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. The variant LGBTQ adds a Q for those who identify as queer (which can be synonymous with LGBT) or are questioning their sexual or gender identity, while LGBTQ+ adds a plus sign for "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.

The earlier initialism LGB began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian) in the late 1980s to reference the broader community. When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used. (Full article...)

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The first homosexual movement was a socio-political movement which thrived in Germany from the late nineteenth century until 1933. The movement began in Germany because of a confluence of factors, including the criminalization of sex between men (Paragraph 175) and the country's relatively lax censorship. German writers in the mid-nineteenth century coined the word homosexual and criticized its criminalization. In 1897, Magnus Hirschfeld founded the world's first homosexual organization, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, whose aim was to use science to improve public tolerance of homosexuality and repeal Paragraph 175. During the German Empire, the movement was restricted to an educated elite, but it greatly expanded in the aftermath of World War I and the German Revolution.

Reduced censorship and the growth of homosexual subcultures in German cities helped the movement to flourish during the Weimar Republic. Between 1919 and 1933, the first publicly sold, mass-market periodicals intended for a gay, lesbian, or transvestite readership were published, although they faced censorship lawsuits and bans on public sale after the 1926 Trash and Smut Law. The first mass organizations for homosexuals, the German Friendship Society and the League for Human Rights, were founded in the aftermath of the war. These organizations emphasized human rights and respectability politics, and they excluded prostitutes and effeminate homosexual men, who were considered harmful to the movement's public image. The homosexual movement had limited success with the general public, in part because many Germans believed that homosexuality could be spread as a communicable disease. (Full article...)

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Cook in 2023

Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who is the current chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Cook had previously been the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as a senior vice president for worldwide operations, and then as executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations. He was appointed chief executive on August 24, 2011 after Jobs, who was ill and died that October, resigned. During his tenure as the chief executive, he has advocated for the political reform of international and domestic surveillance, cybersecurity, American manufacturing, and environmental preservation.

Since 2011 when he took over Apple, to 2020, Cook doubled the company's revenue and profit, and the company's market value increased from $348 billion to $1.9 trillion. Cook is also on the boards of directors of Nike, Inc. and the National Football Foundation; he is a trustee of Duke University, his alma mater. Outside of Apple, Cook engages in philanthropy; in March 2015 he said he planned to donate his fortune to charity. In 2014, Cook became the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 company to publicly come out as gay. (Full article...)

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“

I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell.

”

—Audre Lorde (1934–1992)

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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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Lesbian and gay students kissing in front of anti-homosexuality protesters at Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio, USA) in May 2000. Several hundred Oberlin College students turned out to rally against the protesters. The protesters—from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas—also protested the General Conference of the United Methodist Church while in Ohio.

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Did you know… - show different entries

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... that the Heian period Japanese story Torikaebaya Monogatari is the tale of a man who lives as a woman and his sister who lives as a man, who eventually swap places in order to lead happy lives?
... that in his 1999 book The Trouble With Normal, gay author Michael Warner argued that same-sex marriage is an undesirable goal for the gay rights movement?
... that the 2009 book Unfriendly Fire argues that bans on gays in the military were based on prejudices and fears, not empirical data?
... that sexual activism group Sex Panic! criticized the efficacy of 1990s US anti-HIV campaigns that, they argued, demonized public sexual culture?

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This month's birthdays

1 – Charles Laughton (1899–1962), English-American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director
1 – Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme (1654–1712), French military commander
1 – Orlando Cruz (1981–), Puerto Rican professional boxer
2 – Daniel Kowalski (1975–), Australian freestyle swimmer
2 – Liane de Pougy (1869–1950), French cabaret artist/dancer and courtesan
2 – Johnny Weir (1984–), American figure skater, 2008 World Bronze Medalist
2 – Sylvia Rae Rivera (1951–2002), Civil Rights activist who advocated for Transgender rights
4 – Stephen Boyd (1931–1977), British actor
4 – Steven Cojocaru (1970–), Canadian fashion critic/TV personality
5 – Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), French poet, artist, and director
5 – Megan Rapinoe (1985–), American professional soccer midfielder
5 – Hein Vos (1903–1972), Dutch politician and economist, first gay member of Cabinet of the Netherlands
6 – Merv Griffin (1925–2007), American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul
6 – Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), Mexican artist
7 – George Cukor (1899–1983), American film director
7 – Kirsten Vangsness (1972–), American actress
8 – Silvia Modig (1976–), Finnish politician, radio and TV journalist
9 – David Hockney (1937–), English painter and photographer
9 – Kelly McGillis (1957–), American actress
9 – Vanessa Selbst (1984–), American hedge fund manager and professional poker player
10 – Marcel Proust (1871–1922), French novelist
10 – Fiona Shaw (1958–), Irish actress and theatre-opera director
10 – Zoe Dunning (1963–), American retired naval officer, and LGBTQ activist
10 – Alexandra Hedison (1969–), American photographer and actress
10 – Angel Haze (1991–), American rapper and singer
11 – Giorgio Armani (1934–), Italian fashion designer
11 – Leisha Hailey (1971–), American actress and musician
11 – Dorothy Wilde (1895–1941), Anglo-Irish socialite, niece of Oscar Wilde
12 – Van Cliburn (1934–2013), American pianist
12 – Michelle Rodriguez (1978–), American actress
12 – Kyrsten Sinema (1976–), American congresswoman (Arizona)
13 – Mary Emma Woolley (1863–1947), American educator, peace activist & women's suffragist
14 – Randy Boissonnault (1970–), Canadian politician
14 – Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1610–1670), Italian aristocrat
14 – Jane Lynch (1960–), American actress
15 – David Cicilline (1961–), American Democratic congressman (Rhode Island)
15 – Allison Brewer (1954–), Canadian social activist and politician
15 – Olly Alexander (1990–), British singer (Years & Years)
16 – Reinaldo Arenas (1943–1990), Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright
16 – Tony Kushner (1956–), American playwright and screenwriter
17 – Charles Lapointe (1944–), Canadian business executive and politician
18 – Elio Di Rupo (1951–), Prime Minister of Belgium
18 – Lillian Faderman (1940–), American scholar, historian and writer
19 – Joseph Hansen (1923–2004), American crime writer and poet
19 – Jaiyah Saelua (1988-), Samoan international football player
20 – Roberta Achtenberg (1950-), American federal politician & civil rights attorney
20 – Rokas Žilinskas (1972-2017), Lithuanian journalist and politician
21 – Rufus Wainwright (1973–), American/Canadian singer-songwriter
22 – Emily Saliers (1963–), American singer-songwriter and member of Indigo Girls
24 – Gus Van Sant (1952–), American director
24 – Anna Paquin (1982–), Canadian-New Zealander Actress
25 – Christine Quinn (1966–), American politician, former Speaker of the New York City Council
26 – Nikki Sinclaire (1968-), English politician, UK's first openly transgender parliamentarian
28 – Judy Grahn (1940–), American poet
28 – Imke Duplitzer (1975–), German épée fencer
29 – Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961), Swedish diplomat & 2nd Secretary-General of the U.N.
29 – Paul Taylor (1930–), American choreographer
30 – Sean Patrick Maloney (1966–), American Democratic congressman (New York)
30 – Pascal Smet (1967–), Belgian politician
31 – Susan Flannery (1939–), American actress
31 – Barbara Gittings (1932–2007), American gay rights activist