (1974 – ) Israeli
Singer / Musician

Brent Everett (1984– ) Canadian
Porn / Director / Actor

Died this day

Paul Monette (1945 - 1995 ) US
Author / Activist / Poet

Edgar de Evia (1910 - 2003 ) Mexican / US
Photograper

Gary Frisch (1969 - 2007 ) UK ,
Businessman

Sodomy in history, February 10th

1798 — Kentucky passes its own sodomy law after six years of living with the law of Virginia.

1831 — A new criminal code in Indiana repeals the state’s sodomy law, but retains the common-law crimes reception statute. This makes sodomy a capital offense again.

1832 — Florida gives juries total discretion to sentence a sodomy (via the common-law reception law) defendant to the penitentiary or to a fine.

1872 — South Carolina passes a new criminal code, setting the penalty at five years in prison. The code retains the term "buggery."

1887 — Idaho eliminates the specific reference to life imprisonment for sodomy, but states no maximum.

1911 — In Germany, the League for the Protection of Mothers endorses repeal of the German sodomy law and opposes its extension to cover women, calling it "a serious mistake."

1950 — A Pennsylvania court convicts a man of sodomy as an accessory before the fact for driving two teenagers to a friends house and watching them have sex.

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Sunday, 9 February 2014

February 9th in Queer History

Events this day in Queer History

2009 – Domestic Partner Registry opens in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Born this day

Amy Lowell (1874 – 1925) US
Poet

Brendan Behan (1923 – 1964) Irish
Poet / Author / Playwright

Louis Dusee (1930 – 1999) Dutch
Singer / Actor / Playwright / Presenter

Sheila James Kuehl (1941 – ) US
Actress / Politician

Marc Stevens (1943 – 1989) US
Porn

Alice Walker (1944 – ) US
Author / Poet / Activist

Marie France (1946 – ) French
Actress / Singer

Gabriel Rotello (1953 –) US
Documentary Writer / Producer

Jim J Bullock (1955 – ) US
Actor

Holly Johnson (1960 – ) UK
Singer

Michael Brandon (1965 – ) US
Porn / Director / Producer

Christian Vincent (1980 – ) Canadian
Dancer / Choreographer / Actor

Died this day

Tiffany Berry ( ? - 2006 ) US
Murder Victim

Sodomy in history, February

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Saturday, 8 February 2014

February 8th in Queer History

Born this day

Georgette LeBlanc (1875 – 1941) French
Singer / Author

Ralph Chubb (1892 – 1960) US
Poet / Artist

Elizabeth Bishop (1911 – 1979) US
Poet

Jack Larson (1928 – ) US
Actor / Producer / Screenwriter / Composer

James Dean (1955 - 1931)
US Actor

Paul Codde (1950 – ) Belgian
Actor / Presenter

Rosario Crocetta (1951 – ) Italian
Politician

Joshua Kadison (1963 – ) US
Singer / Songwriter / Pianist / Author

Nicole LeFavour (1964 – ) US
Politician / Teacher

Carlos Montenegro [aka Fredy Navas] (1972 – ) Argentina
Porn / Bodybuilder / Personal Trainer / Dancer / Model

Erik Rhodes (1982 – ) US
Porn / Model

Jim Verraros (1983 – ) US
Reality TV

Raci Ignacio (1985 – ) Filipino
Reality TV

Died this day

Derya Y (? - 2010 ) Turkish
Hate Crime Victim

Sodomy in history, February

1791 — New Hampshire restricts its sodomy law to male-male acts only, and retains the death penalty.

1826 — Delaware lowers the penalty for sodomy from death to 60 lashes given publicly, a $1,000 fine, and three years of solitary confinement in prison.

1854 — Texas amends its common-law reception statute to create specific penalties for common-law crimes, thus eliminating the death penalty for sodomy.

1949 — Georgia reduces the penalty for sodomy from compulsory life imprisonment to 1-10 years.

1960 — A California appellate court upholds the constitutionality of the state’s oral copulation law.

1963 — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals upholds the solicitation conviction of a man with the corroborating evidence that he had put forth no character witnesses for himself.

1973 — The Alabama Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the state’s sodomy law.

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