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Out Military Not a member? Sign up Now! Sign In Email _____________________ Password _____________________ [ ] Keep me signed in Login Forgot Your Password? [IMG] [IMG] Military Acceptance Project Log Cabin Republicans National Convention - Dallas TX 2011 Service Members Legal Defense Network * Welcome * Forum * Members * Groups * Magazine * Investors * Forum Home * New Posts * Home * > * GLBT Personalities * > * Gay Gay Thu, Mar 17 2011 01:35pm EDT 1 March 17, 1912 - BAYARD RUSTIN American civil rights activist, born (d: 1987) Largely behind the scenes in the civil rights movement of the 1960's and earlier, and one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, it was Bayard Rustin who counseled Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. on the techniques of nonviolent resistance. Alex R. For much of his career, Rustin lived in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, in the Alex R. union-funded Penn South complex, from 1978 with his partner Walter Naegle. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! He became an advocate on behalf of Gay and LesbianGayLesbian causes in the latter part of his career; however, his sexuality was the reason for attacks from within the civil rights movement as well as from many governmental and other interest groups. A year before his death in 1987, Rustin said: "Twenty-five, thirty years ago, the barometer of human rights in the United States were black people. That is no longer true. The barometer for judging the character of people in regard to human rights is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, or lesbian." Fri, Mar 18 2011 01:50am EDT 2 Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS ; 23 June 1912 - 7 June 1954), was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalization of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer. During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre. For a time he was head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. After the war he worked at the National Physical Laboratory, where he created one of the Alex R. first designs for a stored-program computer, the ACE. Alex R. 211 Posts Towards the end of his life Turing became interested in mathematical biology. * Sign up Now! He wrote a paper on the chemical basis of morphogenesis, and he predicted oscillating chemical reactions such as the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, which were first observed in the 1960s. Turing's homosexuality resulted in a criminal prosecution in 1952 because homosexual acts were illegal in the United Kingdom at that time, and he accepted treatment with female hormones (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison. He died in 1954, several weeks before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined it was suicide; his mother and some others believed his death was accidental. On 10 September 2009, following an Internet campaign, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for the way in which Turing was treated after the war. Fri, Mar 18 2011 03:05pm EDT 3 March 18, 1886 - EDWARD EVERETT HORTON, American actor (d. 1970); There's no way to think of the comedies of the 20's, 30's and 40's without recollecting this lanky, bushy-browed Nervous Nellie. Of all the sissified comedians of the past, he was unquestionably the best, certainly the most eccentric and humanly complicated. Watch him in comic support of Astaire and Rogers in Top Hat (1935), where his attempts at getting out of the clutches of Alice Brady provide small gems of gay sexual innuendo and perfect timing. The actor is best known for his work as a character actor in supporting roles. Some of his noteworthy films include The Front Page, Trouble in Paradise, the Alex R. aforementioned Top Hat (one of several Astaire-Rogers movies Horton was in, Holiday, Lost Alex R. Horizon, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Arsenic and Old Lace and A Pocketful of Miracles. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! In private life he lived with his mother on a large estate named "Belly Acres." One can almost hear him arguing, in that firm but nervous way of his: "Now mother. I like that name, and I don't care that you find it undignified. Belly Acres it is and Belly Acres is stays." Beginning in 1959 he narrated the "Fractured Fairy Tales" segment of the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon show. In 1965 he played the medicine man, Roaring Chicken, in the sitcom F Troop. He parodied this role, portraying "Chief Screaming Chicken" on Batman as a pawn to Vincent Price's "Egghead" in the villain's attempt to take control of Gotham City. His last role, as a moribund tobacco company president in a wheelchair, was in the motion picture Cold Turkey, released after his death. Fri, Mar 18 2011 03:13pm EDT 4 Ivan Massow (born 11 September 1967) is a British entrepreneur, financial