January 1 - South Carolina
“Charleston Area Transgender Support” CATS is the longest running transgender support group in South Carolina. We offer a place where all members of the transgender community can gather to assist and support each other on our respective journeys. We are an open non-restrictive group, welcoming everyone from the occasional crossdresser, to the gender fluid to pre and post-op MTF and FTM transsexuals.
January 1 – Indiana
Mike Pence supported the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only if federal dollars were excluded from organizations who “celebrate” and “encourage” behavior that facilitates spreading of the HIV virus. Further, Pence supported this reauthorization only if “those institutions provided assistance to those looking to change their sexual behavior”, an off-the-cuff endorsement for ex-gay conversion therapy.
December 13 - National
Oscar Wilde’s play is modernized with an all-male cast in Tom Bouden’s graphic novel adaptation of "The Importance of Being Earnest".
October 1 - National
HRC launches a radio ad campaign featuring Judy Shepard that asks then-presidential candidate George W. Bush, "Will you support including sexual orientation in federal hate crimes law?" HRC works with state and local groups in Texas to organize a rally in Austin, where local activists chanted and carried signs that read, "Answer Judy's Question."
July 1 - National
Boze Hadleigh a author publishes “In or Out”
November 1 - National
Alan Hamilton and Bobbi Keppel present “Bisexuality and aging” at SAGE’s (Senior Action in a Gay Environment) “Out of closet into the future: Midlife and aging in gay America” conference.
Alexei Guren begins as program director of the Bi Men’s Conference, targeting bi-identified men and men who have sex with men and women (MSMW).
July 27 - National
“And Then Came Summer”. A reunion of family and friends becomes an unforgettable vacation when two teenage boys discover their feelings for each other, only to be found out by their families.
January 1 - North Carolina
“Charlotte Pride” Charlotte Pride creates programs and activities to enrich, empower, strengthen, and make visible the unique lives and experiences of LGBTQ people in Charlotte and the Carolinas. Charlotte Pride envisions a world in which LGBTQ people are affirmed, respected, and included in the full social and civic life of their local communities, free from fear of any discrimination, rejection, and prejudice.
October 26 - National
Thorn Kief Hillsbery a writer publishes “War Boy”
March 3 - National
“Tales of the Lavender Menace” Karla Jay's memoir of an age whose tumultuous social and political movements fundamentally reshaped American culture takes readers from her early days in the 1968 Columbia University student riots to her post-college involvement in New York radical women's groups and the New York Gay Liberation Front. In Southern California in the early 70s, she continued in the battle for gay civil rights and helped to organize the takeover of "The Ladies' Home Journal" and "ogle-in" - where women staked out Wall Street and whistled at the men.
April 18 - National
“Big Eden”. Henry Hart (Arye Gross) is a young gay artist living in New York City. When his grandfather has a stroke, Henry puts his career on hold and returns home to the small town of Big Eden, Montana, to care for him. While there, Henry hopes to strike up a romance with Dean Stewart (Tim DeKay), his high-school best friend for whom he still has feelings. But he's surprised when he finds that Pike (Eric Schweig), a quiet Native American who owns the local general store, may have a crush on him.
November 2 - Michigan
Chris Swope runs for, and is elected, to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners. He becomes the first openly gay elected official on the board.
Corey Johnson
July 1 - National
With 25 percent of all congregations having become welcoming congregations, the Unitarian Universalist Association publishes Challenging the Religious “Right,” and the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) becomes the first welcoming organization.
December 10 - National
“Holiday Heart”. A drag queen takes in a drug addict and her daughter and helps raise the daughter.
June 17 - National
“Get Your Stuff”. A wealthy professional gay couple, who wish to adopt children, see their lives turned topsy turvy when they take in two misbehaving brothers, supposedly just for one night.
May 1 - National
“Vino”. The photographs of Raymond Vino unify power and tenderness, which, as he proves, only seem to be opposites. By choosing as his subject matter gay couples and athletic male bodies he sets up contrasts of tender romanticism and primal eroticism.
January 24 - National
“Urbania”. A tour of The Anger Stage.
