Queers in History

Calendar of Sodomy, February

February 2nd in Queer History

Born this day

Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) English
Sexologist.

Xuan Dieu (1916 – 1985) Vietnamese

Poet. A colossal figure in modern Vietnamese literature, he wrote about 450 poems (largely in posthumous manuscripts) especially love poems, several short stories, and many notes, essays, and literary criticisms. Many people believe that he was homosexualalong with his lifelong friend the famous poet Huy Cận, as shown through his many poems about love dedicated to (and apparently addressed to) various men.

Liz Smith (1923 – ) US

Gossip columnist, known as The Grand Dame of Dish. Smith acknowledged her bisexuality (or as she refers to it, 'gender neutrality') in her memoirs.

Jane Wagner (1935 – ) US

Writer, director and producer,best known as Lily Tomlin's comedy writer, collaborator and life partner

Thomas M Disch (1940 – 2008) US

Award - winning science fiction author and poet. Among his other nonfiction work, he wrote theatre and opera criticism for The New York Times, The Nation, and other periodicals.

Following an extended period of depression following the death in 2005 of his life-partner, Charles Naylor, Disch stopped writing almost entirely, and later committed suicide by gunshot in 2008.

J. E. Freeman (1946 – ) US

Actor, especially known for his menacing characters roles,including the ferocious gay hitman from "Miller's Crossing". In 2009, he published a letter to the editor on sfgate.com, detailing his reminiscences of the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Frank Ferri (1954 – ) US

Democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

Michel Marc Bouchard (1958 – ) Canadian

Playwright.

Hella von Sinnen (1959 – ) German

TV comedian, whose stage name is a pun on the German von preposition denoting noble descent; "von Sinnen" is a German expression for mad or insane. She supported the fight for same-sex marriage in Germany with her wife Cornelia Scheel

Dana International (1972 – ) Israeli

Israeli pop singer of Yemenite Jewish ancestry,who is most famous for having won the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song "Diva". She has been credited with being one of the world's best known transsexuals.

David Paisley (1979 – ) UK

Scottish actor, especially well known for roles as midwife Ben Saunders in Holby City, Ryan Taylor in Tinsel Town and most recently Rory Murdoch in River City. Openly gay, he has been voted 'Britain's sexiest man' by readers of Gay Times magazine

Jeff Whittington (1985 – 1999 ) New Zealand

A teenager who was murdered by two men in an anti-gay hate crime in Wellington, New Zealand. It is unknown whether Whittington was gay. Whittington was beaten by Jason Morris Meads and Stephen Smith, suffering severe facial injuries and perforated bowels. After being taken to the hospital, he died of brain swelling. At the time of his death, Whittington had dyed his hair purple and was wearing fluorescent green nail polish.

Died this day

Adolf Brand (1874 - 1945 ) German

Author / Anarchist / Activist

Natalie Clifford Barney (1876 - 1972) US
Playwright, poet and novelist who lived as an expatriate in Paris. She was openly lesbian and began publishing love poems to women under her own name as early as 1900, considering scandal as "the best way of getting rid of nuisances" (meaning heterosexual attention from young males).

Ondrej Nepala (1951 - 1989) Czechoslovakian
Olympic gold medalist and three-time World champion Slovak figure skater who competed for Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, at the age of 38.

Oliver Sipple (1941 - 1989 ) US
Oliver "Billy" W. Sipple was a decorated US Marine and Vietnam War veteran widely known for saving the life of US President Gerald Ford during an assassination attempt in San Francisco on September 22, 1975. The subsequent public revelation that Sipple was gay turned the news story into a cause célèbre for gay activists.

Lou Harrison (1917 - 2003 ) US
Composer, particularly noted for incorporating elements of the music of non-Western cultures into his work, and one of the most prominent composers to have worked with microtones. Harrison lived for many years with Bill Colvig in Aptos, California.

Sodomy in history, February 2nd

1809 — The Illinois Territory receives the statutory law of Indiana, adopting its harsh sodomy law.

1960 — The Florida Attorney General issues an opinion that most crimes, including sodomy, can not be prosecuted on Indian reservations, so long as at least one of the parties to the act is an Indian.

1965 — A Florida appellate court rules that a "lewd, lascivious or indecent assault or act upon a child" is a lesser included offense within the "crime against nature."

