August 30

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c.2000 B.C. - 1200 B.C. – In Greek mythology, Daphnis was a Sicilian shepherd who was said to be the inventor of pastoral poetry. According to tradition, he was the son of Hermes and a nymph, despite which Daphnis himself was mortal.

Daphnis is also described and portrayed as an eromenos, that is, a boy-lover to older men. His mother was said to have exposed him under a laurel tree, where he was found by shepherds, who raised him, and named after the tree under which he was found. He was also sometimes said to be Hermes' favourite or beloved (eromenos) rather than his son.

Pan also fell in love with him and taught him to play the pan pipes.

A naiad was in love with him and promised to be faithful to him. However, he was seduced, with the aid of wine, by the daughter of a king, and, in revenge, this nymph either blinded him or turned him to stone.

c.1280 B.C. – Hercules (Greek: Herakles) was not only the strongest of the heroes (even as a baby he killed two great serpents with his bare hands) but he was also the craziest (he murdered his first three sons in a fit of madness) and the smartest (what he could not accomplish by brute strength he achieved through guile). What is less well known is that he was as heroic in bed as he was in battle.

One time he was invited by King Thespios to help him rid his land of a huge lion that was terrorizing the countryside. When the king set eyes on Hercules he had a better idea: "Come and stay the night at my palace, and rest yourself before the hunt," said the king to Hercules, "and meet my family." The king's family was made up mostly of his fifty virgin daughters, for whom he had not found fitting husbands until then. That night Hercules made love to forty nine of them (the fiftieth was too shy). The next morning, he and the king went off to hunt the lion, and nine months later all forty-nine daughters gave birth to sons.

But much as he loved women, Hercules loved young men no less. Plutarch said that the number of his lovers was beyond counting. What we know for sure is that he had more than even the god Apollo (who was also a practitioner of male love). Most stories about the beloved boys of Hercules have been lost or destroyed, but among his lovers were said to be the young heroes Admetos, Iphitos, and Euphemos, all of them Argonauts; Elacatas, honored by the yearly Elacatia games in Sparta; and Abderus, an Opian boy and son of Hermes, whose love for Hercules cost him his life, and who was honored with his own festival in the city that bore his name.

Abderus was the young man to whom Hercules entrusted the man-eating mares of King Diomedes. Not strong enough to keep them in check, they tore him to shreds and devoured him. Heartbroken, Hercules built the city of Abdera in his memory.

There was also a myth, now lost, that claimed that Eurystheus, the king for whom Hercules performs his labors, was one of his lovers, and that Hercules undertook the labors in order to please him. If so, then male love becomes the central motive force of the Hercules cycle, just as the love between Achilles and Patroclos is the fire that drives the story of the Iliad.

Also among his lovers, but not so unlucky as Abderus, were Philoctetes who inherited Hercules's bow and arrows, and who was called upon to use them in the Trojan war, and Nestor, the youngest son of King Neleus, whom he grew to love more than any other lad. Nireus, Adonis, Jason, Corythus, Stychius, and Phrynx were reputed to have been amongst his lovers as well.

Of all his boy-man lovers however, the ones he loved the best (besides Nestor) were Iolaos of Thebes, and Hylas of Argos. Iolaos, was also his nephew and, though only sixteen, his helper in many of his labors. It was said that their love was such that Hercules found those labors easier when Iolaos watched him. He was Hercules' charioteer and beloved, just like Patroclos was for Achilles.

As Plutarch tells us: "And as to the [male] loves of Hercules, it is difficult to record them because of their number; but those who think that Iolaos was one of them do to this day worship and honor him, and make their loved ones swear fidelity at his tomb." And also, "It is a tradition likewise that Iolaos, who assisted Hercules in his labors and fought at his side, was beloved of him; and Aristotle observes that even in his time lovers pledged their faith at Iolaos' tomb." The Thebans thought so highly of Iolaos that they worshiped him together with Hercules, named their gymnasium after him, and in his honor held yearly contests, the Iolaeia.

As for the love between Hercules and Hylas, the poet Theocritus had this to say: "We are not the first mortals to see beauty in what is beautiful. No, even Amphitryon's bronze-hearted son, who defeated the savage Nemean lion, loved a boy-charming Hylas, whose hair hung down in curls. And like a father with a dear son he taught him all the things which had made him a mighty man, and famous.

"And they were inseparable, being together both day and night. That way the boy might grow the way he wanted him to, and being by his side attain the true measure of a man. When Jason sailed after the golden fleece, and all the nobles went with him invited from every city, to rich Iolkos he came too, the man of many labors, son of noble Alcmena.

