#GLBT+ Community

[aaa-battery-not-rechargeable]

there's something i don't like about using the word 'valid' in conversations about queerness. 'valid' implies that someone or something has to be approved, and that there is someone doing the approving. i don't need approval from society or other queers to be what i am. you can't 'validate' my identity if i don't need to search for approval.

[queerslurheritageposts]

someday I'll answer all those asks about the impact of different groups on queer history...

[learnstransformation]

Difference Between: LGBT And GLBT

Ever wondered what sets LGBT and GLBT apart? It’s all about the order of the letters!

LGBT and GLBT both represent groups of people who share similar feelings and experiences, but the sequence of the letters is what differentiates them. LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender, and is the most widely recognized acronym. This term highlights the diverse community based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

On the other hand, GLBT stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender. The letters are simply rearranged, but the groups they represent remain the same. This variation was more commonly used in the past but has since been largely replaced by LGBT in most discussions and writings today.

Expanding further, LGBTQ includes a "Q" for Queer or Questioning, broadening the spectrum to encompass more identities and experiences. Think of it as a vibrant rainbow of diversity, representing a big family where everyone is welcome, no matter who they are or whom they love.

Both LGBT and GLBT aim to promote inclusion and recognition for individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, fostering a sense of community and support. It’s all about embracing diversity and ensuring that everyone feels seen and valued. To know more please visit:https://giftor.in/difference-between-lgbt-and-glbt/

[ryan-sometimes]

Who were the lesbian blood sisters?

“Suddenly, the hospitals were full of lesbians who were volunteering. Volunteering to go into those rooms and help my friends who were dying. I remember being so moved by them because gay men hadn’t been too kind to lesbians. We’d call them ‘fish’ and make fun of the butch dykes in the bars – and yet, there they were.”

In the 80s, the AIDS crisis was devastating the world of GLBT people - as the acronym read at the time. Gay men were banned from donating blood, which was desperately needed by patients dying from AIDS. The fear around HIV was so great that doctors and nurses refused to even enter the rooms of AIDS patients. These patients were often abandoned by their families in their dying days. There was a crisis was in the GLBT community, and so lesbians stepped in.

Lesbians organized blood drives in order to give blood to AIDS patients who desperately needed it. These blood drives attracted dozens, if not hundreds of lesbians at a time who all donated their blood. They called themselves the Blood Sisters, and they organized regular blood drives for at least 4 years. HIV patients needed frequent blood transfusions due to anemia induced from the virus, and so lesbians provided this blood.

In addition to blood drives, lesbians also took place as physical caretakers for gay men with AIDS, who were often abandoned by their families and even nursing staff who refused to go into their rooms. Lesbians held hands, fed, and took care of them.

In order to honor the efforts of lesbians during the AIDS crisis, the GLBT acronym was changed to LGBT, with lesbians deliberately at the front. Lesbians were a crucial part of the fight against AIDS, and this change would immortalize it in our community.

[crimson-femme]

𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

table of contents: books; anthologies, history, novels, erotica, photography. films; movies, documentaries, shorts. miscellaneous; dissertations, articles, etc. note: everything (minus a few) has a link to access the media! if i am able to find the missing links i will attach them along with adding new content. there are a couple things that are not specifically butchfemme, but i kept them because i feel that they fit. enjoy!

𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚎𝚜 + 𝚌𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜

୨୧ A Restricted Country by Joan Nestle

୨୧ Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity by Chloë Brushwood Rose, Anna Camilleri 

୨୧ Butch/Femme: Inside Lesbian Gender by Sally R. Munt, Cherry Smyth

୨୧ Butch is a Noun by S. Bear Bergman

୨୧ Femme/Butch: New Considerations of the Way We Want to Go by Michelle Gibson, Deborah Meem

୨୧ Femme: Feminists, Lesbians, and Bad Girls by Laura Harris, Elizabeth Crocker 

୨୧ Lesbian Culture: The Lives, Work, Ideas, Art and Visions of Lesbians Past and Present by Julia Penelope, Susan Wolfe

୨୧ On Butch and Femme: A Compiled Readings by I.M. Epstein

୨୧ Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme by Ivan Coyote, Zena Sharman

୨୧ Render Me, Gender Me: Lesbians Talk Sex, Class, Color, Nation, Studmuffins... by Kath Weston

୨୧ S/he by Minnie Bruce Pratt

୨୧ The Femme Mystique by Leslea Newman

୨୧ The Femme's Guide To The Universe by Shar Rednour

୨୧ The Lesbian Erotic Dance: Butch, Femme, Androgyny, and Other Rhythms by JoAnn Loulan

୨୧ The Little Butch Book by Leslea Newman

୨୧ The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader by Joan Nestle

୨୧ Tomboys!: Tales of Dyke Derring-Do by Lynne Y. Fletcher, Karen Barber

୨୧ Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote

𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢

NOTE ⋆ there is more history content in the film section as well as historical fiction in the novel section!!!

