October 7

October 7, 1728 - Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste Andre Timothee d’Eon was born in Burgundy, France. The name was a mouthful, and the Chevalier d’Eon’s life was was hard to swallow. But the strange story is true. An adventurer, he did drag for a court ball. Louis XV was so impressed with the chevalier’s beauty that he decreed he must dress as a woman for ever more. Throughout the years, people forgot she was a he. d’Eon was French spy throughout Europe. When he returned to court, no one would believe he was a man. Bets were taken but the truth came out only after he died and the body was examined.

October 7, 1943 - Author Radclyffe Hall died. Hall’s novel “The Well of Loneliness” was banned in several countries because of lesbian content.

October 7, 1959 - During a radio speech, Russell L. Wolden criticized the mayor of San Francisco. “Under the benign attitude of the Christopher administration, those who practice sex deviation operate in San Francisco today to a shocking extent, under shocking circumstances, and in open and flagrant defiance of the law. So favorable is the official San Francisco climate for the activities of these persons that an organization of sex deviates known as The Mattachine Society actually passed a resolution praising Mayor Christopher by name for what the resolution described as the enlightened attitude of his administration toward them.”

October 7, 1964 - The Northwestern Homosexual Law Reform Committee was formally launched with a semi-public meeting in Manchester England.

October 7, 1964 - Walter Jenkins, Lyndon B. Johnson’s trusted friend and top advisor, was arrested for having sex in a YMCA men’s room only blocks away from the White House.

October 7, 1975 - Musician Elton John said he was bisexual in Rolling Stone magazine.

October 7, 1981 - In Toronto, a Dykes in the Street march, sponsored by Lesbians Against the Right becomes the first lesbian pride march in the city.

October 7, 1987 - A US Justice Department report declared the most frequent victims of hate crimes are gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.

October 7, 1993 - A protest, complete with a book burning, was held to object to a donation of two gay themed books. “Annie on My Mind” and “All-American Boys” to 42 Kansas City Missouri high schools.

October 7, 1993 - The AFL-CIO unanimously approved a resolution to actively oppose attempts to repeal gay rights laws. The vote was held at the labor union’s biennial convention in San Francisco.

October 7, 1996 - 250 students in Elizabethtown Pennsylvania walked out of class to protest the school board’s passage of a “pro-family” resolution which banned positive discussion of homosexuality.