This Day in Queer History

Around this time, Hans Christian Andersen wrote to the Grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar: 'I love you as a man can only love the noblest and best.' The fairy tale master's deepest stories were his own.

Today in queer history, Dr. Alan L. Hart was born. A pioneering tuberculosis specialist, he became one of the first trans men to undergo transition surgery and lived the rest of his life as a man.

On this day in 1913, E.M. Forster finished writing Maurice, a novel about a young man embracing his homosexuality. At his request, it was published only after his death in 1971.

On this day in 1983, the AFL-CIO voted to support gay rights legislation, bringing the weight of America's largest labor federation to the fight for LGBTQ+ workplace equality.

On this day in 1985, Herbert Rusche became West Germany's first openly gay parliament member. A Green Party activist, he had founded Heidelberg's first gay organization back in 1972.

On this day in 1985, the Labour Party Annual Conference approved a resolution calling for the end of all legal discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the United Kingdom.

On this day in 1989, Graham Chapman, co-founder of Monty Python, died at 48. He came out in his autobiography and was survived by his partner of 23 years, David Sherlock, and their adopted son John Tomiczek.

On this day in 2012, professional boxer Orlando Cruz came out as gay, becoming the first active professional boxer to do so. "I have always been and always will be a proud gay man."