And brave Hylas in the flower of youth went with him aboard the Argo, the strong-thwarted ship, to bear his arrows and to guard his bow."

c.450 BC – Alcibiades (d.circa 404 BC), reared in the household of his guardian and uncle Pericles, he became the eromenos (youthful lover) and later intimate friend of Socrates, who saved his life in battle. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades "feared and reverenced Socrates alone, and despised the rest of his lovers".

His brilliance enabled him in 420 to become leader of the extreme democratic faction, and his imperialistic designs led Athens into an alliance with Argos and other foes of Sparta, a policy largely discredited by the Spartan victory at Mantinea.

He sponsored the plan for a Sicilian expedition to outflank Sparta. which ended after his recall, in the capture of thousands of Athenians, most of whom died in the salt mines where they were confined, Soon after the fleet reached Sicily, his enemies had recalled him on the pretext of his complicity in the mutilation of the Hermae, the phallic pillars marking boundaries between lots of land. The expedition, after his recall, resulted in the capture of thousands of Athenians, most of whom died in the salt mines where they were confined,

He escaped his accusers, however, to Sparta and became the advisor of the Spartan high command. Losing the confidence of the Spartans and accused of impregnating the wife of one of Sparta's two kings, he fled to Persia, then tried to win reinstatement at Athens by winning Persian support for the city and promoting an oligarchic revolution, but without success.

Then being appointed commander by the Athenian fleet at Samos, he displayed his military skills for several years and won a brilliant victory at Cyzicus in 410, but reverses in battle and political intrigue at home led to bis downfall, and he was finally murdered in Phrygia in 404.

Though an outstanding politician and military leader, Alcibiades compromised himself by the excesses of his sexual life, which was not confined to his own sex, but was uninhibitedly bisexual, as was typical of a member of the Athenian aristocracy. The Attic comedians scolded him for his adventures; Aristophanes wrote a play (now lost) entitled Triphales (the man with three penises), in which Alcibiades' erotic exploits were satirized.

In his youth, admired by the whole of Athens for his beauty, he bore on his coat of arms an Eros hurling a lightning bolt. Diogenes Laertius said of him that "when a young man, he separated men from their wives, and later, wives from their husbands," a comment on his bisexuality.

He gained a bad reputation for introducing luxurious practices into Athenian life, and even his dress was reproached for extravagance. He combined the ambitious political careerist and the bisexual dandy, a synthesis possible only in a society that tolerated homosexual expression and even a certain amount of heterosexual licence in its public figures. His physical beauty in itself impressed his contemporaries enough to remain an inseparable part of his historical image.

1926 – (Irwin J.) Ernie Roth (d.1983), known by the ring names the Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Abdullah Farouk, was a professional wrestling manager of many infamous heels. Not a wrestler himself due to his small stature, he was noted for his flamboyant outfit of sequined jackets, wraparound sunglasses, and a brightly colored turban decorated with jewels and feathers. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995.

Ernie Roth got his start in the entertainment business as a disc jockey, and became involved in professional wrestling as a manager in the 1960s in Detroit-based territories. Roth first worked under the names "Mr. Clean" and "J. Wellington Radcliffe", but more famously, he also portrayed "Abdullah Farouk", a man from the Middle East who was sent by The Sheik's wealthy "family" to handle their son's affairs in the US.

Roth on many occasions (when out of character and greasepaint mustache) co-hosted the syndicated "Big Time Wrestling" show with fellow announcer Bob Finnegan until 1969 when the hosting duties went to Lord Athol Layton.

Sporting a turban, Farouk took great pains in trying to control his madman protégé. But he also carved a niche for himself as a deceitful, underhanded character who insulted US fans whenever he had a chance, laying a template for heels for years to come. Farouk was a pioneer of "manager interference", as he physically would attempt to alter a match's outcome in the Sheik's favor whenever he could (inciting a full-scale riot on one occasion). By the early 1970s, after establishing himself as one of the most hated managers in the wrestling business, Ernie Roth parted with the "Abdullah Farouk" character and began a stint with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (now known today as World Wrestling Entertainment), where he became The Grand Wizard of Wrestling.

The Grand Wizard of Wrestling, playing the "heel manager" role to the absolute hilt, had an instant impact in the WWF. Almost immediately after arrival in 1972, the Wizard managed Mr Fuji and Prof. Toru Tanaka to two reigns with the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. A year later, the Wizard led Stan Stasiak to victory over Pedro Morales for the WWF Championship in Philadelphia on December 1, 1973.

Other protégés of the Wizard included "Beautiful" Bobby Harmon, Killer Kowalski, "Crazy" Luke Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd, Ox Baker, and Cowboy Bob Orton.

