Lord Waheed Alli – Media Man and Peer

b.16 November 1964

British multimillionaire media entrepreneur and politician. He was co-founder and managing director of Planet 24, a TV production company, and managing director at Carlton Television Productions. He is currently chairman of both ASOS.com and Chorion Ltd. He is a Labour peer and is one of very few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world.

He started work as a junior researcher for a finance magazine and worked his way up in the media business within Robert Maxwell’s stable of publications. He then went to the City for a second career in investment banking, through which he became wealthy. In the mid-1980s he met Charlie Parsons, who was to become his business partner and boyfriend.

Alli joined the Labour Party at the persuasion of his neighbour Emily Thornberry. He is also close to Anji Hunter, Director of Government Relations in Tony Blair's first government.Prime Minister Blair used him for years as a means to help him reach out to a younger generation. He was made a life peer as Baron Alli, of Norbury in the London Borough of Croydon, in 1998 at the age of 34, becoming the youngest and the first openly gay peer in Parliament. The BBC summarised his appointment as "the antithesis of the stereotypical ‘establishment’ peer - young, Asian and from the world of media and entertainment".

He was listed at number 44 on the DS list of "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011:

Never heard of him? That’s because Lord Alli is doggedly working behind the scenes kind for us. The British multimillionaire and media entrepreneur is a Labour peer and one of very few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world. Much of Alli's work has been focused around gay rights, youth and education. He’s a patron of The Albert Kennedy Trust was a keynote speaker at the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights. “The last 13 years have been about extending and equalizing the rights of gay men and women and we’re completing a long journey,” he says. “The next decade will be defending.”

DS 50 

Russell Tovey (1981 - ), UK. Actor.

b. 14 November 1981

English actor with numerous television, film and stage credits. Tovey is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural drama Being Human[2] which started in 2008. In November 2011, Tovey announced he would be leaving Being Human to work full-time on his BBC Three sitcom, Him & Her.

Tovey is also an author, playwright, and screenwriter. He has written three plays (all unperformed as of August 2010), and one of his short stories was published in Company, a noted British literary journal.

Tovey says he came out to himself when he was 15 or 16, and to his parents when he was 18, which led to a falling out with this father, but they were later able to mend their relationship. In an interview with The Scotsman, Tovey said, "The only thing I can give to young gay people is that when I was growing up there were no role models that were blokey, that were men. Everybody was flamboyant and camp, and I remember going, 'That's not me, so even though I think I am gay, I don't think I fit into this world.'"

He was named at number 22 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011

Is there no role Russell can’t turn his handsome face to? As well as Doctor Who, he’s appeared in Gavin and Stacey, History Boys, Ultimate Force, Marple and Him and Her. But it’s probably his role as loveable werewolf George in Being Human in which he’s best known. Russell is proof that genuine talent will never be overshadowed by sexuality. “When I was growing up there were no gay role models that were blokey, that were men,” he says. “Everybody was flamboyant and camp, and I remember going, 'That's not me, so even though I think I am gay, I don't think I fit into this world.

"Men and Women Shouldn't Live Together"

Classic Guiness ad, made but never broadcast, has resurfaced. h/t to Gay Star News

Ryan Murphy – Creator of Glee

b. November 9, 1965

American film and television screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for creating/co-creating the television series Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story.

Murphy started his career in television in 1999 with the teen comedy series Popular. The show aired on The WB for two seasons. He is the Golden Globe-winning creator of Nip/Tuck, which aired on FX and was both a commercial and critical hit. One of Murphy's current projects is the FOX musical comedy-drama Glee, co-created with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. In 2011, Murphy and Falchuk co-created the FX horror series American Horror Story, in which the Harmon family moves into a haunted mansion, which debuted on October 5, 2011.

Also in October 2011, it was announced that Murphy, along with Glee co-executive producer Ali Adler, would be co-creating a new half-hour comedy pilot that "centers on a gay couple and the surrogate who will carry their child". According to Entertainment Weekly, there was a bidding war between ABC, NBC, and FOX for the project, with the show going to NBC.

