August 14

383 BC – Demosthenes, famed orator and politician, is born in Athens. Anyone who has struggled with public speaking knows the parable about putting pebbles in your mouth. It was Demosthenes who invented the practice. When he wasn't practicing with pebbles he was dating the young men of the city.

Demosthene's political rival, Aeschines uses Demosthenes' pederastic realtionships as a means to attack him. In the case of Aristion, a youth from Plataea who lived for a long time in Demosthenes' house, Aeschines mocks the "scandalous" and "improper" relationship. In another speech, Aeschines brings up the pederastic relation of his opponent with a boy called Cnosion. The slander that Demosthenes' wife also slept with the boy suggests that the relationship was contemporary with his marriage. Aeschines claims that Demosthenes made money out of young rich men, such as Aristarchus, the son of Moschus, whom he allegedly deceived with the pretence that he could make him a great orator. He also accused Demosthenes of having been such a bad erastes (older male lover-mentor) to Aristarchus so as not even to deserve the name. His crime, according to Aeschines, was to have betrayed his eromenos (young lover-ward) by pillaging his estate, allegedly pretending to be in love with the youth so as to get his hands on the boy's inheritance.

Demosthenes devoted his most productive years to opposing Macedon's expansion. He idealized his city and strove throughout his life to restore Athens' supremacy and motivate his compatriots against Philip II of Macedon. He sought to preserve his city's freedom and to establish an alliance against Macedon, in an unsuccessful attempt to impede Philip's plans to expand his influence southwards by conquering all the other Greek states. After Philip's death, Demosthenes played a leading part in his city's uprising against the new King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great. However, his efforts failed and the revolt was met with a harsh Macedonian reaction. To prevent a similar revolt against his own rule, Alexander's successor in this region, Antipater, sent his men to track Demosthenes down. Demosthenes took his own life, in order to avoid being arrested by Archias, Antipater's confidant.

1840 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing (d.1902), before Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung monopolized the spotlight in the early twentieth century, filled the role as the world's most preeminent psychiatrist in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His carefully detailed work involving hundreds of case studies shed light on the sexual habits of a wide spectrum of men and women. Although he personally abhorred homosexuality, his non-judgmental and open-minded analyses of these cases helped support the earliest organized movements for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Germany.

Born in Baden, Germany, 1840 to a family of minor nobility, Krafft-Ebing eagerly followed his grandfather's prodding to study medicine. From the outset he inclined towards a specialization in psychiatry, even though the field did not enjoy wide acceptance as a legitimate area of concentration. After completing his studies at the University of Heidelberg, Krafft-Ebing held positions at various asylums for the mentally disturbed, but concluded that these institutions merely served to isolate and separate the patients from society at large without providing much treatment or hope of cure. Therefore, he resolved to focus on education.

Early on, he taught at Strasbourg, which had just come into German hands. However, the Germans insisted on the school's being a showpiece of German learning to the special detriment and exclusion of all things French. Krafft-Ebing found such artificial restrictions on the paths of learning objectionable and accepted a position at Graz, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Still later, he taught in Vienna, where he also served as a leading psychiatric-forensics expert. Krafft-Ebing published his first major book, A Textbook of Insanity, in 1879. In this work he provided extensive systems for categorizing and classifying mental disorders. His goal was to offer ways by which those coming into contact with people who may be mentally ill could identify the nature of the problem and respond appropriately. In Psychopathia Sexualis, first published in 1886, he continued this trend, this time concentrating on sexual disorders.

Although Krafft-Ebing always insisted that Psychopathia Sexualis was written for those in the medical and legal professions, he nevertheless accepted that the book's popularity extended far beyond his intended audience. Based as his work was on prodigious numbers of case studies, Krafft-Ebing found himself inundated with responses from people who, for the first time, discovered that there were others who shared their proclivities, that they were not entirely alone and without recourse.

While his work discussed masochism, fetishism, sadism (all terms that he introduced), and a variety of other sexual issues, homosexuality clearly dominated his work. Although he tried to present consistent and unified explanations for same-sex sexual feelings, he never managed to establish a single, clear-cut cause. Early on, he stated that homosexuality stemmed from hereditary degeneracy, but he also asserted that masturbation, prepubescent sexuality, and/or debauchery could trigger the condition as well.