୨୧ Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Butch-Femme Fashion and Queer Legibility in New York City, 1945–1969 by Alix Gitner

୨୧ Baby, You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, And Theology Before Stonewall by Marie Cartier

୨୧ Becoming Visible: An Illustrated History Of Lesbian And Gay Life In Twentieth-Century America by Molly McGary, Fred Wasserman

୨୧ Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community by Andrea Weiss

୨୧ Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madaline D. Davis

୨୧ GLBT Historical Society: Museum & Archives ⋆ general LGBT archives, but a very important and great source

୨୧ Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights: 1945-1990: An Oral History by Eric Marcus

୨୧ Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life In Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman

୨୧ Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability by Patricia White

୨୧ Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion by Eleanor Medhurst

𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚜

୨୧ A Crystal Diary: A Novel by Frankie Hucklenbroich ⋆ The razor-edged, compelling, often wryly humorous story hustles us from the blood-and-beer-drenched corners of her St. Louis meat-packing district '50s youth, through the sex-soaked Hollywood alleys of her '60s baby butch years, into the druggy metropolis of '70s San Francisco.

୨୧ Beebo Brinker by Ann Bannon ⋆ Beeboo, a butch 17-year-old farm girl newly arrived in New York after she is driven from her Wisconsin home town for wearing drag to the State Fair. Befriended by the gay Jack Mann, a father-figure with a weakness for runaways, Beebo sets out to find love.

୨୧ Departure from the Script by Jae ⋆ An aspiring actress meeting photographer, femme meeting butch in this light-hearted lesbian romance set in Hollywood.

୨୧ Doc and Fluff: The Dystopian Tale of a Girl and Her Biker by Pat Califia ⋆ Set in the bleak and not-too-distant future of a culture in its death throes, Doc and Fluff careens through the lives of a pair of outlaw women struggling to survive on the road.

୨୧ Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements, Onjuli Datta ⋆ A fresh, queer spin on possession horror with a sharp focus on deeply complex small-town dynamics. A young queer woman who's lived her whole life in the dead-end mountain village of Cadenze finds herself violently possessed by an ancient, malevolent, memory-eating entity that inhabits the caves bordering her home.

୨୧ Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo ⋆ America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

୨୧ Lucy and Mickey by Red Jordan Arobateau ⋆ Lesbian life in the late 1950s, early '60s; and a powerful romance & sexual drama between two females, Lucy & Mickey.

୨୧ Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller ⋆ In an early puritanical New England town, a butch and femme fall in love and discover they can run a farm and live together away from the world that sought to limit them and their love.

୨୧ Satan's Best by Red Jordan Arobateau ⋆ volume #1 in the ten book lesbian biker series THE OUTLAW CHRONICLES. In this action-packed novel we are introduced to the gang of raunchy and glamorous biker women, including the 5 Warlords who run the Outlaws. Enter beautiful blond butch Angel–lone rider on the storm.

୨୧ Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg ⋆ The life of Jess Goldberg, a working-class Jewish butch lesbian in New York from the 1940s through the 1970s.

୨୧ The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall ⋆ The timeless struggle of a butch and femme couple to be accepted by "polite" society. This now classic was banned outright upon publication in 1928.

𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚎𝚜

୨୧ Back To Basics: A Butch-Femme Anthology by Theresa Szymanski

୨୧ Breathless: Erotica by Kitty Tsui

୨୧ Hard Road, Easy Riding: Lesbian Biker Erotica by Sacchi Green, Rakelle Valencia

୨୧ Rode Hard, Put Away Wet: Lesbian Cowboy Erotica by Sacchi Green, Rakelle Valencia

୨୧ Set in Stone: Butch-on-Butch Erotica by Angela Brown

୨୧ Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Butch Femme Erotica by Tristan Taormino

୨୧ The Harder She Comes: Butch/Femme Erotica by D.L. King

𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍

୨୧ Butch/Femme edited by M.G. Soares

୨୧ Butch: Not Like The Other Girls by SD Holman

୨୧ Dagger On Butch Women by Lily Burana, Roxxie Linnea Due

୨୧ Love Bites by Del LaGrace Volcano

୨୧ Making Out: The Book Of Lesbian Sex And Sexuality by Zoe Schramm-Evans, Laurence Jaugey Paget

୨୧ Nothing But The Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image by Susie Bright, Jill Posener

୨୧ The Butch/Femme Photo Project by Wendi Kali

୨୧ The Drag King Book by Del LaGrace Volcano, Judith "Jack" Halberstam

୨୧ The Femme's Guide to the Universe by Shar Rednour

𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖��

୨୧ A Complicated Queerness: Living Femme in a Dyke Community dir. Johanna Buchignani, Emily Hillman ⋆ short film: This film investigates the ways in which gender, power and sexism are lived and experienced within the San Francisco Mission dyke community. The documentary aims to promote awareness of and discussion about the prejudice and invisibility of queer femininity, in order to build alliances and healthier communities.

୨୧ Before Stonewall (1984) dir. Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg ⋆ documentary: The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.

୨୧ Bound (1996) dir. The Wachowskis ⋆ thriller/crime: Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet.

୨୧ By Hook or By Crook (2001) dir. Harry Dodge, Silas Howard ⋆ crime/romance: A buddy film that chronicles two butches, Shy and Valentine, who collide by chance in the San Francisco streets. Shy is immersed in daydreams about the loving father they lost and Valentine is searching for the mother they never met. Like-hearted mischievous souls, the pair stumbles into a series of shambolic shenanigans — along with Valentine’s girlfriend, Billie.

୨୧ Dream Girls (1994) dir. Kim Longinotto, Jano Williams ⋆ documentary: Women join Japan's all-female Takarazuka Revue musical theater troupe, portraying men's roles. The film explores gender dynamics, desires, and complexities of female identity in Japanese society through these performers' experiences.

