This Day in Queer History

On this day in 1899, Anita Berber was born in Dresden. The boundary-breaking dancer and actress openly dated women including Marlene Dietrich and bar owner Lotte Hahm, blazing through 1920s Berlin before dying at 29.

On this day, Judy Garland was born. The actress behind Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz became a beloved gay icon whose personal struggles mirrored those of gay men during the height of her fame. She died at 47.

On this day in 1929, Fannie Mae Clackum was born. She became the first person to successfully challenge a military discharge on grounds of homosexuality, winning her case after eight years of fighting.

On this day in 1935, Dr. Bob Smith took his last drink, marking the founding moment of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA's twelve-step model would go on to shape recovery communities worldwide, including countless LGBTQ+ lives.

On this day, the Mattachine Society of New York held its first public meeting at the Diplomat Hotel. About 30 people showed up and helped change the course of queer organizing.

On this day in 1974, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black was born. He won an Academy Award for Milk, co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and married Olympic diver Tom Daley in 2017.

On this day, West Virginia became the 16th state to repeal its sodomy laws. Each repeal chipped away at the legal framework that had criminalized queer intimacy for centuries across America.

On this day, a policeman shot and killed a gay man in a bar near San Sebastián. Basque nationalist groups joined EHGAM, and 2,000 supporters marched through the city in a powerful display of solidarity.

On this day in 1979, actor DJ Qualls was born. Known for Road Trip and The Core, he came out on Twitter in 2020, writing 'Been gay this whole time. Tired of worrying about what people would think of me.'

On this day, Edward Sagarin died. Writing as Donald Webster Cory, his 1951 book The Homosexual in America was among the most influential works in gay rights history, inspiring compassion by revealing the struggles of queer life.

On this day in 2003, Ontario's Court of Appeals struck down Canada's ban on same-sex marriage, making it the first place in North America to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

On this day, an Oregon circuit court ruled that Jamie Shupe could legally change their gender to non-binary, believed to be the first such ruling in the United States.