Sources:

Calendar of Sodomy, February

Saturday, 1 February 2014

February 1st in Queer History

Events this day in Queer History

2004 – Cape Verde legalises homosexuality; Marshall Islands legalise homosexuality
2004 – Same-sex marriage licences issued in San Francisco, California (later annulled)
2005 – Civil Marriage Act introduced in Canada sanctioning same-sex marriage (the 4th country to do so)
2005 – LGBT History Month launched in the UK
2008 – HOD (LGBT organisation for Orthodox Jews) founded in Israel
2009 – Johanna Sigurdardottir elected Prime Minister of Iceland, the world's first openly LGBT head of government.
2009 – NoH8 campaign created by Jeff Parshley in the USA

Born this day

Langston Hughes (1902 – 1967) US
Poet, writer, and editor. Together with gay African American poet and novelist Countee Cullen, he was an important figure in the Harlem literary Renaissance of the 1920s. He is known for the use of jazz and black folk rhythms in his poetry.

Hugues never had a significant lover-relationship, though his poem "F.S." (1921) suggests otherwise, and his autobiographical writings briefly mention sex with men. Hugues wrote and published in all genres until his death but he never addressed homosexuality openly. His poems invite gay readings but his biographers disagree about his sexuality. He often said of his life,

There are some things I don't tell nobody, not even God. He might know about them, but it certainly ain't because I told him.

Hildegarde (1906 – 2005) US
Cabaret singer, best known for the song "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup."

Ton Jansen (1944 – ) Dutch
Local politician. When he was elected Mayor of Neerijnen in 1988, he became the first openly gay mayor in the Netherlands. When others followed later, he was involved with an informal association of gay mayors.

Lucy Jane Bledsoe (1957 – ) US
Novelist and science writer,who writes both fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults. She focuses on LGBT literature and has received several awards for her fictional and non-fictional writings, establishing herself as a Stonewall Book Award winner and four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist.

Saint's Day: St Brigid of Ireland

St. Brigid and her soulmate St. Darlughdach were sixth-century Irish nuns who brought art, education and spirituality to early medieval Ireland. Brigid (c.451-525) shares her name and feast day (Feb. 1) with a Celtic goddess -- and she may have been the last high priestess of the goddess Brigid.

Raised by Druids, Brigid seems to have made a smooth transition from being a pagan priestess to a Christian abbess. Today she is Ireland’s most famous female saint.

Died this day

William Desmond Taylor (1872 - 1922) US

Irish-born American actor, successful film director of silent movies and a popular figure in the growing Hollywood film colony of the 1910s and early 1920s. His murder on February 1, 1922 led to a frenzy of sensationalistic and often fabricated newspaper reports.Some of this speculation included suggestions that he lead a clandestine gay life, but Normand.Taylor's murder remains officially unsolved

Howard Junior Brown (1924 - 1975) US

A founder of the National Gay Task Force and a former New York City Health Services Administrator, who helped change the image of gay men and lesbians in the United States by coming out publicly in 1973.

Richard Wattis (1912 - 1975) UK

English character actor,best known for his appearances in British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s, typically as the "Man from the Ministry" or similar character, with trademark thick-rimmed round spectacles. He was an openly gay man in an era when this was a taboo subject.

June Miller (1902 – 1979) US

Second wife of the novelist Henry Miller. June was bisexual,and briefly left Miller to live with the artist Jean Kronski in Paris. After returning to her marriage with Miller, she became involved in a flirtatious, and possibly sexual, relationship with the writer Anais Nin. Both writers (Miller and Nin)used June as the basis for some of their writing.

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911 - 2007 ) Italian / US

Italian-American composer and librettist, best known for his classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, originally written for television and broadcast in 1951. One of the leading classical composers of the twentieth century, Gian Carlo Menotti not only had a distinguished career, but also achieved acclaim at a time when his uncloseted homosexuality could have been a major barrier.

For thirty years, his life partner was the composer Samuel Barber, whom he had met while still at college, and for whom he wrote the libretto for the opera "Vanessa". Later he also had a long personal and professional relationship with the conductor Thomas Schippers.

Sodomy in history, February 1st

1816 — Four English sailors aboard the Africaine are hanged for sodomy following a major scandal. Two others are flogged—one with 200 lashes and the other is sentenced to 300, but receives only 170 when the attending physician warns that any more would endanger his life.

1916 — A California appellate court upholds the "lewd and lascivious act" conviction of a man for having been found on a bed "in contact" with his partner.

1920 — Los Angeles poolice “Purity Squad” raids private party

1955 — A California appellate court upholds an oral copulation conviction after the jury saw graffiti referring to the defendant as "queer."

1964 — The committee reviewing the New York criminal code recommends repeal of the consensual sodomy law.

Sources:

Calendar of Sodomy, February

James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967) U.S.A. Writer and poet

Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. He was a gay poet, writer, and editor. Together with gay African American poet and novelist Countee Cullen, he was an important figure in the Harlem literary Renaissance of the 1920s. He is known for the use of jazz and black folk rhythms in his poetry.