adviser and former Chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Alex R. Massow is an advocate of equitable financial services. Alex R. 211 Posts His company was the first to provide mortgages and life assurance for the gay community, * Sign up Now! as well as people in HIV high-risk groups and the first to offer insurance advice to people with mental health issues. He currently lives in London where he is involved in new business projects. Sat, Mar 19 2011 02:49am EDT 5 March 18, 2010 - LIEUTENANT DAN CHOI and CAPTAIN JAMES PIETRANGELO II, two outed military officers, handcuffed themselves to the White House gates in an act of public protest Alex R. against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which forbids Gay service members from serving Alex R. openly in the U.S. military. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! Specifically they were protesting the Obama administration's intransigent foot-dragging on the issue after having campaigned on removing the policy that had been signed into law by Bill Clinto Sat, Mar 19 2011 07:20am EDT 6 March 19, 1872 - SERGEI DIAGHILEV, Russian choreographer, born (d: 1929); A Russian art criticRussian peopleArt critic, patron, ballet impresarioBalletImpresario and founder of the legendary Ballets RussesBallets Russes from which many famous dancers and choreographersChoreographer would later arise. One cannot underestimate the influence of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on the development of 20th century art. But the importance of his sexuality to Diaghelev's creative art is sometimes overlooked. Alex R. Had he not been a Gay man, had he not attracted to his cause the great Gay writers of the Alex R. day, the stream of 20th century art may have flowed in an entirely different direction 211 Posts (some might say towards "Let's Make a Deal"). * Sign up Now! As Martin Green wrote in Children of the Sun: "He made the dancer Nijinsky first his lover and then his choreographer, slyly displacing Michel Fokine and inspiring Nijinsky to become the company's chief ballet-creator. Diaghilev's superb taste...was made manifest in this new Nijinksy, the choreographer, and in the ballets he created. These works of art were the children of Diaghilev's sexual passion. The same thing happened later with Leonide Massine and Serge Lifar...These men created ballets under the spell of Diaghilev's passion and he created through them." Sat, Mar 19 2011 07:29am EDT 7 March 19, 1821 - RICHARD FRANCIS BURTON, legendary British explorer, diplomat and author (d. 1890); a swashbuckling EnglishEngland explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. If I left anything out it's hard to imagine what it might be. Burton was known for his far-flung and exotic travels and explorations within AsiaAsia and AfricaAfrica as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages. Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to MeccaMecca, making an unexpurgated translation of The Book of One Thousand Nights and A NightThe Book of One Thousand and One Nights (more commonly called The Arabian Nights in English because of Andrew Lang'sAndrew Lang abridgment) and the Kama SutraKama Sutra and journeying with John Hanning SpekeJohn Hanning Speke as the first white men guided by the redoubtable Sidi Alex R. Mubarak BombaySidi Mubarak Bombay (page does not exist) to discover the Great LakesAfrican Alex R. Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the NileNile river. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! Allegations of homosexualityHomosexuality followed Burton throughout most of his life, at a time when it was a criminal offense in the UKUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Biographers disagree on whether or not Burton ever experienced Gay sex (he never directly acknowledges it in his writing). These allegations began in his army days when General Sir Charles James NapierCharles James Napier requested that Burton go undercover to investigate a male brothelBrothel reputed to be frequented by British soldiers. It has been suggested that Burton's detailed report on the workings of the brothel may have led some to believe he had been a customer. Burton was a heavy drinkerAlcohol at various times in his life and also admitted to taking both hemp and opiumCannabis (drug)Opium. Friends of the poet Algernon SwinburneAlgernon Swinburne blamed Burton for leading him astray, holding Burton responsible for Swinburne's alcoholismAlcoholism and interest in the works of the Marquis de SadeMarquis de Sade. Sun, Mar 20 2011 08:21am EDT 8 March 20, 1947 - JOHN BOSWELL, American historian (d. 1994); A prominent historian and professor at Yale UniversityYale University, many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of homosexuality and religion, specifically homosexuality and ChristianityHomosexuality and religionHomosexuality and Christianity. Boswell was the author of the ground-breaking and controversial book Christianity, Social Tolerance and HomosexualityChristianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality (page does not exist) (1980), which, according to Chauncey et al (1989), "offered a revolutionary interpretation of the Western tradition, arguing that the Roman Catholic Church had not condemned gay people throughout its history, but rather, at least until the twelfth century, had alternately evinced no special concern about homosexuality or actually celebrated love between men." The book was crowned with the American Book Award American Book Awardfor History and the Stonewall Book AwardStonewall Book Award in 1981. Boswell is known primarily, however, as author of The Marriage of Likeness: Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern EuropeThe Marriage of Likeness: Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe (page does not exist) (New York: Villard, 19941994), in which he argues that the adelphopoiiaAdelphopoiia liturgy was evidence that attitude of the Christian church towards homosexualityHomosexuality and Christianity has actually changed over time, and that early ChristiansChristianity did on occasion accept same-sex relationships. Alex R. Rites of so-called "same-sex union" (Boswell's proposed translation) occur in ancient Alex R. prayer-books of both the western and eastern churches. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! They are rites of adelphopoies isAdelphopoiesis, literally Greek for "the making of brothers." Boswell, despite the fact that the rites explicitly state that the union involved in adelphopoiesis is a "spiritual" and not a "carnal" one, argued that these should be regarded as sexual unions similar to marriage. This is a highly controversial point of Boswell's text, as other scholars have dissenting views of this interpretation, and believe that they were instead rites of becoming adopted brothers, or "blood brothers". Boswell pointed out such evidence as an icon of two saintsIconSaint, Saints Sergius and BacchusSaints Sergius and Bacchus (at St. Catherine's on Mount SinaiMount Sinai), and drawings, such as one he interprets as depicting the wedding feast of Emperor Basil to his "partner", John. Finally, Boswell sees JesusJesus as fulfilling the role of the "pronubus" or in modern parallel, best man. Boswell made many detailed translations of these rites in Same-Sex Unions, and claimed that one mass same-sex weddingSame-sex marriage occurred only a couple of centuries ago in the Basilica of St. John LateranBasilica of St John Lateran, the cathedral seat of the Pope as Bishop of RomePopeBishop of Rome. Dr. John Boswell died of complications from HIV-AIDS on December 24, 1994December 241994, at age 47. Sun, Mar 20 2011 09:06pm EDT 9 Like a number of monarchs from the early modern period, William III of England (also known as Prince of Orange) acquired a reputation for favouring close male acquaintances. Alex R. Alex R. Although some of this speculation was politically motivated, his relationship with two men 211 Posts in particular was notably intimate: Hans William Bentinck, who was created Earl of * Sign up Now! Portland, and Arnold van Keppel, who became Earl of Albermarle. The king himself found it "a most extraordinary thing that one may not feel regard and affection for a young man without its being criminal". Sun, Mar 20 2011 11:50pm EDT 10 Alex R. Lance Bass Alex R. Singer Lance Bass (b. 1979) gained fame as a member of the boy band *Nsync; since coming 211 Posts out in 2006, he has spoken on behalf of glbtq rights. * Sign up Now! Mon, Mar 21 2011 12:10pm EDT 11 March 21, 1901 - GAVIN ARTHUR, American writer, grandson of President Chester A. Arthur (d: 1972); Grandson and namesake of US President Chester Alan Arthur, and an early trust fund baby he was Alan Watts' father in law. With no need to work for a living, he was an adventurous soul, working his way around the Alex R. world as a merchant seaman. Alex R. 211 Posts Finally settling in San Francisco where he became a well-known astrologer and Gay * Sign up Now! Liberation fore-leader, he was asked by the staff of The Oracle to select the chart for the first Human-Be-In, thereby determining the date for that historic event. He helped Kinsey with his research into gay sexuality and wrote the now out of print Circle of Sex, which cataloged sexual preferences by sign. The gay community abounds with lore about his life, and he was allegedly associated from his youth with a variety of eminent or notorious folk in ways we are far too discrete to mention here. Mon, Mar 21 2011 12:37pm EDT 12 March 21, 2005 - BOBBY SHORT, American singer died (b. 1924); an American cabaret singer known for his interpretation of songs by 20th century composers such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke and George Alex R. and Ira Gershwin. Alex R. 211 Posts He also championed African-American composers of the same period