Portal:LGBT


	The LGBTQ+ Portal

Introduction

LGBT is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender". It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual, non-heteroromantic, or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. A variant, LGBTQ, adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer (which can be synonymous with LGBT) or are questioning their sexual or gender identity. Another variation, LGBTQ+, adds a plus sign "represents those who are part of the community, but for whom LGBTQ does not accurately capture or reflect their identity". Many further variations of the acronym exist, such as LGBT+ (simplified to encompass the Q concept within the plus sign), LGBTQIA+ (adding intersex, asexual, aromantic and agender), and 2SLGBTQ+ (adding two-spirit for a term specific to Indigenous North Americans). The LGBT label is not universally agreed to by everyone that it is generally intended to include. The variations GLBT and GLBTQ rearrange the letters in the acronym. In use since the late 1980s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for marginalized sexualities and gender identities.

LGBT is an adaptation of LGB, which in the mid-to-late 1980s began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian) in reference to the broader LGBT community. When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used. (Full article...)

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The first homosexual movement was a socio-political movement which thrived in Germany from the late nineteenth century until 1933. The movement began in Germany because of a confluence of factors, including the criminalization of sex between men (Paragraph 175) and the country's relatively lax censorship. German writers in the mid-nineteenth century coined the word homosexual and criticized its criminalization. In 1897, Magnus Hirschfeld founded the world's first homosexual organization, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, whose aim was to use science to improve public tolerance of homosexuality and repeal Paragraph 175. During the German Empire, the movement was restricted to an educated elite, but it greatly expanded in the aftermath of World War I and the German Revolution.

Reduced censorship and the growth of homosexual subcultures in German cities helped the movement to flourish during the Weimar Republic. Between 1919 and 1933, the first publicly sold, mass-market periodicals intended for a gay, lesbian, or transvestite readership were published, although they faced censorship lawsuits and bans on public sale after the 1926 Trash and Smut Law [de]. The first mass organizations for homosexuals, the German Friendship Society and the League for Human Rights, were founded in the aftermath of the war. These organizations emphasized human rights and respectability politics, and they excluded prostitutes and effeminate homosexual men, who were considered harmful to the movement's public image. The homosexual movement had limited success with the general public, in part because many Germans believed that homosexuality could be spread as a communicable disease. (Full article...)

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In New York City, 1992

Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; (1908-12-25)25 December 1908 – (1999-11-21)21 November 1999) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of his most famous work, The Naked Civil Servant. He afterwards became a gay icon due to his flamboyant personality, fashion sense and wit. His iconic status was occasionally controversial due to his remarks about subjects like the AIDS crisis, inviting censure from gay activists including human-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

During his teen years, he worked briefly as a rent boy. He then spent thirty years as a professional model for life classes in art colleges. The interviews he gave about his unusual life attracted great curiosity, and he was soon sought after for his personal views on social manners and the cultivation of style. (Full article...)

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“

These names: gay, queer, homosexual are limiting. I would love to finish with them. We're going to have to decide which terms to use and where we use them. For me to use the word "queer" is a liberation; it was a word that frightened me, but no longer.

”

—Derek Jarman

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Current events

October 5: Supreme court of Mauritius rules the colonial era law criminalizing homosexuality unconstitutional
August 5: DaBaby Levitating remix losing US radio audiences after the rapper's comments on HIV/AIDS
May 19: Taiwan's legislature first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage
February 1: Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur pleads guilty to eight murders
October 30: 22nd annual ILGA-Europe conference meets in Brussels: in pictures
October 30: In pictures: thousands attend 16th annual Taiwan Pride

See also: 2024 in LGBT rights

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Credit: dbking

Tombstone of Leonard Matlovich, discharged from the United States Air Force in the 1970s after coming out as gay.

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...that Mohamed Camara's 1997 film Dakan was the first West African film to explore homosexuality?
... that for the 1967 television documentary CBS Reports: The Homosexuals, the network concealed the identity of one of the gay interview subjects by seating him behind a potted palm tree?
... that Vanessa Redgrave's portrayal of transsexual Renée Richards in the 1986 biopic Second Serve was praised as embodying "every internal contradiction of the polymorphously perverse"?
... that the author of Hollywood Undercover posed as an aspiring gay actor while investigating claims of a Church of Scientology "cure" for homosexuality?

