This Day in Queer History

On this day, Katharine Coman was born. A pioneering economist and America's first female statistics professor, she shared a 25-year "Boston marriage" with poet Katharine Lee Bates.

On this day, Robin Roberts was born. The beloved Good Morning America anchor publicly acknowledged her relationship with partner Amber Laign in 2013 after years of quiet openness.

On this day in 1965, the word 'transgenderism' first appeared in a medical text by Dr. John F. Oliven. Virginia Prince later popularized the term with a broader meaning, defining people who live full-time in their chosen gender.

On this day in 1973, Germany's Paragraph 175 was significantly amended, narrowing the remaining crime to sex with a minor. The law stayed on the books but lost most of its brutal reach.

On this day in 1973, 325 people attended the first conference of the Gay Academic Union in New York City. Members including Martin Duberman, Joan Nestle, and Jonathan Ned Katz laid the foundation for LGBTQ+ studies as a field.

On this day, Prime Minister Paul Keating revoked Australia's ban on gay men and lesbians serving in the military, clearing the way for open service and equal dignity.

On this day in 1996, Elton John was honored at a gala celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. His AIDS Foundation has raised over $200 million since its founding in 1993.

On this day in 1998, the Georgia Supreme Court voted 6-1 to overturn the state's sodomy law, calling private consensual adult sexual activity the most deserving of protection from government interference.

On this day in 2014, 160 same-sex couples married in the world's largest mass same-sex wedding in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, which broke the Guinness record for largest pride parade, celebrated love at scale.