Monday, October 05, 2009

LGBT History Month: On This Day In Gay History


October 5, 1513 – Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered what he claimed was a colony of cross-dressing males in present day Panama. It was reported that he massacred them.
October 5, 1840 – John Addington Symonds, one of the earliest scholars of gay and lesbian issues is born. He assisted Havelock Ellis in the writing of“Sexual Inversion.”
October 5, 1987 – The city commission of Traverse City Michigan voted unanimously to repeal a law banning the sale of condoms in city limits.
October 5, 1990 – Dennis Barrie, director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, was acquitted of obscenity charges after displaying a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit.
October 5, 1998 – The US Congress killed an amendment by Rep Frank Riggs (R-CA) which would have barred San Francisco from spending federal housing money to implement its domestic partner ordinance.
October 5, 1999 – African scholar Ali Mazrui criticized Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for targeting gay and lesbian citizens for harassment and arrest.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:04 PM

    I'm so glad you're doing this! i love all the information on people and things i never knew.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, now you're just making things up about Balboa.

    ReplyDelete

Say anything, but keep it civil .......