Queers in History

Thursday, 11 April 2013

April 11th in Queer History

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Born this day

Marion Dickerman (1890 –  1983)  US
Suffragette

Glenway Wescott (1901 – )  US
Author

Emilio Colombo (1920 – )  Italian
Politician / Diplomat

Joop Braakhekke (1941 – ) Dutch
Presenter / Chef

Dorothy Allison (1949 – ) US
Author / Poet / Screenwriter

Michael Callen (1955 – 1993) US
Singer / Songwriter / Composer / Author / Musician / Activist

Sadie Benning (1973 – )  US Director / Musician / Artist
Chet Lam (1976 – ) Hong Kong Singer / Songwriter

Sodomy in history, April 11

1780 — William Smith and Theodosius Reed are pilloried in England for attempted sodomy. They are attacked by a crowd throwing objects, killing Smith. The London Morning Post endorsed the crowd’s actions.

1900 — The Iowa Supreme Court upholds the conviction of a man for threatening another man unless he fellated him.

1925 — The Kansas Supreme Court rules that fellatio is outlawed by the "crime against nature" statute.

1950 — New York becomes the first state in the nation to reduce the penalty for consensual sodomy from a felony to a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of six months.

1955 — The Mississippi Supreme Court rules that fellatio is a "crime against nature."

1963 — A New York appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of five prisoners for consensual sexual relations in their cells.

1986 — A Louisiana appellate court rules that masturbation does not violate the state’s sodomy law.

Sources:

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Aoril 10th in Queer History

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Tuesday, 9 April 2013

April 9th in Queer History

Events this day in Queer History

2009 – Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signs domestic partner benefits bill [becoming effective 1st July 2009]

Born this day

Sir Robert Helpman (1909 –  1986)  Australian
Ballet Dancer / Actor / Choreographer –

Valerie Solanas   (1936 –   1988)  US
Author / Attempted Murderer

Lar Lubovitch (1943 – ) US
Choreographer

Marc Jacobs (1963 – ) US
Fashion Designer

Cynthia Nixon (1966 – )  US
Actress

Died this day

Lyle Chambers Saxon ( 1891 -1946 ) US
Author

Emma Willits (1869 - 1965) US
Physician

Andrea Dworkin (1946 -2005 ) US
Author / Activist

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover (? - 2009), US
An 11-year old Massachusetts boy, who commited suicide after continued “gay” taunts

Sodomy in history,
April 9

1885 — Colorado outlaws "sex toys."

1924 — The Indiana Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction even though testimony of other sexual partners was introduced into the trial.

1929 — The Utah Supreme Court, although upholding the constitutionality of the 1925 sterilization law, rules that a prisoner caught in the act of consensual sodomy with another prisoner, and who is described as "acting lovingly toward other boys in the prison," can not be sterilized for that reason alone.

1951 — A California appellate court rules that anyone who commits sodomy is also a vagrant.

1956 — Arizona enacts a unique law outlawing kidnapping for purposes of sodomy.

1962 — New York amends its sodomy law to permit both parties in an act of oral sex to be considered guilty, following a 1961 court decision interpreting the law literally that only the "active" partner was guilty.

1965 — In a case from a 1962 Mansfield witch hunt, a federal court in Ohio rules that criminal prosecutions for sodomy can not be brought into federal court under federal civil rights laws.

1970 — The Oregon Court of Appeals overturns the sodomy conviction of a man who pleaded guilty with the understanding that the maximum sentence was 15 years in prison, but who received a life sentence under the indeterminate sentencing law.

Sources:

Monday, 8 April 2013

April 8th in Queer History

Born this day

Sonja Sekula (1918 –  1963) Swiss / US
Artist

Robin Tyler (1942 – ) Canadian
Comedian / Singer

Michael Bennett (1943 –  1987)  US
Dancer / Choreographer

Theresa Sparks (1949 – ) US
Police / Activist / Businesswoman

John Sex (1956 –  1990)  US
Entertainer / Performance Artist

Richard Hatch (1961 – ) US
Reality TV [Survivor] / Actor

Evan Davis (1962 – )  UK
Journalist / Presenter

Nicky Nicole (1969 – ) Dutch
Drag Queen / Presenter

Clint Catalyst (1971 – )  US
Author

Erika Holst (1979 – ) Swedish
Ice Hockey

Sean William Kennedy (1987 – 2007) US
Hate Crime Victim

Died this day

Charles Griffes (1884 - 1920) US
Composer / Pianist

Vaslav Nijinsky (1890 – 1950) Polish/ Russian

Russian danseur and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century.

Tommy Abbott (1934 - 1987) US
Actor / Dancer / Choreographer

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.

