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🏳️🌈 The UpStairs Lounge Massacre
Today is the 48th anniversary of the UpStairs Lounge massacre. The UpStairs Lounge was a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Someone set fire to the bar, and 32 people died from fire or asphyxiation. It is…
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🏳️🌈 Go Back to Political Party City Where You Belong
When people say “both political parties are essentially the same,” I just want to cut a bitch. When it comes to LGBTQ people, there is an enormous rift between Democrats and Republicans. In 1980 — yes, 41 years ago —…
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🏳️🌈 45 Years
The battle for marriage equality goes back to 1970. Richard Baker and James McConnell applied for a marriage license in Minnesota. They were denied, so they sued claiming that state law made no mention of gender as it pertained to…
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🏳️🌈 Alphabet Soup
Someone once asked me, “What’s up with all those letters in LGBTQ+, and why are they in that order?” The answer is actually quite cool, because it takes you through several decades of gay history. By the 1940s and 1950s,…
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🏳️🌈 A Toast to Gay Bars!
Bars and nightclubs have played an important role in LGBTQ history, and it’s no surprise that the Stonewall Riots started in a bar and not, say, a coffeehouse, store, or library. For many, many years, bars and nightclubs were pretty…
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🏳️🌈 We Apologize for the Break in our Regularly Scheduled Programming
I forgot to post something yesterday because the Complimentary Spouse were on vacation. Can you guess where we are? FYI, you’ll be proud to note that Disney has gone all-in on LGBTQ Pride. Years ago, the company was quick to…
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🏳️🌈 Terms of Endearment
The terminology for LGBTQ people can be a bit confusing. That’s because it’s always evolving. Here are some pointers from me. Gay: Use this as an adjective. “The gay men looked fabulous” is correct. “The gays looked fabulous” is not.…
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🏳️🌈 Sounds Fabulous!
One of the stereotypes about gay men has to do with their speaking voices. (Think David Sedaris, Paul Lynde, Quentin Crisp, Liberace, and a whole bunch of Disney animated villains.) It’s often called the “gay lisp,” but I think it’s…
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🏳️🌈 You Know She Brings It to You Every Ball
In 1990, the groundbreaking documentary “Paris Is Burning” was released. It was an intimate look at the ball scene in New York — a place where marginalized LGBTQ people (mainly of color) would compete for trophies in fashion-inspired categories. The…
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🏳️🌈 Our Corporate Allies Haven’t Always Been our Allies
During Pride Month, major companies wrap themselves in rainbows, march in parades, and proclaim their commitment to equal rights. This hasn’t always been the case. There are many stories of companies discriminating against LGBTQ people in the past. Let’s look…
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🏳️🌈 Do Ask, Do Tell!
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) was the horribly misguided policy that allowed lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to serve in the U.S. military as long as they didn’t disclose their sexual orientation. President Bill Clinton introduced the policy as a…
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🏳️🌈 Meet Tammy
LGBTQ representation in government is getting better, and that’s thanks to trailblazers like Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). In 1998, Baldwin became the first openly lesbian woman elected to Congress. In 2012, she became the first openly LGBTQ person in the Senate.…