୨୧ Gay Tape: Butch and Femme (1985) by Cecilia Dougherty ⋆ short: The Gay Tape brings “a little fine-tuning” to the question of representation, honing in on the subjective particularities of the butch-femme dynamic as experienced by members of Dougherty’s local Bay Area dating pool. 

୨୧ Gender Troubles: The Butches (2016) dir. Lisa Plourde ⋆ documentary: What portrayals of lesbianism are acceptable and who gets erased? Butch lesbians from a wide range of backgrounds and ages provide a compelling exploration of society's assumptions and challenge ideas about what it means to be female. They show the rewards that come with self acceptance. Tender, funny, and thought-provoking. NOTE: after clicking the link, scroll down to the middle to watch where it is available with english audio and french, spanish, dutch, or portuguese subtitles.

୨୧ If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) dir. Jane Anderson, Anne Heche, Martha Coolidge ⋆ romance/drama: This anthology of short films tells the stories of three lesbian couples - who live in the same house at different periods of time - who are at a crossroads in their lives. The second story includes a motorcycle riding, leather jacket and tie wearing butch, Amy.

୨୧ Last Call at Maud's (1993) dir. Paris Poirier ⋆ documentary: Some genuinely wild women – and some more demure but no less lively types – take center stage in Paris Poirier’s vivacious documentary about the life and times of Maud’s, the longest running lesbian bar ever.

୨୧ Salmonberries (1991) dir. Percy Adlon ⋆ drama/indie: A woman (played by k.d. lang) who grew up in a small town in Alaska goes to the public library to try and find out who her parents were. She eventually befriends the librarian, an East German immigrant who lost her husband while escaping from behind the Iron Curtain. They help each other try to find closure to the events in their past.

୨୧ Shinjuku Boys (1995) dir. Jano Williams, Kim Longinotto ⋆ documentary: This documentary offers rich insight into gender and sexuality in Japan via a candid portrait of Kazuki, Tatsu, and Gaish, three trans masculine hosts working at the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo’s bustling Shinjuku district. As the film follows them at home and on the job, all three talk frankly about their lives, revealing their views on love, sex, and identity.

୨୧ Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box (1987) dir. Michelle Parkerson ⋆ documentary/short film: Through archival clips, Stormé DeLarverie, bodygaurd of a women's club and former drag king looks back on the grandeur of the Jewel Box Revue and its celebration of pure entertainment in the face of homophobia and segregation.

୨୧ Stud Life (2012) dir. Campbell X ⋆ romance/drama: JJ, a lesbian, works as a wedding photographer with Seb, a gay man who is her best friend. After JJ falls in love with a gorgeous diva, her friendship with Seb becomes strained, and she may be forced to choose between Seb and her lover.

୨୧ The Aggressives (2005) dir. Daniel Peddle ⋆ documentary: The Aggressives is an exposé on the subculture of masculine presenting people of color and their femme counterparts. Filmed over five years in New York City, the featured subjects share their dreams, secrets, and deepest fears.

୨୧ The Watermelon Woman (1996) dir. Cheryl Dunye ⋆ romance/comedy: An aspiring black lesbian filmmaker researches an obscure 1930s black actress billed as the Watermelon Woman.

𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜

୨୧ A Butch Road Map by Ivan Coyote ⋆ spoken word

୨୧ A Dyke's Bike Repair Handbook by Jill Taylor ⋆ motorcycle care/repair handbook, this one is so random i just love it lol

୨୧ Are Butch and Fem Working-Class and Anti-Feminist? by Sara L. Crawley ⋆ article

୨୧ Butch Between the Wars: A Pre-History of Butch Style in Twentieth-Century Literature, Music, and Film by Karen Allison Hammer ⋆ dissertation

୨୧ Female Masculinity by Judith Halberstam

୨୧ Feminizing Theory: Making Space for Femme Theory by Rhea Ashley Hoskin ⋆ thesis

୨୧ Femme: Feminists, Lesbians, and Bad Girls by Laura Harris, Elizabeth Crocker

୨୧ Lesbian Identity and the Politics of Butch-Femme by Amy Goodloe ⋆ paper/review

୨୧ Lineage To My Femme Foremothers by A.N. ⋆ zine

୨୧ Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships by Gina Daggett, Kathy Belge

୨୧ Narrating and Negotiating Butch and Femme: Storying Lesbian Selves in a Heteronormative World by Sara L. Crawley ⋆ dissertation

୨୧ On the Appropriation of Femme from Lesbians Over Everything, a discussion between four femmes ⋆ article

୨୧ The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity by Heidi Levitt, Elisabeth Gerrish, Katherine Hiestand ⋆ study

୨୧ The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman by Esther Newton

୨୧ To All the Beautiful, Kick-Ass, and Fierce, Full-Bodied Femmes by Ivan Coyote ⋆ spoken word

i was meaning to post this for when i hit 1k followers, but i somehow have already surpassed that. it is weird to think that i started this blog on january 27. thank you all so much for following and interacting. i hope you enjoy this list and my blog in general!!

much love 💋

[uwmarchives]

Pride Month: Lou Sullivan

Lou Sullivan was an activist, lay historian, and writer who was born in Wauwatosa in 1951 and grew up in Milwaukee. He became a member of the Gay People’s Union and a close friend of Eldon Murray, and first publicly identified publicly as transgender in an article in the August 1973 issue of GPU News titled “A Transvestite Answers a Feminist”. Sullivan, who lived his life as a gay man, was one of the first FTM transgender people in the nation to speak out about his medical transition and the many roadblocks and instances of discrimination he encountered along the way.  

