May 24

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The idea of male love was deeply embedded in early Greek culture. Even the gods enjoyed men. Zeus, leader of the pantheon, was renowned for his capture of Ganymede; almost all the remaining male gods also had affairs with men or boys. The heroes of Greek myth were also affected – Achilles and Patroclus were celebrated by Homer for their prowess as warriors, by later poets and dramatists as lovers.

Athens, at the time, was under the control of the "tyrants" Hippias and his brother Hipparchus, rulers who had taken power by force. According to legend, Hipparchus twice made sexual advances toward Harmodius who, faithful to his lover Aristogeiton, rejected them. As a form of punishment, the tyrant bothers publicly shamed Harmodius' sister, claiming she was not a virgin. Greatly offened, Harmodius and Aristogeiton resolved to kill the tyrants.

They gathered allies and co-conspirators against the tyrant brothers. They managed to kill Hipparchus, stabbing him to death as he was organizing the Panathenaean processions at the foot of the Acropolis. Harmodius was killed on the spot by spearmen of Hipparchus´ guards, while Aristogeiton was arrested shortly thereafter. He was tortured to death by Hippias.

Aristotle in the Constitution of Athens preserves a tradition that Aristogeiton died only after being tortured in the hope that he would reveal the names of the other conspirators. During his ordeal, personally overseen by Hippias, he feigned willingness to betray his co-conspirators, claiming only Hippias' handshake as guarantee of safety. Upon receiving the tyrant's hand he is reputed to have berated him for shaking the hand of his own brother's murderer, upon which the tyrant wheeled and struck him down on the spot.

The story of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and its treatment by later Greek writers, is illustrative of attitudes to male homosexuality in ancient Greece. Both Thucydides and Herodotus describe the two as lovers, without making any comment on this fact: clearly they assumed that their readers would be familiar with the institution and find nothing remarkable about it. Their love affair was styled as moderate and legitimate. Further confirming the status of the two as paragons of homosexual ethics, a domain forbidden to slaves, a law was passed prohibiting slaves from being named after the two heroes.

The story continued to be cited as an admirable example of heroism and devotion for many years. In 346 BC, for example, the politician Timarchus was prosecuted (for political reasons) on the grounds that he had prostituted himself as a youth. The orator who defended him, Demosthenes, cited Harmodius and Aristogeiton, as well as Achilles and Patroclus, as examples of the beneficial effects of same-sex relationships. Aeschines offers them as an example of dikaios erōs, "just love", and as proof of the boons such love brings the lovers–who were both improved by love beyond all praise–as well as to the city.

 Martyrdom of St Maurice and the Theban Legion
(Click for larger)

Born in Empoli, Italy, he was to play a decisive role in defining Mannerism, the late Renaissance style (prevailing from approximately 1520 to 1600) that featured stylized (often elongated) human figures, sudden shifts in spatial perspective, displays of artistic virtuosity for its own sake, and complex, ambiguous narratives.

Pontormo's dairies suggest that his life was as "strained" as his art works often seem to be. Statements in his private papers and comments by acquaintances support the theory that Pontormo's relationships defied the gender and sexual "norms" being enforced with increased rigor in sixteenth-century Italy. However, his "difference" seems to have provoked deep feelings of guilt and despair.

The account of Pontormo by his contemporary Giorgio Vasari (often considered the first modern art historian) reveals many of the categorizations that recur throughout the early modern era in biographies of "bachelors" who may have been emotionally and sexually involved with others of the same sex.

Thus, Vasari repeatedly describes him as strange and bizarre, and he further insists that Pontormo was a solitary man, who virtually fled from the company of others. Yet Vasari acknowledges that Pontormo deeply loved his students, especially Battista Naldini and Agnolo Bronzino (who emerged as the leading artist in Florence during the mid-sixteenth century).

