Events this day in Queer History:
1975 - The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission rules that "sex" in Human Rights Act includes sexual orientation and begins formal proceeding against University of Saskatchewan for discriminating against teacher Doug Wilson who had been fired after coming out.
1985 - Openly gay
Terry Sweeney joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.
Saints Day:
Matrona/ Babylas of Penge (d. 492)
One of a number of cross - dressing saints, women who lived as men in order to join male monasteries.
Born this day
Anne Seymour Damer (1748 - 1828) UK. Sculptor
English sculptor.
Charles Demuth (1883 – 1935) US. Painter
American watercolorist who turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism. One of America's first modernist painters, he was also one of the earliest artists in the USA to expose his gay identity through
forthright, positive depictions of homosexual desire.
English theatre director and educator who in 1974, at a time when Gay Liberation was just beginning in the UK, joined other gay activists and playwrights to set up one of the first Gay Theatre seasons in the UK.
American football player who played for the National Football League. In 1992, he came out of the closet as gay on the Phil Donahue Show.
American film director of gay, bisexual and straight pornography. He is best known in his drag persona as Chi Chi LaRue and has also directed under the names Lawrence David and Taylor Hudson
American actress who portrayed the roles of Marla Hooch in A League of Their Own(1992), Broomhilde in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Essie in Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Openly lesbian,Cavanagh stars in Exes & Ohs, a lesbian comedy on Logo TV.
Craig Chester (1965 – ) US. Actor / Screenwriter
American actor and screenwriter, best known for his performances in independent films in the 1990s. Openly gay himself, he agrees that being open and honest can be harmful to an actor's career. In his 2002 autobiography, "Why the Long Face? The Adventures of a Truly Independent Actor", he chronicles the lost battles of being an openly gay actor, concluding that "being in the closet is good for business."
Sam Sparro (1982 – ) Australian. Singer / Music Producer
Australian singer-songwriter, music producer, and former child actor. Sparro is openly gay. He did an interview for Attitude magazine and was featured on the front cover.
Died this day
German amateur tennis champion and twice French Open champion. In 1938, von Cramm was arrested by the German government, tried for homosexuality, and sentenced to 1 year imprisonment. This criminal conviction later caused several problems in his tennis career, and also led to his dismissal from military service in 1942 - even though he had already been awarded an Iron Cross for action on the Eastern Front.
After his death, Von Cramm was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1977. Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Gottfried von Cramm in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.
American theatre composer, lyricist, writer, and actor. He is best known for being the writer and composer, with Jim Jacobs of the stage and film musical Grease. Casey was gay, and he died of AIDS-related complications in Chicago at the age of 53.
Frances Faye (1912 - 1991) US. Singer, Actress
American cabaret and show tune singer and pianist. She was married twice in the 1940s. In the late 1950s, a woman named Teri Shepherd became her manager and lifelong partner
Larry Levan (1954 - 1992). US DJ
DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. Levan was openly gay and got his start alongside DJ Frankie Knuckles at the Continental Baths. In September 2004, Levan was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding achievement as a DJ.
Jean Marais (1913 - 1998 ). French Actor
Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais was a French actor and director, who starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau (who was for a time his lover), most famously
Beauty and the Beast and
Orphée
Sodomy laws in history, November 9
1674 — After the English take final control of what is now New York, the 1665 sodomy law takes effect.
1906 — A California appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man not told of his court date to be held just five weeks later.
1960 — Massachusetts bans parole for those convicted of the "crime against nature" or its attempt, but not "unnatural and lascivious acts.
1977 — The Massachusetts Supreme Court overturns a conviction for sex in a theatre cubicle, saying that the jury should have been given the option to decide if a theatre cubicle was a public place.
1995 — A Louisiana appellate court rules that a man can not recover damages from a dentist for consensual sexual relations with him years before.