July 3 - West Virginia
Arthur "J.R." Warren was punched and kicked to death in Grant Town, West Virginia by two teenage boys who reportedly believed Warren had spread a rumor that he and one of the boys, David Allen Parker, had a sexual relationship. Warren's killers ran over his body to disguise the murder as a hit-
and-run. Parker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to "life in prison with mercy", making him eligible for parole after 15 years. His accomplice, Jared Wilson, was sentenced to 20 years.
January 1 - Louisiana
“Capital City Alliance” Our mission is to improve the quality of life for LGBT people and their allies in greater Baton Rouge through education, communication, advocacy, and community building.
January 1 - California
“Center for LGBTQ & Gender Studies in Religion”. Our mission is to advance the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and transgender people and to transform faith communities and the wider society by taking a leading role in shaping a new public discourse on religion, gender identity and sexuality through education, research, community building and advocacy.
January 1 - National
“Jagged Youth”. Howard Roffman has a unique talent to capture the magical attractive power of young men in photographs. His weightless-erotic photos are of celestial beauty and Jagged Youth is a love declaration to the natural erotic aura of his models presented in photo series. An erotic masterpiece!
January 1 - Virginia
Richmond Gay Community Foundation opens Diversity Thrift to raise money to support LGBTQ organizations in Richmond.
April 30 - Washington D.C.
Celebrities and 45,000 people gather at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., for HRC's Equality Rocks concert. One of the most powerful moments comes when HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch introduces Dennis and Judy Shepard and several other families who have been affected by hate crimes. They include Louvon Harris and Darrell Varrett, the sister and nephew of James Byrd Jr.; Chuck and Eleanor Kadish, parents of Ben Kadish, a young boy seriously injured when a man carried out a violent rampage of a Jewish day school in Los Angeles; and Ismael and Deena Illeto, the brother and sister-in-law of Joseph Illeto, a Filipino-American postal worker who died during that rampage. Performers included: George Michael, Melissa Etheridge, Garth Brooks, Queen Latifah, the Pet Shop Boys, and k.d. lang, Rufus Wainright, and Michael Feinstein, and Chaka Khan.
June 1 - National
Maris the Great forms “The Faggots of Death”
August 23 - California
A lesbian couple is ejected from Dodgers Stadium for kissing during a game.
April 30 - National
Openly gay high school football captain Corey Johnson gets national attention from ABC News and the New York Times.
December 13 - National
Michael Thomas Ford publishes his first book “It's Not Mean If It's True”
June 11 - Ohio
Rally at Burnet Woods, parade to Northside, festival at Hoffner Park (Chris Good and independent committee - Michael X. Chanak - Senior Advisor)
June 1 - Washington D.C.
President Bill Clinton declares June Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
April 29 - Washington D.C.
The Millennium March on Washington, D.C. takes place. The event attracts controversy from within the LGBT community for what many perceive as its lack of focus on minority issues, grassroots activism and the AIDS virus. Others attack it for its "crass commercialism" - the March received sponsorship from corporate giants such as United Airlines and Showtime and prominently featured many big-name entertainers as either performers or speakers. President Clinton and Vice President Gore do not attend but appear in the form of pre-taped video presentations.
February 16 - Utah
Utah lawmakers excluded unmarried, single adults who live together from adopting children in an attempt to keep gay couples from adopting.
September 15 - National
Openly gay Robert Dover is elected captain of the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team.
May 20 - National
Peter Rauhofer is the artist behind the “Club 69” albums that created music for the gay community. For his work in music and contribution to the LGBT community he was the recipient for multiple awards.
Maris The Great
March 17 - National
“Red Dirt”. Red Dirt offers the story of a young man's search to belong in this sublime expression of love and reconciliation. At only twenty, Griffith is struggling with the responsibilities of caring for his unwell aunt, grieving the loss of their family's matriarch, and his own dreams of leaving Pine Apple. With the arrival of a stranger, Griffith's carefully constructed walls of shame and silence begin to come down and his life takes an unexpected turn.
December 4 - California
“Speak Out Against Bigotry and Hatred” is a letter from USC President Steven Sample that is published by the Daily Trojan. It addresses acceptance for LGBT students.
November 1 - National
The first anthology by bisexual people of faith, Blessed Bi Spirit (Continuum International 2000), was published. It was edited by Debra Kolodny
May 15 - National
Jim Grimsley publishes “Kirith Kirin” that won awards for best gay novel in science fiction.
