On this day in 1984, American diver Greg Louganis won his first Olympic gold medal in the men’s 3-metre springboard event at the Los Angeles Olympics.
A few days later, he won a second gold medal in the 10-metre platform event. Louganis would go on to achieve further success at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and is widely regarded as one of the greatest divers in history. At the time, he had not publicly disclosed that he was gay.
In 1994, Louganis came out in a pre-recorded announcement that was played at the opening ceremony of the Gay Games. A year later, he publicly revealed that he was living with HIV during an interview with journalist Barbara Walters.
Around the same time, Louganis released his memoir, Breaking the Surface, in which he disclosed that he had been in a romantic relationship with his manager from 1983 to 1988. Louganis later alleged that he was sexually assaulted during the relationship and that his manager had taken much of his income.
His autobiography was adapted into a television film in 1997, with Mario Lopez portraying Louganis. The Olympian has since become a prominent activist, working to combat HIV-related stigma and discrimination affecting LGBTQIA+ communities.
In 2013, Louganis announced his engagement to longtime partner Johnny Chaillot. The couple married later that year before divorcing in 2021. In 2025, Louganis announced that he was selling his Olympic medals to help fund a new life in Panama.
Journalist Randy Shilts was born on this day in 1951
The author Randy Shilts is best known for his 1987 book And the Band Played On, which documented the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
Shilts studied journalism at the University of Oregon and came out while working on the student newspaper. After graduating, he found it difficult to secure employment as a journalist because of the widespread homophobia of the mid-1970s.
He worked as a freelance journalist and wrote for The Advocate. In 1981, he became a national correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. Shilts is widely recognised as the first openly gay reporter hired by a mainstream newspaper to specifically cover LGBTQIA+ issues.
Much of his work for the newspaper focused on the political and social ramifications of the AIDS crisis.
Shilts published three influential books. The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, published in 1982, recounted the life of the assassinated politician Harvey Milk.
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic was published in 1987 and went on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies. It was translated into several languages and adapted into a film in 1993 featuring an all-star cast.
Shilts’ final book, Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the US Military from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf, was completed shortly before his death. The book examined the discriminatory practice of discharging LGBTQ+ service members from the military.
Shilts often courted controversy within the LGBTQIA+ community. He was a vocal supporter of closing saunas and bathhouses in San Francisco to help prevent the spread of HIV. He was also opposed to outing closeted public figures, even those who had a record of opposing gay rights.
While writing And the Band Played On, Shilts chose not to learn his own HIV status, fearing that doing so might influence his reporting. After completing the book, he learned that he was HIV positive.
He died in 1994 at his ranch in California. He was survived by his partner, Barry Barbieri, as well as his mother and brothers. The couple had held a commitment ceremony the year before his death.
In June 2019, Shilts was one of the inaugural 50 American “pioneers, trailblazers and heroes” inducted into the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in New York.