Vasari's claim that Pontormo always was concerned to have Naldini and Bronzino nearby is supported by the artist's diary, which is filled with many expressions of intense longing for them. Pontormo never referred to his pupils in explicitly sexual terms, and, for that reason, most scholars have insisted that Pontormo cannot be regarded as a "gay" artist.

However, no special pleading is involved in suggesting that the intensity of Pontormo's desire for Bronzino (known to have been beautiful and elegant) and Naldini may have had a sensual component, whether it or not it was acted upon.

Pontormo's awareness of the nature of his feelings may have inspired in him the sense of guilt and self-damnation that pervades his diaries.

To solidify his relationship with Naldini, Pontormo adopted him, and he unsuccessfully sought to do the same for Bronzino.

Pontormo most fully revealed his love of the male body in several panoramic scenes of martyrdom, such as the Martyrdom of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion (above). Here, seemingly countless nude men, shown with relatively classic proportions (unusual in Pontormo's work), turn and twist in graceful poses.

1610 – Virginia colony, via a military regulation, outlaws sodomy with a penalty of death.

1915 – In Ohio, a man enters the State Reformatory for sodomy after allowing himself to be masturbated by another, even though the Ohio sodomy law does not mention masturbation.

1919 – Germany: Feature film "Ander Als die Andern" (Different from the Others) is screened for members of the press at the Apollo Theater in Berlin. The film is about a romantic relationship between two men and intended to educate viewers of the hardships faced by homosexuals under Germany's recently enacted anti-sodomy laws. It starred Conrad Veidt and Reinhold Schünzel. It was co-written by Richard Oswald and Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld who also had a small part in the film and partially funded the production through his Institute for Sexual Science, with the aim of presenting the story as a polemic against the then-current laws under Germany's Paragraph 175, which made homosexuality a criminal offense. The film was banned across Germany in 1920.

He conducted research on parenting and was known for his tireless advocacy on behalf of gay and lesbian families, giving expert testimony during a time when it was risky to be a public voice. He was the senior editor of the Journal of GLBT Family Studies, and was passionate about respecting human diversity in its many forms.

Jerry J. Bigner died on July 30, 2011, after a brief illness, in Maui, Hawaii, where he had recently moved.

 Added 2025

1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, born on this date. (d.2003) was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He was known for his portrayal of dancer Leroy Johnson in both the 1980 film Fame and the 1982–1987 Fame television series based upon the film.

Born in New York City, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, Ray grew up in the area of West 153rd Street and later became involved in street dancing at block parties. He performed in a dance class at the Julia Richman High School. He skipped school one day to audition for Fame choreographer Louis Falco. Ray attended the High School of Performing Arts, the inspiration for the film Fame, but was kicked out after just one year.

Ray won the part of Leroy Johnson in the film Fame, which was released in 1980. Much like his Fame character, Ray had little professional training, but he possessed a raw talent that won him his role for the film. Reports USA Today: "Alan (Parker, the director) had to approach him very carefully. His mom was dealing drugs during the filming. It was not pretty."

In 1981, Ray starred as Friday,alongside Michael York as Robinson Crusoe, in the 1981 TV adventure-comedy Vendredi ou la Vie sauvage [fr] (alternative title: Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday). Ray also starred in the television series based on the film, Fame. The series was produced by MGM Television from 1982 to 1987, and syndicated from 1983 to 1987. Also in 1982, Ray danced in The Weather Girls' music video for "Well-A-Wiggy". Additionally, he began touring the U.K. with the other members of the Fame cast as The Kids from "Fame"; they performed at 10 venues, including a sell out performance at Royal Albert Hall.

In 1984, USA Today reports: "Ray was axed from the show after his mother was jailed for running a drug ring, and he failed to turn up for work 100 times." He struggled with addictions to alcohol and drugs, and worked only intermittently once the TV series ended.

In 1987, he won the role of Billy Nolan in the ill-fated musical adaptation of Carrie by Stephen King. Ray played the role in the original opening in Stratford-Upon-Avon, which closed after less than a month. He then transferred to Broadway and continued to play the role until the musical closed after only 21 public performances.