In addition, he was strongly influenced by Karl Ulrichs and his "urnings" theory, which was a form of "man trapped in a woman's body" or mental hermaphroditism explanation. As his book reached ever wider circles of readers, men who previously had little or no outlet to discuss their inner feelings contacted Krafft-Ebing and voluntarily served as subjects for his case studies. He discovered that, contrary to his beliefs that these men were moral degenerates, inferior specimens of humanity, and sufferers of mental affliction, most of the subjects exhibited characteristics of moral, physical, and mental health every bit as robust as "normal" men. Indeed, he observed that what mental suffering they did show stemmed from the constant societal and cultural disapproval they experienced. In other words, their homosexuality was not caused by mental illness; rather, their mental illness was caused by the harsh treatment or the secrecy they endured because of their homosexuality.

In the final edition of Psychopathia Sexualis published before his death, Krafft-Ebing amended his earlier position and asserted that the homosexual condition was merely one of many possible manifestations of sexual desire and not, in and of itself, indicative of mental disease. Furthermore, he lent his signature and support to Magnus Hirschfeld's efforts to repeal Paragraph 175 of the German constitution, which prohibited homosexual acts. Pragmatically, he did not participate in similar efforts to overturn Austria-Hungary's prohibitive law.

Three main concepts became more fully developed because of Krafft-Ebing's work. First, homosexual desire became recognized as a category of sexual desire. In other words, the sex act itself was independent of the orientation. The desire for same-sex sexual activity preceded and/or caused the activity, rather than the other way around, as had previously been thought. Secondly, the love and affection experienced between same-sex partners carries equal moral value to that experienced between men and women. Finally, homosexual men need not be excessively effeminate or otherwise physically recognizable.

Interestingly enough, Krafft-Ebing used the term "heterosexual," which he coined, as a category of perversion equivalent to, but distinct from, "homosexual." The moral argument against homosexuality rested upon its being an act of sex without possibility of reproduction and therefore contrary to nature. Krafft-Ebing applied the term heterosexual to refer to instances of men and women engaging in sex when, due to contraception, age, or other conditions, there was little or no chance of reproduction and therefore contrary to nature.

Krafft-Ebing retired from teaching at the age of sixty-one. However, he continued a full regimen of writing and editing, as well as seeing patients privately. He died within a year of his retirement, on December 22, 1902. Although Freud was influenced by Krafft-Ebing's work, the Freudian model of homosexuality reverted to the view that it was a disease, an aberration to be treated. Freud's concept shaped the views of twentieth-century psychiatry far more than Krafft-Ebing's. It was not until the latter half of the century that Krafft-Ebing's theories regained general acceptance among the medico-psychiatric community.

1886 – Dr. Randolph Winslow wrote of an "epidemic of gonorrhea contracted through rectal coition" at a boys' reform school near Baltimore, Maryland. The outbreak lasted from 1883-1885 and was brought under control by keeping a strict watch on the boys and inflicting severe corporeal punishment on anyone caught in the act.

1894 – Bricktop (d.1984) was an African-American dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper. She was born Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith and is best known as the owner of the Paris nightclub Chez Bricktop from 1924 to 1961, as well as clubs in Mexico City and Rome. She has been called "...one of the most legendary and enduring figures of twentieth-century American cultural history."

By 1924, she was in Paris. Cole Porter hosted many parties, "lovely parties" as Bricky called them, where he hired her as an entertainer, often to teach his guests the latest dance craze such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom. In Paris, Bricktop began operating the clubs where she performed, including The Music Box and Le Grand Duc. She called her next club "Chez Bricktop," and in 1929 she relocated it to 66 rue Pigalle. Her headliner was a young Mabel Mercer, who was to become a legend in cabaret. Bricktop also broadcast a radio program in Paris from 1938-39, for the French government. She left Paris during World War II.

Known for her signature cigars and red hair, the "doyenne of cafe society" drew many celebrated figures to her club, including Cole Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald mentions the club in his 1931 short story Babylon Revisited. Her proteges included Duke Ellington, Mabel Mercer and Josephine Baker. According to Jean-Claude Baker, son to Josephine Baker, as recorded in his book about his mother's life, titled Josephine: The Hungry Heart, Josephine and Ada were involved in a Lesbian affair for a time, early in their careers. She worked with Langston Hughes when he was still a busboy. The Cole Porter song, "Miss Otis Regrets," was written for her to perform, Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli wrote a song called "Brick Top", and she has been written about by Fitzgerald, Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, Evelyn Waugh and T. S. Eliot.