March 1 - National
Dan Bucatinsky a writer, actor, and producer appears on an episode of “Will & Grace”
December 22 - National
The movie “Before night falls” is released. A richly imagined journey into the life and writings of brilliant Cuban author and exile Reinaldo Arenas. It spans the whole of Arenas' life, from his rural childhood and his early embrace of the Revolution to the persecution he would later experience as a writer and homosexual in Castro's Cuba; from his departure from Cuba in the Mariel Harbor exodus of 1980 to his exile and death in the United States.
Catalogued archive material by subject:
August 21 - National
Simon Sheppard publishes his first book “Rough Stuff Tales of Gay Men, Sex, and Power”
March 30 - National
US Rabbis Approve Gay Partnership. "Rabbis belonging to the biggest and most liberal branch of Judaism in the United States have voted to recognize the partnerships of gay and lesbian couples. The Central Conference of American Rabbis, which is part of the Jewish Reform movement, has agreed to sanction religious ceremonies for same-sex couples. The President of the Conference, Rabbi Charles Kroloff, said that gay and lesbian people deserved the recognition and respect due to people created in the image of God."
January 1 - National
“Pictures of Fred” Fred is an erotic chameleon with a simultaneously masculine and youthful aura of almost magical intensity.
August 10 - National
Toby Johnson publishes “Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness”
December 5 - National
“Who’s Who in Gay & Lesbian History” This must-read reference features the notable, notorious and not-so-famous gays and lesbians in modern times -- from controversial political activist Peter Tatchell, pop icon David Bowie, acclaimed writer Jeanette Winterson and the unsurpassed intellectual Susan Sontag.
State equality and discrimination bills
December 3 - National
Queer as Folk begins airing on Showtime. Set in Pittsburgh, the series tells the story of five gay men. The show is a U.S. version of the UK TV series. Peter Paige and Randy Harrison starred in roles in the controversial Showtime series
January 1 - National
“Teletubbies” cartoon character Tinky Winky is “outed” as gay in a “Parents’ Alert” in televangelist Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Journal, which asserts, “He is purple — the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle — the gay-pride symbol.”
Fact Check: the triangle was assigned to homosexuals by Hitler and his leadership in the concentration camps during WWII. The color purple is just a color.
July 1 - National
Timothy Liu is the editor for “Word of Mouth: An Anthology of Gay American Poetry”
September 15 - National
K. M. Soehnlein an author publishes “The World of Normal Boys”
November 2 - National
“Punks”. The never-ending search for Mr. Right takes a surprise detour into totally unexplored territory with "Punks." This sparkling, rhythm-and-blues-driven romantic comedy is the story of four close-knit friends trying to find that mythical relationship that will make finally make things right. But if you think that sounds familiar, think again, because "Punks" is the first-ever comic love story set amidst the world of African-American gay men.
Arthur J.R. Warren
November 1 - Colorado
Pete Chvany, Luigi Ferrer, James Green, Loraine Hutchins and Monica McLemore presented at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Health Summit, held in Boulder, Colorado, marking the first time bisexual people, transgender people, and intersex people were recognized as co-equal partners on the national level rather than gay and lesbian "allies" or tokens.
January 1 - North Dakota
“Fargo – Moorhead Pride” FM PRIDE unites and engages individuals and organizations to empower, educate and support the LGBTQ Community; and promotes a positive image in the Fargo- Moorhead area and throughout North Dakota through community activities and services that are open and inviting to everyone in the community, providing a safe environment in which individuals feel free to celebrate their relationships.
May 7 - California
Clay Whitmer a gay Mormon was a victim of suicide. Whitmer, who had become close friends with Matis while the two were serving an LDS mission in Italy had attempted suicide six times over the space of several years but completed suicide on the seventh time after Matis' death.
January 1 - National
Roger Margason published his first book under the name of Dorian Grey “The Butcher's Son†”
January 1 - National
“Queering the Color Lines” Queering the Color Line transforms previous understandings of how homosexuality was “invented” as a category of identity in the United States beginning in the late nineteenth century. Analyzing a range of sources, including sexology texts, early cinema, and African American literature, Siobhan B. Somerville argues that the emerging understanding of homosexuality depended on the context of the black/white “color line,” the dominant system of racial distinction during this period. This book thus critiques and revises tendencies to treat race and sexuality as unrelated categories of analysis, showing instead that race has historically been central to the cultural production of homosexuality.
