Portal:LGBT


	The LGBTQ+ Portal

Introduction

LGBT is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender". It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual, non-heteroromantic, or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. A variant, LGBTQ, adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer (which can be synonymous with LGBT) or are questioning their sexual or gender identity. Another variation, LGBTQ+, adds a plus sign "represents those who are part of the community, but for whom LGBTQ does not accurately capture or reflect their identity". Many further variations of the acronym exist, such as LGBT+ (simplified to encompass the Q concept within the plus sign), LGBTQIA+ (adding intersex, asexual, aromantic and agender), and 2SLGBTQ+ (adding two-spirit for a term specific to Indigenous North Americans). The LGBT label is not universally agreed to by everyone that it is generally intended to include. The variations GLBT and GLBTQ rearrange the letters in the acronym. In use since the late 1980s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for marginalized sexualities and gender identities.

LGBT is an adaptation of LGB, which in the mid-to-late 1980s began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian) in reference to the broader LGBT community. When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used. (Full article...)

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LGBT themes in speculative fiction include lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) themes in science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction and related genres.^[a] Such elements may include an LGBT character as the protagonist or a major character, or explorations of sexuality or gender that deviate from the heteronormative.

Science fiction and fantasy have traditionally been puritanical genres aimed at a male readership, and can be more restricted than non-genre literature by their conventions of characterisation and the effect that these conventions have on depictions of sexuality and gender. However, speculative fiction also gives authors and readers the freedom to imagine societies that are different from real-life cultures. This freedom makes speculative fiction a useful means of examining sexual bias, by forcing the reader to reconsider their heteronormative cultural assumptions. It has also been claimed by critics such as Nicola Griffith that LGBT readers identify strongly with the mutants, aliens, and other outsider characters found in speculative fiction. (Full article...)

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Josef Kohout (24 January 1915 – 15 March 1994) was an Austrian Nazi concentration camp survivor, imprisoned for his homosexuality. He is best known for the 1972 book Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel (The Men With the Pink Triangle), which was written by his acquaintance Hans Neumann using the pen name Heinz Heger, which is often falsely attributed to Kohout. The book is one of very few first-hand accounts of the treatment of homosexuals in Nazi imprisonment. It has been translated into several languages, and a second edition published in 1994. It was the first testimony from a homosexual survivor of the concentration camps to be translated into English, and is regarded as the best known. Its publication helped to illuminate not just the suffering gay prisoners of the Nazi regime experienced, but the lack of recognition and compensation they received after the war's end.

Kohout's book inspired the 1979 play Bent, by Martin Sherman, which was made into the movie Bent, directed by Sean Mathias, in 1997. (Full article...)

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“

Why is it that Johnny Spaghetti Stain in fucking Georgia can knock a woman up, legally be married to her, and then beat the shit out of her, but these two intelligent, sophisticated writers who have been together for 20 years can't get married?

”

—Seth MacFarlane

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Current events

October 5: Supreme court of Mauritius rules the colonial era law criminalizing homosexuality unconstitutional
August 5: DaBaby Levitating remix losing US radio audiences after the rapper's comments on HIV/AIDS
May 19: Taiwan's legislature first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage
February 1: Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur pleads guilty to eight murders
October 30: 22nd annual ILGA-Europe conference meets in Brussels: in pictures
October 30: In pictures: thousands attend 16th annual Taiwan Pride

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Drag queen performer onstage at Motor City Pride 2011, an LGBT pride event held annually at Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan. A drag queen is a man who dresses, and often acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and can vary even within the same cities. There are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons or purposes.

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Did you know… - show different entries

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... that when Dan Savage's book Savage Love was published, his advice column of the same name had 4 million readers?
... that Anita Bryant's participation in Save Our Children, a coalition working to overturn gay rights ordinances in Miami and other cities in 1977 and 1978, destroyed her career?
...that the GayFest of 2005 was the first LGBT pride parade in Romania?
... that African American civil rights activist Mel Boozer was the first openly gay person nominated for the office of Vice President of the United States?
... that the first same-sex kiss on an American soap opera was between fictional characters Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery in 2003, who were also American soap opera's first lesbian couple?

