This Day in Queer History

This month in 1880, Lytton Strachey was born. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group, his witty, irreverent biographies revolutionized the genre while his homosexuality remained public only among close friends.

This month, Mercedes de Acosta was born. The poet and playwright was known for her legendary lesbian affairs with Hollywood stars. As Alice B. Toklas wrote, "She's had the most important women of the twentieth century."

This month in 1935, Bessie Smith recorded 'B-D Woman,' a tribute to bulldaggers that may be the first popular release celebrating butch lesbians. The Empress of the Blues held nothing back.

This month, Blueboy Forum debuted on New York cable, billing itself as the first gay-oriented TV show in the United States and bringing queer content into living rooms through a new medium.

This month in 1978, the Toronto Lambda Business Council incorporated as Canada's first association of gay businesses, proving that queer economic power could organize and thrive.

This month in 1979, Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway with music by Stephen Sondheim and direction by Harold Prince. The darkly brilliant musical won eight Tony Awards and became a groundbreaking classic of the theater.

This month in 1993, Leslie Feinberg published Stone Butch Blues, a groundbreaking novel centering butch-femme culture and working-class queer life. It won the 1994 Stonewall Book Award.

This month, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association founded the International Journal of Transgenderism. The journal gave medical and academic credibility to transgender health research at a critical moment.

This month in 2008, Nicaragua legalized same-sex sexual activity, reversing the punitive laws signed by President Chamorro in 1992. A Central American nation chose decriminalization.

This month in queer history, Portugal's president signed the most advanced gender identity law in the world, simplifying the process of legal sex and name changes.

This month, Maryland passed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, becoming the eighth state to do so. The march toward nationwide marriage equality gained another ally.