This Day in Queer History

This month in 1813, Mary Grew was born. An abolitionist, suffragist, and orator, she spent her life alongside partner Margaret Burleigh, fighting for justice while building a love story that lasted decades.

This month in 1864, Sir Roger Casement was born in Ireland. A diplomat turned Irish nationalist, his homosexuality was used against him at his treason trial. Despite this, he remains a celebrated human rights pioneer.

This month, Lily Tomlin was born. The openly lesbian comedian and actress, from Laugh-In to Grace and Frankie, won a Tony for a show written by her wife Jane Wagner and received the Mark Twain Prize for humor.

This month in 1939, Stephen M. Lachs was born. Appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 1979, he became the first openly gay judge in the United States, serving on the LA County Superior Court.

On this day, Mia Yamamoto was born in a Japanese American internment camp. She became a pioneering transgender civil rights attorney in Los Angeles, turning a life shaped by injustice into a fight for justice.

This month in 1949, Leslie Feinberg was born. Author of Stone Butch Blues and Transgender Warriors, Feinberg's groundbreaking work shaped modern gender discourse. Her last words: "Hasten the revolution!"

On this day, Czechoslovakia decriminalized sodomy, quietly removing one of the many legal barriers that had long criminalized queer lives behind the Iron Curtain.

This month, Hungary decriminalized sodomy, joining a small but growing number of nations choosing to stop punishing people for who they love.

This month, the first photograph of lesbians appeared on the cover of The Ladder magazine, showing two women on a beach looking out to sea. Under editor Barbara Gittings, visibility replaced anonymity as a political act.

This month, West Germany repealed its laws prohibiting homosexual acts between consenting adults. Notably, the old laws had never acknowledged lesbians, erasing their existence even in persecution.

On this day, Del Whan taught the first gay studies class at USC, titled 'Social Movement: Gay Liberation.' It sparked the university's first LGBTQ+ student organization, the Gay Liberation Forum.

This month, Jude Patton began his series of sex confirmation surgeries at Stanford University, becoming one of the earliest openly trans men in America. He has spent decades advocating for LGBTQ+ aging.

This month, the Gay Bob doll debuted in stores across America. He had a pierced ear and his box was shaped like a closet, blending camp humor with quiet cultural defiance.

This month, New Jersey decriminalized private consensual adult homosexual acts. Another state recognized that the government had no business policing what consenting adults do in their own homes.

This month, John Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality hit bookstores. The Yale historian, who died of AIDS in 1994, transformed scholarship on religion and homosexuality with groundbreaking research.

This month, the CDC used the term AIDS for the first time, reporting that one to two cases were being diagnosed in America every day. The name gave shape to an epidemic already devastating queer communities.

This month, a law recognizing same-sex registered partnerships went into effect. Another country took a step toward affirming that queer families deserve legal recognition and protection.

This month in 2013, Yodogawa ward in Osaka became the first government body in Japan to officially support LGBT inclusion, a quiet but groundbreaking step in a nation slow to embrace queer rights.

On this day, aviation pioneer Janet Gulland died. A Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and British Moth Boat champion, she shared fifty years with her partner Sue while breaking barriers for women in engineering.