This Day in Queer History

Today in queer history, Cecil Beaton was born in London. The legendary photographer, designer, and Oscar-winning costumer lived a glamorous life, with romantic relationships spanning the worlds of art and sport.

On this day, Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima was born in Tokyo. A literary force and avid bodybuilder, he lived by the samurai code and died by it, performing ritual suicide outside parliament.

On this day in 1952, Jim Kepner and Mattachine members in Los Angeles discussed launching an LGBT magazine. ONE Inc. was born, and today its archives at USC are the largest LGBT collection in the world.

On this day, the first federal gay rights bill was introduced to address discrimination based on sexual orientation. It went to the Judiciary Committee and was never brought for a vote.

On this day, two same-sex couples were married at Toronto's Metropolitan Community Church after Rev. Brent Hawkes discovered that the ancient tradition of reading banns was still legal and didn't specify sexuality.