A prolific writer, he used almost every conceivable form to arrange his thoughts on paper: poems, songs, novels, plays, biographies, histories and essays. Hughes wrote in many genres, but he is best known for his poetry, in which he used musical rhythms and the oral and improvisatory traditions of black culture.

Hughes published his first and most quoted poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, in Crisis magazine in 1921, in wich is the verse: "I have known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers."

In the 1920s he was a prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance. In 1925, while working as a busboy in Washington, D.C., he left three of his poems beside the plate of American poet Vachel Lindsay, who recognized Hughes's abilities and subsequently helped to publicize his work.

He wrote the drama Mulatto (1935), which was performed on Broadway. Beginning in the 1930s, Hughes was active in social and political causes and used much of his poetry as a vehicle for social protest. His more than 50 books include Weary Blues (1926), Shakespeare in Harlem (1942), Simple Speaks His Mind (1950), Not Without Laughter, The Dream Keeper and Tambourines to Glory (1958).

Hugues never had a significant lover-relationship, though his poem "F.S." (1921) suggests otherwise, and his autobiographical writings briefly mention sex with men. Hugues wrote and published in all genres until his death but he never addressed homosexuality openly. His poems invite gay readings but his biographers disagree about his sexuality. He often said of his life,

"There are some things I don't tell nobody, not even God. He might know about them, but it certainly ain't because I told him.

Friday, 31 January 2014

January 31st in Queer History

Events this day in queer history

1964 Randolphe Wicker Appears on the Les Crane Show

1965 Washington Post Publishes “Those Others: A Report on Homosexuality”

Born this day

Tallulah Bankhead (1902 – 1968) US
Actress

Anna Blaman (1905 – 1960) Dutch
Author

Pat Kavanaugh (1940 – 2008) UK
Literary Agent

Derek Jarman (1942 – 1994) UK
Director / Screenwriter

Fred Karger (1950 - ). US

Political consultant and gay rights activist, who in 2012 stood as openly gay candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

His campaign may have seemed quixotic, but Karger was serious about his goal to “open up” the Republican party and to send a message to young people to “stand up and be proud in a tough atmosphere.” He also achieved a notable first by becoming the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major political party in American history.

- Box Turtle Bulletin

Charles Howard (1961 – 1984) US
Hate Crime Victim

Patrick Gale (1962 – ) UK
Author

David Oliver (1962 – 1992) US
Actor

Patricia Velasquez (1971 – ) Venezuelan
Actress / Model

Portia de Rossi (1973 – ) Australian
Actress

The Australian-born actress is best known for her roles as Nelle Porter on Ally McBeal and as Linsay Bluth Fünke on Arrested Development. She married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008, and on August 6, 2010 she field a petition to take Ellen’s name. She became a US citizen in 2012 - Box Turtle Bulletin

Chad Hunt (1973/4 – ) US
Porn

Albert Kennedy (1973 – 1989) UK
Homeless Person

Daniel Tammet (1979 – ) UK Autistic
Savant

Maia Lee Singaporean
Singer

Died this day

Keith Norton (1941 - 2010 )Canadian
Politician / Lawyer

Sodomy in history, January

1729 — A Prussian baker is executed for fellating another man who later died, according to the court, of "exhaustion."

1913 — Oregon amends its sodomy law to include any act of "sexual perversity," thus including not only oral sex, put any other form of erotica. The penalty also is increased from a maximum of 5 years to a maximum of 15.

Sources:

Calendar of Sodomy, January

Thursday, 30 January 2014

January 30th in Queer History

Born this day

Howard Sturgis (1920 - 1855) UK
Author

Maud Hunt Squire (1873 – 1955) US
Artist

Jack Spicer (1925 – 1965) US
Poet

Stewart McKinney (1931 – 1987) US
Politician

Thomas Duane (1955 – ) US
Politician

Mark Eitzel (1959 – ) US
Singer

Died this day

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963) French
Composer

Rodolfo Morales (2001 – 1925) Mexican
Artist

Sodomy in history, January

1827 — Illinois enacts a law prohibiting anyone convicted of sodomy from holding public office.

1951 — A California appellate court upholds the oral copulation conviction of a man based on police looking into the window of a restroom.

1959 — The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that sodomy convictions can be secured largely on circumstantial evidence.

1961 — The New Mexico House of Representatives votes 37-28 in favor of a revised criminal code that includes a repeal of the state’s sodomy law. This is the first vote by a U.S. legislative body to repeal a sodomy law. This bill refers to sodomitical relations as "variant sexual practice," something unique in U.S. history.

1978 — The Louisiana Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction because of testimony given in the trial trying to show that the defendant was Gay. The Court said that whether the defendant was Gay or not was irrelevant under the state’s sodomy law.

Sources: