https://youtu.be/-SRcIPBTJXw I joined the military because I wanted to serve. I was patriotic, idealistic; I was also gay. Marine/Activist/Author b. April 1, 1971 Staff Sgt. Eric Alva waves to delegates after he was honnored during the GOP state convention in San Antonio, Friday, June 4, 2004. Alva lost his leg after stepping on a land... Continue Reading →
LGBTQ+ History Month: Robert W. Wood, 36th Infantry Division, U.S. Army
https://youtu.be/0IsSxR9iQF4 “Is it proper for two of the same sex to enter the institution of marriage? To which I must reply, ‘Yes.’ ” Soldier/Gay Pioneer b. May 21, 1923d. August 19, 2018 Reverend Robert Watson Wood was the first member of the clergy to picket for gay rights. He wrote the first book in the United... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Navy Reserve, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan
https://youtu.be/8veCyROR1DQ “If you have a problem with who I am, your problem … is with my creator.” U.S. Presidential Candidate b. January 19, 1982 Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana. In 2019 he became the second openly gay major-party U.S. presidential candidate and the first married gay candidate. At... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Tom Stoddard, Military Equality Advocate
https://youtu.be/Kw9HHry1XQ8 “I’ve been very lucky. I always got back more than I gave.” Equality Attorney b. 1949d. 1997 Tom Stoddard was a lawyer who helped advance LGBT rights in America. He served as an early executive director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York from 1986 to 1992, where he fought... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Pierre Seel, World War II
https://youtu.be/Nz4xNY4duMs “I became aware that in spite of all that I had imagined, the true liberation was for other people.” Hero b. August 16, 1923 d. November 25, 2005 Pierre Seel was deported for being gay from France to a German concentration camp during World War II. He is known for speaking out about his... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Uzi Even, Israel Defense Forces
https://youtu.be/jjMmQEicr34 “You no longer have to be ashamed. You can even be elected.” Israeli Gay Pioneer and Scientist b. October 18, 1940 A pioneering advocate for LGBT rights in Israel, Uzi Even became the first openly gay member of the country’s parliament, the Knesset, in 2002. He is a professor emeritus of physical chemistry at... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Dale Jennings, World War II
https://youtu.be/1JaxKHMa-no “I was one of the founders of the first homosexual organizations in U.S. history. …Our basic argument was that changes in sex laws would not benefit us alone but everyone." Gay Pioneer b. October 17, 1917d. May 11, 2000 William Dale Jennings was a gay pioneer who cofounded two early gay organizations and one... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Angelica Ross, U.S Navy
https://youtu.be/q_GxdiCmTaI My mission is to prove that everyone has the right to pursue their dreams. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 05: Angelica Ross poses during the 2020 Embrace Ambition Summit by the Tory Burch Foundation at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 05, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Randy Shilts, Author of “Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the Military”
https://youtu.be/2mFDypMNq8A History is not served when reporters prize trepidation and propriety over the robust journalistic duty to tell the whole story. Author and AIDS journalist b. August 8, 1951d. February 17, 1994 Randy Shilts was the first openly gay journalist to cover GLBT issues in the American mainstream press. He held positions at The Advocate... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Frank Kameny, U.S. Army, WWII
https://youtu.be/mSLb8gcRdcc “The momentum is there, and that’s not going to be stopped. It’s moved from hopes of a grassroots movement to the actuality of a grassroots movement.” Gay Pioneer b. May 21, 1925d. October 11, 2011 Frank Kameny was the chief strategist and father of the LGBT civil rights movement. The nonviolence of black civil... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: Henry Gerber, U.S. Army
https://youtu.be/VYh70lKmGC4 “Nobody believes we can do it—reporters, opponents—except ourselves." Activist b. June 29, 1892 d. December 31, 1972 Henry Gerber was among the earliest gay rights activists in America. He founded the nation’s first gay organization and gay publication. Born Joseph Henry Dittmer in Bavaria, Germany, Gerber moved to Chicago in 1913. From 1920 to... Continue Reading →
LGBT+ History Month: John McNeill, U.S. Army, WWII
https://youtu.be/Vg3sBWYA6uc "Jesus opens the possibility of bringing gay relationships within the compass of healthy and holy human love." Theologian b. September 2, 1925d. September 22, 2015 One year after John McNeill published "The Church and the Homosexual" (1976), a book offering a new theological look at homosexuality, he received a letter from the Congregation for... Continue Reading →