This Weekend In Gay History FRIDAY, JUNE 21

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This Weekend In Gay History

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

1582 - on this date ODA NOBUNAGA and MORI RANMARU died at their own hands.

Nobunaga is one of the most important figures in Japanese history as the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japan before his death in 1582.

From an early age, Ranmaru was an attendant to Oda Nobunaga and recognized for his talent and loyalty was appointed to a responsible post.

Oda and Mori's lord-vassal relationship was thought to have followed the "shudo" tradition, and was widely admired in Japan for its strength. In the nanshoku literature of the Edo period, it was widely understood that Oda and Mori had a sexual relationship that was commonly found in those times.

Nobunaga was surrounded at HonnÅ -ji in a coup d'etat. Nobunaga's small entourage was soon overwhelmed and as the troops closed in on the burning temple where Nobunaga had been residing, he decided to commit ritual suicide in one of the inner rooms. Only Ranmaru, remained at his master's side. Ranmaru's loyalty and devotion to his lord were widely known and praised during the Edo period. He attended to Nobunaga as he sought a moment of peace to carry out his last act, then Ranmaru likewise killed himself in the same way.

The cause of Mitsuhide's betrayal has been actively debated for centuries. It has been proposed that Mitsuhide may have heard a rumor that Nobunaga would transfer Mitsuhide's fief to the page, Mori Ranmaru, with whom Nobunaga is alleged to have been in a ritualized homosexual relationship, a form of patronage, known as shudÅ . Other motives include revenge for Nobunaga's numerous insults and derisive treatment of Mitsuhide, or Mitsuhide's jealousy as Nobunaga had shown greater favor toward another vassal, Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Ranmaru and his younger brothers perished defending Oda Nobunaga during the Incident at HonnÅ -ji. Ranmaru's bravery and devotion is remembered throughout history, and especially during the Edo period because of his decision to commit seppuku and follow Nobunaga in death.

2007 - on this date Jerusalem's Pride parade marchers encountered hundreds of Haredi, Israel's bizarre Ultra Orthodox sect, who arrived with eggs and bags of human excrement to hurl. Before the parade, police arrested a 32-year old man carrying a bomb which he said he'd planned to detonate near the parade to "scare people away." Two hundred Haredi were arrested by the 7000 police officers brought in from all over Israel to protect the marchers, who numbered only 1000. For over a week before the parade the Heredi had rioted in protest of Jerusalem Pride. The previous year they had succeeded in getting the Pride observances cancelled entirely.  They were unsuccessful with their thuggishness.

SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2013

431 - Paulinus of Nola or Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus (Bordeaux, ca. 354 – June 22, 431 in Nola, outside Naples) was a Roman Senator who converted to a severe monasticism in 394. He eventually became Bishop of Nola, helped to resolve the disputed election of Pope Boniface I, and was recognized as a saint.

1910 - PETER PEARS, the great English Tenor and muse for (and partner of) Benjamin Britten, was born on this date (d. 1986). It used to be said, politely of course, that the English tenor was the companion of Benjamin Britten. Since "companion" seems to conjure up an image of two old ladies in shawls, let's say, no less politely, but more vigorously, that the tenor and the composer were for many years devoted lovers. As Poulenc did for Bernac, Britten wrote some of his most wonderful music for Pears, and Pears introduced Britten's songs and operas throughout the world. Together they worked indefatigably toward the creation of the Aldeburgh Festival, their musical child. It used to be said, politely, of course, that Pears is a "quite unremarkable voice." His voice was controversial, the vocal quality being unusual, described as "dry" and "white". It was said, cruelly, that he had one good note, E-natural a third above middle C, which is why the crucial aria of Peter Grimes, "Now the Great Bear and Pleiades", is mainly written on that note. His voice quality did not record well, but there is no doubt that he had unusually good articulation and vocal agility, of which Britten also took advantage. Let's just admit, no less politely, but more directly, that Pear's voice was pretty lousy, although handled with deft musicianship, and that his place in the annals of music history will rest primarily on his association with Britten.

1961 - the Scottish singer JIMMY SOMERVILLE celebrates his birthday today. Born and raised in Glasgow, he had considerable success in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a successful solo career. In 1983, Somerville co-founded the synth pop group Bronski Beat, who proceeded to have a number of hits in the British charts. Their biggest hit, "Smalltown Boy", which reached #3, was considered groundbreaking because of its lyrical content regarding homophobia. Somerville played the song's titular character in the music video, leaving his hostile hometown for the city.

Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985, and formed The Communards with classically trained pianist Richard Coles. They had a number of hits, including a cover version of Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way", which spent four weeks at #1 in the UK charts, and became the biggest-selling single of 1986 in that country. He also sang backing vocals on the Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds", which was a UK Top 10 hit.

The Communards split in 1988, and Somerville launched his solo career. He had several solo hits between 1989 and 1991, also singing on the second Band Aid project at the end of 1989. After releasing his 1989 album Read My Lips (including a hit cover of Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"), along with a singles collection and cover of The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" a year later, Somerville left the limelight and was absent from recording for a number of years.

Somerville returned in 1995 with the album Dare to Love, which included "Heartbeat", a #1 hit on the U.S. dance chart. Another album, entitled Manage The Damage, was released in 1999, and its companion remix album Root Beer came out a year later. Most recently, his dance-oriented fourth solo album "Home Again" was released in 2005.