In 1980 Sullivan wrote Information for the Female-to-Male Crossdresser and Transsexual, one of the first publications to share recommendations on clothing choices and body language as well as advice on finding support groups, counseling, and endocrinological and surgical services for FTM transgender men. The booklet is held in the Eldon Murray Papers at UWM Archives and is available in full online. 

Sullivan moved to San Francisco in 1975, where he completed his medical transition and continued his engagement with activism and advocacy for the transgender community. He was a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society and was involved in editing and publishing their newsletter.    

After receiving an HIV diagnosis in 1986, Sullivan spent the last years of his life amplifying his activism in support of the trans community and increasing his advocacy amongst the doctors and psychiatrists who had delayed his own transition- in part through the founding of FTM International, the oldest group for trans men in the U.S, and contributing to FTM International Newsletter. He died of AIDS-related complications in 1991, at the age of 39. 

The Louis Graydon Sullivan papers, Lou Sullivan’s personal archive, was donated to the GLBT Historical Society of San Francisco in 1991. Over 350 of the records from this collection are available online courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. 

We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan, 1961-1991, which documents Sullivan’s social and medical transition, can be found in the Golda Meir Library’s main collection. From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, which Sullivan wrote in 1990, is held by UWM Special Collections.   

--Ana

[buffaluff]

we’re in the final stretch, kids! today is payday so i sent in a few more dollars in the name of @alliwantforchristmasislou. $50 again to the trevor project, and $50 to sage (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders) + fees 💖🫶

we already know the trevor project but sage, if you don’t know, provides assistance in taking care of our elder queer community, those who may not have support or care from their blood family in their older years. it’s an awesome program.

and i’ll take this moment to share some more of the christmas tommy-related doodles i’ve drawn for friends this season, just while we’re still in the appropriate time of year ❄️🎄💖

(edited to add links to the orgs!)

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … February 4

1893 – A Gay sex scandal begins in Denmark and later Friedrich Hammerich, son of a prominent judge, is arrested. The press claims that Hans Christian Andersen started a seduction chain leading to the present scandal.

Jared French, as painted by his lover Paul Cadmus

1905 – Born: American painter Jared French (d.1988) who devised a pictorial language to explore human unconsciousness and its relation to sexuality. Most of his works consist of strange, statue-like, somnambulant figures with eerily blank facial expressions positioned in austere landscapes and plazas. Rendered in a technique so precise that they seem more real than real, French's paintings capture and maintain the viewer's interest and imagination.

At Amherst College in 1926, French met artist Paul Cadmus, who was briefly his lover and who became a life-long friend. After leaving Amherst, French took a job on Wall Street and then toured Europe with Cadmus between 1931 and 1933. During the 1930s and 1940s, French was a member of the Cadmus circle that included such gay literary and artistic figures as George Platt Lynes, Lincoln Kirstein, George Tooker, Glenway Westcott, and Monroe Wheeler. In 1937, French married artist Margaret Hoening, his and Cadmus's mutual friend. Cadmus did not seem upset with the marriage and the three were soon collaborating as members of the PAJAMA photographic group (the name of which was comprised of the first two letters of each of their given names).

The photographs taken by French, Hoening, and Cadmus are particularly important for documenting the gay and artistic community coalescing at Fire Island in the period from 1937 to 1945.

French's paintings reveal the central role sexuality plays in the artist's conception of humanity. In the tempera painting entitled Washing the White Blood from Daniel Boone (1939), American Indians symbolically wash away Boone's European ancestry to make him part of the collective unconscious. Boone's metamorphosis includes a sexual awakening. Surrounded by incredibly muscular, nearly nude male Indians, he stands in the middle of the canvas, arms outstretched, wearing obtrusively feminine underwear: tight, light pink hip-huggers laced up the center with a dark blue ribbon. This scenario suggests that the painting is an exploration of Jung's concept of man's repressed feminine aspect.

Nest

During the 1960s, French radically altered his imagery. He began drawing fantastic biomorphic creatures that, on closer inspection, are fragments of human torsos, heads, pelvises, and genitalia emerge. French made paintings out of only a few of these arresting drawings. In one such work, entitled Nest (1968-1969), a mass of fleshy, cartilaginous forms appears to mutate atop a seaside cliff. Somewhat horrifically, this hermaphroditic creature, made up of orifices, buttocks, faces, and spines, seems to have impregnated itself and is hatching its egg on a nest of flesh and bone.