She wrote her autobiography, Bricktop by Bricktop, with the help of James Haskins, the prolific author who wrote biographies of Thurgood Marshall and Rosa Parks. It is "...crammed with anecdotes about the rich, powerful, and famous," including John Barrymore, Jelly Roll Morton, Jack Johnson, Legs Diamond, John Steinbeck, Django Reinhardt, Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Tallulah Bankhead, Gloria Swanson, and "...a dazzling array of kings and princes."

Bricktop died in her sleep in her apartment on New York City's West Side in 1984.

It was interesting to hear Bricktop mentioned in Woody Allen's recent movie, Midnight in Paris, as the main character (played by Owen Wilson) time-travels back to the Paris of the 30s and visit's "Bricktop's" with F. Scott and Zelda.

1908 – Horst P Horst (d.1999), born Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann, and most often known as just Horst, was a photographer best known for his photographs of women and fashion taken while working for Vogue.

Horst was born in Weißenfels-an-der-Saale, Germany. His father was a successful merchant. In his teens, he met dancer Eva Weidemann at the home of his aunt's, and this aroused his interest in avant-garde art. In the late 1920s, Horst studied at Hamburg Kunstgewerbeschule, leaving there to go to Paris to study under the architect Le Corbusier.

While in Paris, he befriended many people in the art community and attended many galleries. In 1930 he met Vogue photographer Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, a half-Baltic, half-American nobleman, and became his lover. He travelled to England with him that winter. While there, they visited photographer Cecil Beaton, who was working for the British edition of Vogue. In 1931, Horst began his association with Vogue, publishing his first photograph in the French edition of Vogue in November of that year.

His first exhibition was hung in La Plume d'Or in Paris in 1932. It was reviewed by Janet Flanner in The New Yorker, and this review, which appeared after his exhibit was over, made Horst instantly famous. Horst made a portrait of Bette Davis the same year, the first in a series of celebrities he would photograph during his life.

Horst rented an apartment in New York in 1937, and while residing there met Coco Chanel, whom Horst called 'the queen of the whole thing'. He would photograph her fashions for three decades.

He met Valentine Lawford, British diplomat in 1938 and they would live together as a couple until Horst's death. They adopted and raised a son, Richard J Horst, together.

In 1940, Horst applied for United States citizenship. In 1942 he passed an Army physical, and joined the Army on July 2, 1943. On October 21 he received his United States citizenship as Horst P Horst. He became an Army photographer, with much of his work printed in the forces' magazine Belvoir Castle. In 1945 he photographed United States President Harry S Truman, with whom he became friends, and he photographed every First Lady in the post-war period at the invitation of the White House.

In the 1960s, encouraged by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, Horst began a series of photos illustrating the lifestyle of international high society. The articles were written by his partner, Valentine Lawford. From this point until nearly the time of his death, Horst spent most of his time travelling and photographing. In the mid-1970s, he began working for House & Garden magazine as well as for Vogue.

He died at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, at 93 years of age.

1920 – In Germany, a publication of the Community of the Special includes an article called “Uranians of the World Unite!” It urged the formation of a worldwide homosexual organization.

1923 – William Flanagan (d.1969) was an American composer of the mid-twentieth century. Flanagan was a great admirer of Maurice Ravel and Aaron Copland, who became something of a mentor to Flanagan.

His best work was in the realm of vocal music. Although little known today, as well as unsuccessful and undervalued in his time, a number of his brief vocal compositions, including Horror Movie and The Upside-Down Man, have been recorded.

He is best known today as having been the long-time lover of playwright Edward Albee, with whom he wrote an opera after Bartleby, the Scrivener.

He composed the music for Albee's adaptation of Carson McCullers' novel, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, as well as his adaptation of James Purdy's Malcolm.

Flanagan committed suicide in 1969, after which Copland eulogized him in a memorial concert.

1940 – Tom Eyen (d.1991) was a Tony Award and Grammy Award winning American playwright, lyricist, television writer, and theatre director.

Born in Cambridge, Ohio, Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. Mainstream theatregoers became acquainted with him in 1981 when he partnered with composer Henry Krieger and director Michael Bennett to write the book and lyrics for Dreamgirls, the hit Broadway musical about a Supremes-style singing trio.

Eyen's career started, however, with avant garde plays and musicals that he wrote and directed off-off Broadway in the early 1960s, which eventually led to off-Broadway success in the 1970s with the controversial nudity-filled performance-art play The Dirtiest Show in Town and Women Behind Bars, a camp parody of women's prison exploitation films.

