By Dennis Stone

If you want a classic example of the difference between the “bad old days” and the new millennial gay world in which we now live you need look no further than the life of Alan Turing. I was reminded of that last night when I finally got around to watching “The Imitation Game,” the 2014 historical drama about Turing. The film featured a terrific starring performance by Benedict Cumberbatch and received eight Oscar nominations.

By Dennis Stone

When David Bowie declared to “Melody Maker” magazine in 1972 that he was gay, it was a sensation, in both the mainstream and gay worlds. Celebrities simply didn’t come out in that era, which helped the straight world to maintain the idea that gay people were sick and sinful oddities hiding in the dark corners of society. (All psychiatric associations still classified homosexuality as a mental illness.) But there was Bowie reveling in the...

By Dennis Stone

I remember seeing Gore Vidal on the “Tonight Show” and other talk shows when I was a kid. He was an extraordinarily intelligent man, a brilliant writer, a witty conversationalist, and a liberal of near-radical proportions. He was also monumentally pompous and, when provoked, quite vicious. I don’t recall at what point I learned he was gay (well, sort of gay; more about that shortly), but in t...

By Dennis Stone

If you are not familiar with the Radical Faeries, prepare to be amazed! There is nothing like them within the queer and alternative communities.

The self-description below by someone using the moniker “Constance Craving” gives a good feel for what the group is about. I’m quoting it at length because it is so perfect.

By Dennis Stone

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy occurred fifty years ago this past Friday. Some historians consider this event as the demarcation between the “old world” of optimism, tradition and Frank Sinatra, and the new world of protest, experimentation and the Beatles. I actually think the change in the world order occurred with the election of Kennedy, the first “modern” president. The Beat...

By Dennis Stone

When I was born I was mentally ill.

That’s because when I was born I was gay (though I didn’t recognize it for 19 years), and at that time all gay people were classified as mentally ill. Not only did everyone take it for granted, but the American Psychiatric Association and all other such organizations said it was true.

ItR...

by Andy Nemec

Bayard Rustin, born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on March 17, 1912, is perhaps the most famous forgotten figure in American history. While he was known as the man who introduced the non-violent resistance concepts of Gandhi to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he was also gay and worked for gay rights later in his life. He also lived as openly gay at a time when it was not only socially unacceptable, but when being an openly g...

By Dennis Stone

The verdict came in just after 5:00 P.M. on May 21, 1979. People started to gather throughout the Castro, disbelief and rage slowly building. Soon there was a crowd of 500. Young Cleve Jones, one of Harvey’s close friends, addressed the crowd, verifying that Dan White had indeed been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter rather than first degree murder. He had killed two people in cold blood, goddammit, pumping two...

By Dennis Stone

Peter Marshall, host of the television game show “Hollywood Squares”:  “What do you call a man who gives you diamonds and pearls?”

Paul Lynde:  “I’d call him darling.”

Peter Marshal:   "For what reason might you pound ...

by Andy Nemec

Everyone knows that humanity is full of every type of person – good or bad, remarkable or ignorable, engaging or dull, and everyone who sits at any point of any spectrum. Gay people are no exception, of course. We have our heroes, and our villains. As much as we admire the leaders who've fought for our rights, we also have to acknowledge that there have been others who've done quite the opposite....

By Dennis Stone

The sinking of the Titanic has always held a fascination for me. The story has it all. The massive loss of life, including many famous and/or fabulously wealthy people. The hubris of “the ship that couldn’t sink”, with lifeboats for less than half of the passengers. The band playing until almost the very end. The “unsinkable” Molly Brown, a millionairess. The cultural disparity between the we...

By Andy Nemec

In the process of writing gay history pieces, it occurred to me that while there are plenty of stories to tell about the people who've made gay history, we don't often pay much attention to those who keep the historical record of our struggles and the evolution of gay rights throughout history.

One of my go-to sources for gay history is the book Gay American History – Lesbian...

By Dennis Stone

“I now pronounce you husband and husband.”

With those words Pastor Roger Lynn married Jack Baker and Michael McConnell on September 3, 1971, perhaps the first legal gay marriage in the United States. The two men kissed, and Lynn had a reaction that surprised him. It was jarring, what he called a “visceral reaction”. He had never seen two men kiss before, an...

By Dennis Stone

They met at a Halloween party in Norman, Oklahoma in 1966. Jack Baker was outgoing, passionate, overtly political. Michael McConnell was more introverted and analytical, but also had a quiet passion for social justice. They were perfect for each other, and they were soul mates.

A few months later, in March of 1967, Baker asked McConnell to “join their lives together”...

By Dennis Stone

Gay marriages will be happening here in Minnesota beginning this Thursday, August 1. It was less than a year ago that the outcome of the state ballot initiative to put a prohibition of gay marriage into the state constitution was seriously in doubt. The polls were extremely close, and equality opponents have historically voted in greater numbers than supporters. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief when that initiativ...

By Dennis Stone

1778 was not a good time for gay people. It was also not a good time for the soldiers of the thirteen American colonies in their fight for independence from England. But it was in 1778 that a gay military man helped turn around a war effort that was looking bleak. In fact, many historians think it likely that the Americans would have lost the war without the help of this gay hero.

By Dennis Stone

The reason for the existence of this site is our belief that millions of gay people in the 21st century are living transformative lives of freedom not possible until recently. And as a result large numbers of us now see our sexuality as just one of our many traits rather than the one trait that dominates our identity.

Unfortunately, there is no “new millennial” experi...

By Dennis Stone

In America much of the most vehement opposition to gay equality has come from the Christian church. (Though religion is certainly not necessary to produce a virulently anti-gay society, as we have seen under overtly atheistic regimes such as in China and the Soviet Union.) Because Americans have been and remain overwhelmingly Christian, that is a problem.

by Andy Nemec

There were certain things people of my generation grew up experiencing, being children of the 1950s and 1960s. Mostly, it was a social pressure to be homogenous, to fit in - to not be too terribly different. Gays were a special class of outcasts in that era. In the early part of the '60s, for example, homosexuality wasn't even talked about in polite company. Being gay was considered a breach of that homogenous decorum, a failure to be normal and be just like ev...

By Andy Nemec

Although Stonewall was the public face of the more militant side of the gay rights movement, the event did some other important things. One was to push the gay rights struggle to the forefront of public awareness. Another was to mainstream the gay rights movement among LGBT people themselves.

While these things are certainly important, the events of late June and early July in 1969...