In the latter part of his career, French fell out of favor with art critics and art collectors. At the end of his life, he was living in Rome, virtually in seclusion.

de Rede with Marie-Helene Rothschild, Liz Taylor and Liza Minnelli

1922 – Oskar Dieter Alex von Rosenberg-Redé, 3rd Baron von Rosenberg-Redé (d.2004), also known as Alexis, Baron de Redé, was a prominent French banker, aristocrat, aesthete, collector, and socialite. In 2003, he was appointed a commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his restoration of the Hôtel Lambert where he was known for hosting opulent costume balls. Involved in horse racing, in 1972 he won the Prix de Diane and came in second at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Oskar Dieter Alex von Rosenberg-Redé was born in Zurich, Switzerland, the third and youngest child of Oskar Adolf Rosenberg, Baron von Rosenberg-Redé, a banker from Austria-Hungary.He had two siblings. Born in 1919, his brother Hubert von Rosenberg-Redé was the heir to the barony, while his sister Marion von Rosenberg-Redé (born 1916) was handicapped.

The children were brought up Protestant and raised in a 16-room hotel suite at the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, attended by a great many maids, nannies, porters, and valets. Their father visited occasionally. As their finances decreased with the onset of World War II, they moved into a two-bedroom suite. Diagnosed with leukemia, their mother died in 1931, when Redé was nine years old. Redé and his brother were then sent to be educated together at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland.

On account of bankruptcy, his father committed suicide in 1939 at the family's estate (Villa Rosin) in the Austrian town of Kaumberg. Living on an insurance policy income of $200 a month, Redé moved to New York City, where he briefly attempted to acquire American citizenship. He traveled to California to work for an antique dealer, where he earned money to support his sister and befriended Elsie de Wolfe (known as Lady Mendl), as well as Salvador Dalí. He returned in New York in 1941.[8] His brother committed suicide in 1942 in Hollywood, California, whereupon Redé became the third and last Baron von Rosenberg-Redé, which was typically abbreviated as Baron de Redé in France.

In a New York restaurant, the 19-year-old Redé caught the eye of businessman Arturo López Willshaw and they became lovers in 1941. A married Chilean millionaire, Lopez-Willshaw lived with his wife Patricia Lopez Huici in a lavishly decorated house in Neuilly, France and was "famous for his extravagant costume entertainments." Shortly after they became a couple, Lopez-Wilshaw allegedly offered Redé $1 million to return with him to France.

By his own account, Redé was largely uninterested in affection or sex, and had only ever loved a Polish classmate at Le Rosey, an interest he never acted on. Redé was romantically involved with Arturo Lopez-Willshaw until Lopez-Wilshaw's death in 1962. Upon meeting Lopez-Wilshaw, Redé recollected losing his virginity to the man at the "sleazy" hotel Winslow on East 55th Street.

As Redé recalled of the beginning of the relationship, "I was not in love. But I needed protection, and I was aware that he could provide this." In addition, he observed, "The money gave me the security I craved, and it would also enable me to look after my handicapped sister."

After their move to Paris, Lopez-Wilshaw unofficially lived with Redé at the Hôtel Lambert while maintaining a formal residence with his wife in Neuilly.

With his wealth deriving from his lover, Redé's social notoriety rested on being a kept man. In 1953, author Christian Mégret published Danaé, a popular roman à clef based on Redé's and Lopez-Willshaw's life together. The racy details were provided by one of their close friends and Mégret's companion, Princess Ghislaine de Polignac. Lopez-Willshaw promptly banned Polignac from his home, although Redé later relented and became friends again.

Redé maintained his apartment at the Hotel Lambert throughout his later years, remaining an active host. He died suddenly at the home of a friend, Carmen Saint, at the age of 82, of heart issues. Redé's estate, notably the contents of his apartment at the Hôtel Lambert, was auctioned after his death by Sotheby's and realized £5.2 million. His memoirs, Alexis: The Memoirs of the Baron de Redé, were published posthumously in 2005.

1938 – Martin Greif was born in the Bronx, New York and was an editor, publisher, writer and lecturer. (d.1996)

In 1982 he published a book called The Gay Book of Days – 'An evocatively illustrated who's who of who is, was, may have been, probably was, and almost certainly seems to have been gay during the past 5,000 years'. The book was published in the UK in 1985. This history and many other blogs and sites have used it as a starting point.

Martin Greif also published and edited a large number of other books, mostly through the two publishing houses he and his partner founded, Main Street Press in the US and Orchard Hill Press in Ireland.

He spent his latter years with his longtime work and life partner, Lawrence Grow, in County Cork, Ireland. Larry Grow died from an AIDS-related stroke in 1991 and Martin Greif died from AIDS in 1996.

Evan Wolfson (R) and Cheng He wedding

1957 – Born: Evan Wolfson is an American attorney and gay rights advocate. He is the founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States. Wolfson, who many consider to be the father and leader of the same-sex marriage movement, authored the book Why Marriage Matters; America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, which Time Out New York magazine called, "Perhaps the most important gay-marriage primer ever written..."

Returning to the United States after his service in the Peace Corps in Togo, Wolfson entered Harvard Law School. His interest in glbtq rights led him to discover John Boswell's book Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality (1980), which had a profound impact on him.

Wolfson took an important step in his personal life: he came out to his family. Describing the moment to reporter Mark S. Warnick, he stated,

"I think they were all surprised. I think that their main reaction was sadness, that I was not going to have the kind of life they expected and were familiar with. But they were always loving and supportive. They're very proud of what I do and they've always been there for me.