Murphy Murphy grew up in a Catholic household and continues to go to church.He serves on the National Advisory Board of the Young Storytellers Foundation. On June 17, 2011, Murphy announced his engagement to a man he had known for 15 years.

He was named at number 13 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011

Not afraid to tackle controversial issues as the creator of Nip/Tuck, former journalist Ryan put the singalong back into mainstream American TV by creating Glee. After two seasons, it’s one of the most watched shows across the world and has spawned more than 100 entries into the American singles chart. Ryan created gay character Kurt and quickly forced him to deal with a crush on a straight guy, wrestle with his sexuality, come out to his father and friends, and then kiss his first love. Phew! Who knows how he’ll follow that up in season three, but we’ll be watching.

November 10: Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin, Pioneer Lesbian Activists

Del Martin 

 

b. May 5, 1921

d. August 27, 2008

 

Phyllis Lyon 

 

b. November 10, 1924

"Two extraordinary people ... that have spent the greater part of a half century ... fighting for their right to live the way so many of us, frankly, take for granted."

 – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon founded the first lesbian organization in the United States and have fought for more than 50 years for the rights of lesbians and gays. On June 16, 2008, Martin and Lyon became the first gay couple to be legally married in California.

Martin and Lyon both earned degrees in journalism. While working as journalists in Seattle, the two became romantically involved. The couple relocated to San Francisco and moved in together on Valentine’s Day 1953.

In 1955, finding it hard to develop a social network in San Francisco, Martin, Lyon and a small group of women founded the first lesbian organization, called the Daughters of Bilitis. The name was inspired by Pierre Louys’s “Songs of Bilitis,” a collection of poems celebrating lesbian sexuality.

Though it was intended to be a secret society, Martin and Lyon wanted to make the Daughters of Bilitis more visible. The group began publishing a monthly magazine, called The Ladder, which was the first-ever lesbian publication. As editors of the magazine, they capitalized the word “lesbian” every time it appeared.

In 1964, while fighting to change California sex laws criminalizing homosexuals, the couple joined religious and gay community leaders to form the Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH). This organization was at the forefront of the movement to gain religious support on gay rights issues. Both women served on the founding CRH board of directors.

In 2004, when gay marriage was offered in San Francisco, Martin and Lyon were the first to wed. A California appellate court ruling subsequently invalidated their marriage. Then in May 2008, a California Supreme Court decision provided same-sex couples the right to marry. On June 16, 2008, they were the first same-sex couple married in California. The wedding was officiated by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Martin and Lyon have published two books together, “Lesbian/Woman” (1972) and “Lesbian Love and Liberation” (1973). On their 50th anniversary, the documentary “No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon” premiered. In 2005, the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association inducted Martin and Lyon into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame for their pioneering work on The Ladder. In 2007, they received the 2007 Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Pioneer Award.

Bibliography

“Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon.” (The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Religious Archives Network).

Kornblum, Janet. “Gay Activists Blaze Trail for half century.”  USA Today. March 4, 2004

“Lesbian Pioneers Wed at San Franciso City Hall.” CNN.  June 17, 2008

Streitmatter, Rodger.  “Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin.”  National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association: LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame.  June 5, 2008

Articles

Gordon, Rachel. “Lesbian Pioneer Activists See Wish Fulfilled.” San Francisco Chronicle. June 16, 2008

Marshall, Carolyn. “Dozens of Gay Couples Marry in San Francisco Ceremonies.” The New York Times. February 13, 2004

McKinley, Jesse. “Same-Sex Marriages Begin in California.” The New York Times. June 17, 2008

Books

Lesbian/Woman (1972)

Lesbian love and liberation (The Yes book of sex) (1973)
Battered Wives (1976)

Other Resources

No Secrets Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon (2003)

Groundspark: Igniting Change Through Film.  Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons's Wedding Video

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