such as Eubie Blake, Fats * Sign up Now! Waller, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, presenting their work not in a polemical way, but as simply the obvious equal of that of their paler contemporaries. His dedication to his great love - what he called the "Great American Song" - left him equally adept at performing the witty lyrics of Bessie Smith's "Gimme a Pigfoot" or Gershwin and Duke's "I Can't Get Started with You". Wed, Mar 23 2011 01:53pm EDT 13 March 23, 1874 - J.C. LEYENDECKER, German commercial artist, born (d: 1951); A highly popular American illustrator of Dutch ancestry, Leyendecker was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States at the age of eight in 1882 from Montabaur, Germany, with his parents, (Peter Leyendecker and Elizabeth nee Oreseifen), his sister, Augusta, and two brothers, Francis Xavier "Frank" Leyendecker, and Adolph Leyendecker. J.C. Leyendecker was one of the most successful and recognizable commercial artists of the 20th century, best known, perhaps as the creator of the sleekly handsome Arrow Collar Man. Almost seven decades after the height of his vogue, the Arrow Collar Man still appeals. Blond, classically handsome, patrician, somewhat aloof, probably a bit of a shit, he is definitely more interested in himself than he is in any of the beautiful women pictured with him. When he first appeared in magazine ads, the Arrow Collar people received carloads of fan letters from adoring women eager to discover the identity of the sexy artist's model. Some proposed marriage. Alex R. Alex R. Little did they know that the Arrow Collar Man was the artist's lover, Charles Beach - 211 Posts blond, handsome, patrician, vain and very much a self-interested shit. * Sign up Now! Over forty years, Leyendecker illustrated covers for the enormously popular Saturday Evening Post. In total, he produced over 300 illustrations for the magazine. The mainstream image of Santa Claus as a jolly fat man in a red fur-trimmed coat was popularized by Leyendecker, as was the image of the New Year Baby. Also notable is Leyendecker's illustration of the Three Kings, from the Christmas 1900 edition of the Saturday Evening Post. Leyendecker drew propaganda posters during WWI, encouraging people to buy war bonds. Leyendecker was the chief influence on, and a friend of Norman Rockwell, who was a pallbearer at Leyendecker's funeral. In 1914 the Leyendecker brothers built an estate in New Rochelle, NY, where they, their sister and Charles Beach, lived. Leyendecker was elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1977. Wed, Mar 23 2011 03:24pm EDT 14 Egan, Jim (1921-2000), Canadian activist. Born in Toronto, Egan first came to prominence in 1949 when he began writing letters to the editor to protest sensational or misleading articles on homosexuality that were then common in the North American mainstream press. Egan was determined to challenge the conspiracy of silence that he believed had formed around the true nature of homosexuality. He undertook this campaign at a time when there was no organised gay movement in North America. Egan and his partner, Jack Nesbit, used the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to challenge the discriminatory exclusion of pension benefits to same-sex couples under the Alex R. Old Age Security Act. Alex R. 211 Posts This was the first such claim heard by the Supreme Court under the Charter. * Sign up Now! Although the claim was ultimately unsuccessful, the Court did rule that `sexual orientation' must be read into the Charter as a ground of discrimination analogous to existing grounds such as race, gender and religion. This ruling essentially changed the Canadian Constitution and paved the way for further high court challenges based on sexual orientation as a ground of discrimination. Jim Egan is today widely regarded as Canada's pioneer gay activist. David Adkin, Jim Loves Jack: The James Egan Story (film) (Toronto, 1996); Jim Egan, Challenging the Conspiracy of Silence: My Life As a Canadian Gay Activist, ed. Donald W. McLeod (Toronto, 1998); Jim Egan papers, Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Toronto; Jim Egan, Jim Egan: Canada's Pioneer Gay Activist, ed. Robert Champagne (Toronto, 1987). Thu, Mar 24 2011 09:47am EDT 15 March 24, 1252 - CONRADEN, Bavarian royalty, born (d: 1268); called the Younger or the Boy, but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (German: Konradin, Italian: Corradino), was the Duke of Swabia (1254-1268, as Conrad IV), King of Jerusalem (1254-1268, as Conrad III), and King of Sicily (1254-1258, de jure until 1268, as Conrad II). He was born in Wolfstein, Bavaria to Conrand IV of Germany and Elizabeth of Wittelsbach. He is sometimes known as Conrad V, though he never succeeded his father in Germany. Conradin was the last legitimate Hohenstaufen, the son of the assassinated Conrad IV. We know little of his appearance and character except that he was " as beautiful as Alex R. Absalom and spoke good Latin". Alex R. 211 Posts While he was still a child in Germany, his uncle Manfred made himself king of Sicily * Sign up Now! (1258), but when Manfred died eight years later, the kingdom was seized by Charles of Anjou. Conradin was persuaded to come to Italy to recover his kingdom, and, accompanied by his lover, Frederick of Baden, titular Duke of Austria, he gained the support of several Italian cities. In the end, however, Conradin was captured by Charles, tried as a traitor and beheaded. His lover, at his own request, was executed with him. Conradin was just 16; Frederick was 21. To this day Gay lovers make pilgrimages to the church of the monastery of Santa Maria del Carmine at Naples, where the two young men were laid to rest, together. Thu, Mar 24 2011 11:10am EDT 16 March 24, 1940 - BOB MACKIE, American fashion designer, born; Best known for his costumes for Cher and for The Carol Burnett Show. Mackie is also known for his exclusive designs of dress for high-priced Barbie dolls. Two of Mackie's best-remembered creations had a humorous element. While working on the The Carol Burnett Show, he designed a "curtain dress" (complete with Alex R. a curtain rod across the shoulders) that Carol Burnett wore in the "Went with the Wind" Alex R. parody. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! Mackie also designed the garish ensemble worn by Cher at the March 1986 Academy Awards: black stretch pants, a bejeweled loincloth, knee-high boots, a black chain-link top, and a huge feathered Mohawk headdress that was one and a half times taller than her head. Introduced by Jane Fonda with the words, "Wait'll you see what's gonna come out here," Cher was appearing as a presenter after what many considered an Oscar snub (Cher was not nominated for her performance in Mask). "As you can see," said Cher, "I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress." Fri, Mar 25 2011 11:02am EDT 17 March 25, 1947 - ELTON JOHN, English singer and songwriter, born; (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947March 251947) is an English pop/rock singer, composer, and pianistEnglandPop musicRock musicSingerComposerPianist. In his four decade career, John has been one of the dominant forces in rock and popular music, especially during the 1970s. He has sold more than 250 million albums, and over one hundred million singles, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. He has more than 50 Top 40Top Forty hits including seven consecutive #1 U.S. albums, 59 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, 4 #2 hits, and nine #1 hits. Alex R. Alex R. He has won five Grammy awards and one Academy AwardAcademy Award. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! His success has had a profound impact on popular musicPopular music and has contributed to the continued popularity of the piano in rock and rollRock and roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #49 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time. You've got to hand it to Elton. Coming out publicly in Rolling Stone when he was at the top of the charts took guts. Not many rock stars would have dared to take the risk. But everything's worked out pretty good. Elton has a new look, and a sharp wit: "Ever since I had that interview in which I said I was bisexual," he grins, "it seems twice as many people wave at me on the streets." Fri, Mar 25 2011 01:33pm EDT 18 Alex R. Alex R. March 25, 1811 - PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY is expelled from the University of Oxford for his 211 Posts publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism. * Sign up Now! Fri, Mar 25 2011 09:42pm EDT 19 March 26, 1911 - TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, American dramatist (d. 1983); born Thomas Lanier Williams III, Tennessee Williams, was a major AmericanUnited States playwright of the 20th century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth because he thought "Thomas Lanier Williams" sounded "like it might belong to the sort of writer who turns out sonnet sequences to Spring". Tennessee won the Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 19481948 and for Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in 19551955. In addition, The Glass Menagerie (19451945) and The Night of the Iguana (19611961) received New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards. His 19521952 play The Rose Tattoo (dedicated to his lover, Frank Merlo), received the Tony Award for Best Play. Alex R. Alex R. Williams is nothing less than the stuff of theater history, on and off the stage. 