At about the same time that the 1896 Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson decision hardened the racialized boundary between black and white, prominent trials were drawing the public's attention to emerging categories of sexual identity. Somerville argues that these concurrent developments were not merely parallel but in fact inextricably interrelated and that the discourses of racial and sexual “deviance” were used to reinforce each other's terms. She provides original readings of such texts as Havelock Ellis's late nineteenth-century work on “sexual inversion,” the 1914 film A Florida Enchantment, the novels of Pauline E. Hopkins, James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex- Colored Man, and Jean Toomer's fiction and autobiographical writings, including Cane. Through her analyses of these texts and her archival research, Somerville contributes to the growing body of scholarship that focuses on discovering the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality. Queering the Color Line will have broad appeal across disciplines including African American studies, gay and lesbian studies, literary criticism, cultural studies, cinema studies, and gender studies.
January 1 - Washington D.C.
For the first time, the U.S. census attempts to estimate the number of same-sex (“unmarried partners”) households.
December 1 - National
Daytime soap All My Children breaks new ground when the character Bianca Montgomery realizes she's a lesbian. Bianca, played by Eden Riegel, is the daughter of Erica Kane, arguably the most popular character in the history of American daytime soap operas. It is the first time that a major, continuing role has a homosexual orientation on daytime TV.
Stuart Matis
January 16 - Utah
President Gordon B. Hinckley releases a statement that is read in every Latter-Day Saint congregation in California that urges members to “redouble their efforts” to pass Prop. 22 a law stating, “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California.” Prop 22 passed.
July 21 - National
Benjamin Smoke was the subject of a 10-year documentary called “Benjamin Smoke” directed by Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen. He was noted for being a radical, gay rock 'n' roll performer.
November 16 - National
“Boys Life 3”. Each of the three short films in this collection presents a young gay man at the threshold of adulthood. In "Pool Days," Justin is a 17-year old Bethesda lad, hired as the evening life guard at a fitness center. In the course of the summer, he realizes and embraces that he's gay. In "A Friend of Dorothy," Winston arrives from upstate for his freshman year at NYU. He has to figure out, with some help from Anne, a hometown friend, how to build a social life as a young gay man in the city. In "The Disco Years," Tom looks back on 1978, the year in high school that he came out of the closet after one joyful and several painful encounters.
United States LGBT History for 2000
May 1 - Oregon
The Oregon Citizens Alliance has yet another anti-gay measure on the ballot. It would have
forbidden public schools from doing anything that “encourages” homosexuality.
Robert Dover
February 10 - California
Fifteen-year-old Anthony Colin wins a court battle in California after being denied the formation of a Gay Student Alliance group in his high school.
October 5 - Washington D.C.
Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, indicates he supports gay marriage, saying “freedom means freedom for everybody” and “people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into.” He said states should regulate the matter, not the federal government. Cheney serves as vice president for eight years.
September 19 - National
“Best In Show”. A colorful array of characters compete at a national dog show.
September 30 - National
Judd Winick produces the non-fiction graphic novel Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss and What I Learned about his relationship with AIDS-activist Pedro Zamora (Henry Holt, September 2000) which is nominated for a Pulitzer prize and wins several other awards, including GLAAD’s Outstanding Comic Book Media Award, 2001.
June 1 - National
"Odds Off" Graphic novel. which features a gay lead character.
January 1 - Ohio
“The Legacy Fund” The Legacy Fund resulted from brainstorming and long term discussions in the late 1990s between a number of people in the LGBT community. These discussions focused on the need for developing a “financial support system” for the GLBT community in central Ohio. There was an immediate recognition that the pooling of our individual financial assets into a common general endowment fund could create the potential for future empowerment that would not be possible by individual efforts.
June 17 - National
“A Boy Named Sue”. Theo is a female-to-male transsexual. This film follows his six-year process of becoming a man. Among those affected by his change is his girl friend Lisi who has to deal with what this change means to her.