Ray also appeared in the 1995 film Out-of-Sync, which was directed by his Fame co-star Debbie Allen, in the 1996 Whoopi Goldberg comedy Eddie (for which he was also credited as associate choreographer), as well as in commercials for Dr Pepper and Diet Coke. His last video project was a one-hour BBC Fame reunion documentary, Fame Remember My Name, taped in Los Angeles in April 2003.

Ray remained a self-described 'frantic partygoer' with a weakness for drink and drugs. As his life fell apart, he slept on park benches, and during a failed attempt to launch a Fame-style dance school in Milan, shared a flat there with a porn actress.

In 1996, he was diagnosed HIV positive. He suffered a stroke in 2003. Flamboyantly camp, he brushed aside questions about his sexuality. He never married. He died of complications of the stroke that same year.

1963 – A California appellate court upholds the oral copulation conviction of a man after officers listened through his door and heard his bed moving.

1963 – Michael Chabon is an American author.

Chabon's first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), was published when he was 25. He followed it with a second novel, Wonder Boys (1995), and two short-story collections. In 2000, Chabon published The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001.

His novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union, an alternate history mystery novel, was published in 2007 and won the Hugo, Sidewise, Nebula and Ignotus awards; his serialized novel Gentlemen of the Road appeared in book form in the fall of that same year. Chabon's most recent novel, Telegraph Avenue, published in 2012 and billed as "a twenty-first century Middlemarch," concerns the tangled lives of two families in the Bay Area of San Francisco in the year 2004.

His work is characterized by complex language, the frequent use of metaphor along with recurring themes, including nostalgia, divorce, abandonment, fatherhood, and most notably issues of Jewish identity. He often includes gay, bisexual, and Jewish characters in his work.

After the publication of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, he was mistakenly featured in a Newsweek article on up-and-coming gay writers (Pittsburgh's protagonist has liaisons with people of both sexes). The New York Times later reported that "in some ways, [Chabon] was happy" for the magazine's error, and quoted him as saying, "I feel very lucky about all of that. It really opened up a new readership to me, and a very loyal one." In a 2002 interview, Chabon added, "If Mysteries of Pittsburgh is about anything in terms of human sexuality and identity, it's that people can't be put into categories all that easily." In "On The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," an essay he wrote for the New York Review of Books in 2005, Chabon remarked on the autobiographical events that helped inspire his first novel: "I had slept with one man whom I loved, and learned to love another man so much that it would never have occurred to me to want to sleep with him."

1972 – Greg Berlanti is an American television writer and producer. Born in New York, Berlanti studied writing at Northwestern University. He was a writer and producer on Dawson's Creek and its short-lived spin-off Young Americans. He became known as the creator, show runner and executive producer of Everwood. He also co-created the short-lived series Jack & Bobby.

In both his roles as writer and producer on Dawson's Creek, Berlanti was instrumental in expanding the character of Jack McPhee (played by Kerr Smith), a teenager coming to terms with his homosexuality in a small town.

"I wanted to really chronicle what it's like to be a gay kid in high school," Berlanti explained in an interview, "and give him a boyfriend and let him have his first kiss."

It took over a year for Berlanti to convince network executives to allow Jack to kiss his boyfriend Ethan (Adam Kaufman) on the show. The landmark event was finally allowed, during the show's third season, in an episode titled "True Love" (first aired May 24, 2000). It was, remarkably, the first romantic kiss between two gay male characters ever aired on network television in the United States.

Berlanti also wrote and directed the film Broken Hearts Club, about young gay friends in West Hollywood which he based on his own circle of friends at the time.

In August 2006, Berlanti announced a new deal with Touchstone Television and ABC to create new pilots. At the same time, news surfaced that Berlanti was acting as a consultant for the new ABC series Brothers & Sisters. The previous executive producer, Marti Noxon, had left the show after conflict with creator Jon Robin Baitz. Berlanti now serves as an executive producer for the series.