211 Posts * Sign up Now! If at times Williams appeared to be his own worst enemy, he long lived with the pressure of having been the first publicly-known gay celebrity in America. It cannot have been much fun to watch his great Blanche DuBois undressed in quest for her penis by homophobic critics obsessed with proving that gay men know nothing about straight love. His other heroines have been similarly violated. If all writers pay a price for fame, Williams, being open and out as a gay man, paid more than his fair share. Williams's relationship with Frank Merlo, a second generation Sicilian American who had served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, lasted from 19471947 until Merlo's death from cancer in 1963. With that stability, Williams created his most enduring works. Merlo provided balance to many of Williams' frequent bouts with depressionDepression (mood) and the fear that, like his sister Rose, he would go insane. Sat, Mar 26 2011 11:48am EDT 20 March 26, 1973 -T. R. Knight, American actor, born; An Emmy Award-nominated and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actor,United StatesActor Knight's most high-profile role to date is his current role as Dr. George O'Malley on ABC'sAmerican Broadcasting Company top-rated, hit medical soap opera Grey's Anatomy. Rumors over Knight's sexuality gained momentum when news reports surfaced in October 2006 that Grey's Anatomy co-stars Patrick Dempsey and Isaiah Washington were involved in an argument during which, Knight and others allege, Washington used an anti-gay slur directed at an unnamed co-star. Alex R. Alex R. Washington later apologized, stating: "I sincerely regret my actions and the unfortunate 211 Posts use of words during the recent incident on-set". * Sign up Now! Knight, who is gay, did not disclose his sexuality to the public until October 19, 2006October 19, when he released a statement through People magazine stating, in part: "I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there. While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm Gay isn't the most interesting part of me." Knight is in People's Top 50 Sexiest Man Alive of 2007. In February, 2008, Knight and his new boyfriend, Mark Cornelson, attended the 2008 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Sun, Mar 27 2011 01:16pm EDT 21 March 27, 1973 - NOEL COWARD, English composer and playwright died (b. 18991899); All I can say is run, don't walk, to your local bookstore, and buy The Letters of Noel Coward, Barry Day (Knopf/ISBN-10: 0375423036. A fascinating, sharp and prolific mind. Coward was gayGay and never married, but he maintained close personal friendships with many women. These included actress and author Esme Wynne-TysonEsme Wynne-Tyson (page does not exist), his first collaborator and constant correspondent; the designer and lifelong friend Gladys CalthropGladys Calthrop (page does not exist); secretary and close confidante Lorn Loraine; his muse, the gifted musical actress Gertrude LawrenceGertrude Lawrence; actress Joyce CareyJoyce Carey; compatriot of his middle period, the light comedy actress Judy CampbellJudy Campbell; and (in the words of Cole Lesley) 'his loyal and lifelong amitie amoureuse', film star Marelene DietrichMarlene Dietrich. He was a valued friend of Viven Leigh, Gene Tierney, Judy Garland, Elaine Stritch, Prince Margaret and Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherVivien LeighGene TierneyJudy GarlandElaine StritchPrincess Margaret, Countess of SnowdonElizabeth Bowes-Lyon. He was a close friend of Ivor Novello and Winston ChurchillIvor NovelloWinston Churchill. Alex R. Alex R. Coward's insights into the class system can be traced back to London life in World War I, 211 Posts when thousands of troops passed through the capital every day, and Gay officers and other * Sign up Now! ranks met civilians in dozens of highly secret clubs. He enjoyed a 19-year relationship with Prince George Duke of Kent and another lengthy one with the stage and film actor, Graham Payn, for almost 30 years until his death. Payn later co-edited with Sheridan Morley the collection of his diaries, published in 1982. He was also connected to composer Ned Rorem, with details of their relationship published in Rorem's diaries. A man and no less a product of his times (and his own imagination, to be sure) and exquisitely attuned to those times, Coward refused to acknowledge his sexuality, wryly stating: "There is still a woman in Paddington SquarePaddington station who wants to marry me, and I don't want to disappoint her." From his youth Coward had a distaste for penetrative sex and held the modern gay scene in disdain. This disdain, we have to believe is merely a symptom of an era, rather than a matter of character, and something he would have rethought had he been born in another time. His evident innate sense of honor and what is right would have, one has to infer, brought him around. Sun, Mar 27 2011 08:14pm EDT 22 BOB PARIS: In the July 1989 issue of Ironman, Bob Paris came out in the media as a gay man. He and his then-partner, Rod Jackson, had a commitment ceremony in a Unitarian church in Alex R. 1989, started successful non-profit companies, lectured on a wide variety of LGBT rights Alex R. issues, and