Tuesday 28 August 2012

Keith Boykin, Political Commentator

b. August 28, 1965
“I'm not on a show with a pink triangle or rainbow flag—which means that being gay is just a part of who I am.”



Keith Boykin is a political commentator, a New York Times best-selling author and a veteran of two presidential campaigns. He is the editor of The Daily Voice and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and BET.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Boykin became politically focused working on local campaigns while in high school. At Dartmouth he was the editor of the daily newspaper and graduated with a B.A. in government.

After college, Boykin worked on the Dukakis presidential campaign. Thereafter, he attended Harvard Law School and continued working on campaigns, including the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. Boykin worked as special assistant to the president and served as President Clinton’s liaison to the LGBT community.

In 1994, Boykin became the executive director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum and completed his first book, “One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in America.” In 1997, he served with Coretta Scott King and the Rev. Jesse Jackson on the U.S. presidential trade delegation to Zimbabwe.

Boykin wrote two other books, “Respecting the Soul” (1999) and “Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America” (2005). His work shed light on AIDS, internalized homophobia and black men on the “down low.”

Boykin is a commentator on major political talk shows. In 2004, he starred on Showtime’s “American Candidate” and hosted BET’s “My Two Cents.”

Keith Boykin is working on a fourth book, “For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough.” He lives in New York City.

Bibliography

  • "Keith Boykin, Author, Beyond the Down Low." Gothamist. 8 June 2011.
  • “Keith Boykin - TV Host/Author/Speaker.” Keith Boykin. 8 June 2011.
  • Malmgren, Jeanne. "The way he sees it." St. Petersburg Times Online. St. Petersburg Times. 8 June 2011.


Websites



Books

  • One More River to Cross: Black & Gay in America (1997)
  • Respecting the Soul: Daily Reflections for Black Lesbians and Gays (1999)
  • Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America (2005)
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Monday 27 August 2012

Tom Ford – Clothing Designer/ Film Director

b. August 27, 1961

American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film "A Single Man".

Tom Ford his partner, journalist Richard Buckley, have been together since 1986.[19] Buckley was the former Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International. Buckley was diagnosed with cancer in 1989 and after his recovery the two moved from New York to Italy.




He was named at number 14 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011


Knocking on fifty’s door, Tom Ford isn’t letting age prevent him from exploring his talent in many different directions. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label. Then he directed the visually and emotionally stunning story of a gay man in the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man in 2009.
Tom has been with his partner, journalist Richard Buckley, since 1986. But most importantly, that man knows how to make us look bloody good in a suit.
“Gay men make better designers,” he says. Damn right we do!

27 August: Tom Ford Fashion Designer/Filmmaker

Fashion Designer/Filmmaker
b. August 27, 1961
“All I’ve done my entire life is fulfil my destiny.”
Tom Ford is a prominent creative entrepreneur whose accomplishments—first in the fashion world and later in the film industry—have earned him worldwide acclaim.
Born in Austin, Texas, Ford grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At 17, he moved to New York to study art history at New York University, but was smitten with fashion and design. He graduated with a degree in architecture from what is now Parsons The New School for Design.
His first foray into fashion was in Paris, where he interned for Chloe. He worked for American designer Cathy Hardwick next, before moving on to Perry Ellis.
Ford moved to Milan in 1990, where he served as Gucci’s head women’s designer. Two years later, he was named design director. In 1994, he became creative director of Gucci's Italian label. Ford is credited with turning around the historic fashion house in his short time at the company. In 2000, he was granted new responsibilities at sister label Yves Saint Laurent, where he served as the creative director for YSL Rive Gauche and YSL Beaute.
In 2005, Ford left Gucci and formed his own fashion brand, TOM FORD. Two years later, his flagship store opened in New York. By the summer of 2010, TOM FORD had opened 20 more stores worldwide. In addition to his remarkable financial success, Ford has won many prestigious awards, including five from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Ford’s lifetime ambition, however, was to make a film. He says, “I guess I’m just one of these people who when I decide I’m going to do something, I just do it.” In 2009, he wrote, produced, financed and directed “A Single Man,” an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel. The movie centers on a gay man’s mourning over his partner’s tragic death. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for numerous awards, including a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for Colin Firth.
Ford lives with his partner of more than 20 years, journalist Richard Buckley, in their London, Santa Fe and Los Angeles homes.
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Sunday 26 August 2012

Roger Karoutchi, French government minister

b. 26 August 1951


An increasing number of openly gay men and women are reaching cabinet office in many European countries. Roger Karoutchi, in France, is just the latest:





From  Pink News :
The French Secretary of State for Parliamentary Relations has revealed he is gay in an interview ahead of the publication of his autobiography.
Roger Karoutchi is a close personal friend of President Nicholas Sarkozy and a former MEP and Senator.
"Yes, I have a life," he told AFP.
"I'm neither living a lie, nor flaunting anything. I discuss it naturally.
"I have a partner and I'm happy with him. As I'm happy, I see no reason why I should hide that."
Mr Karoutchi becomes the first openly gay minister in France.

Friday 24 August 2012

Stephen Fry – Writer/ Broadcaster/ Actor

b. 24 August, 1957
“I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother and thought to myself, ‘That’s the last time I’m going up one of those.’”
21 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011:
Actor, author, broadcaster, Twitter addict … Stephen’s credentials goes on longer than his witty monologues. He’s narrated all the Harry Potter audiobooks, hosts quiz show QI, has penned best-selling autobiographies, and was one half of comedy double-act Fry and Laurie. He’s also fought a long battle with bi-polar disorder and suffered a nervous breakdown in 1995 while appearing in the West End. But he’s an inspiration as he’s come through the other side stronger and better than ever. When asked when he first acknowledged his sexuality, he quipped: “I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother and thought to myself, ‘That’s the last time I’m going up one of those.’” Currently, he’s dating stage actor Steven Webb.
 Books:

Moab Is My Washpot
The Fry Chronicles. 

Liar
Revenge: A Novel
Hippopotamus

The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within






Thursday 23 August 2012

Rev Jimmy Creech, Methodist minister and gay activist

A Methodist Churchman who was dismissed from service after conducting a formal blessing for a union of two men in Chapel Hill.
In April of 1999, Creech celebrated the holy union of two men in Chapel Hill. Charges were brought against him and a church trial was held in Grand Island, Nebraska, on November 17, 1999. In August of 1998, the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church ruled that the statement prohibiting "homosexual unions" was church law in spite of its location in the Social Principles. Consequently, the jury in this second trial declared Creech guilty of "disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church" and withdrew his credentials of ordination.
Since the summer of 1998, Creech has been travelling around the country to preach in churches and to speak on college and university campuses, as well as to various community and national Gay Rights organizations. Currently, he is writing a book about his experiences of the Church's struggle to welcome and accept lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. ,He is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Soulforce, Inc., an interreligious movement using the principles of nonviolent resistance, taught and practiced by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., to confront the spiritual violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons by religious institutions.
(Read the full bio at LGBT Religious Archives)

Monday 20 August 2012

Jimmy Creech

A Methodist Churchman who was dismissed from service after conducting a formal blessing for a union of two men in Chapel Hill.
In April of 1999, Creech celebrated the holy union of two men in Chapel Hill. Charges were brought against him and a church trial was held in Grand Island, Nebraska, on November 17, 1999. In August of 1998, the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church ruled that the statement prohibiting "homosexual unions" was church law in spite of its location in the Social Principles. Consequently, the jury in this second trial declared Creech guilty of "disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church" and withdrew his credentials of ordination.
Since the summer of 1998, Creech has been travelling around the country to preach in churches and to speak on college and university campuses, as well as to various community and national Gay Rights organizations. Currently, he is writing a book about his experiences of the Church's struggle to welcome and accept lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. He is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Soulforce, Inc., an interreligious movement using the principles of nonviolent resistance, taught and practiced by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., to confront the spiritual violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons by religious institutions.
(Read the full bio at LGBT Religious Archives)

Sunday 19 August 2012

Renée Richards, Transgender Athlete

Transgender Pioneer
b. August 19, 1934
I made the fateful decision to go and fight the legal battle to be able to play as a woman and stay in the public eye and become this symbol.



Dr. Renée Richards became a transgender icon in 1977 when she won a lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association. Richards sued the Association for its refusal to let her compete in the U.S. Open women's division following male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. In a landmark decision, the New York Supreme Court ruled in Richards's favor.