Roth was revealed to be homosexual after his death, although some claim they were aware of his sexual orientation during his lifetime.

1960 – Ben Bradshaw is a British politician and is the Labour Member of Parliament for Exeter.

Under Tony Blair he was the Minister for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare with the rank of Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In June 2007 he was moved to the Department of Health, and was also Minister for the South West. He ended his Cabinet run as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

When first elected in 1997, Ben Bradshaw was one of the first British gay MPs to be out at the time he was initially elected, along with Stephen Twigg.

Bradshaw was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2009, giving mim the right to the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.

In 2009 he won 'Politician of the Year' at the annual Stonewall Awards for his work to support equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. He was given a score of 100% in favour of lesbian, gay and bisexual equality by Stonewall. On 5 February 2013 he voted in favour in the House of Commons Second Reading vote on same-sex marriage in Britain..

He lives with his partner, Neal Dalgleish, who is a BBC producer. On 24 June 2006, Bradshaw and his partner undertook a civil partnership ceremony, the first British MP to do so. Bradshaw wants the position of the Church of England over same sex marriage or partnership in the clergy clarified. Specifically he wants to know if a member of the Church of England clergy who married a same sex partner would be disciplined or defrocked.

1969 – A National Institute of Mental Health study chaired by Dr. Evelyn Hooker (see above) of UCLA urges decriminalization of private sex acts between consenting adults.

1974 – The second national gay rights conference is begins in Winnipeg. As part of the opening session a gay rights march is in held in the city. It was the first major gay demonstration in the prairie provinces.

1981 – Toronto's Cabbagetown Group Softball League hosts the fifth Gay Softball World Series. Players from eleven cities in US and Canada. It is the first time the series is held in Canada.

1981 – Dragoș Bucurenci is a Romanian communication strategist and coach, civic activist and television personality. In 2010, his Process Communication Model course was awarded Best Training of the Year Prize at the Romanian Business Edu Gala. In 2014 he joined the cabinet of the European Commissioner for Regional Policy as Communication Adviser, but left a year later citing "different work styles".

He founded MaiMultVerde, a well-known environmental organization in Romania. He was featured on the cover of Esquire Romania October 2008 edition, among "15 people who innovate, challenge and change the world we live in".

In 2016, he hosted the Romanian edition of the Survivor television series on ProTV.

Bucurenci was one of the first public figures in Romania who spoke openly about their sexuality. In a May 2008 piece for Elle magazine, he came out as bisexual.

1994 – UK: A panel of magistrates in London dismissed a paternity suit against singer Boy George for lack of evidence. By George is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, fashion designer and photographer. He is the lead singer of the Grammy and Brit Award-winning pop band Culture Club. At the height of the band's fame, during the 1980s, they recorded global hit songs such as "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and "Karma Chameleon".

George is known for his soulful voice and androgynous appearance. He was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. In his autobiography Take It Like a Man, George stated that he had secret relationships with punk rock singer Kirk Brandon and Club drummer Jon Moss. He stated many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were about his relationship with Moss.

2005 – Off-Broadway musical Naked Boys Singing! re-opens in Milwaukee after being closed by police on obscenity charges two weeks earlier. Naked Boys Singing! is a traditional American vaudeville-style musical revue, with book and direction by Robert Schrock, musical direction by Stephen Bates and choreography by Jeffry Denman, that features eight actors who sing and dance naked.

This campy Off-Broadway musical comedy opened on July 22, 1999 at the Actors' Playhouse in New York City. The show transferred to Theatre Four in March 2004, and again in 2005 to New World Stages Stage Four, until it closed on January 28, 2012. The show has no plot; it contains 15 songs, about various issues, such as gay life, male nudity, coming out, circumcision, and love. The official Off Broadway Revival opened at Theatre Row's Kirk Theatre on April 5, 2012 and is still enjoying a healthy run today.

2013 – A gay combat medic who challenged the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while serving in Iraq, dies in a car crash in New York. Darren Manzella, 36, a former Army sergeant, went on national television in 2007 to reveal his sexual orientation, becoming the face of gay servicemen and women before being discharged in 2008 for publicly discussing his sexual identity.

He was a United States Army Sergeant, Army medic and gay activist from Portland, New York, who was discharged under the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy. Manzella had served in Iraq and Kuwait, and was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas. The policy was repealed in 2011.

Manzella married Javier Lapeira in Rochester on July 5, 2013. On August 29, 2013, Manzella was killed when an SUV hit him as he was in the act of pushing his disabled vehicle off the road in Pittsford, Monroe County, New York. A friend said Manzella had recently signed on as a reservist.