Berlanti was also executive producer of Dirty Sexy Money which debuted on ABC in late 2007.

Recently, he produced and co-wrote the script for Green Lantern, a film version of the popular DC Comics superhero series of the same name.

On February 26, 2015, it was announced that Berlanti would write/executive produce a spin-off series featuring The Atom (Brandon Routh), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), Martin Stein (Victor Garber), and The White Canary (Caity Lotz), for a potential 2016 premiere. The series was ultimately titled Legends of Tomorrow, and it will follow the ragtag team of heroes and villains as they travel through time and space on a mission to stop the devious immortal Vandal Savage.

Berlanti has been in a relationship with LA Galaxy soccer player Robbie Rogers since mid-2013. On February 18, 2016, Berlanti, and Rogers, welcomed his first son via surrogacy.

1972 – The District of Columbia government announces that it will not prosecute private, consensual sodomy.

Click for Full Monty.

1973 – Steven Daigle is an American actor, television personality, and porn performer. He is known for his work in gay pornography and on the U.S. reality-television show Big Brother. As an actor he is known for Eating Out: Drama Camp (2011) and The Butch Factor (2009).

Daigle was a geographic consultant and rodeo competitor. He has attended the Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas as well as the University of North Texas in Denton. He earned a bachelor's degree in general agriculture/marketing. Daigle is a champion bull rider on the gay rodeo circuit.

Steven Daigle was a HouseGuest on Big Brother 10. Steven was the second House Guest evicted from the season, placing twelfth.

Daigle agreed to star in Steven Daigle XXXposed, a gay porn film directed by Chi Chi LaRue under the director's Channel 1 Releasing studio. It was released on February 20, 2010. Since then, he has performed regularly in gay porn movies.

1974 – From the USSR comes a rare public acknowledgment of the country’s repressive policies against gay men and lesbians. American news services report that noted film director Sergei Paradzhanov has been given six years’ hard labor for crimes including "partial homosexuality" and "incitement to suicide." In 1948 he was convicted of homosexual acts, which were illegal in the Soviet Union, with an MGB officer named Nikolai Mikava in Tbilisi. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was released under an amnesty after three months. He is one of all estimated 1,000 persons arrested each year on charges related to homosexuality.

1976 – Armistead Maupin's serialized epic Tales of the City makes its debut in The San Francisco Chronicle.That first appearance became a series of seven novels that were originally serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. It has since been transformed into a TV series.

Scott (L) with Jeremy Merrifield

1981 – Michael James Scott is an American actor and singer, known for his work on the Broadway stage.

Scott was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Michael worked as a child actor doing commercials, TV shows, musicals and performed live singing in concerts all around the Central Florida area. His training extends back to the prestigious Broadway Theatre Project started by the legendary Ann Reinking. He attended as an apprentice for 4 years and two of those years as an assistant. It was at this training program where he trained with some of the greats like Gwen Verdon, Gregory Hines, Julie Andrews. Phylicia Rashad, Ben Vereen, and Roy Scheider, to name a few.

He joined the 1st National US tour of Mamma Mia! from 2004 to 2005. He then went on to make his Broadway debut in 2005 in the musical All Shook Up. He also appeared off-Broadway opposite Donna McKechnie in Here's to the Public. In 2006, after a short stint in Disney's Tarzan on Broadway, he reprised his Mamma Mia! role of Eddie in the Broadway production. In 2007, he was a part of the original Broadway company of Boublil and Schönberg's anticipated new musical The Pirate Queen. In 2008, he was a part of the concert cast of Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall and very shortly after going on to originate Barry Belson in the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys. He returned to Broadway in 2009 in the Broadway revival of Hair, continuing onto The West End production the following year, which he was also associate choreographer for the production. At the end of that year, he returned to Broadway in the original cast of Elf, which closed in 2011, leading him to play Dr. Gostwana in the original Broadway company of The Book of Mormon.