Richards started playing tennis at an early age. Ranked among the top-10 eastern national juniors, she won the Eastern Private Schools' Interscholastic singles title at age 15. She captained her high school tennis team at the Horace Mann School in New York City and Yale University's men's tennis team in 1954.


In 1959, Richards graduated from University of Rochester Medical School. After serving in the Navy as Lieutenant Commander, she pursued a career in ophthalmology and eye surgery while continuing to compete in tennis tournaments.


At the height of her tennis career, Richards ranked 20th in the nation. In her first tennis tournament as a female, she reached the semifinals in the U.S. Open women's doubles competition. Following retirement, Richards coached tennis star Martina Navratilova. In 2000, the U.S. Tennis Association inducted Richards into its Hall of Fame.


Richards has published two autobiographies: "Second Serve Renée" (1986), also a TV-movie, and "No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life" (2007). She is a renowned eye surgeon and professor of ophthalmology at the New York University School of Medicine.



Bibliography
“The Second Half of My Life.” NPR: Talk of the Nation. February 8, 2007
Fee, Elizabeth, Theodore M. Brown and Janet Taylor. "One Size Does Not Fit All in the Transgender Community." Journal of Public Health, 93.6. June 2003
Selected Works
No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life (2007)
Second Serve (1986)
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Lynn Lavner

"There are 6 admonishments in the Bible concerning homosexual activity and our enemies are always throwing them up to us usually in a vicious way and very much out of context. What they don't want us to remember is that there are 362 admonishments in the Bible concerning heterosexual activity. I don't mean to imply by this that God doesn't love straight people, only that they seem to require a great deal more supervision." 
-from Butch Fatale


In a world where "going mainstream" has become the end of the rainbow for many performers, Lynn Lavner happily remains a minority of one. "My songs and humor are drawn", she says, "from my own experience as a short, left-handed, Jewish, lesbian from New York". The quick-witted Lavner, clad in black leather and who stands five feet tall, plays the piano, sings and tells hilarious comic monologues.

Billed as "America's most politically - incorrect entertainer", she has taken her original brand of music and comedy to 41 states and 7 foreign countries, bowling over audiences and critics alike. While her act is gay in content, her appearance is aimed at playful parody of stereotypes with a universal appeal to anyone with a sense of humor.

Truly a crossover act, Lavner has performed at events as diverse as the 25th Anniversary GALA for the National Organization for Women to pride celebrations and college campuses nationwide. She has retired from Brooklyn to Florida where she lives with her lover of many years Ardis Sperber.


Discography
  • Ladies! Don't Spit and Holler!, 1981 (available on vinyl only)
  • Something Different, 1983 (available on vinyl and cassette)
  • I'd Rather Be Cute, 1986 (available on vinyl and cassette)
  • You Are What You Wear, 1988 (available on CD, vinyl, and cassette)
  • Butch Fatale, 1992 (available on CD and cassette)

Friday 17 August 2012

Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark. transsexual nun

 b. 1938.

The world’s first transsexual nun also deserves a mention in military history. She served twice, once as a man and once as a woman, before being honourably discharged (for the second time). It was then that she entered religious life as an Episcopal nun.



From Matt & Andrej Koymasky:

