This Day in Queer History

On this day, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas met in Paris for the first time. They stayed together until Stein's death in 1946, their legendary partnership anchoring the modernist salon that shaped 20th-century art and literature.

On this day in 1975, Vietnam veteran Sgt. Leonard Matlovich appeared on the cover of TIME declaring 'I am a homosexual,' becoming the first gay U.S. service member to publicly come out. His epitaph: a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.

On this day in 1983, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immigration authorities cannot bar lesbians and gay men from entering the country based solely on their sexuality.

On this day, Rachel Maddow became the first openly gay anchor of a major prime-time news program in the U.S., launching The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.

On this day, Ana Irma Rivera Lassén became president of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the first Black woman and first openly lesbian person to hold the position, a champion of human rights and equality.