He originated the role of Genie in the Australian production of Disney's musical Aladdin, which opened in Sydney in August 2016, he left the company in December 2017 to join the National Tour of Aladdin. He received a Helpmann Award in 2017 for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in the Australian Production. While in Australia, Michael guest starred in the comedy quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention?.

Scott is a member of the critically acclaimed group The Broadway Boys, and Grammy nominated Broadway Inspirational Voices. He continues to sing at concerts, special events and benefits around the country.

Scott is openly gay. He is currently engaged to filmmaker Jeremy Merrifield after dating for seven years.

1985 - New Zealand – 5000 Gay advocates march through Wellington in support of law reform.

1988 – In the United Kingdom, the Conservative government passes Section 28, a clause that bans the "promotion of homosexuality" by local government.

1988 – Billy Gilman is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 11, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to a Top 40 hit on the country music charts. An album of the same name was released later that year on Epic Records, and was certified Double Platinum in the United States. Following it was a Christmas album Classic Christmas and Dare to Dream, both of which were certified gold. He exited Epic's roster and signed to Image Entertainment in 2005 releasing Everything and More. In 2006, he released the self-titled Billy Gilman. After a number of non-charting releases from 2006 to 2009, followed by a hiatus till 2013, he returned in 2014 with a new single "Say You Will".

Gilman was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, he was raised in the village of Hope Valley, Rhode Island, in the town of Richmond (Most of the village is located in Hopkinton, but Gilman lived on the Richmond side). Gilman began singing before he was in school, and gave his first public performance at age 7. At the age of 9, Gilman was discovered by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, who helped him record demos. Gilman was then signed to Epic Records Nashville in 2000.

On September 10, 2001 Gilman was voted the European's most awarded new country artist, becoming the youngest contender to ever win that prize. He was also given entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest singer to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his debut single "One Voice" and was nominated for Best Country Song for the songwriters, Don Cook and David Malloy. That same year, he appeared in the tribute album Country Goes Raffi, performing the Raffi song "Baby Beluga."

On September 7 and September 10, 2001, Gilman performed the song "Ben" at Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special in New York which was later televised. It was originally sung by Michael Jackson in 1972.

In a video posted on November 20, 2014, Gilman came out as gay and stated that he had been with his current boyfriend, Chris Meyer, for five months (on day of his "coming out" announcement). Gilman said he was "scared to death" of the announcement and the implications it could have on his career. "It's difficult for me to make this video, not because I'm ashamed of being a gay male artist, or a gay artist or a gay person, but it's pretty silly to know that I'm ashamed of doing this knowing that I'm in a genre and an industry that's ashamed of me for being me."

1999 – Tarjei Sandvik Moe (born May 24, 1999) is a Norwegian actor. He rose to fame with his portrayal of Isak Valtersen, the main character in the third season of Norwegian teen drama series Skam. His acting, and the third season of the series as a whole, received widespread critical acclaim for a non-stereotypical display of homosexuality, and resulted in him and co-star Henrik Holm winning two prestigious Norwegian awards.

Tarjei Sandvik Moe portrayed Isak Valtersen in the teen drama series Skam (2015-2017), appearing in all four seasons of the series, but receiving prominence as the main character in the third season. The season, as well as his character, received widespread acclaim for showing homosexual love without resorting to stereotypical presentations of storylines or personalities, and caused the series to become a global phenomenon, with international viewers following the series through unofficial translations on social media.

Following the conclusion of Skam, Sandvik Moe performed in the Norwegian theater adaptation of Grease and appeared in the 2018 erotic thriller film En Affære (an affair).

In February 2018, Moe, together with Iman Meskini, a co-star from the series, were invited to the Royal Palace for dinner, and had the honor of meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Duchess Kate. Prince William and Duchess Kate visited the school where Skam was filmed, where they discussed the impact of the TV show for people around the world with more members of the series' cast.