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This month's birthdays

1 – Brandi Carlile (1981–), American alternative country and folk rock singer-songwriter
1 – Ferron (1952–), Canadian folk singer and songwriter
2 – Brent Hawkes (1950–), Canadian pastor & LGBT rights activist
2 – Wentworth Miller (1972–), English-born American actor and screenwriter
2 – Zachary Quinto (1977–), American actor
2 – Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer
3 – Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), American beat poet
3 – Josephine Baker (1906–1975), American dancer, singer and actress
3 – Anderson Cooper (1967–), American journalist, author, and television personality
3 – Alla Nazimova (1879–1945), Russian actress
4 – Val McDermid (1955–), Scottish suspense novel writer
5 – Lisa Cholodenko (1964–), American film and television writer-director
5 – Federico García Lorca (1898–1936), Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director
5 – Suze Orman (1951–), American financial advisor, author, columnist and TV host
5 – Troye Sivan (1995–), Australian actor and singer
5 – Gustáv Slamečka (1959–), Czech politician
5 – Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1926–1990), German aristocrat and businessman
6 – Annie Adams Fields (1834-1915), American poet, essayist, memoirist, and biographer
6 – Sandra Bernhard (1955–), American comedian, actress, singer and writer
6 – Harvey Fierstein (1952–), American actor and playwright
6 – Violet Trefusis (1894–1972), English writer and socialite
7 – James Ivory (1928–), American film director
7 – Anne McClain (1979–), American engineer, military officer, and astronaut
8 – Kim Stolz (1983–), American model, TV personality, author and finance executive
8 – Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987), French novelist
9 – Parinya Charoenphol (1981–), Thai boxer, model and actress
9 – Bülent Ersoy (1952–), Turkish singer & actress
9 – Cole Porter (1891–1964), American composer and songwriter
10 – Maurice Sendak (1928–2012), American children's writer
10 – Dustin Lance Black (1974–), American screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBT rights activist
11 – Mario Silva (1966–), Portuguese-Canadian legal scholar and politician
11 – Renée Vivien (1877-1909), British poet
12 – Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), American writer
12 – Jim Nabors (1930–), American actor and singer
13 – Paul Lynde (1926–1982), American comedian and actor
14 – Paul O'Grady (1955–2023), British broadcaster, comedian and drag artist (Lily Savage)
14 – Boy George (1961–), British singer-songwriter
15 – Neil Patrick Harris (1973–), American actor, singer, director, and magician
15 – Bif Naked (1971–), Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and motivational speaker
16 – Lou Sullivan (1951-1991), American author and trans activist
16 – Jenny Shimizu (1967–), American model and actress
16 – Joe McElderry (1991–), British singer and model
17 – Clodovil Hernandes (1937–2009), Brazilian fashion stylist, television presenter, and politician
17 – Evelyn Irons (1900–2000), Scottish journalist and war correspondent
17 – Steven Davies (1986–), English cricketer
17 – Phyllida Lloyd (1957–), English theatre and film director
17 – Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964), American writer and photographer
19 – Elisabeth Marbury (1856–1933), theatrical/literary agent and author
20 – Allan Bell (1947–), Manx politician and Chief Minister of the Isle of Man
20 – E. Lynn Harris (1955–2009), American Author
21 – Meredith Baxter (1947–), American actress and producer
21 – Kate Brown (1960–), American politician and Governor of Oregon
21 – Lana Wachowski (1965–), American film director, screenwriter and producer
22 – Václav Fischer (1954–), Czech-German businessman and politician
22 – Jimmy Somerville (1961–), Scottish pop singer
23 – Alan Turing (1912–1954), English mathematician and computer scientist
24 – Stacy Sykora (1977–), retired American volleyball player
25 – George Michael (1963–2016), British singer-songwriter
25 – Larry Kramer (1935–), American playwright, novelist, and LGBT rights activist
26 – Sean Hayes (1970–), American actor and comedian
28 – Sunil Babu Pant (1972–), Nepalese politician and LGBT rights activist
28 – Jim Kolbe (1942–), American politician, Republican congressman (Arizona) (1985–2003)
28 – David Kopay (1942–), American football player
30 – Alan Joyce (1966–), Australian business executive and CEO of Qantas Airways