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Clark was christened Michael by his parents. But he soon realized nature had made a horrid mistake.
"From the time I was 3, I felt that I was different from other boys. I felt more comfortable in the company of girls. I tried to talk and act like a girl instead of a boy. I believed I was one of them - even though I knew I had a male anatomy. When I started going to elementary school, the other boys called me a sissy because I walked without 'macho' stride and carried my schoolbooks like a girl."
When he reached junior high school, Michael tried to talk to his parents about his mental torment. It didn't work. After finishing high school in 1957, Clark went on active duty with the Naval Reserve. Two years later he entered the regular Navy. Within a few months he took my greatest step to show everyone he was 'normal.' and got marreied. The marriage was very painful for both because he couldn't satisfy her needs and desires. It was further complicated by the fact that they had a son.
During this disastrous marriage he threw himself into Navy career, serving in Hawaii and Vietnam as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare, scuba diving and sea survival. In 1972, after 11 frustrating years together, Clark and his wife divorced. He hasn't seen his son since. After the divorce he married again. He was still desparately trying to be 'normal'.
"My new wife was a girl that I really intensely loved as a person. I still lover her today. We liked the same things - hiking, concerts. But she needed more from me than I could give. And she started having a guilt trip over our situation, thinking she was at fault. Finally I said to myself: 'My God, I'm reining this beautiful woman's life by keeping my secret from her.' So I broke down and told her I was a transsexual - a woman trapped in a man's body. Instead of making me feel ashamed, she talked about what we had to do."
She convinced Clark to tell his parents. Incredibly, they understood - a vast relief for him because he'd feared rejection. Then, with the encouragement of his wife and parents, Clark underwent psychological evaluation. It showed he realy was a woman inside. When the Navy found out about the evaluation, Clark was discharged. He had been an enlisted sailor in the U.S. Navy for 17 years, and rose to Chief Petty Officer. The discharge, though honorable, left him "angry and bitter" because he'd often been commended for outstanding service, he said.
Clark underwent hormone therapy, and then, in June of 1975, had a sex change operation - emerging as Joanna Michelle Clark. Joanna divorced her wife moved in with her parents in San Jaun Capistrano, California, and began a new life as a clerk-typist. But in August of 1975 a Reserve recuiter visited her office and urged her to enlist again. She revealed to him that she was a transsexual, but he said he didn't think it would be a problem. And is wasn't. She was accepted, becoming a supplys clerk as a Sargent First Class in the WACs.... but 18 months later she was booted out of the Army Reserve.
Ms. Clark fought the charges and discharge. The case was eventually settled out of court with a stipulation that the details of the settlement not be discussed. However, she received an honorable discharge, with credit for time served in the Reserve. The Army had capitualated on its charges... however, Ms. Clark had won a battle but lost the war. It remains unlawful for transsexuals to enlist in the services to this day, inspite of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
As Joanna Clark she lobbied successfully in 1977 for a law that allowed replacement birth certificates in the state of California. She later wrote Legal Aspects of Transsexualism, an important early document on the subject, still referenced twenty years later. She founded the ACLU Transsexual Rights Committee, serving as chair for several years, seemingly tirelessly working to improve the legal status of TS persons. Joanna served with Jude Patton as a TS advisor with a Gender Identity Clinic during the early '80s.
She decided to become a nun; the world's first transsexual Episcopal nun, founder and sole member of the Community of St. Elizabeth, a nonprofit religious organization. She took her vows at St. Clement's by the Sea Episcopal Church in San Clemente in 1988. She transferred to the Order of St. Michael in 1997.
In 1990, as Sister Mary Elizabeth, she founded and continues to operate the largest AIDS and HIV online information BBS and website - ÆGiS (AIDS Education Global Information System; www.aegis.com), a definitive and comprehensive web-based reference for HIV/AIDS-related information, to meet the need for access to up-to-date HIV/AIDS information by people in isolated areas.
"Of all the things I've done in my life, military-wise, or working with children, I don't think I've had anything in my life that I've had more passion for. I really can't put it into words. When you see letters from people and you know that you're helping them, that's what it's all about."

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Friday 10 August 2012

Archbishop Carl Bean

From Matt & Andrej:




Unity Fellowship Church, Los Angeles (UFCLA) was founded in 1982 by Rev. Carl Bean for primarily openly Gay and Lesbian African Americans. The first meetings were held in the private residence of Rev. Bean, on Cochran Ave., in Los Angeles, California. In 1984, a reorganization took place in the last residence of the late Archbishop William Morris O'Neal, which is located on South Burnside Avenue in Los Angeles, which was also the ordination site of Rev. Carl Bean.

The Unity Fellowship Church Movement, now has congregations in Los Angeles, Detroit, New York, Washington, DC and Philadelphia. Bean is the Chief Executive Officer of Unity Fellowship Ministries, which includes the Minority AIDS Project.