From 1989 until 2001 Wolfson worked full-time at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay rights advocacy non-profit. He directed their Marriage Project and coordinated the National Freedom to Marry Coalition, the forerunner to Freedom to Marry. Wolfson co-wrote a brief in Baehr v. Miike, in which the Supreme Court of Hawaii said prohibiting same-sex marriage in the state constituted discrimination, and worked on Baker v. Vermont, the Vermont Supreme Court case that led to the creation of civil unions in Vermont by the state legislature as a compromise between Wolfson's group and those objecting to same-sex marriage. Wolfson called the unions a "wonderful step forward," but not enough.

Wolfson appeared before the United States Supreme Court in 2000, to argue on behalf of Scoutmaster James Dale in the landmark case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, in which the Court ruled that the Boy Scouts organization had the right to expel Dale for revealing that he was gay. The Court ruled 5-4 against Dale, but Wolfson, said, "We are succeeding in getting people to rethink how they feel about gay people."

On April 30, 2001, Wolfson left Lambda to form Freedom to Marry. Wolfson described his vision for the new organization: "I'm not in this just to change the law. It's about changing society. I want gay kids to grow up believing that they can get married, that they can join the Scouts, that they can choose the life they want to live."

He is adamant that victory means the right to marry, not to have different and less beneficial systems such as civil unions or domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian citizens. "You don't ask for half a loaf," he declared. "We don't need two lines at the clerk's office when there's already an institution that works in this country, and it's called marriage. One of the main protections that come with marriage is inherent in the word: certainly in times of crisis any other word than marriage would not bring the same clarity or impart the same dignity."

Wolfson takes inspiration from the words of Gandhi on the process of change: "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win."

Wolfson and his partner (now husband), Cheng He, a Canadian-born microbiologist, reside in New York.

Fittingly, Wolfson and Freedom to Marry were deeply involved in the successful struggle to achieve marriage equality in the Empire State. Freedom to Marry became a founding member of the New Yorkers United for Marriage coalition, which was put together by Governor Andrew Cuomo to forge a coherent strategy to build support for marriage equality in the state. Freedom to Marry invested over $1,000,000 in the campaign, including more than $500,000 for television, newspaper ads, and direct mail, and over $100,000 in polling, all aimed at making sure legislators heard from the couples affected, their loved ones, and the 58% of New Yorkers who supported the freedom to marry.The New York legislature finally passed the marriage equality bill in a historic vote on June 24, 2011.

Wolfson and Dr. Cheng He were married in New York City on October 15, 2011. They have been a couple since 2002. In an interview with Nate Schweber of the New York Times for a feature story on their marriage, Wolfson said, "For me, getting married is not about making a political statement; it's about wanting to build a life together, wanting to have protections for one another, wanting to make a commitment in front of your family and friends, just like everyone else."

1974 – Lee Pearson CBE is a 10-times paralympic games gold medallist having represented British para-equestrianism in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London. He also has six world-championship and three European titles.

Pearson was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita and first came to public attention in 1980 when then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher carried him up stairs in 10 Downing Street having awarded him a 'Children of Courage' medal. He currently lives in Bagnall, Staffordshire.

He turned professional after he was inspired by the Atlanta Olympics. He won three gold medals in the championship dressage, freestyle dressage, and team dressage events at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Paralympics. He won gold in the team dressage event at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, silver in the championship dressage and bronze in the freestyle.

He noted after his failure to win gold in the freestyle competition in London that he had been voted down by the British judge but said that he would compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, on a different horse.

Lee Pearson CBE currently is the title holder of no less than 34 Gold medals at European, World and Paralympic level. Probably making him the most successful Equestrian Athlete ever.

Pearson runs his own dressage yard in Staffordshire and teaches many around the countryIn August 2012 the Independent reported that Lee had a new, 18 year-old boyfriend Ben after "He broke up with [Lincolnshire fireman Mark] Latham in February [2012] and is now in the process of a messy divorce" from their civil partnership which began in August 2010. Mark Latham responded to explain, "Mr. Pearson is not 'ending' the Civil Partnership as I am the one petitioning against him on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour."

In 2014, ahead of a planned trip to decry anti-gay propaganda at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Pearson almost dared Russian President Vladimir Putin to throw him in jail, becoming one of the UK's highest-profile gay athletes.

1975 – The first Gay-oriented television commercial in the U.S. aired on two network affiliate stations in Washington D.C.. Lambda Rising Bookstore sponsored the ads on episodes of Phil Donahue and Marcus Welby, M.D. Stations balked at airing the ads, but relented after getting approval from the Association of Broadcasters Standards Office.

1981 – U.S. Congressman Jon Hinson is arrested for performing an act of "oral sodomy" with a twenty-eight-year-old man in the restroom of a House of Representatives office building. He pleads no contest and is given a thirty-day suspended sentence. Following his 1981 resignation, he became an LGBT activist in metropolitan Washington D.C.Hinson died of respiratory failure resulting from AIDS in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1995 at the age of fifty-three.

2010 – The national parliament of Albania passed a comprehensive LGBT rights law. The bill does not include marriage equality as had been promised by the president, but the Albanian Alliance against the Discrimination of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) welcomed the law as a powerful legal tool to protect against any kind of discrimination.

2017 – The Movie, Kept Boy, written by Robert Rodi, is released.

Robert Rodi (b.1956) is an American writer and author of satiric novels and comic books.

