Gayskool
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🏳️🌈 Naval Gazing
Hey, did you know that Judy Garland was indirectly responsible for a multi-year taxpayer-funded anti-gay witch-hunt? Not only is this story true — it’s also hilarious! Back when it was dangerous to come out of the closet, introducing yourself as a “Friend of Dorothy” was a surreptitious way of letting…
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🏳️🌈 A Gay Ol’ Times
You can expect fair and balanced coverage of LGBTQ issues in The New York Times today, but that wasn’t always the case. The paper wouldn’t even print the the word “gay” till 1987 — its style was to use “homosexual,” and you all know how I feel about that. The…
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🏳️🌈 Born This They
The singular they — that is, using the pronoun “they” as a non-gendered alternative for “he” or “she” — isn’t a new invention. In fact, it first emerged in English in the Fourteenth Century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Next time you hear someone raising a fuss about the…
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🏳️🌈 Transformational Technology
If it weren’t for Lynn Conway, the Daily Dave wouldn’t be online. It would be handwritten. Or mimeographed. Or carved on a stone tablet. Conway, a trans woman, changed the way computers ran programs, and later revolutionized the way we create and produce microchips. It’s not hyperbole to say that…
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🏳️🌈 Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Since I wrote about baseball yesterday, let’s switch gears today and talk about … (checks notes) … baseball. Depending on who you ask, the first Pride night at an MLB stadium was held in 1994, 2000, or 2001. In 1994, the San Francisco Giants held an “Until There’s a Cure…
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🏳️🌈 Up High!
Did you know that the high five was invented by a gay man? As the story goes, on October 2, 1977, L.A. Dodger Glenn Burke, the first MLB player to come out, was on deck and Dusty Baker was about to cross the plate and score his 30th home run.…
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🏳️🌈 It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Queer
It’s June, which can only mean one thing1 — it’s Pride month! And that calls for another 30 days of Gayskool, my LGBTQ history project here at the Daily Dave. You can brush up on old Gayskool posts here. Come back tomorrow for my first post, which may or may…
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🏳️🌈 History’s Biggest Celebration of Pride — 50 Years After Stonewall
The biggest LGBTQ event in history1 was exactly two years ago today — and the Complimentary Spouse and I were there! More than five million people participated in WorldPride. It was legendary. The parade had hundreds of floats, thousands of marchers, and at least three million gallons of glitter. Here’s…
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🏳️🌈 Animal Magnetism
Animals can be gay! Scientists have observed same-sex behavior, including pair bonding and parenting, in many species. My favorite same-sex animal couple is Roy and Silo, a pair of chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo. When an opposite-sex penguin couple couldn’t take care of a second egg, Roy and…
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🏳️🌈 Where It all Began
Anything I write about the Stonewall Riots, which began 52 years ago today, will pale in comparison to what others have said. Let’s just say that the shot glass heard ’round the world changed millions of lives for the better.