This Day in Queer History

On this day, Bob Mellors and Aubrey Walter hosted the UK's first Gay Liberation Front meeting at the London School of Economics, inspired by the American GLF and the Black Panthers.

On this day in 1982, Virginia Apuzzo debated Jerry Falwell on gay rights on the Phil Donahue show. The former National Gay Task Force director brought fierce, articulate advocacy to millions of living rooms.

On this day, 800 people attended the first Pride parade on the African continent in Johannesburg, organized by anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli, who said, "I cannot be free as a Black man if I cannot be free as a gay man."

On this day, Annie Proulx's short story Brokeback Mountain was published in The New Yorker, introducing the world to the doomed love between two cowboys that would later become an Oscar-winning film.

On this day in 1999, President Clinton renewed his call to include gay men and lesbians in hate crimes legislation, pushing for federal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ violence.

On this day in 2002, Myers Park Baptist Church left the Southern Baptist Convention to become the first queer-affirming Baptist congregation, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

On this day in 2009, George Takei and his husband Brad Altman became the first same-sex couple to appear on The Newlywed Game. Star Trek's beloved helmsman came out in 2005 and became one of the most visible LGBTQ+ advocates in entertainment.