made many television, radio, newspaper and magazine appearances. In 1995, the 211 Posts two separated. * Sign up Now! Today, Paris lives with his spouse, Brian, on an island near Vancouver, British Columbia. Together since 1996, Bob and Brian were legally married after Canada equalized the marriage laws in 2003. ------ Wikipedia Tue, Mar 29 2011 05:52pm EDT 23 March 29, 1921 - DIRK BOGARDE, English actor was born (d. 1999); Sir Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde, better known by his stage nameStage name Dirk Bogarde, was an Actoractor and authorAuthor. Bogarde's most serious friendship with a woman was with the bisexualBisexual French actress CapucineCapucine. For many years he shared his homes, first in Amersham, England, then in France with his manager Anthony ForwoodAnthony Forwood (a former husband of the actress Glynis JohnsGlynis Johns and the father of her only child, actor Gareth Forwood), but repeatedly denied that their relationship was anything other than friendship. These denials were understandable, mainly given that homosexual acts were illegal during most of his career, and also given his following among female admirers which he was loath to jeopardize. His brother Gareth Van den Bogaerde confirmed in a 2004 interview that Bogarde was gay at a time when such acts were illegal, and also that his long-term relationship with Tony Alex R. Forwood was more than simply that of a manager and friend. Alex R. 211 Posts Bogarde starred in the landmark 1961 VictimVictim (film), a remake of the 1919 German * Sign up Now! silent classic Different From The Others, playing a prominent homosexual barrister in London who fights the blackmailers of a young man with whom he had an emotional relationship. The young man commits suicide after being arrested for embezzlement, rather than ruining the attorney's reputation. In the process of exposing the ring of extortionists, Bogarde's character puts at risk his successful legal career and marriage to see that justice is served. Victim was the first mainstream British film to treat the subject of homosexuality seriously and the film helped lead to the changing of the lawSexual Offences Act 1967. Before agreeing to play this role, which argued for the decriminalization of homosexual acts, Bogarde had specialized in playing leading men in light comedies. "It was a tremendous departure, playing `my first queer,'" he wrote. "The fanatics who had been sending me 4,000 letters a week stopped overnight...not because I was playing a homosexual, but because I was playing a middle-age man." Thu, Mar 31 2011 11:10am EDT 24 March 31, 1934 - RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN, American actor, born; an American actor of stage and screenUnited StatesTheatreFilm who became a teen idolTeen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. KildareDr. Kildare (1961-1966). Alex R. Alex R. Chamberlain resides in HawaiiHawaii, with his partner since the mid-1970s, 211 Posts agent-producer-director Martin Rabbett. * Sign up Now! Although it was generally known that Chamberlain was gay, having been outedOuting by the French women's magazine Nous Deux in December 1989, it was not until 2003, at age 69, that he came outComing out as such in his biographyBiography, Shattered Love (ISBN 0060087439), which describes how he felt obliged to hide his sexuality in order to have an acting career and detailed affairs with dancer Rudolph Nureyev and actor Anthony Perkins. Thu, Mar 31 2011 11:39am EDT 25 March 31, 1872 - On this date the Russian choreographer SERGEI DIAGHILEV was born (d: 1929). A Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes from which many famous dancers and choreographers would later arise. One cannot underestimate the influence of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on the development of 20th century art. But the importance of his sexuality to Diaghelev's creative art is sometimes overlooked. Had he not been a gay man, had he not attracted to his cause the great gay writers of the Alex R. day, the stream of 20th century art may have flowed in an entirely different direction. Alex R. 211 Posts As Martin Green wrote in Children of the Sun: * Sign up Now! "He made the dancer Nijinsky first his lover and then his choreographer, slyly displacing Michel Fokine and inspiring Nijinsky to become the company's chief ballet-creator. Diaghilev's superb taste was made manifest in this new Nijinksy, the choreographer, and in the ballets he created. These works of art were the children of Diaghilev's sexual passion. The same thing happened later with Leonide Massine and Serge Lifar. These men created ballets under the spell of Diaghilev's passion and he created through them." Viewing 1 - 25 of 81 * 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * Next > Please login or sign up to post on this network. Click here to sign up. * Feedback * Terms * Privacy * Report Content The Gay Military Network