Portal:LGBTQ


	The LGBTQ+ Portal

Introduction

LGBTQ (also commonly seen as LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, and LGBTQIA+) is an initialism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. It is an umbrella term, broadly referring to all sexualities, romantic orientations, and gender identities which are not heterosexual or cisgender.

In the 1990s, gay, lesbian, and bisexual activists adopted the term LGB, supplanting narrower terms such as "gay or lesbian". Terminology eventually shifted to LGBT, as transgender people became more accepted within the movement. Around that time, some activists began to reclaim the term queer, seeing it as a more radical and inclusive umbrella term, though others reject it, due to its history as a pejorative. In recognition of this, the 2010s saw the adoption of LGBTQ, and other more inclusive variants.

Some versions of the term, such as LGBT+ and LGBTQ+ add a plus sign, to represent additional identities not captured within the acronym. Many further variants exist which add additional identities, such as LGBTQIA+ (for intersex, asexual, aromantic, and agender) and 2SLGBTQ+ (for two-spirit), LGBTQQ (for queer and questioning), or which order the letters differently, as in GLBT and GLBTQ.

The collective of all LGBTQ people is often called the LGBTQ community. These labels are not universally agreed upon by everyone that they are intended to include. For example, some intersex people prefer to be included in this grouping, while others do not. Various alternative umbrella terms exist across various cultures, including queer, same gender loving (SGL), Gender, Sexual and Romantic Minorities (GSRM). (Full article...)

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The Röhm scandal resulted from the public disclosure of Nazi politician Ernst Röhm's homosexuality by anti-Nazis in 1931 and 1932. As a result of the scandal, Röhm became the first known homosexual politician.

Röhm was an early member of the Nazi Party and was close to party leader Adolf Hitler. In the late 1920s, he lived in Bolivia where he wrote letters to a friend, Karl-Günther Heimsoth, in which he candidly discussed his sexual orientation. Röhm's double life began to fall apart when he returned to Germany in 1930 and was appointed leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazi Party's original paramilitary wing. Although the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Communist Party of Germany supported the repeal of Paragraph 175, the German law criminalizing homosexuality, both parties utilized homophobia to attack their Nazi opponents and inaccurately portrayed the Nazi Party as dominated by homosexuals. Their goal was to prevent or delay the Nazi seizure of power, which ultimately occurred in early 1933. (Full article...)

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Photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955

Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

Ailey's work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of Black life in America. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. (Full article...)

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“

I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell.

”

—Audre Lorde (1934–1992)

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See also: 2024 in LGBT rights

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Credit: Photo by Rink Photo

Sisters Sistah, Dana Van Iquity, and Kitty Catalyst, of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, working on a memorial quilt for fallen members of their order. (San Francisco, USA)

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... that The Pittsburgh Courier crusaded against the blue discharge, calling it "a vicious instrument that should not be perpetrated against the American Soldier"?
...that Nireah Johnson was murdered by Paul Moore after Moore discovered Johnson was transgender?
... that the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club developed some of the earliest safe sex education material in the United States?
... that the success of Gay Weddings as counterprogramming to Super Bowl XXXVII led television network Bravo to develop additional LGBT-interest programming, including Queer Eye and Boy Meets Boy?
... that Freeheld is an Academy Award winning documentary by Cynthia Wade that follows a New Jersey detective fighting for the right to pass on her pension to her female domestic partner?

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This month's birthdays

1 – Klaus Wowereit (1953–), German politician and former Governing Mayor of Berlin
2 – Annie Leibovitz (1949–), American portrait photographer
3 – Erik Bruhn (1928–1986), Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author
3 – Eleonora Duse (1858–1924), Italian actress
3 – Gore Vidal (1925–2012), American author, essayist, and political activist
4 – Alan L. Hart (1890-1962), American physician, radiologist, tuberculosis researcher, and novelist
4 – Terri L. Jewell (1954–1995), American author, poet and Black lesbian activist
4 – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (1942–), Icelandic politician, former Prime Minister of Iceland, world's first openly gay head of government
5 – Chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810), French diplomat, spy, and soldier
5 – John Addington Symonds (1840–1893), English poet and literary critic
6 – Bruno Balz (1902-1988), German songwriter
6 – Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937), Polish composer and pianist
7 – Dan Savage (1964–), American sex advice columnist
8 – Kristanna Loken (1979–), American model and actress
10 – Wade MacLauchlan (1954–), Canadian politician, Premier of Prince Edward Island
11 – Jerome Robbins (1918–1998), American theater producer, director, and choreographer
11 – Matt Bomer (1977–), American actor
11 – Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), former First Lady of the United States and human rights activist
12 – Xulhaz Mannan (1976–2016), Bangladeshi magazine editor and LGBT activist
13 – Ian Thorpe (1982–), Australian freestyle swimmer, five-time Olympic Gold Medalist (2000 & 2004)
14 – Isaac Mizrahi (1961–), American fashion designer & TV presenter
14 – Ben Whishaw (1980–), English actor
15 – Michel Foucault (1926–1984), French philosopher
15 – Jenna Talackova, Canadian beauty pageant contestant, model and TV personality
16 – Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), Irish writer, poet, and aesthete
16 – Cressida Dick (1960–), British police commissioner
17 – Montgomery Clift (1920–1966), American actor
17 – Mark Gatiss (1966–), English actor, screenwriter and novelist
17 – Ryan McGinley (1977–), American photographer
17 – Laura Nyro (1947–1997), American songwriter, singer, and pianist
18 – Uzi Even (1940–), Israeli professor, former politician and first openly gay member of Israeli parliament
18 – Brittney Griner (1990–), American basketball player
18 – Martina Navratilova (1956–), American tennis player
19 – George Nader (1921–2002), American actor
19 – Robert Reed (1932–1992), American actor
20 – Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French poet
21 – William Dale Jennings (1917–2000), American LGBT rights activist, playwright, and author
21 – Peter Mandelson (1953–), British Labour politician and former European Commissioner for Trade
21 – Megan Smith (1964–), American technology corporate executive, and former Chief Technology Officer of the United States (2014-2017)
21 – Andrew Scott (1976–), Irish actor
22 – Brian Boitano, American figure skater, 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist
22 – Saffron Burrows (1972–), English actress
22 – Lord Alfred Douglas (1870–1945), British poet and translator
22 – Marc Shaiman (1959–), American film/TV/theatre composer, lyricist & arranger
23 – Jean Acker (1893–1978), American actress
23 – Ireland Baldwin (1995–), American model
23 – Lilyan Tashman (1896–1934), American actress
24 – Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois (1895–1964), French aristocrat & Monegasque royalty
24 – August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796–1835), German poet
25 – Claude Cahun (1894–1954), French artist, photographer, and writer
25 – Chely Wright (1970–), American country singer-songwriter
26 – Liliane Maestrini (1987–), Brazilian beach volleyball player
26 – Glen Murray (1957–), Canadian politician, world's first openly gay mayor of a major city (Winnipeg, MB)
27 – Katherine Bradley (1846–1914), English poet
28 – Francis Bacon (1909–1992), Irish painter
28 – Caitlyn Jenner (1949–), American TV personality & Olympic Gold Medalist in Decathlon (1976)
28 – Frank Ocean (1987–), American singer-songwriter
29 – Michelle Brooke-Marciniak (1973–), American business executive and former WNBA basketball player
29 – Ann-Marie MacDonald (1958–), Canadian playwright, novelist, actress & broadcast journalist
30 – Timothy Findley (1930–2002), Canadian novelist & playwright
31 – Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972), American playwright, poet and novelist