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Monday 5 November 2012

November 5th in Queer History

Events this day in Queer History

1974 - Elaine Noble was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, making her the first openly gay person to be elected to public office.

1985 - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation to protect people with AIDS from discrimination.

1992 - A New York State Bar Association committee issued a recommendation that low-income same-sex couples be granted access to state-subsidized housing.

Born this day

Pepper LaBeija ( 1948 – 2003) US.  Entertainer

American drag queen performer and designer featured in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning and in the 2006 documentary How Do I Look

Penny Wong (1968 – ) Australian.  Politician

Australian Labor Party senator for South Australia and the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Wong is the first openly gay member of the Australian federal cabinet, and the first Asian-born federal minister.

Wong was named by the Australian LGBT site "Same Same" as one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians. In 2007, 2008, and 2010. Controversially, she was initially reluctant to go against her party's officially declared stance against same-sex marriage - which may explain her otherwise surprising ommission from the list in 2009. She has since dropped her reluctance, and has become a firm advocate for changing the party policy 

Andrew Hayden-Smith (1983 –  ) UK  Actor / Presenter

British actor and television presenter best known for his work with the BBC children's channel, CBBC. In 2011, he was named at number 25 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays".

In 2004, ex-Byker Grove actor and CBBC presenter Andrew did the unthinkable for a young man on kids’ TV – he told the world he was gay. At the risk of being outed by a newspaper, he beat the tabloids to the punch and did an interview with Attitude magazine. 

Died this day

Jacques D’Adelsward-Fersen (1880 - 1923) French.  Author / Poet / Aristocrat

Novelist and poet of the early 20th century; his modern fame is based on a mid-century fictionalised biography by Roger Peyrefitte. In 1903 a scandal involving Parisian schoolboys made him persona non grata in the salons of Paris and dashed his marriage plans, after which he took up residence in Capri with his longtime lover, Nino Cesarini.

Luis Cernuda (1902 – 1963) Spanish. Poet / Literary Critic

One of Spain's most important twentieth-century poets, expressed his homosexuality first indirectly and then explicitly in his poetry.

Vladimir Horowitz (1903 - 1989 )  Russian  Pianist

A legendary pianist, whose artistry, preserved on recordings, remains a source of inspiration for generations of pianists, a delight for listeners, and a constant subject of academic inquiry. Although he married, among his own circle, he was well known to be homosexual.Later in life, he underwent psychiatric treatment in an unsuccessful attempt to cure his orientation.

Bunny Breckinridge (1903 - 1996 ) US Actor and drag queen

American actor and drag queen, best known for his role as "The Ruler" in Ed Wood's film Plan 9 from Outer Space, his only film appearance.

James Robert Baker (1946 - 1997) US Author

American author of sharply satirical, predominantly gay-themed transgressional fiction. A very strong voice in gay literature, Baker had admirers and detractors for his gay radical stance, both in the mainstream literary community as well as the gay community itself. Since his death, Baker's reputation has steadily increased among critics and the reading public; and his works now have cult status in the literary community.

Michael Montague (1932 - 1999) UK  Businessman / Politician

A successful businessman and Labour Party supporter, he became a member of the House of Lords in 1997. After his death, openly gay Lord Alli raised the issue of Montague's Japanese partner of 35 years, Takashi Sizuki, and the discriminatory provisions in ineritance tax law on same-sex couples compared to married couples.

Roger Peyrefitte (1907- 2000) French  Author

One of the most famous homosexuals in France in the latter half of the twentieth century, Roger Peyrefitte, the best-selling author of both novels and gossipy non-fiction, shaped the public perception of homosexuals in the days before gay liberation.

Much of his work provoked scandal. For instance, Peyrefitte infuriated the Vatican with The Keys of Saint-Peter in 1955 and by declaring in 1976 that Pope Paul VI had once been a practicing homosexual.

Destiny Lauren (1979 - 2009) UK  Murder Victim

Trans prostitute, murdered by a client.

Sodomy laws in history, November 5

1861 — Colorado passes its first criminal code and makes sodomy a crime with a compulsory sentence of life imprisonment.

1973 — The U.S. Supreme Court rules, in a case from Florida, that the term "crime against nature" is not vague and overbroad.

1973 — The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the Oklahoma sodomy law.


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