January 1 - North Carolina
“Salisbury Pride” Salisbury Pride, Inc. builds safe inclusive communities in Rowan County and the surrounding areas with an emphasis on acceptance and valuing individuals of all sexual orientations or gender identities by: providing opportunities for positive visibility in and around the community; providing a safe environment that permits the expression of diverse perspectives; and education for the purpose of cultivating harmony within the community.
June 9 - National
“Lost in the Pershing Hotel”. Taken from the life story of Leslie Jordan. A Tennessee country boy realizes he's gay and keeps getting in trouble with the local bad boys. He hears Atlanta is the new place to be, tosses his country overalls and shows up at the disco in silver platform shoes and a polyester Saturday Night Fever get up. He meets Tripper (Mark Pelligrino) and the trouble and adventures don't stop. Leslie's partner in crime is Miss Make Do, a colorful debutante of a mess, rebelling against her wealthy Southern family and running with the druggies and disco drunks. Amazing cast including the late John Ritter as the preacher trying to pray the homosexual temptations out of young Leslie. Many other related recognizable cameos.
June 7 - National
“101 Rent Boys”. is a documentary film that explores the lives of male prostitutes in the Los Angeles. The film depicts 101 hustlers, being paid each $50 for their time, which come from diverse ethnic, regional, and economic backgrounds. Picked up on and around Santa Monica Boulevard, the men discuss a variety of things, many referring to their personal history as well commenting on the nature of their work.
Chris Swope
June 28 - Washington D.C.
U.S. Supreme Court enforces the Boy Scouts of America policy that excludes openly gay scouts and scoutmasters. The Court rules by a 5-to-4 vote that the Boy Scouts have a constitutional right to exclude gay members because opposition to homosexuality is part of the organization's "expressive message." Anti-gay activists like Robert Knight of the Family Research Council use the scouting controversy to revive anti-gay "child molester" propaganda. (After CBS morning-show host Bryant Gumbel interviews Knight, he is heard on air commenting, "What a fucking idiot." Anti-gay groups label CBS the "Christian Bashing System" and lobby unsuccessfully for Gumbel's firing.)
February 25 - California
Stuart Matis, 32, a gay Mormon active in the church, died of suicide on the steps of a California church stake center building. His death came during the height of the LDS church's fight to ban same-sex marriage in California with Prop 22 also known as Knight's Initiative. Shortly before his death he wrote a 12-page letter to his cousin in which he states that when he heard the church was asking members to donate time and money in support of Prop 22 he "cried for hours in [his] room" and he felt that the church's positions created an environment "hostile for young gay Mormons." The letter also stated "straight members have absolutely no idea what it is like to grow up gay in this church.... It is a life of constant torment, self-hatred and internalized homophobia." The same month he also wrote a letter to the editor that was published in BYU's newspaper pleading for the acceptance of homosexual individuals in response to a letter published five days before which had compared homosexuality to pedophilia, bestiality and Satanism. Right before his death he wrote a note stating, "The church has no idea that ... there are surely boys and girls on their callused hands and knees imploring God to free them of their pain. They hate themselves ... God never intended me to be straight. Hopefully, my death might be a catalyst for some good."
January 1 - National
Karl Woelz and David Bergman won a Lambda Book Award for editing Men on Men 2000.
Danny Overstreet
December 1 - National
“What’s Cooking?”. In LA's Fairfax district, where ethnic groups abound, four households celebrate Thanksgiving amidst family tensions. In the Nguyen family, the children's acculturation and immigrant parents' fears collide. In the Avila family, Isabel's son has invited her estranged husband to their family dinner. Audrey and Ron Williams want to keep their own family's ruptures secret from Ron's visiting mother. In the Seelig household, Herb and Ruth are unwilling to discuss openly their grown daughter's living with her lover, Carla. Around each table, things come to a head. A gun, an affair, a boyfriend, and a pregnancy precipitate crisis forcing each family to find its center.
March 7 - California
California voters approve Proposition 22, a preemptive measure stating that California will not recognize same-sex marriages, even if the marriages take place in states that permit them.
Dan Bucatinsky
April 29 - National
“The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me”. When the seed of West Side Story's "Somewhere" is planted into the soul of a gay child, the quest of the film begins. Nine inter-connected scenes interpret this landmark theatrical event, while charting a molten course through the depths and shallows of the urban gay male experience. From the late-night club crawl to the buff-bunny gyms, from the threat of anti-gay violence to the place where condemnation, compromises and closets are a thing of the past, the film exposes the sexual, spiritual and political yearnings at the heart of gay America.
