Before the 1900s to The Suffragettes
1306, France – Philip IV orders the arrest of two Knights Templar because they exchanged an obscene kiss” that pretty much covered their entire bodies.
The Friends of Dorothy Era and The Hayes Code
1934 – Katherine “Kate” Murray Millett (Sept. 14, 1934- September 5, 2017) is born. Kate was in her mid-30s and a generally unknown sculptor when her doctoral dissertation at Columbia University, “Sexual Politics,” was published by Doubleday and Co. Her core premise was that the relationship between the sexes is political, with the definition of politics including, as she once said, “arrangements whereby one group of persons is controlled by another.” After teaching briefly at the University of North Carolina, she pursued her art career in Japan and then New York, where she took a job at Barnard College teaching English literature. In 1965 she married the Japanese sculptor Fumio Yoshimura, but she rejected many traditional ideas of marriage and eventually came out as a lesbian. Her autobiographical work Flying, published in 1974, told of the dizzying fame “Sexual Politics” had brought and her reaction to it. Sita, in 1977, dealt with her sexuality. She is survived by her spouse Sophie Keir.
1950s The Decade the public learned heterosexual women wanted sex
1953 – Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behavior in the Human Female goes on sale reporting that “2 to 6% of females, aged 20-35, were more or less exclusively homosexual in experience/response.”
September 14, 1955
At Specialty Records in Los Angeles, Little Richard records his debut album, “Here’s Little Richard”. It would prove to be his highest charting LP in America, reaching #13. The collection contained two of his biggest hits, “Long Tall Sally”, which reached #6 in the US and “Jenny, Jenny”, which reached #10. Little Richard entered a New Orleans recording studio to begin two days of recording. Things were not going well and during a break, Richard and his producer; Bumps Blackwell went to the Dew Drop Inn for lunch. Richard started playing the piano in the bar like crazy, singing a loud and lewd version of ‘Tutti Frutti.’ With only fifteen minutes left in the session, Richard recorded the song and coined the phrase, ‘a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.’
The Civil Rights 60s: When the Boomers were under 30
Feminist, Gay Liberation and Lesbian Separatists: Civil Rights
1970 – In New York City, Gay Activists Alliance stages the first of an orchestrated campaign of “zaps” in protest of continuing police harassment. They heckle Mayor John Lindsay as he enters the Metropolitan Opera House for its opening night gala.
1979, Canada – In Smeaton, Saskatchewan an education arbitration board orders teacher Don Jones reinstated to job from which he was fired for being gay.
The Genderfuck Apathetics vs Yuppies : Aids the new STD on the list
1984
The first MTV Video Music Awards show was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd. Herbie Hancock was the night’s biggest winner with five awards, followed by Michael Jackson who won three.
David Bowie won Video of the year for ‘China Girl’ at the first MTV Video awards. The song co-written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop during their years in Berlin, first appeared on Pop’s album The Idiot released in 1977.
Madonna performed “Like A Virgin” while wearing a white wedding gown at the first ever MTV Video Music Awards.
1986 – Leslie Blanchard dies from AIDS in the arms of his partner of ten year, Miguel Braschi, in New York. Braschi’s name is not on the lease of their apartment so he is not protected by rent control. In 1989 the New York Court of Appeals case Braschi v Stahl Associates Co that decided that the surviving partner of a same-sex relationship counted as “family” under New York law and was thus able to continue living in a rent controlled apartment belonging to the deceased partner. In a subsequent appeal, the court found that a “more realistic, and certainly equally valid, view of a family includes two adult lifetime partners whose relationship is long term and characterized by an emotional and financial commitment and interdependence”. Application of this standard allowed Braschi to be considered a family member and prevented his eviction from the apartment. The decision represents the first time a court in the United States granted any kind of legal recognition to a same-sex couple
1989: Seven ACT UP members infiltrate the Stock Exchange and chain themselves to the VIP balcony. Above the trading floor a banner unfurls: SELL WELLCOME. Four days later, the company lowers the price of AZT, to $6,400 per year.
90s: Listserves and Email distribution replaces telephone trees for activism
1999: Iowa governor Tom Vilsack issues an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the public sector.
Post 9/11 – From “gay and lesbian” to “lesbigay” to “Lgbt/Lgbtq/Lgbtq2”
2010, Israel – Israel’s Supreme Court, accepting the appeal of Jerusalem Open House, an LGBT organization, forces Jerusalem City Hall to fund the LGBT Pride Parade.
George Michael was sentenced to eight weeks in jail after he plead guilty to driving under the influence and drug possession. The incident occurred on July 4 when he crashed his car into a store.
cited sources
Today in LGBT History by Ronni Sanlo
Nineties Dyke 