This Day in Queer History

On this day, Walt Whitman was fired from the U.S. Department of the Interior after his boss discovered Leaves of Grass. The poetry deemed obscene would come to define American literature.

On this day in 1919, Different from the Others was released, one of the first sympathetic portrayals of homosexuality on film. Co-written with Magnus Hirschfeld, it argued against Germany's Paragraph 175.

On this day in 1957, Ilene Chaiken was born. The co-creator and showrunner of The L Word brought lesbian lives to mainstream television, giving a generation of queer women a mirror and a home.

On this day, Ben Patrick Johnson was born. After becoming co-host of Extra, he was demoted to Senior Correspondent shortly after coming out as gay, a stark reminder of the cost of visibility in entertainment.

On this day in 1969, just after Stonewall, a vigilante group in Queens cut down trees in a park known as a gay cruising spot. The New York Times ran nine articles on the lost greenery.

On this day, the first lesbian conference in Canada was held at the YWCA in Toronto, a milestone for organized lesbian activism north of the border.

On this day in 1984, the Unitarian Church voted to approve ceremonies uniting same-sex couples, becoming one of the earliest religious denominations to officially affirm and celebrate queer love.

On this day, Spain's Parliament legalized same-sex marriage, defying conservative and clergy opposition to make the traditionally Catholic nation the third country in the world to allow same-sex unions.

On this day in 2006, over 40 gay and lesbian Royal Navy personnel marched in full uniform at the inaugural EuroPride parade in London. The first military organization in the world to allow this. History in formation.

On this day in 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter lifted the ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. military, removing one of the last barriers to full LGBTQ+ participation.

On this day in 2016, the UN Human Rights Council appointed its first independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, a historic victory for global LGBTQ+ protection.

On this day, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law banning the gay and trans panic defense in New York. The tactic blamed victims' identities for their attackers' violence. New York became the sixth state to reject it.