Portal:LGBTQ

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Spain since July 3, 2005. In 2004, the nation's newly elected government, led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Socialist Workers' Party, began a campaign to legalize same-sex marriage, including the right of adoption by same-sex couples. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the Cortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament, composed of the Senate and the Congress of Deputies) by a vote of 187–147 on June 30, 2005, and published on July 2. The law took effect the next day, making Spain the third country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry on a national level, after the Netherlands and Belgium, and 17 days ahead of the right being extended across all of Canada.

Roman Catholic authorities were adamantly opposed, criticising what they regarded as the weakening of the meaning of marriage, despite support from 66% of the population. Other associations expressed concern over the possibility of lesbian and gay couples adopting children. After its approval, the conservative People's Party challenged the law in the Constitutional Court. Approximately 4,500 same-sex couples married in Spain during the first year of the law. Shortly after the law was passed, questions arose about the legal status of marriages to non-Spaniards whose countries did not permit same-sex marriage. A decision from the Ministry of Justice stated that the country's same-sex marriage law allows a Spanish citizen to marry a non-Spaniard regardless of whether that person's homeland recognizes the union. At least one partner must be a Spanish citizen in order to marry, although two non-Spaniards may marry if they both have legal residence in Spain. (Full article...)

Photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1955

Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

Ailey's work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that is credited with spreading global awareness of Black life in America. His choreographic masterpiece Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. (Full article...)

• 23 January 2025: A law allowing same-sex marriages come into effect on January 23, 2025, in Thailand.
• 1 January 2025: A law allowing same-sex marriages come into effect on January 1, 2025, in Liechtenstein.
• 28 June 2024: On the campaign trail in the USA, May 2024
• 16 February 2024: Same-sex marriages come into effect on 16 February 2024 in Greece.
• 5 July 2023: Germany: Esslingen am Neckar hosts first Christopher Street Day
• 27 June 2023: France: Quimper, Finistère hosts second pride festival
• 22 June 2023: Estonian parliament passes legalization of same-sex marriage
• 20 June 2023: Wikinews interviews Tom Pashby, leader of campaign group Include Mx
• 12 June 2023: Tens of thousands march in 25th Tel Aviv Pride parade

• ...the first edition of Patience and Sarah, winner of the 1971 Stonewall Book Award, was self-published and all copies sold by the author after six publishers rejected it for not being marketable?
• ... that Jim Foster and Madeline D. Davis were the first openly LGBT people to address a major U.S. national political convention when they spoke to the 1972 Democratic National Convention?
• ...that openly-gay actor Robert La Tourneaux considered his role as the gay hustler in the 1970 film The Boys in the Band to be the "kiss of death" for his career?
• ... that Norman Lear's 1977 soap opera spoof All That Glitters featured Linda Gray as the first recurring transgender character on American television?