Eyen also worked in television and contributed scripts to the 1976-78 ground-breaking evening soap opera parody, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. In 1978, he earned an Emmy Award nomination for writing Bette Midler's television special Ol' Red Hair is Back.

Eyen and Krieger first worked together on the 1975 musical version of Eyen's revue The Dirtiest Show in Town, called The Dirtiest Musical in Town. Nell Carter's performance in that musical inspired Eyen and Krieger to craft a musical about black back-up singers, which they workshopped for Joe Papp but shelved when Carter dropped out in 1978. A year later, the project caught the interest of Broadway director-producer-choreographer Michael Bennett, who asked Eyen to direct a workshop production of Big Dreams, as the musical was then known, with Divine and gospel singer Jennifer Holliday as Carter's replacement. However, Holliday left the project, unhappy that her character died at the conclusion of the first act. After several workshops and numerous rewrites, Bennett decided that he needed Holliday, and the team rewrote act two to build up Holliday's character.

Produced on Broadway in 1981, Dreamgirls was the biggest success of Eyen's career. It was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, including two for Eyen: Best Book and, as lyricist, Best Original Score. The show won six Tonys, including Best Book. It also earned Eyen a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics. The original cast album won Eyen a Grammy Award as lyricist, and one of the show's songs, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, sung by Holliday, became a top hit and is now a standard.

When a film adaptation of Dreamgirls by writer/director Bill Condon was released in 2006 by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, the soundtrack became a number one hit, and two of Eyen's songs from the soundtrack, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, sung by Jennifer Hudson, and One Night Only, sung by Beyoncé Knowles (credited as Deena Jones & The Dreams), became hits again.

Eyen's 1984 attempt to duplicate his Dreamgirls success with Kicks: The Showgirl Musical, a collaboration with composer Alan Menken about members of the Rockettes during World War II, never made it past the workshop stages, though individual numbers from the show are sometimes performed in concert.

Eyen died of AIDS-related complications in Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 50. In 1993, he posthumously received the Jerome Lawrence & Robert E Lee Theatre Research Institute Award at The Ohio State University, where his papers are archived.

1943 – Alfred Corn is an American poet and essayist. Corn was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and raised in Valdosta, Georgia. Corn graduated from Emory University in 1965 with a B.A. in French literature. Corn earned an M.A. in French literature at Columbia University in 1967.

Corn travelled to France on a Fulbright Scholarship where he met Ann Jones, whom he would later marry in 1967 and divorce in 1971 as Corn became more fully aware of his homosexuality. Soon, he was partnered with the architect Walter Brown in the years 1971-1976, and then with J.D. McClatchy from 1977 until 1989. In 1976, Corn published his first book of poetry All Roads at Once.

After his divorce from Jones, Corn wrote, with nonchalance, that both he and Jones were "snapped up by someone else / (Your new Victor . . . / My new Walter)."

In his later books, Corn addresses more frankly the themes of homosexual love and the domestic life, most poignantly in the poems "A Marriage of the Nineties" and "Insertion Arias" (both from Present). In the latter, the speaker talks to his lover as they listen to Mozart's arias after love-making:

In Contradictions, Corn furthers his frank exploration of life as a gay man in poems such as "My Last June in Chelsea" and "To a Lover Who is HIV-Positive." The latter begins "You ask what I feel," and answers: Love; and a fear that the so far implacable cunning of a virus will smuggle away substantial warmth, the face, the response telling us who we are and might be.

Another theme that runs throughout Corn's work is that of America and what it means to be an American. Corn has declared himself as "first and last . . . an American writer" and cites as his influences some of the greatest gay poets and writers America has produced. Poems like his series "American Portraits" (from Contradictions) and "1992" (from Autobiographies) literally span the country's history and geography, the latter examining the United States in the latter half of the twentieth century as the speaker spends a year traveling the country via its interstate highways.

Though much of Corn's poetry is emphatically American in its embrace of the country's landscape, language, and sensibilities, it is also greatly informed by the author's travels around the world and his great appreciation and knowledge of the rich literary, historic, artistic, and cultural traditions of Europe. Some of his strongest poems are set in Europe and draw from his experiences there. In the moving "La Madeleine" (Autobiographies, 1992), the poet revisits the histories and myths surrounding the story of Mary of Magdala (known as Mary Magdalene) and the theme of Proust's famous "petite madeleine." The poem ranges from the caves of Lascaux, to the paintings of Caravaggio, to a Parisian cafe. The work is also a moving memorial to Corn's friend critic David Kalstone, who died of AIDS in 1986.

