Tag Archives: LGBTQ history

Gothamist reports: The Trump administration removed references to transgender and queer people from an official webpage for the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village, drawing widespread recrimination from lawmakers and New York’s influential queer community. Hundreds of people swarmed the monument Friday, carrying LGBTQ+ Pride flags, along with signs reading “there’s no Stonewall without the T” and similar messages opposing …

CBS News reports: Protesters are expected at the Stonewall National Monument Friday after references to trans and queer people were removed from the National Park Service website. The protest will take place outside the monument where the LGBTQ+ rights movement was born decades ago. Trans flags are still  flying at Christopher Park near the Stonewall Inn, and after hearing from …

From the National Park Service’s newly updated entry about New York City’s Stonewall Monument: Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement. Located in Greenwich Village, …

A Baptist site called The Biblical Reporter has published a lengthy lionizing of the life of recently dead Anita Bryant with a headline which crows that she “foretold the battle against the LGBTQ agenda.” The piece closes with this: Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recalled on The Briefing podcast Jan. 13 that he heard Bryant sing in …

The paywall is dropped for Anita Bryant’s obituary: Anita Bryant Dry—former Miss Oklahoma, three-time Grammy-nominated singer, Christian author, recipient of the USO Silver Medallion for Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars Leadership Gold Medallion, and Al Jolson Gold Medallion—died at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Monday, December 16, 2024, surrounded by her family and friends. She was 84 years old. …

Via press release from the Human Rights Campaign: “All of us at the Human Rights Campaign feel an immense loss with the passing of former President Jimmy Carter,” said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “In recent years, he became a prominent voice in support of LGBTQ+ rights, speaking out for marriage equality at a time when most …

Via press release from Boulder County, Colorado: The historic Boulder County Courthouse has been designated a National Historic Landmark, recognizing its pivotal role in advancing LGBTQ+ rights in the United States. The courthouse became a beacon of equality and justice in 1975 when Boulder County Clerk Clela Rorex issued the first same-sex marriage license in the nation. On March 26, …

Village People lead vocalist Victor Willis writes: There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem. As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village …

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 Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden on Sunday had the AIDS Memorial Quilt spread on the White House South Lawn for the first time in observance of World AIDS Day. Gathered with the president and his wife, Jill, were survivors, family members and advocates to memorialize the lives lost to the epidemic. The president emphasized the federal government’s support …

ABC News reports: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will mark World AIDS Day on Sunday by debuting the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the White House. It will be displayed on the South Lawn as the Bidens commemorate the day with survivors, their families and advocates. The White House said in statement that the Biden administration has made …

The Associated Press reports: Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, who served two Republican presidents as one of the country’s best known conservative lawyers and successfully argued on behalf of same-sex marriage, died Wednesday. He was 84. The law firm Gibson Dunn, where Olson practiced since 1965, announced his death on its website. No cause of death was given. One …

“Our democracy doesn’t require us to agree on everything. That’s not the American way. Just the opposite. We don’t shy away from robust debate. We like a good debate. And the fact that someone disagrees with us, does not make them ‘the enemy from within.’ “Those who came before us—the patriots at Normandy and Selma. Seneca Falls and Stonewall…they did …

Gentle readers, I’m rerunning my annual Pride rant for the twentieth 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 the NYC Pride March. If you’re in town, I encourage you to attend. Love each other. Watching The Defectives Last Sunday at 12:30pm, …

New York City’s NBC affiliate reports: President Joe Biden traveled to New York City on Friday where he visited the Stonewall Inn to mark the 55th anniversary of the riots. Biden, along with the first lady, visited for the opening day of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, where music and plenty of hope was on full display. The president …

“On June 28, 1969, members of the LGBTQ+ community made history by standing up and fighting back – demanding their rights at the Stonewall Inn. Joined by friends, neighbors, and allies, the bravery of these individuals sparked the ongoing LGBTQ+ rights movement. “It exemplified their persistence in fighting for a nation where everyone can be their most authentic selves, where …

The New York Times reports: Diana Rodriguez, the chief executive of Pride Live, which runs the new Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, pointed to an old-fashioned jukebox. “Go ahead, give it a whirl,” she said. I dropped in a Stonewall-branded coin and chose a song. The machine whirred, for five seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, as Rodriguez explained that it …

The New York Post reports: President Biden will join pop star Elton John at the Stonewall Inn Friday to mark the 55th anniversary of the first night of riots that helped launch the modern gay rights movement — before hitting up the Hammerstein Ballroom for a big-money fundraiser, The Post has learned. The White House had teased that Biden, 81, …

From the New York City real estate site 6sqft: The Christopher Street-Sheridan Square subway station in Greenwich Village will be renamed in honor of the Stonewall National Monument. A bill sponsored by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Deborah Glick passed the New York State Senate on Wednesday, directing the MTA to rename the station to “Christopher Street-Stonewall National Monument …

Bloomberg Law reports: Maryland’s largest public school system doesn’t have to allow parents to excuse their kids from classroom lessons involving LGBTQ-themed books while the families’ constitutional challenge proceeds, a divided federal appeals court said Wednesday. The parents haven’t shown they’re likely to succeed on their arguments that the Montgomery County school system’s attendance requirements violates their religious freedom, free …