Tag Archives: LGBTQ history

Landmark Status Sought For Castro’s Rainbow Flag

Hoodline reports: The big rainbow flag that flies over Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro may soon become a landmark. On Tuesday, District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced a resolution initiating landmark designation for the flag and flagpole. The resolution officially titles the flag as “Gilbert Baker’s Rainbow Flag installation at Harvey Milk Plaza.” Gilbert Baker created the rainbow flag …

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Iconic LGBTQ/AIDS Activist David Mixner Dies At 77

Brody Levesque reports at the Los Angeles Blade: Word came Monday afternoon that one of the most influential LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS activists and political strategists in the LGBTQ+ movement has died. David Benjamin Mixner, 77, was a longtime formidable presence in both Democratic progressive political circles and within his beloved LGBTQ+ community. In a Facebook post on his personal page …

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Jazz And Disco Legend Marlena Shaw Dies At Age 81

New Music Express reports: Marlena Shaw, the US soul and jazz vocalist best known for her hit ‘California Soul’, has died at the age of 81. The news was confirmed by Shaw’s daughter Marla on her official Facebook page last night (January 19). Shaw’s signature song ‘California Soul’ was recorded as a humble album track on her 1969 LP ‘The …

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Alabama GOP Bill Would Fire Board Of State Archives For Hosting Brief 2023 Lecture On State LGBTQ History

The Birmingham News reports: History in Alabama is under attack again. A handful of state lawmakers are on a mission to erase it, to cancel those who would mention it and punish those who would protect it. No less than a revered state institution is on the line — the Alabama Department of Archives and History — and the stories …

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Dem Bill Would Create Natl LGBTQ History Museum

Via press release from Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan: As LGBTQI+ History Month comes to a close, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02), Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, introduced two bills to begin the process of creating a National Museum of American LGBTQI+ History and Culture. “As our community faces unprecedented attacks and attempts to erase our history, we must preserve …

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Orlando To Purchase Pulse Nightclub For Memorial

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: Pulse nightclub, where 49 people were killed in 2016, has been sold. WESH 2 has confirmed with multiple sources that the city of Orlando is purchasing the property from owners Barbara and Rosario Poma and Mike Panaggio. The deal was struck about two weeks ago and will go before the Orlando City Council on Monday for …

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Newsom Taps Laphonza Butler To Fill Feinstein’s Seat

ABC News reports: California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Sunday plans to appoint Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY’S List, to fill the Senate seat left vacant following Dianne Feinstein’s death late last week. Butler was previously an adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in 2020, and before that a labor leader. Newsom issued a statement after news …

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Trans Woman Elected To Nashville Metro Council

The Tennessean reports: Olivia Hill is the first openly transgender person ever elected to Nashville’s Metro Council. According to LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Hill is the first transgender woman elected in Tennessee history. Hill secured one of the Council’s five at-large seats in Thursday’s runoff election with 12.9% of the vote, as of 10 p.m. Thursday night. She joins a historic …

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Biden Issues Proclamation Marking 1950s “Lavender Scare,” Which Cost LGBTQ Federal Workers Their Jobs

Via press release from the White House: Our Nation has made tremendous progress in advancing the cause of equality for LGBTQI+ Americans. To keep building on that progress, we must reflect honestly on the darkest chapters of our story and on how far we have come. Seventy years ago, as the Cold War set in, President Eisenhower signed an Executive …

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British Drag Legend Lily Savage Dies At 67 [VIDEO]

The Guardian reports: Paul O’Grady, the beloved TV presenter and comedian who broke on to the scene with his drag act persona Lily Savage, has died at the age of 67. His husband, Andre Portasio, confirmed in a statement that O’Grady died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening. Days ago, O’Grady had finished a stint playing Miss Hannigan in the …

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World’s Oldest Working Drag Queen Dies At Age 92

The Associated Press reports: Walter Cole, better known as the iconic drag queen who performed for decades as Darcelle XV and a fearless advocate for Portland’s LGBTQ+ community, has died of natural causes in Portland, Oregon. He was 92. Darcelle, who died Thursday, was crowned the world’s oldest working drag performer in 2016 by the Guinness Book of World Records …

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Gallup Survey: 7.2% Of US Adults Identify As LGBTQ

Gallup Polling reports: After showing perceptible increases in 2020 and 2021, U.S. adults’ identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual held steady in 2022, at 7.2%. The current percentage is double what it was when Gallup first measured LGBT identification a decade ago. The data are based on aggregated polling data from 2022 Gallup telephone surveys, …

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Germany Commemorates LGBTQ Holocaust Victims

CNN International reports: The German parliament for the first time on Friday focused its annual Holocaust memorial commemorations on people persecuted and killed over their sexual or gender identity during World War II. Campaigners in Germany have worked for decades to establish an official ceremony to commemorate the LGBTQ victims persecuted under the Nazi regime. “Today’s hour of remembrances focuses …

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WH Lit In Pride Colors After Biden Signs Marriage Bill

The Hill reports: The Biden administration lit up the south portico of the White House in rainbow colors on Tuesday evening after the president signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law earlier in the day. President Biden signed the legislation, which provides federal protections for same-sex marriage, during a celebratory event on the South Lawn with more than 2,000 …

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LIVE VIDEO: President Biden Signs Marriage Bill

CNN reports: The White House is planning to mark the occasion with a ceremony built to a scale that it believes is fitting of the moment. Among the guests invited to the bill signing at the White House are prominent members of the LGBTQ community and activists. They include Judy Kasen-Windsor, widow of gay rights activist Edie Windsor; Matthew Haynes, …

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Pelosi Takes Victory Lap On Her LGBTQ Rights Legacy

Speaker Nancy Pelosi writes for the Washington Post: In my first speech on the House floor, I declared that “we must take leadership of course in the crisis of AIDS.” During my first speakership, we erased the egregious “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy from the books — ensuring gay and lesbian Americans can openly serve their country. We advanced justice …

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Historic NYC Gay Bar Julius’ Granted Landmark Status

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to designate Julius’ Bar in the Village as an individual landmark. In the 1960s, the state liquor authority did not allow people to be served alcohol if they were openly gay. “In 1966, we had something called the sip-in,” Julius’ Bar manager Nick Gabriellini said. …

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US Census Report: 1.2 Million Same-Sex Households

Changing America reports: The number of same-sex households in the U.S. surpassed 1 million for the first time, according to new census data. There were about 1.2 million same-sex households in 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. About 710,000 of those households were married, while 500,000 were unmarried. The percent of same-sex households included in the American household population as …

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Pro-LGBTQ Obama Defense Sec. Ash Carter Dies At 68

ABC News reports: Former U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who served in the post under President Barack Obama, has died at 68, his family announced Tuesday. Carter is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and his children, Ava and Will. “It is with deep and profound sadness that the family of former Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter shares that Secretary Carter …

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