This Day in Queer History

On this day, Ole von Beust was born. The openly gay German politician served as First Mayor of Hamburg for nearly a decade and as President of the Bundesrat, leading with visibility at the highest levels.

On this day, the Gay Activists Alliance unleashed the first "gay zap," disrupting a public appearance by Mayor John Lindsay and pioneering a bold protest tactic that demanded queer visibility in politics.

On this day, Congress opened the first committee hearings in Los Angeles on the disease that would come to be known as AIDS, beginning the long, painful process of governmental acknowledgment.

On this day, Queer Nation staged its first public action at Flutie's Bar in New York, a straight hangout at South Street Seaport. The message was clear: queers would not be restricted to gay bars for socializing or affection.

On this day, Ellen DeGeneres appeared on the cover of TIME with the words 'Yep, I'm Gay,' coinciding with the historic coming-out episode of her sitcom that became one of its highest-rated moments.

On this day in 2014, Finland announced that Tom of Finland would appear on official postage stamps. The hyper-masculine homoerotic art that once lived underground was now licked and mailed by a nation.