2009 – Tam Paton – UK Artists’ Manager – Born 10th August 1938

Sodomy in history,
April 8

1835 — John Smith and James Pratt are hanged in London for "unnatural crime."

1876 — Ohio outlaws the sale of sex toys.

1913 — Nebraska amends its sodomy law apparently to outlaw fellatio, but not cunnilingus, using the same wording as Ohio and Iowa. This is three years after the Nebraska Supreme Court decided that "crime against nature" did not cover fellatio.

1943 — Texas amends its sodomy law to include fellatio.

1970 — Iowa requires a coroner’s inquest into deaths caused by "crimes against nature."

1975 — Nebraska enacts a new sexual assault law after deleting repeal of the consensual sodomy law from it.

Sources:

Sunday, 7 April 2013

April 7th in Queer History

Events this day in Queer History

2009 – Same-sex marriages legalised in Vermont, USA [becoming effective 1stSeptember 2009]

Born this day

1872 – Marie Equi – US Doctor / Anarchist – Died 13th July 1952

Harry Hay (1912 - 2002 ),UK / US
Activist

Billie Holiday (1915 –  1959) US
Singer

William Eythe (1918 -1957 )  US
Actor

Daniel Emilfork (1924 –  2006)  Chilean / French
Actor

Gorden Kaye (1941 – )  UK
Actor

Werner Schroeter (1945 – 2010) German
Director / Screenwriter / Actor

Janis Ian (1951 – ) US
Singer / Musician

Nick Herbert (1963 – ) UK
Politician

Eve Salvail (1973 – )  Canadian
Model / DJ / Singer

Duncan James (1978 – ) UK
Singer / Presenter / Actor

Died this day

El Greco (1541- 1614)  Greek Painter

Lionel Pries (1897 - 1968) Canadian?
MCAA Athletic Director

Marcel Jouhendeau (1888 - 1979) French
Author

Brenda Benet (1945 - 1982) US
Actress

Fernand Legros (1931 - 1983)  French
Art Dealer

David Sweetman (1943 - 2002)  UK
Author / Poet / Director

Jack Wrangler (1946 - 2009)  US
Porn / Actor / Playwright / Director / Producer

Sodomy in history,

April 7

1934 — A California appellate court overturns a lewd & lascivious conduct conviction because the only witness had been coached in his answers.

1959 — A California appellate court upholds the right of a court to reduce the penalty only of one partner in a consensual act of oral copulation.

1972 — Hawaii passes a new criminal code, repealing its sodomy law, raising the number of repeal states to five.

1989 — New Mexico enacts a Uniform Code of Military Justice for its militia and includes a specific sodomy provision.

1995 — Mississippi enacts a sex offender registration law that includes the state’s sodomy law.

Sources:

Saturday, 6 April 2013

April 6th in Queer History

Events this day in Queer History

2011 – Civil Partnerships come into effect in Isle of Man, UK

Saint's day

Notker Balbulus (Notker the Stammerer) ( 840 – 912), Switzerland
Monk, who is said to have written homoerotic verse or love letters

Born this day

Gale Wilhelm    (1908 –  1991) US
Author

Ram Dass (1931 – ) US
Spiritual Teacher

Ed Schrock (1941 – )  US
Politician

Rob Epstein (1955 – ) US
Director / Producer / Screenwriter

Francis Garcia (1958 – 2007) Mexican
Actor / Designer

Jim Rondeau (1959 – )  Canadian
Politician

Gregory Durham (1969 – )  US
Businessman / Activist

Died this day

Charlotte Charke (1713 – 1760) UK
Actress / Playwright / Author

Sodomy in history,
April 6

1912 — The Nevada Supreme Court overturns a conviction for assault to commit sodomy because the jury was not instructed on possible "innocent motive."

1928 — The California Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction for activity on veterans’ home property, saying that the federal government has jurisdiction.

1929 — A police raid on the Lafayette Baths in New York leads to charges being filed against patrons for acts they never committed. One patron has two ribs broken and is blinded in one eye by police brutality.

1935 — The Kansas Supreme Court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man for sex with consenting teens. Favorable testimony to him is excluded from the trial.

1970 — The Colorado Supreme Court rules that cunnilingus violates the state’s sodomy law.

1971 — The Indiana Supreme Court upholds the state’s sodomy law against a vagueness challenge. A powerful dissent by Justice Roger de Bruler indicts the majority for failure to see its own prejudice in the case.

1984 — A Louisiana appellate court overturns a man’s conviction for exposing and fondling an undercover police officer. The court said that the state’s law on indecent exposure requires that the defendant expose him or herself, not another person.

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