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This month's birthdays

1 – Rachel Maddow (1973–), American cable television host
2 – Linda Hunt (1945–), American actress
3 – Anne Lister (1791–1840), English landowner and diarist
3 – Marlon Brando (1924–2004), American actor
3 – Cat Cora (1967–), American chef and TV personality
3 – David Hyde Pierce (1959–), American actor
4 – Robert Bauman, American politician and author, former Republican congressman (Maryland) (1973–1981)
4 – Clive Davis (1932–), American record producer and music industry executive
4 – Anthony Perkins (1932–1992), American actor
5 – Nigel Hawthorne (1929–2001), British actor
5 – Thomas Hitzlsperger (1982–), retired German soccer player
6 – Gale Wilhelm (1908–1991), American writer
7 – Harry Hay (1912–2002), American labor advocate, teacher, and LGBT rights activist
7 – Janis Ian (1951–), American singer-songwriter and musician
8 – Roberta Cowell (1918–2011), British racing driver and WWII fighter pilot
9 – Marc Jacobs (1963–), American fashion designer
9 – Cynthia Nixon (1966–), American actress
9 – Kristen Stewart (1990–), American actress
9 – Harris Wofford (1926–2019), American attorney & politician, U.S. Senator (Pennsylvania) (1991–1995)
10 – Gro Hammerseng-Edin (1980–), Norwegian handball player
10 – Tom Spencer (1948–2023), British politician and former Member of European Parliament
11 – Glenway Wescott (1901–1987), American writer
12 – Amy Ray (1964–), American singer-songwriter and member of Indigo Girls
12 – Magda Szubanski (1961–), Australian actress, comedian and writer
13 – Ole von Beust (1955–), German politician and former First Mayor of Hamburg
14 – Sir John Gielgud (1904–2000), English actor
14 – José María Mendiluce (1951–2015), Spanish writer and politician
14 – André Boisclair (1966–), Canadian politician & former leader of the Parti Québécois
14 – Da Brat (1974–), American rapper and actress
14 – Larissa França (1982–), Brazilian beach volleyball player
15 – Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance polymath
15 – Luke Evans (1979–), Welsh actor and singer
15 – George Platt Lynes (1907–1955), American fashion photographer
15 – Bessie Smith (1894–1937), American blues singer
16 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (1984–), American fantasy/young adult lit author
16 – Raymond Chan Chi-chuen (1972–), Hong Kongese politician and radio host
16 – Dusty Springfield (1939–1999), English singer
17 – Thornton Wilder (1897–1975), American playwright and novelist
17 – Michal Jagelka (1977–), Czech actor and voice actor
18 – Alice Blinn (1889-1982), American educator, home efficiency expert, and magazine editor
18 – Maria Bello (1967–), American actress
19 – Prince Edmond de Polignac (1834–1901), French aristocrat & composer
19 – Dick Sargent (1930–1994), American actor
20 – Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972), French essayist and novelist
20 – Toller Cranston (1949–2015), Canadian figure skater and artist, 1976 Olympic Bronze Medalist
21 – Jessica Clark (1985–), English actress, model, and video blog host
22 – John Waters (1946–), American director, writer, visual artist, and media personality
23 – Élisabeth de Gramont, Duchess of Clermont-Tonnerre (1875–1954), French writer and aristocrat
23 – Halston (1932–1990), American fashion designer
23 – Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), English composer and suffragist
24 – Jean-Paul Gaultier (1952–), French fashion designer
25 – Edward II (1267–1327), King of England
25 – Anja Pärson (1981–), Swedish alpine skier, 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist in Slalom
26 – Lily Parr (1905–1978), English professional women's association football player
26 – Ma Rainey (1886–1939), American singer
26 – Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), Austrian philosopher
27 – Russell T Davies (1963–), British television producer and screenwriter
27 – Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (1893–1976), Yugoslavian (Serbian) royalty
29 – Garrison Starr (1975–), American singer-songwriter
30 – Onir (1969–), Bengali Indian film director, editor, writer, and producer
30 – Alice B. Toklas (1877–1967), American-born member of Parisian avant-garde