Robert Rodi was born 'in a cosy middle-class suburb of Chicago, right around the time cosy middle-class suburbs were feeling the firsts blasts of scorn from the burgeoning counterculture. Twenty-two years later, he earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy just as the curtain went up on the hyper-materialist Reagan era. Not long afterwards, he came out of the closet just as gay men were dealt the first crushing blow of the AIDS crisis … It was thus perhaps inevitable he turned to writing comedy.'

His first novel, Fag Hag, was published in 1991 and was swiftly translated into Italian, French, German, and Japanese. It was followed in quick succession by Closet Case (1992), What They Did to Princess Paragon (1994), Drag Queen (1995), Kept Boy (1997) and Bitch Goddess (2002) and When You Were Me (2007).

Rodi's shorter fiction can be found in a number of anthologies, including Men On Men 5, His, and Sandman: Book of Dreams. His novella Glad, Gladder, Gladys was serialised online at USAToday.com. His literary criticism has appeared in the pages of The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, NewCity, and The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review.

Rodi is the creator of several comic-book series, including 4 Horsemen, Codename: Knockout, and The Crossovers. He was a founding member of the Chicago-based gay performance art troupe, The Pansy Kings, who were active throughout the 1990s, and he wrote sketches for the Live Bait Theater's revues Junk Food and Dear Jackie: The Queen of Camelot Remembered.

Rodi still lives in Chicago, in a century-old Queen Anne house with his partner Jeffrey Smith and a constantly shifting number of dogs.

Warner Brothers took an option on his novel Kept Boy, and Rodi adapted it it for the screen with David Ozanich. It was released in 2017 to mixed reviews.

[archangeldyke-all]

Can y'all talk more about lesbians that paved the way for lesbians. There is a reason why the 'L' has been placed first and I dont see that being acknowledged enough. The backbone of the lgbt community ✊🏾

hi babe! i'm going to be really honest here and say i actually don't know as much as i should about lesbian history. and by 'know' i mean having actually read substantial books/biographies/accounts. of course i know plenty of lesbian facts from the internet and i've seen some documentaries and films... but i don't feel well-read enough on the topic to spew off the top of my head. it's also why i don't really identify as butch/femme, there's a whole history there that i'm uneducated about and i just don't want to use one of those titles before i've really read about it. but i would LOVE if you had any recommendations on lesbian history books! i'm making a little wish list for my next trip to the leftist bookstore (i promised myself i wouldn't buy more books until i read all the unread ones on my shelf, so it'll be a few months 😭😭)

now, all this being said, i do know why lesbian is at the beginning of the acronym! before the 80s the lgbt community was called the glbt community. during the aids crisis when millions of gay men, trans women, and bisexual people were dying from aids, they were often treated as disgusting and untouchable. many were abandoned by their families and some had no families to begin with due to homophobia or transphobia. so there were literally millions of queer people being disowned at home and neglected until death in the hospitals. because lesbians are the lowest risk demographic to get aids, they weren't getting infected. instead, lesbians were losing their community members at an insane rate. so, they stepped in to do all they could to be there for their queer friends. when doctors and nurses and friends and family were too scared to even touch patients on their deathbeds, lesbians were the ones who would be there, holding their hand and wiping their tears, feeding them and making them laugh. masses of lesbians would donate blood to hospitals for aids patients across the country (the san diego blood sisters are the most well known.) almost an entire generation of queer people were lost to a disease that the government refused to even acknowledge, and the only people who cared for them at the time were lesbians. to thank them, the glbt community changed the acronym to lgbt, putting the dykes first as a thank you for caring so deeply for the community.

i wouldn't say we're the backbone of the lgbt community, i think that title has to be given to trans women. but we are the caretakers historically, and i hope that we keep that alive today :)

[100gayicons]

Esera Tuaolo is a former professional football player of Samoan descent. He played in the NFL for 9 seasons from 1991 to 1999 for such teams as the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Atlanta Falcons. This included Super Bowl XXXIII, where he was the last person to tackle football legend John Elway. Tuaolo retired from football in 1999.

Tuaolo is also a singer and performed the National Anthem in full gear before a game against the Chicago Bears, then immediately played the game at the referee’s whistle. More recently, he sang the National Anthem again at a Los Angeles Clippers game. Tuaolo appeared in the 2017 seasons of The Voice, selected for Blake Nelson’s team. He competed through the 15th episode when he was eliminated.

In 1995, Tuaolo began dating Mitchell Wherley while still playing professional football. They had to hide their relationship.

“When you’re in the closet and you feel like you are isolated and all alone, it’s hard to think of anything else… Back then, I never thought of coming out, [or] even doing anything that would jeopardize my position. I never, ever felt safe to come out. Just imagine what the bounty would have been on the gay guy.”

(Tuaolo and Wherley were together for 12 years, breaking up in 2007.)

In 2002, Tuaolo announced to the public that he is gay on HBO's Real Sports. He followed that up with his autobiography, “Alone in the Trenches: My Life As a Gay Man in the NFL,” in 2006.

“When I took that courageous step to come out into my truth, I was welcomed and supported by the GLBT community and everyone who truly liked me. Had I known that while I was playing, my answer would be, ‘yes,’ I would have come out sooner.”

Since coming out, Tuaolo has been an advocate for the LGBT community. He was a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation and testified at a Minnesota state legislature Committee hearing regarding an anti-gay marriage bill. Tuaolo also speaks regularly at colleges and corporations about homophobia and helping organizational leaders create a safe environment for their members and employees.

