LGBT History

Gentle readers, today is Madonna’s 63rd birthday. Below is a short story that first appeared on JMG on this day in 2006, a date which, as you’ll see, plays a role in the story. Ricky Loved Madonna Twenty years ago today, August 16th 1986, I was a few months into a new job with AMC Theatres, a position that I …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: James Hormel, a San Franciscan who became the nation’s first gay ambassador and later a prolific philanthropist, died Friday. Hormel, who was 88, was appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg in 1997 by then-President Bill Clinton. He was the first openly gay person to be nominated to an ambassadorship, and faced down a nationwide …

Gothamist reports: The American LGBTQ+ Museum will have a permanent home in the expansion of the New-York Historical Society’s headquarters on Central Park West, with a $35 million infusion in capital funds from the city. The capital funds represents a quarter of the historical society’s $140 million expansion to add more than 60,000 square feet onto the lot directly behind …

It was 52 years ago this weekend that the queer community of New York City finally said “Enough!” As I’ve done for the last few years on this day, I’m reposting the story that the New York Daily News ran one week after the Stonewall Riots. Note how the story drips with condescension and ridicule. We’ve come a long, long …

USA Today reports: President Joe Biden has signed a law designating the Pulse nightclub in Orlando as a national memorial. Survivors of the 2016 shooting and the victims’ family members attended the signing ceremony at the White House. “May no president ever have to sign another monument like this,” Biden said as he signed the law as survivors stood around …

Gentle readers, I’m rerunning my annual Pride rant for the seventeenth 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 NYC Pride in the hope of encouraging you to attend your local events. While the pandemic has canceled this year’s festivities in many …

Gentle readers, on today’s fifth anniversary of the Pulse massacre, I’m rerunning my account of that day. The story below originally ran on Pride Life’s website on July 12th 2016 and makes its second appearance on JMG today. Their Phones Kept Ringing One month ago today, Sunday June 12th, around 8AM I began my day, as usual, by examining my …

From Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer: In the years since the tragedy, we have worked to increase the visibility of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community and celebrate our city’s diversity during annual events like Come Out With Pride and on murals throughout the city. We proudly fly the Pride flag at City Hall and at soccer games. Businesses now display stickers provided by …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Days before the fifth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, U.S. Senators passed a bill designating the site of the former nightclub as a national memorial. The legislation passed unanimously Wednesday afternoon after its sponsor, Sen. Rick Scott, asked that it and its companion bills be approved by unanimous consent in observance of the five years …

The Verge reports: The Bank of England has revealed the design for the UK’s new £50 note featuring computer scientist and codebreaker Alan Turing. Turing was selected to appear on the note in July 2019 in recognition of his groundbreaking work in mathematics and computer science, as well as his role in cracking the Enigma code used by Germany in …

Politico Huddle reports: The House is set to vote today on the Equality Act, which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also provides sweeping protections for the LGBTQ community against discrimination. Your Huddle host caught up with Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the House co-sponsor of the bill, …

CBS News reports: President Biden on Wednesday morning is set to swear in Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary, making the former South Bend, Ind., mayor the nation’s first openly LGBTQ Cabinet secretary. The Senate confirmed Buttigieg on Tuesday by 86-13 vote. Biden is scheduled to hold the ceremony at 9:30 a.m. 

The Washington Post reports: The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday morning to decide whether to give a thumbs-up to Pete Buttigieg’s nomination as President Biden’s secretary of transportation. Buttigieg sat for a friendly 2 1/2 hour hearing before the committee last week, delivering a wide-ranging performance that impressed Republicans and Democrats alike. Buttigieg, 39, stands to become …

ABOVE: At the 1985 Xmas party described below: Me, Michael, and Barney. Originally posted May 2004. Reposted for World AIDS Day. Membership Michael didn’t look good. We were at his annual Christmas luau party. Tons and tons of people in the house and the backyard. Standing in his kitchen, wearing a grass skirt and a ridiculous Santa hat covered in …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Although the Parliament House will be demolished, its distinctive multicolored sign will be preserved as a piece of Orlando history. “The City of Orlando is working on saving the sign,” city spokeswoman Samantha Holstein wrote in an email. “Staff has been in conversations with the property owner and working on coordinating the removal and storage for …

Gentle readers, today is Madonna’s 62nd birthday. Below is a short story that first appeared on JMG on this day in 2006, a date which, as you’ll see, plays a role in the story. Ricky Loved Madonna Twenty years ago today, August 16th 1986, I was a few months into a new job with AMC Theatres, a position that I …

Atlanta’s ABC News affiliate reports: The late Rep. John Lewis arrived back home in Atlanta today, following four days of tributes and services that have taken the congressman and Civil Rights hero back to his native Alabama and then to Washington, D.C. As he did at the Alabama and U.S. capitols, Lewis will lie in state at the Georgia State …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Ten years after a historic trial in San Francisco on the right to same-sex marriage, a federal judge on Thursday ordered a videotape of the proceedings unsealed next month so that the public could finally view it. The non-jury trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker included testimony by gay and lesbian couples and …

Just in via press release: The Gill Foundation today announced it will match contributions up to $250,000 to protect the Stonewall Inn, which is on the brink of closure due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. The support will be earmarked to support rent and utility costs. In addition to its $250,000 pledge to protect the legacy of …

It was 51 years ago today that the queer community of New York City finally said “Enough!” As I’ve done for the last few years on this day, I’m reposting the story that the New York Daily News ran one week after the Stonewall Riots. Note how the story drips with condescension and ridicule. We’ve come a long, long way …