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🏳️🌈 Sickening
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Before that watershed decision, LGBTQ people were seen as sick people in need of a cure. Today, the medical community is often at the forefront of the fight for fair and fact-based healthcare for gays, lesbians,…
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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 believed, but not confirmed, that the arsonist was a gay…
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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 — the Democratic National Committee became the major first party to…
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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 marriage. The case went as far as the state Supreme…
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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, the term “homosexual” (or derivatives of it, like “homophile”) were…
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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 much the only safe spaces where LGBTQ people could congregate…
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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 point out that things like Gay Days weren’t official Disney-sponsored…
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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. Lesbian: Use as a noun or an adjective. In the…
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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 not really a lisp. To me, it sounds like a…
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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 takeaway for me was that people who are cast out…
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