Portal:LGBT


	The LGBT Portal

Introduction

A six-band rainbow flag representing LGBT people

LGBT or GLBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which began to replace the term gay in reference to the broader LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. The initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.

It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. To recognize this inclusion, a popular variant, LGBTQ, adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer or are questioning their sexual identity. Those who add intersex people to LGBT groups or organizing may use the extended initialism LGBTI. These two initialisms are sometimes combined to form the terms LGBTIQ or LGBT+ to encompass spectrums of sexuality and gender. Other, less common variants also exist, such as LGBTQIA+, with the A standing for "asexual" or "aromantic". Longer acronyms, with some being over twice as long as LGBT, have prompted criticism for their length, and the implication that the acronym refers to a single community is also controversial. (Full article...)

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A blue discharge (also known as a "blue ticket") was a form of administrative military discharge formerly issued by the United States beginning in 1916. It was neither honorable nor dishonorable. The blue ticket became the discharge of choice for commanders seeking to remove homosexual service members from the ranks. They were also issued disproportionately to African Americans.

Service members holding a blue discharge were subjected to discrimination in civilian life. They were denied the benefits of the G.I. Bill by the Veterans Administration and had difficulty finding work because employers were aware of the negative connotations of a blue discharge. Following intense criticism in the press—especially the black press, because of the high percentage of African Americans who received blue discharges—and in Congress, the blue discharge was discontinued in 1947, replaced by two new classifications: general and undesirable. (Full article...)

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Kramer in 2010

Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935 – May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and LGBT rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to London, where he worked with United Artists. There he wrote the screenplay for the film Women in Love (1969) and received an Academy Award nomination for his work.

In 1978, Kramer introduced a controversial and confrontational style in his novel Faggots, which earned mixed reviews and emphatic denunciations from elements within the gay community for Kramer's portrayal of what he characterized as shallow, promiscuous gay relationships in the 1970s. (Full article...)

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“

I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream. It’s not an underground tool for me. It’s my whole life.

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—Lady Gaga

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Current events

See also: 2021 in LGBT rights

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Selected image

Credit: Originally from Flickr (Flickr user: stevebott)

T-shirt reading "If your marriage needs protecting you need a therapist not an amendment", at a demonstration following the upholding of California Proposition 8 (2008) in Strauss v. Horton. Image: 30 May 2009, Fresno, California, USA

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See Category:LGBT for more LGBT-related images

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Did you know…

...that Tanaz Eshaghian's film Be Like Others explores the experiences of transsexuals in Iran, a country that outlaws homosexuality but sanctions sex-reassignment surgery?
... that horror novelist Anne Rice has cited the 1936 film Dracula's Daughter as an inspiration for her own homoerotic vampire fiction?
... that Silverton, Oregon has elected the first openly transgender mayor in the United States?
... that after initially deciding not to air the Roseanne episode "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" because it included Mariel Hemingway kissing Roseanne Barr, ABC promoted it as "the lesbian kiss episode"?

More did you know facts

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This month's birthdays

Gro Hammerseng-Edin

1 – Rachel Maddow (1973–), American cable television host
2 – Linda Hunt (1945–), American actress
3 – Anne Lister (1791–1840), English landowner and diarist
3 – Marlon Brando (1924–2004), American actor
3 – Cat Cora (1967–), American chef and TV personality
3 – David Hyde Pierce (1959–), American actor
4 – Robert Bauman, American politician and author, former Republican congressman (Maryland) (1973–1981)
4 – Clive Davis (1932–), American record producer and music industry executive
4 – Anthony Perkins (1932–1992), American actor
5 – Nigel Hawthorne (1929–2001), British actor
5 – Thomas Hitzlsperger (1982–), retired German soccer player
6 – Gale Wilhelm (1908–1991), American writer
7 – Harry Hay (1912–2002), American labor advocate, teacher, and LGBT rights activist
7 – Janis Ian (1951–), American singer-songwriter and musician
8 – Roberta Cowell (1918-2011), British racing driver and WWII fighter pilot
9 – Marc Jacobs (1963–), American fashion designer
9 – Cynthia Nixon (1966–), American actress
9 – Kristen Stewart (1990–), American actress
9 – Harris Wofford (1926–), American attorney & politician, U.S. Senator (Pennsylvania) (1991–1995)
10 – Gro Hammerseng-Edin (1980–), Norwegian handball player
10 – Tom Spencer (1948–), British politician and former Member of European Parliament
11 – Glenway Wescott (1901–1987), American writer
12 – Amy Ray (1964–), American singer-songwriter and member of Indigo Girls
12 – Magda Szubanski (1961–), Australian actress, comedian and writer
13 – Ole von Beust (1955–), German politician and former First Mayor of Hamburg
14 – Sir John Gielgud (1904–2000), English actor
14 – José María Mendiluce (1951–2015), Spanish writer and politician
14 – André Boisclair (1966–), Canadian politician & former leader of the Parti Québécois
14 – Da Brat (1974–), American rapper and actress
14 – Larissa França (1982–), Brazilian beach volleyball player
15 – Luke Evans (1979–), Welsh actor and singer
15 – George Platt Lynes (1907–1955), American fashion photographer
15 – Bessie Smith (1894–1937), American blues singer
16 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (1984–), American fantasy/young adult lit author
16 – Raymond Chan Chi-chuen (1972–), Hong Kongese politician and radio host
16 – Dusty Springfield (1939–1999), English singer
17 – Thornton Wilder (1897–1975), American playwright and novelist
18 – Alice Blinn (1889-1982), American educator, home efficiency expert, and magazine editor
18 – Maria Bello (1967–), American actress
19 – Prince Edmond de Polignac (1834–1901), French aristocrat & composer
19 – Dick Sargent (1930–1994), American actor
20 – Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972), French essayist and novelist
20 – Toller Cranston (1949–2015), Canadian figure skater and artist, 1976 Olympic Bronze Medalist
21 – Jessica Clark (1985–), English actress, model, and video blog host
22 – John Waters (1946–), American director, writer, visual artist, and media personality
23 – Élisabeth de Gramont, Duchess of Clermont-Tonnerre (1875–1954), French writer and aristocrat
23 – Halston (1932–1990), American fashion designer
23 – Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), English composer and suffragist
24 – Jean-Paul Gaultier (1952–), French fashion designer
25 – Edward II (1267–1327), King of England
25 – Anja Pärson (1981–), Swedish alpine skier, 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist in Slalom
26 – Lily Parr (1905–1978), English professional women's association football player
26 – Ma Rainey (1886–1939), American singer
26 – Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), Austrian philosopher
27 – Russell T Davies (1963–), British television producer and screenwriter
27 – Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (1893–1976), Yugoslavian (Serbian) royalty
29 – Garrison Starr (1975–), American singer-songwriter
30 – Onir (1969–), Bengali Indian film director, editor, writer, and producer
30 – Alice B. Toklas (1877–1967), American-born member of Parisian avant-garde