• 1 – E. M. Forster (1879–1970), English novelist and short story writer
• 1 – James Hormel (1933–2021), American philanthropist, LGBT activist & former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg
• 1 – Joe Orton (1933–1967), English playwright
• 1 – Martine Rothblatt (1954–), American lawyer, author, entrepreneur, business executive, & CEO of United Therapeutics
• 2 – William Haines (1900–1973), American film actor and interior designer
• 2 – M. Carey Thomas (1857–1935), American educator, linguist and women's suffragist
• 4 – Dot-Marie Jones (1964–), American actress and arm wrestler
• 4 – Michael Stipe (1960–), American singer
• 4 – Gianni Vattimo (1936–2023), Italian philosopher, politician, and Member of European Parliament
• 6 – Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), French writer, philosopher and activist
• 6 – Kate McKinnon (1984–), American actress and comedian
• 6 – Nancy Ruth (1942–), Canadian Senator
• 6 – Gábor Szetey (1968–), Hungarian politician and former Secretary of State
• 7 – Christian Louboutin (1963–), French footwear designer
• 7 – Chester Kallman (1921–1975), American poet, librettist, and translator
• 7 – Michael Sam (1990–), American football player, first publicly gay player drafted by the NFL
• 8 – Jack Andraka (1997–), American inventor, scientist, and cancer researcher
• 8 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1864–1892), English royalty
• 8 – Winnaretta Singer (1865–1943), American heiress
• 10 – Sal Mineo (1939–1976), American actor
• 11 – Eva Le Gallienne (1899–1991), English actress, producer and director
• 12 – Edith Cooper (1862–1913), English poet
• 12 – Patsy Kelly (1910–1981), American actress
• 12 – Kieron Richardson (1986–), English actor
• 13 – Charles Nelson Reilly (1931–2007), American actor, comedian, and director
• 13 – Charlotte Charke (1713–1760), English actress, playwright, novelist and transvestite
• 13 – Edmund White (1940–), American author
• 13 – Nate Silver (1978–), American statistician, journalist, and writer
• 14 – Cecil Beaton (1904–1980), English fashion and portrait photographer
• 14 – Holland Taylor (1943–), American actress
• 14 – Alice Nkom (1945–), Cameroonian lawyer and LGBT advocate
• 18 – Cary Grant (1904–1986), English actor
• 18 – Mike Michaud (1955–), American Democratic congressman (Maine)
• 18 – Seamus O'Regan (1971–), Canadian broadcast journalist and politician
• 18 – Maulik Pancholy (1974–), American actor
• 19 – Patricia Highsmith (1921–1995), American novelist and short-story writer
• 19 – Janis Joplin (1943–1970), American rock singer-songwriter
• 19 – Jakub Jankto (1996–), Czech professional footballer
• 21 – Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972), Spanish fashion designer
• 21 – Christian Dior (1905–1957), French fashion designer
• 21 – Janis Sidovský (1968–), Czech producer
• 22 – Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, essayist, and author
• 22 – Lord Byron (1788–1824), British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism
• 22 – Elaine Noble (1944–), American politician and LGBT activist
• 22 – Ondrej Nepela (1951–1989), Slovak figure skater, 1972 Olympic champion
• 23 – Luisa, Marquise Casati Stampa di Soncino (1881–1957), Italian aristocrat, muse and patron of the arts
• 24 – Hadrian (76–138), Roman emperor
• 24 – Frederick the Great (1712–1786), Prussian king, military leader, and composer
• 25 – Aya Kamikawa (1968–), Japanese politician and writer, first openly transgender politician in Japan
• 25 – W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965), English playwright, novelist, and short story writer
• 25 – Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), English writer
• 26 – Ellen DeGeneres (1958–), American actress and stand-up comedian
• 27 – Eric Radford (1985–), Canadian pairs figure skater, 2015 World Champion
• 28 – Colette (1873–1954), French novelist
• 28 – Marnie McBean (1968–), Canadian rower, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist
• 29 – Gia Carangi (1960–1986), American model
• 29 – Sara Gilbert (1975–), American actress and talk show co-host
• 29 – Greg Louganis (1960–), American Olympic diver and author
• 30 – Howard Sturgis (1855–1920), English writer
• 30 – Stewart McKinney (1931–1987), American politician, Republican congressman (Connecticut) (1971–1987)
• 30 – Claudia Brind-Woody (1955–), American business executive, IBM
• 31 – Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (1863–1922), British politician
• 31 – Tallulah Bankhead (1902–1968), American actress
• 31 – Patricia Velásquez (1971–), Venezuelan actress and model
• 31 – Portia de Rossi (1973–), Australian actress
• 31 – Czeslaw Walek (1975–), Czech lawyer and LGBT activist

• Timeline of LGBTQ history
• List of LGBTQ events
• List of LGBTQ rights activists
• List of years in LGBTQ rights
• List of LGBTQ bookstores
• Lists of LGBTQ people
• List of African-American LGBTQ people
• List of LGBTQ writers
• List of LGBTQ artists
• List of drag queens