Tag Archives: LGBT History

CNN reports: The US Mint has announced the full list of five pioneering American women who will appear on the first run of the “American Women Quarters Program.” Images of the women, who represent a wide array of professions from which women were previously shut out, will appear on the backs of select quarters beginning in 2022. (George Washington’s facade …

Via press release from the White House: Ten years ago today, a great injustice was remedied and a tremendous weight was finally lifted off the shoulders of tens of thousands of dedicated American service members. The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which formally barred gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members from openly serving, helped move our nation closer to …

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 …

Just in via press release: The Stonewall Inn, widely regarded as the birthplace of the LGBTQ rights movement, will ban Anheuser-Busch products from the bar during NYC Pride weekend, June 25-27, in response to news that the company made political contributions to lawmakers behind bills targeting transgender youth. Community members will join the bar’s owners in a public ‘pour-out’ of …

NBC News reports: LGBTQ civil servants and service members were systematically fired or forced to resign due to their sexual orientation or gender identity over the past seven decades, and a proposed bill is seeking to have the federal government issue an official apology acknowledging its past discriminatory policies. The bill, introduced Thursday by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., says the …

Via press release from the White House: Five years ago today in Orlando in the middle of Pride Month, our nation suffered the deadliest attack affecting the LGBTQ+ community in American history, and at the time, the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman. Within minutes, the Pulse nightclub that had long been a place of acceptance and joy turned …

Just in via press release: 5 years ago, 49 LGBTQ people, largely Black and Latinx, were killed in the deadliest attack on LGBTQ people in American history. The shooting is also the second-deadliest mass shooting in American history. In response, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, DNC Secretary Jason Rae and DNC LGBTQ Caucus Chair Earl Fowlkes released the following statement: “Five …

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 …

From a just-issued White House proclamation: Today, we honor and celebrate the achievements and resiliency of transgender individuals and communities. Transgender Day of Visibility recognizes the generations of struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our country closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary people in the United States and around the world. Their trailblazing work has given …

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 …

CNN reports: The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services, the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the chamber. The vote was 52-48. Levine, a pediatrician, previously served as Pennsylvania’s secretary of health and as physician general — the state’s top health official and …

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. 

ABC News reports: The Senate is poised to approve Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary, the first openly gay person ever confirmed to a Cabinet post, tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s wide-ranging agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and fighting climate change. Buttigieg’s nomination was set for a final vote Tuesday in the full Senate, after the 39-year-old former …

The Independent reports: Greece has appointed its first openly gay minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle. Nicholas Yatromanolakis made history after he was named the new deputy minister of culture on Monday. The 44-year-old was promoted from his role as general secretary of contemporary culture at the same department. The appointment which made him the first openly gay minister …

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 …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Leanza Cornett, the American TV personality and former Miss America winner, has died at the age of 49 after suffering a head injury earlier this month. The Miss America Organization and her former husband Mark Steines both confirmed the death in separate social media posts. Reports said she suffered the head injury on October 12 and had …