May 11 - National
“Sordid Lives”. As three generations of a family in a small Texas town gather for a funeral, we learn the hilarious, sad, trashy truth of their "Sordid Lives."
March 12 - National
At Lent, Cardinal Roger Mahony issues an apology to those that he or the Roman Catholic Church may have offended, including: “I ask pardon of our Catholic homosexual and lesbian members when the church has appeared to be non-supportive of their struggles or of falling into homophobia.”
December 31 - National
“The Journey of Jared Price”. Along a young man's search for independence and sexual discovery are deceit, loneliness and perhaps a chance to love.
January 1 - National
Danny Roberts was on the MTV show The Real World New Orleans and had started dating an active duty soldier. As a result of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” signed into law by President Clinton MTV had to edit all of his scenes so that his boyfriend could maintain his anonymity. It brought on questions about the effectiveness of the bill that was passed on the LGBT active duty soldiers that had to hide their sexualities or risk dismissal.
November 1 - National
Fifty-eight percent of Victory Fund’s 51 endorsed candidates win their race – including Karla Drenner, who became the first openly gay state legislator in the Deep South when she won her race for the Georgia state legislature.
January 1 - Kentucky
“Louisville LGBT Film Festival” is founded.
October 1 - National
“Feminism is for Everybody” A genuine feminist politics always brings us from bondage to freedom, from lovelessness to loving.... There can be no love without justice. In this engaging and provocative volume, you are introduced to a popular theory of feminism rooted in common sense and the wisdom of experience. This is a vision of a beloved community that appeals to all those committed to equality, mutual respect, and justice.
hooks apply her critical analysis to the most contentious and challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work. With her customary insight and unsparing honesty, hooks call for a feminism free from divisive barriers but rich with rigorous debate. In language both eye-opening and optimistic, hooks encourage us to demand alternatives to patriarchal, racist, and homophobic culture, and to imagine a different future. hooks speak to all those in search of true liberation, asking readers to take look at feminism in a new light, to see that it touches all lives. Issuing an invitation to participate fully in feminist movement and to benefit fully from it, hooks shows that feminism—far from being an outdated concept or one limited to an intellectual elite--is indeed for everybody.
March 3 - National
“The Next Best Thing”. Abbie, tired of failed relationships, has a one-night-stand with her gay friend; they agree to raise the resulting baby together.
October 12 - National
"Christine Jorgensen" In 1951 George Jorgensen, an American man of 26, left for Denmark and returned a year later as the first world-renowned transsexual, Christine Jorgensen. In her own personable style, Jorgensen offers a firsthand account of her ground-breaking life. "Nature made a mistake," she wrote, "which I have corrected."
September 19 - National
Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Random House, September 2000), a novel set in the early days of the comics industry, features a gay lead character.
July 14 - National
“Chuck & Buck”. An oddly naive man-child stalks his childhood best friend and tries to reconnect with their past.
President Bill Clinton
February 3 - National
Vincent Lardo a gay genre writer publishes his novel “Death by Drowning”
April 6 - Vermont
In Vermont, Governor Howard Dean signs a law sanctioning same-sex civil unions, entitling gay couples to marital rights and benefits. Vermont is the first state in the U.S. to legalize civil unions and registered partnerships between same-sex couples. Anti-gay leader Gary Bauer calls it “an unmitigated disaster” that is “worse than terrorism.”
May 1 - National
“Boy Next Door”. Reveals the fresh sex-appeal of young Californian men. Photographer Steven Underhill has developed a refreshing style
January 1 – National
George E. Haggerty publishes “Gay Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia”
April 1 - Washington D.C.
Jose Gutierrez founds the Latino GLBT History Project in Washington DC
October 4 - National
“Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her”. A study of the physical and emotional intricacies affecting the everyday lives of a very diverse group of women, and the strategies they adopt in coping with events - large and small, overt and hidden - which shape the way they live.
January 1 - National
“An Intimate Friendship”. A family of friends is forever changed when two of the friends realize that their love for one another goes beyond the confines of their conventional relationship.
