On This Gay Day: The first report about HIV/AIDS was published in 1981 It’s often reported that the first information about what would later be identified as HIV/AIDS was when on 5 June 1981 the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention published a notice about gay men who had died rare, and usually curable […]
Josephine Baker was so much more than a performer with bananas The iconic image of Josephine Baker is of her performing in a Paris club in the 1920’s wearing only a skirt made of artificial bananas and a necklace. Her 1927 performance at the Folles Bergère in the revue Un vent de folie encapsulated the new found […]
Divine found success around the globe in film and music Harris Glenn Milstead was better known by his stage name Divine. The Baltimore native became friends with filmmaker John Waters in the 1960’s and they collaborated together on many film projects. After appearing in several short films, Divine took a lead role in Waters feature […]
Bob Brown became the first openly gay politician in Australia’s federal parliament Australian went to the polls on 2nd March 1996 bringing an end to to the Keating Labor government and bringing John Howard to power. The Hawke-Keating government has been in power for five terms since 1983. Elected to the parliament on that day […]
Religious leader Jerry Falwell declares Tinky Winky is gay American religious leader Jerry Falwell declared on this day in 1999 that children’s television character Tinky Winky was gay. Falwell claimed there were many signs that the purple Teletubby was a homosexual. The British TV series had taken the world by storm in the late 1990’s […]
On This Gay Day: E.M. Forster finished writing his novel Maurice On this day in 1913 author E.M. Forster finished work on the first draft of his novel Maurice. The book tells the tale of Maurice Hall a young man who develops a romantic relationship with his university friend Clive Durham. His heart is broken when […]
Journalist Anna Rüling, was born on this day in 1880. In 1904 she gave a speech to the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee in Berlin, the first known public statement of the socio-legal problems faced by lesbians. Her actual name was Theodora “Theo” Anna Sprüngli. One of the first modern women to come out as homosexual, she has been described as […]
In 1986 New Zealand decriminalised homosexuality On this day in 1986 New Zealand passed the Homosexual Law Reform Act that decriminalized homosexuality removing British colonial laws. The country had adopted English laws in in 1840 which made homosexual acts punishable by death. In 1893 the laws were broadened so that even consensual sexual activity between […]
In 1984 Greg Louganis won his first gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics On this day in 1984 American diver Greg Louganis won his first Olympic gold medal for the Men’s 3-metre springboard at the Los Angeles Olympics. A few days later he went on to win another gold for the 10-metre platform. The […]
Author James Baldwin was born in 1924 James Baldwin was born on this day in 1924 in Harlem New York City. Baldwin would become a celebrated author whose characters often sought acceptance into society. He included gay and bisexual men as characters in many of this works. Baldwin wrote essays, plays and novels and his […]
