October 13

October 13, 1896 - The play “A Florida Enchantment” was reviewed in the New York Times. Some of the characters swallowed a magic seed which transformed them into members of the opposite sex. It was described as vile, stupid, and the worst play ever produced in New York.

October 13, 1970 - The first meeting of the London branch of the Gay Liberation Front was held at the London School of Economics.

October 13, 1987 - In Washington DC, 600 people were arrested in an act of civil disobedience at the US Supreme Court to protest the Bowers v. Hardwick decision which upheld the constitutionality of Georgia’s sodomy law. It was the largest number to participate in an act of civil disobedience since the Vietnam War. (Federal law prohibits protesting on the steps of the US Supreme Court.)

October 13, 1993 - The Lesbian Avengers protested during a speech by Senator Sam Nunn (D) in New York City. Nunn fought to retain the military’s ban on gay and lesbian servicepersons.

October 13, 1997 - Retired US Army Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, who challenged the ban on gay and lesbian servicepersons, announced that she was considering running for the House of Representatives.

October 13, 1998 - In a New York Times article, Steven Schwalm, a spokesman for the Family Research Council, said that hate crimes laws criminalize pro-family beliefs.

October 13, 1999 - The French National Assembly approved a law giving unwed gay and straight couples the same rights as married couples.

October 13, 1999 - President Clinton renewed his call to include gay men and lesbians in hate crimes legislation.