"My ministry ... will always be a continuum of dealing with the disenfranchised, providing for the poorest of the poor, the undocumented person, persons who can't speak the language, persons in and out of the prison system, kids out of the gangs ... to tough those who are considered the untouchables."
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August 10: Andrew Sullivan

b. August 10, 1963


Andrew Sullivan is an author and journalist who regularly appears on national television and whose commentary is featured in major national publications. He is a leading advocate of same-sex marriage.
"The most successful marriages, gay or straight, even if they begin in romantic love, often become friendships. It's the ones that become the friendships that last."
Andrew Sullivan was born in South Godstone, a small town in southern England, in 1963. After earning a B.A. in modern history from Oxford University he received a fellowship to study at Harvard University, where he earned a masters degree in public administration and a Ph.D. in government.
In 1986, he began at The New Republic (TNR) and in 1991, he was named the magazine's editor, the youngest in its history. In the five years Sullivan was at the helm, the magazine's circulation grew and advertising revenues increased. Sullivan expanded TNR's sphere beyond politics to cover such cultural topics as same-sex marriage and affirmative action. He created a stir by publishing excerpts from the controversial study on race and IQ, The Bell Curve.
In the 1990's Sullivan became known for his writing on gay issues. His article "The Politics of Homosexuality" has been called the most influential article of the decade in gay rights. Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality was the first book to advocate civil marriage rights for gay couples. Sullivan also publishedLove Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival and edited a reader,Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con.
As a practicing Catholic, Sullivan has challenged the Roman Catholic Church's position on homosexuality. In Virtually Normal he takes the position that the Bible forbids homosexuality only when it is linked to prostitution or pagan ritual.
Sullivan started his blog, The Daily Dish, in 2000. His articles have appeared in The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Postand Esquire. He is a regular guest on The Chris Matthews Show, Charlie Rose, Anderson Cooper 360°, Meet The Press, Face the Nation, Nightline, NPR's Fresh Airand Larry King Live.
Bibliography:
Selected works by Andrew Sullivan:
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Tuesday 7 August 2012

Christian Cávez, Mexican singer and actor

b. August 7, 1983

Christian Chávez (born José Christian Chávez Garza) is a singer and actor best known for his role as Giovanni Méndez López in the telenovela Rebelde and its spin off teen band RBD. Since 2007 he has been open about his homosexuality.


". This is a name you won’t know, unless you’re a fan of Mexican telenovelas. He played Giovanni Méndez López in the 2004-2006 series Rebelde. The plot centered around a group of high school students at a private boarding school in Mexico City who formed a pop band. Several cast members including Chávez went on to form a real two-time Latin Grammy nominated band known as RBD. In March 2007, a magazine published photos of Chávez getting married to his Canadian boyfriend. He promptly acknowledged his homosexuality, asking his fans for their understanding and acceptance. But in true pop music fashion, Chávez and his husband divorced in 2009 after an apparently stormy two years."


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Sunday 5 August 2012

Antony Cotton – Actor, Coronation Street

b. 5 August 1975

English actor and singer best known for his roles in Coronation Street and the original UK version of Queer as Folk. 

Cotton played Alexander in the original UK version of Queer as Folk. He has also appeared in episodes of Absolutely Fabulous as the character Damon. Cotton currently plays barman and factory worker Sean Tully in Coronation Street. Cotton asked for a part on the show, and created the character with some of the show's writers. 



Antony is a passionate supporter of the Terrence Higgins Trust. He is a patron of the LGF charity in Manchester, The Albert Kennedy Trust and also the Queer Up North festival. On 13 January 2007, Cotton won the second series of ITV's Soapstar Superstar. He donated his winning money, £200,000, to the Elton John Aids Foundation.

He was named at number 33 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011:
From Queer as Folk to the Corrie cobbles, soap fans fell in love with Antony’s character Sean Tully when he joined the soap in 2003. The public voted him as the winner of the second series of Soapstar Superstar and he donated his £200,00 prize to the Elton John Aids Foundation.  “When I auditioned for Coronation Street, I thought I couldn’t do what I’d been doing before, which was going into auditions and pretending to be straight,” Antony recalls. “Alexander in Queer As Folk was the first gay part I ever played. If I was going be in Coronation Street, it had to be as a gay character.”
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Thursday 2 August 2012

Nancy Drolet, Canadian hockey player

b. August 2, 1973



Born in Drummondville, Quebe, Nancy Drolet is a Canadian ice hockey player, and was named Sport Federation Canada Junior Athlete of the Year in 1992. Also an accomplished softball player, she was a member of the Canadian National Softball team in 1990 and 1991, and furhtermore played for Team Quebec at the 1991 Canada Winter Games.

She came out publicly in 2002, and in 2009,married her long-time partner Nathalie Allaire in Quebec.
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