This Day in Queer History

On this day, Matthew Gregory Lewis was born. Known as 'Monk' Lewis for his scandalous 1796 Gothic novel The Monk, he wrote fiction dripping with transgressive desire. The genre was the high camp of its day.

On this day, Dorothy Thompson was born. Expelled from Germany by Hitler for her reporting, she was named the second most influential woman in America after Eleanor Roosevelt and loved women including Christa Winsloe.

On this day in 1926, Mathilde Krim was born. The medical researcher founded amfAR and devoted her life to fighting HIV/AIDS, raising public awareness when silence was still the norm.

On this day, Anthony D. Romero was born. He became executive director of the ACLU in 2001, the first Latino and first openly gay man to lead America's foremost civil liberties organization.

On this day in 1969, the Mattachine Society hosted the first "gay power" meeting in Greenwich Village, just days after Stonewall. Over 100 people attended the Homosexual Liberation Meeting at Freedom House.

On this day in 1986, Parliament passed the Homosexual Law Reform Act, decriminalizing sex between men and establishing equal legal provisions for all sexual relations.

On this day, Croatia's parliament approved a law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all areas, advancing LGBTQ+ protections across southeastern Europe.

On this day in 2018, Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz died. A Jewish-American essayist, activist, and founding director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, she taught the first women's studies course at UC Berkeley.