LGBT History

Gentle readers, I’m rerunning my annual Pride rant for the thirteenth year. I wrote this post in 2005 a couple of days after attending Pride in NYC. In the following years I’ve reposted it in advance of Pride in the hope of encouraging you to attend your local events. Have a wonderful Pride Month. Love each other. Watching The Defectives …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday called a special session of the Texas Legislature starting July 18. Abbott asked lawmakers to first pass key legislation that would keep some state agencies from shuttering. That “will be the only legislation on the special session [call] until they pass out of the Senate in full,” Abbott said. Abbott laid …

Today would be Gilbert Baker’s 66th birthday and Google celebrates with an animated doodle. They write: Today’s doodle is a little more colorful thanks to Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag, a symbol of pride and freedom for the LGBTQA+ community. Teaching himself to sew, Baker put his skills to work for the San Francisco gay community, making banners …

Via press release: Friends and family of the late Gilbert Baker will hold an activist march and rally against LGBT oppression in memory of the world-renowned artist who created The Rainbow Flag, the international symbol of LGBT pride and liberation. Baker, a lifelong LGBT and social justice activist, died suddenly March 31 in his Manhattan home. He was 65. The …

DNA Info reports: Just after the 1969 Stonewall riots — largely considered a seminal moment in the quest for LGBT rights — many gay rights groups were still organizing in the shadows, quietly meeting in neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights to lay the groundwork for the movement. The historic preservationists working on the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project are now …

Out today is Electric Lines, the new album by 2 Bears and Hot Chip member Joe Goddard, which gives me an excuse to post last month’s single, which serves as an old school disco homage to legendary Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan. Sampled in the single is the 1978 Paradise Garage staple, Brainstorm’s On Our Way Home, and as you’ll …

Via press release: On March 31, 2017, Gilbert Baker the creator of the iconic Rainbow Flag sadly passed away. Mr. Baker was both an LGBTQ activist and artist, and was known for helping friends create banners for protests and marches. To honor the memory of Gilbert Baker, NewFest and NYC Pride partnered with Ogilvy & Mather’s design team and created …

Grammy-winning DJ Frankie Knuckles, known worldwide as “the Godfather of House,” died three years ago this month. But his personal record collection is now on display for the public to actually touch and play. MixMag reports: With the record collection of Frankie Knuckles now at Theaster Gates’s Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, The Frankie Knuckles Foundation has shared a …

Cleve Jones breaks the news on his Facebook page: “I am heartbroken. My dearest friend in the world is gone. Gilbert gave the world the Rainbow Flag; he gave me forty years of love and friendship. I can’t stop crying. I love you forever Gilbert Baker.” No cause of death has yet been disclosed. Gilbert suffered a stroke about five …

The Associated Press reports: Orlando and Orange County officials want the first anniversary next June of the Pulse nightclub massacre to be marked with acts of love and kindness. Elected officials on Monday said that June 12 officially would be dedicated as “Orlando United Day – A Day of Love and Kindness.” Officials also announced a series of events planned …

The Washington Post reports: Last year, Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem “I Will Survive” became one of 25 new additions to the National Recording Registry, a collection of sound recordings considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States” and kept at the Library of Congress. The wide-ranging registry includes Thomas Edison’s early cylinders, Martin …

The Bubble reports: Today marked the opening of the newly inaugurated Carlos Jaúregui subway station. Located on the corner of Avenida Santa Fe and Pueyrredón, the stop was previously referred to as the “Santa Fe” stop on the H line. Following a measure approved unanimously last year by the Buenos Aires City Legislature, the station was opened under its new …

The New York Times reports: The National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park here is a somber glen of plants, trees, walks, grass and cairn, with thousands of names etched in stones and pavement. Visitors’ emotions run high, but the details of exactly how AIDS devastated and transformed the world are not found here. “The story of AIDS is …

BillyPenn.com reports: Little Pete’s is disappearing from Center City sooner than anyone thought. Although developers for the hotel that will replace the iconic diner at 17th and Chancellor had set August 31 as the deadline for vacating the space, owner Pete Koutroubas has decided to shut down earlier. He’s also throwing a farewell party. As reported by Philly Chit Chat, …

I’ve been waiting in vain all day for an updated trailer so let’s go with the original one below. The A.V. Club sets up the mini-series that launches tonight: “Each generation has its own epic confrontations it must deal with,” narrates Cleve Jones (Guy Pearce) over the opening scenes of Dustin Lance Black’s When We Rise. When he makes this …

The Protect Marriage lawyer who defended Prop 8 at the Supreme Court and who later appeared to “evolve” on same-sex marriage is expected to be Trump’s pick for Solicitor General. Yahoo News reports: Conservative lawyer Chuck Cooper has emerged as Donald Trump’s likely pick to be the nation’s next solicitor general, three sources say. As the nation’s top advocate, Cooper …

The BBC reports: A Church of England theological college has expressed regret after trainee priests held a service in the antiquated gay slang language Polari. The service at the chapel of Westcott House in Cambridge was to commemorate LGBT history month. The congregation was told the use of the lexicon was an attempt to “queer the liturgy of evening prayer”. …

The Guardian reports: Thousands of men convicted of offences that once criminalised homosexuality but are no longer on the statute book have been posthumously pardoned under a new law. A clause in the policing and crime bill, which received royal assent on Tuesday, extends to those who are dead the existing process of purging past criminal records. The general pardon …

The Hill reports: Barack Obama on Friday afternoon tweeted once again from his personal Twitter, marking the official social media transition from president. He followed it with another tweet about the Obama Foundation, which he plans to launch in Chicago and run during his post-presidential life. Despite switching back to his personal twitter, Obama will still have a far reach …

The Hill reports: President Obama on Friday tweeted out his final goodbyes to the American public in the waning hours before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the U.S. As he departed from the White House, Obama stopped to leave a note on the president’s desk for Trump. The gesture is a time-honored tradition that …