(Note: Tuaolo was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence in 2010. The charges were later dropped.)

[wafflenati0n]

Fun Fact!

The first acronym for the LGBT community appeared during the '80s, during the AIDs crisis. It was first GLBT rather than LGBT. Some say that the order of was changed from gay, lesbian, to lesbian, gay, as the feminist movement grew and became stronger.

Some also think it's to honor the lesbians that helped during the AIDs crisis. Many lesbians helped people affected by the virus but became nurses and blood donors, called "blood sisters." Depsite not being widely accepted at that time, the lesbians offered unwavering support.

This year will have been 54 years since the first AIDs case was reported and 54 years since the GLBT has existed.

[stimming-up-a-storm]

If you use the term GLBT rather than LGBT as like, a statement on the community I’m killing you with hammers

[farmerlesbian]

ok i know everyone has done similar versions of this poll already but i just like doing polls with my own options lol so humor me. sorry there is not room for an other button!! if you have a different fav not listed just pick one of these that's your second fav and add your fav in the tags/comments 💖

also to be clear i don't mean to highlight or prioritize any specific versions of the initialism i just have limited options in polls lol and i have all the other things i want to have available as well. there are so many possible versions and iterations i simply have to limit it. i am super curious what your favorite or what your preference is! do you use the +? do you add Q or spell it out? which letters specifically do you use? do you use one T or two? what does A stand for for you? what does Q stand for? what is the plus for? do you use a U? H? 2? what order do you put the letters?

is your fave something else? have you come up with a fun or unique or uncommon term or phrase? what do you like to use?

share in the comments n tags!

[lgbtplusme]

What's an acronym? (LGBTQ+)

When learning about any subject, it's best to start out with the absolute basics. So, when discussing queer terminology, we'll start out with the components and history of LGBTQ+.

The term "gay" has been around since the middle ages, as a synonym of "happy". However, it really only started to be associated with homosexuality in the mid-1900s. Gay is typically used to describe someone who is homosexual; however, others created the terms "lesbian" and "bisexual" as they saw "gay" as not inclusive enough. Nowadays, gay typically refers to a man who likes other men, lesbian refers to a woman who likes other women, and bisexual refers to a person who likes 2 or more genders (typically men and women, but these could be any genders).

Later, the term "transgender" was added to the acronym. There was some debate over whether gender should be included in an acronym about sexuality. But the argument of inclusivity won, making the LGBT or GLBT (though the biphobia and transphobia within the queer community shant be overlooked). Sidenote: the reason why it's LGBT and not GLBT, is likely due to the lesbian-feminist movements happening around the same time, and after, stonewall.

The Q stands for one of 2 things, either queer or questioning. While "queer" is seen as a normal identity term, embraced by many younger members of the community, it's actually a reclaimed derogatory term! Many older folks do not like to be referred to as "queer," as that was a derogatory term that was used against them. Someone who is questioning is someone who is figuring out their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual and/or romantic orientation. Some people, such as myself, are always questioning, even when we have other terms we identify with.

Lastly (or at least until the next post lol), the plus (+) represents all other identity terms in the community. The acronym continued growing, and as it did, hateful outsiders began to mock it for its length. While this still happens no matter what, many in the community also felt it was getting to be a bit much. The acronym was shortened to include the original letters of LGBTQ, and the plus was added to include all other members and allies. In the next posts I will discuss some of the terms found in those longer variants!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

On Monday, a federal court ruled in favor of several federally qualified health centers and LGBTQ+ resource organizations that had either lost funding or faced grant threats under the Trump administration. The decision blocks portions of Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as programs accused of promoting so-called “gender ideology.” While the ruling applies only to the named plaintiffs, it is likely to ripple outward—restoring or preserving funding for trans and queer healthcare and research across the plaintiffs’ service regions. It also marks yet another instance in which courts have rejected Trump-era directives portraying transgender people as inherently dishonorable—or, at times, nonexistent. The ruling, issued by Obama appointee Judge Jon S. Tigar, pointed directly to the discriminatory intent behind Trump’s executive orders. In siding with the plaintiffs, the court found that the provisions targeting “gender ideology” served no legitimate purpose beyond a transparent desire to harm transgender people: “Plaintiffs argue that the Gender Termination Provision and Gender Promotion Provision fail any level of scrutiny because the Gender Order is “transparently motivated by a ‘bare desire to harm’ transgender people.”... Defendants offer no response in their opposition, nor any argument that either provision advances any legitimate government interest, and thus concede the point.”

The case was brought by several major nonprofits serving the LGBTQ+ community, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the GLBT Historical Society, the San Francisco Community Health Center, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Prisma, the New York LGBT Center, Bradbury-Sullivan, Baltimore Secular Humanists, and FORGE. Collectively, these organizations receive tens of millions of dollars in federal grants, many of which fund services for LGBTQ+ and transgender communities. At least one—San Francisco Community Health Center—has already lost funding for its HIV prevention programs targeting LGBTQ+ populations. The others have received threatening letters.

In the San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump case, a federal court sees a solid basis in finding Donald Trump’s executive orders banning funding for DEI and LGBTQ+ resources likely unconstitutional.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: LGBTQ+ organizations win federal court victory against Trump’s anti-DEI threats

[brookstonalmanac]

Monthly Holidays: June

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