In 1997 Corn wrote the novel, Part of His Story.

As of 2008, Corn had written nine books of poetry, one novel, and one book of essays.

1954 – Dade County, Florida sheriff’s deputies raided eleven gay bars in Miami and Miami Beach under the pretext of checking for venereal disease. Fifty-three men were brought in, and nineteen were held over the weekend pending a medical examination.

1959 – (Earvin) Magic Johnson, Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.

After a physical before the 1991-92 NBA season, Johnson discovered that he had tested positive for HIV. In a press conference held on November 7, 1991, Johnson made a public announcement that he would retire immediately. He stated that his wife Cookie and their unborn child did not have HIV, and that he would dedicate his life to "battle this deadly disease". Johnson initially said that he did not know how he contracted the disease, but later acknowledged that it was through having multiple sexual partners during his playing career. At the time, only a small percentage of HIV-positive American men had contracted it from heterosexual sex, and it was initially rumored that Johnson was gay or bisexual, although he denied both. Johnson later accused Isiah Thomas of spreading the rumors, a claim Thomas denied. Johnson's HIV announcement became a major news story in the United States, and in 2004 was named as ESPN's seventh most memorable moment of the past 25 years. Many articles praised Johnson as a hero, and former U.S. President George H. W. Bush said, "For me, Magic is a hero, a hero for anyone who loves sports."

Johnson was chosen to compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics for the US basketball team, dubbed the "Dream Team" because of the NBA stars on the roster. The Dream Team, which along with Johnson included fellow Hall of Famers such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird, was considered unbeatable. The Dream Team dominated the competition, winning the gold medal with an 8-0 record, beating their opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game. Johnson averaged 8.0 points per game during the Olympics, and his 5.5 assists per game was second on the team. Johnson played infrequently because of knee problems, but he received standing ovations from the crowd, and used the opportunity to inspire HIV-positive people.

Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker.

1959 – Dale Scott s a former umpire in Major League Baseball. He worked in the American League from 1986 to 1999, and officiated in both leagues from 2000 until his retirement after the 2017 season. He became a crew chief in 2001. He wore uniform number 39 his first two years and number 5 thereafter.

Scott began umpiring at age 15 and entered the minor leagues in 1981, eventually working his way up to the American Association. He umpired in the World Series in 1998, 2001 and 2004, in the All-Star Game in 1993, 2001, and 2011, calling balls and strikes. He has also worked in six League Championship Series (1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2013) and in twelve Division Series (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015).

Scott worked a total of 3,897 regular season games, 91 post season games, and had 90 ejections in his MLB career.

When the AL introduced red shirts in 1996, Scott frequently was the only umpire to wear the color, rather than the usual navy blue. He almost always wore the red shirt when working home plate, including Game 3 of the 1998 World Series at Qualcomm Stadium.

On May 30, 1988, Scott ejected New York Yankees manager Billy Martin from a game against the Oakland Athletics. Martin was suspended for three games for throwing dirt at Scott during the argument.

Scott worked his last game on April 14, 2017, in Toronto. In the 8th inning he got struck in the mask and was carted off the field with a concussion and whiplash. This was Scott's fourth concussion in five years, his second in nine months. After consulting with several sports medicine and concussion specialists, Scott decided not to return, and announced his retirement in December 2017.

Scott worked as a radio personality at KBDF, a Top 40 station in Eugene, Oregon, in the late 1970s. He is an avid Oregon Ducks football fan and often attends games at Autzen Stadium when given the opportunity. He is friends with baseball commentator Harold Reynolds. Scott came out as gay in 2014, thus becoming the first openly gay umpire in MLB, and is married to Michael Rausch who he met at CC Slaughters in Portland on October 6, 1986. In 2015, he was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

Mike Rausch and Dale Scott

1964 – Gregg Bordowitz is a writer, artist and activist currently working as a professor in the Video, New Media, and Animation department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Born in Brooklyn, NY. In 1982, Bordowitz began his academic career at the School of Visual Arts, then studied at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, and at New York University. In 1987, Bordowitz dropped out of school to become a full-time video artist, guerilla TV director and activist with the direct action advocacy group ACT UP.

During this time, Bordowitz was central to the formation of the video activist collective, Testing the Limits, who produced work documenting AIDS activism. He also wrote prolifically on the topic of AIDS activism, contributing heavily to the 1987 "AIDS: Cultural Analysis/Cultural Activism" of the academic journal October.

