Month: June 2021

IKEA was the first company to depict a gay couple in a TV ad in the United States — in 1994! It showed the couple shopping for a table. The ad only appeared in a few markets and was shown late at night, not during prime time. Of course, bigots called for a boycott. As usual, the boycott had no effect and today IKEA has about 950 million annual visits worldwide.

Allen Bennett was the first openly gay rabbi in the United States. He came out in 1978 in California as one of many LGBTQ voices opposing the Briggs Initiative (which I might discuss in a future history lesson). In 1979, he was elected rabbi of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco. Early in his tenure, he officiated Harvey Milk’s funeral.

Reform Judaism — which I am a part of — is a vocal, energetic, and spirited supporter of LGBTQ equality. The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) first announced its support for gays and lesbian participation in Jewish life in 1987, and since then it has been at the forefront of pushing for marriage equality and trans rights.

(Photo credit: SFGate.com.)

Ever wonder why so many LGBTQ characters die in movies and on TV? It’s not a coincidence. For many years, written and unwritten censorship laws prohibited the depiction of LGBTQ characters unless they were punished for their orientation. (You can google “Hays Code” for more info about this.)

This situation is so commonplace that there are names for the trope: Bury Your Gays and Dead Lesbian Syndrome. LGBTQ characters die everywhere you look — Brokeback Mountain, A Single Man, House of Cards, Game of Thrones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Philadelphia … need I go on?

Even when someone doesn’t die, unhappy endings are far too common (Call Me by Your Name is a recent example). And don’t get me started on Billy Crystal’s character on Soap — who only found happiness when he “switched” to heterosexuality. Steven on Dynasty too.

Bury Your Gays and Dead Lesbian Syndrome are destructive in a way straight people might not realize. What would it do to your self-worth if the only images you saw of people like yourself on TV and in movies involved death and misery?

But don’t despair! Things are getting better. Love, Simon gave LGBTQ audiences the teen rom-com they have always wanted. Cam and Mitch weren’t killed off on Modern Family. Ray Holt is still leading the precinct on Brooklyn 99. And we’re getting a gay Marvel superhero in “The Eternals” in a few months.

Speaking of which … I can’t wait!

For a long time now, the word “homosexual” has been considered highly offensive. For decades, gay men have gay men have referred to themselves as gay while anti-gay forces continued to use the word “homosexual.” GLAAD (The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) explains:

“Because of the clinical history of the word ‘homosexual,’ it is aggressively used by anti-gay extremists to suggest that gay people are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered – notions discredited by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s.”

If you call me homosexual, don’t be surprised if you get a verbal bitchslap. You have been warned.

There were times when lesbians, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people did not stand united as one group. These will remembered as the darker moments in LGBTQ history.

The most egregious example of this came in 2007. The LGBTQ community was having difficulty getting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (which would protect LGBTQ people at work) act passed, so Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) neutered the bill so that it would only cover gay and lesbian people — and not trans people.

The thinking was that this was the only way to get any kind of bill passed, and some protections would be better than none at all. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) supported this approach as a “tactical decision.”

I remember the huge outcry and divided viewpoints when this happened. LGBTQ people protested Frank and the HRC. This unfair version of the bill passed the House but got nowhere in the Senate.

The trans inclusions were added back to the ENDA proposal later. And then, the provisions of ENDA were folded into a broader bill called the Equality Act, which also covers things like housing.

Just like the gay- and lesbian-only bill, ENDA and the Equality Act have never made it into law despite being reintroduced each year. That means there are STILL no federal protections for LGBTQ employees.

There is one good outcome from this debate: Gay and lesbian people realized that they could no longer ignore the plight of trans people. Today, the alliance between L, G, B, T, and Q is stronger and we work together to advance the rights of everyone.

(Photo credit: The Washington Blade.)

LGBTQ people across the United States should credit their civil rights and social acceptance to one woman: Marsha P. Johnson. While the history of the Stonewall riots isn’t quite clear, it’s believed that Johnson — an African-American trans woman — is the first one to fight back by throwing “the shot glass heard ’round the world.” LGBTQ people must honor Johnson by remembering that our struggle is intertwined with all other struggles for freedom and dignity — including the push for trans rights and the Black Lives Matter movement. Rest in power, Marsha.

In 1966, three gay men in New York, inspired by the sit-ins in the South, protested anti-gay laws with a “sip-in” at a Manhattan bar. At the time, it was illegal for bartenders to serve LGBTQ people. Of course, this didn’t pose much of a problem, as you can’t conclusively determine someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity just by looking at them. So Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell, and Randy Wicker went to a bar called Julius’ in the West Village, told the bartender they were gay, and ordered drinks. They were refused, which set the wheels in motion by legal organizations (including my favorite, the ACLU) to challenge the New York liquor authority.

This is one of many examples of LGBTQ protest before Stonewall, and it’s clear that Dick, Craig, and Randy — who were members of the Mattachine Society — were influenced by the Civil Rights Movement.

Fun fact: Julius’ wasn’t chosen at random. At the time, it was well known as a gay hangout. However, it has just been raided by police, so the bartenders were being more stringent as usual. Of course, knowing the law, even at place like Julius’, no one would have announced their sexual orientation before ordering a drink.

Another fun fact: Julius’ is still in business and it’s celebrated as NYC’s oldest gay bar.

The term “homosexual” was created in 1868 by journalist Karl-Maria Kertbeny. Before that, there wasn’t really a nonjudgmental word (at least in the Western world) that described gay people, which meant we couldn’t define ourselves or create communities. (Consider how hard it would be to identify or understand yourself if there were no accurate terminology that describes who you are.) Kertbeny, who was straight, recognized homosexuality was an unchangable identity and not a behavior. He was one of the first people to advocate for LGBT equality.

June is the most rainbow-tactic, glitteriffic, fabulous month of the year! It’s when we in the LGBTQ community celebrate Pride.

Every year, I post daily LGBTQ History Lessons all month long on Facebook. This year, I’ll be doing it on the Daily Dave — it will take the place of the Four Questions all month long. Look for the Gayskool¹ posts with the Pride flags in the title. 🏳️‍🌈

Sit back, relax, and read about the people and events that shaped LGBTQ life worldwide.

¹ I’m making fun of Playskool, the company that claims to make educational toys but can’t even spell the word “school” correctly.