January 1 - California
“Queer Women of Color Film Festival”. Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP) uses film to shatter stereotypes and bias, reveal the lived truth of inequality, and build community around art and activism. QWOCMAP creates, exhibits, and distributes high-impact new films that authentically reflect the lives of queer women of color (cisgender & transgender), and gender non- conforming/variant/non binary, and transgender people of color (of any orientation), and address the vital, intersecting social justice issues that concern our multiple communities.
January 1 - Vermont
“Northern Decadence Vermont” Vermont has the best things in life: Maple syrup, gourmet ice cream, award-winning cheeses, microbrews, wines, sauces and other specialty foods. Beautiful natural scenery, world-class restaurants, family attractions, shopping, entertainment, arts and culture.
June 12 - National
“Eban and Charley”. After his mother dies, 15-year-old Charley must live with his unloving, bullying father. Out of loneliness, Charley strikes up an illicit romance with 29-year-old Eban. When their families find out, they must make a life-altering decision.
August 23 - National
Christopher Rice a writer publishes his first novel “A Density of Souls” In each of Chris’s books he builds the story on gay characters.
January 1 – National
The Women’s Sports Foundation initiates The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sport.
May 24 - National
The season finale of Dawson's Creek features the first passionate kiss between two men to ever take place during primetime. Jack McPhee (played by Kerr Smith) shares the onscreen kiss with boyfriend Ethan (played by Adam Kauffman) in this episode, titled "True Love." Earlier in the series, McPhee comes out after briefly dating Katie Holmes' character Joey.
October 1 - Indiana
During his congressional campaign, Mike Pence said, “Congress should oppose any effort to put gay and lesbian relationships on an equal legal status with heterosexual marriage.”
September 22 - Virginia
Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet, 43 years old, and severely injuring six others. Ronald said he was angry over what his name now meant, and deeply upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He claimed that he had been told by God to find and kill lesbians and gay men, describing himself as a "Christian Soldier working for my Lord;" Gay testified in court that "he wished he could have killed more fags," before several of the shooting victims as well as Danny Overstreet's family and friends.
November 1 - National
Robert Goss publishes “Take Back the Word: A Queer Reading of the Bible”
November 7 - Delaware
The first openly gay person is elected to public office in Delaware, when John Brady is voted in as Sussex County Recorder of Deeds. Brady filed for office on July 29 and revealed he was gay in an August article in the Delaware State News. He then went on to win the September primary and the general election. The milestone is especially remarkable in that the first openly gay Delaware public official is a Republican whose office is in the most conservative county in Delaware.
November 4 - Nebraska
Nebraska passes constitutional amendment banning same-sex civil unions and marriages.
January 1 - Florida
D.J. Thompson, 33, and a gay Mormon man died of suicide after writing a note referencing Stuart's death. The note stated that Proposition 22 was the "last straw in my lifelong battle to see peace in the world."
October 20 - National
“The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy”. In the palm-shaded oasis of West Hollywood, we meet Dennis, a promising photographer. As he prepares to celebrate his twenty-eighth birthday, he laments, ' I can't decide if my friends are the best or worst thing that ever happened to me.' The gang includes Benji, the punkish innocent with a penchant for gym bodies; Howie, the psychology grad student who thinks too much and lives too little; Cole, the charismatic actor who accidentally keeps stealing everybody's guy; Patrick, the cynical quipster, and Taylor, resident drama queen, who, until recently, prided himself on his long-term relationship. Providing sage advice and steady work is Jack, the beloved patriarch whose restaurant is a haven for them all. When tragedy strikes the group, the friendships are put to the test.
November 3 - Oregon
Basic Rights Oregon adds gender identity to its mission statement, and the trans advocacy group forms.
Oregon voters defeat anti-gay Ballot Measure 9 “Prohibits Public School Instruction Encouraging, Promoting, Sanctioning Homosexual, Bisexual Behaviors”. It is the last anti-gay ballot measure sponsored by the Oregon Citizens Alliance.
The Oregon Parent Teachers Association submitted an opposition statement in the Voters’ Pamphlet clarifying that “There is NO curriculum in Oregon public schools that ‘encourages or promotes’ homosexuality or bisexuality.” The statement warned that “this measure endangers the health of our children and the quality of our schools.”
This initiative lost by a 5.7% margin
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