In 1988, Gregg Bordowitz tested positive for HIV and, as a result, came out as a homosexual man to his mother and stepfather. He left Testing the Limits to focus on a more 'guerilla' approach to documenting AIDS activism.

In 1988, he met video artist Jean Carlomusto at a demonstration and partnered with her to produce the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) cable TV show Living With AIDS, which ran regularly until 1994.

In 1989, he, along with numerous other video activists, he formed DIVA (Damned Interfering Video Activists), a parter organization to ACT UP, dedicated to accurately documenting the protests organized by ACT UP and providing an alternative representation of the AIDS activist movement than the one presented by the mainstream media.

In the documentary/montage Fast Trip, Long Drop, Bordowitz addresses the public's reaction to and representation of the AIDS epidemic as well as his own fears, insecurities and struggles related to the disease.

Bordowitz continues to address AIDS in his artwork, video work and writing.

1964 – Mark Pocan is an American politician and businessman who has served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1999 to 2013, representing the 78th district. He represented much of downtown Madison, including the Wisconsin State Capitol. In November 2012, Pocan won the general election to replace Tammy Baldwin, a fellow Democrat and longtime friend who was elected to the U.S. Senate, as the next member of Congress from the district. He had also succeeded Baldwin in the State Assembly.

Pocan is openly gay. He credits his political activism in part to an incident soon after he graduated from college and opened his printing business. Pocan reports that he was followed by two men after he left a gay bar, and was beaten with a baseball bat while they called him "faggot" and other slurs. This gaybashing incident spurred him to become active in the Madison LGBT community.

Pocan is notable for having been the only openly gay member of the state Assembly after Tammy Baldwin's election to Congress, and was one of three LGBT members of the 100th Wisconsin Legislature, alongside Sen. Tim Carpenter, bisexual Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa.

On November 24, 2006, Pocan and his long-term partner, Philip Frank, were legally married in Toronto, Ontario.

1972 – Jay Manuel was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to an Italian mother and South African father, and is a make-up artist and fashion photographer, most recognisable as the creative director of photo shoots on the popular reality television show America's Next Top Model and the host and chief judge of the second and third cycles of Canada's Next Top Model.

He and friend J. Alexander, also an ANTM personality, often appear on E! Network's Fashion Wrap with Debbie Matenopoulos. Manuel hosts his own show Style Her Famous on the Style Network and recently introduced his own make-up line, Manuel Override on QVC.

More than just a make-up artist, Manuel's unique vision extends much further, having designed ad campaigns and provided stunning conceptual direction for various fashion editorials. His collaborations with legendary photographers Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz and Francesco Scavullo have enhanced the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and the Victoria's Secret catalogue.

2013 – American middle distance runner Nick Symmonds made headlines after competing in the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, when he dedicated his silver medal to the LGBT community in the fight for equality ahead of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

He said,

1980 – Black gay activist Melvin "Mel" Boozer  (d.1987)is recommended for Vice President at the Democratic National Convention in New York City. In a speech to the convention he said, "I know what it's like to be called nigger, and I know what it's like to be called faggot. I can sum up the difference in one word – none!" Boozer also told the convention that "bigotry is bigotry" and that homophobia "dishonors our way of life just as much" as racism, before withdrawing his nomination in favor of Walter Mondale. He was a university professor and activist for African American, LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues. He was active in both the Democratic Party and Socialist Party USA, and president of the Gay Activists Alliance.

1985 – Los Angeles is the first U.S. city to ban discrimination against people with AIDS in employment, housing, education, and health care.

1997 – Members of the American Psychological Association vote to limit attempts to cure homosexuality and agreed to require the reading of a statement to gay patients affirming that being gay is normal and healthy. Homophobe Charles Socarides, president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), said it was an attempt to brainwash people and called homosexuality "a purple menace that threatens proper gender distinction." His openly gay son, Richard Socarides, was the White House liaison to the gay community. Richard was the founding president of Equality Matters in 2011.

2003 – David Gilmore fights public radio station KUAZ for syndication of the nationally awarded program "Outright Radio." Outright Radio is the leading nationally syndicated radio show featuring the extraordinary true stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, distributed by Public Radio International and broadcast on nearly 100 stations across the US. Outright Radio is a recipient of the 2003 Edward R. Murrow Award.

2006 Andre Boisclair, the first openly gay Canadian politician, becomes the leader of Parti Quebecois in Quebec. In November 2012, he was named as the new provincial delegate-general in New York City.