1969 - on this date JUDY GARLAND died -- barely two weeks after her 47th birthday. The official cause of death was listed as an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

1978 - JAI RODRIGUEZ, the American TV personality, was born today.  Best known as the culture guide on the old Bravo network Emmy-winning American reality television program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, he has also co-authored a book with the other Queer Eye hosts.  In 2005, he created and performed his own one night stage show, "Jai Rodriguez: xPosed." xPosed told the story of Rodriguez's life and struggle to come out to his religious family, and of his career on stage and in Queer Eye.

1985 - HETEROSEXUALS UNAFRAID OF GAYS (HUG) was formed in Wellington, New Zealand on this date.

SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013

1894 — Biologist and pioneer of human sexuality ALFRED KINSEY was born on this date (d: 1956); Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology who in 1947 founded the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University, now called the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. Kinsey's research on human sexuality profoundly influenced social and cultural values in the United States and many other countries. His Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948 shocked the world.

Kinsey was rumored to participate in unusual sexual practices. James H. Jones's biography, Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life, describes Kinsey as Bisexual and experimenting in masochism. He encouraged group sex involving his graduate students, wife and staff. Kinsey filmed sexual acts in the attic of his home as part of his research. Biographer Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy explained that using Kinsey's home for the filming of sexual acts was done to ensure the films' secrecy, which would certainly have caused a scandal had the public become aware of them.

The popularity of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male prompted widespread media interest in 1948. Time magazine declared, "Not since Gone With the Wind had booksellers seen anything like it." The first pop culture references to Kinsey appeared not long after the book's publication: Rubber-faced comic Martha Raye sold a half-million copies of 'Ooh, Dr. Kinsey!'  Cole Porter's song "Too Darn Hot," from the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate, devoted its bridge to an analysis of the Kinsey report and the "average man's" "favorite sport." In 1949, Mae West, reminiscing on the days when the word "sex" was rarely uttered, said of Kinsey, "That guy merely makes it easy for me. Now I don't have to draw 'em any blueprints...We are both in the same business...Except I saw it first."

1912 - on this date ALAN TURING, the English mathematician, logician, cryptographer and the genius who helped the Allies win the Second World War, was born (d.1954).

Turing is considered to be the father of modern computer science. Turing provided an influential formalization of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, formulating the now widely accepted "Turing" version of the Church–Turing thesis, namely that any practical computing model has either the equivalent or a subset of the capabilities of a Turing machine. With the Turing test, he made a significant and characteristically provocative contribution to the debate regarding artificial intelligence: whether it will ever be possible to say that a machine is conscious and can think. He later worked at the National Physical Laboratory, creating one of the first designs for a stored-program computer, although it was never actually built. In 1948 he moved to the University of Manchester to work on the Manchester Mark I, then emerging as one of the world's earliest true computers.

During the Second World War Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain's code-breaking center, and was for a time head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.  His discoveries allowed the Allies to decode the messages of German forces.

In 1952, Turing was convicted of "acts of gross indecency" after admitting to a sexual relationship with a man in Manchester. He was placed on probation and required to undergo estrogen therapy to achieve temporary chemical castration. Turing died after eating an apple laced with cyanide in 1954. His death was ruled a suicide.

To mark the 100th anniversary of Turing's birth, the Turing Centenary Advisory Committee (TCAC) is coordinating the Alan Turing Year, a year-long programme of events around the world honouring Turing's life and achievements.

Events are scheduled in many countries around the world including the USA, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, the Philippines, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, Norway, Italy, Portugal and Germany. The keystone events will be a three-day conference in Manchester, UK in June examining Turing's mathematical and code-breaking achievements, and a Turing Centenary Conference in Cambridge

1939 - today's the birthday of Spanish poet, novelist and activist ÁLVARO POMBO GARCIA de los RIOS.  Born in Santander, Cantabria, he published his first book of poems Protocolos in 1973.  Ever since he has been considered one of the most unique voices in Spanish literature.  He won the Premio El Bardo in 1977 for his next book Variaciones.  Although he considers himself a poet Pombo has always been better known as a novelist.  In his work he has shown an interest in medieval history, phenomenology and psychological subjects.  He calls his work psychological fiction.

Pombo is a member of the Spanish Royal Academy and has been the recipient of various literary prizes including the Premio Herralde de Novela, the National Prize for Criticism, Premio Planeta in 2006 for his novel The Fortune of Matilda Turpin.  He's been active in progressive politics in Spain for many years including an unsuccessful run for the Madrid seat in the Spain's national Senate.

1952 - The groundbreaking trial of DALE JENNINGS began on this date and lasted for 10 days.

William Dale Jennings was born in Amarillo Texas in 1917. Not long thereafter his parents moved to Denver, Colorado. After graduating from high school there, he moved to Southern California, where he wrote, produced, and directed stage plays in Los Angeles and Pasadena. He studied dance under Lester Horton and later worked with Martha Graham, two early pioneers of modern interpretive dance.

One night in 1952, as Jennings walked home from Westlake Park (now MacArthur Park), four miles west of downtown Los Angeles, he was followed by a plainclothes vice officer and arrested in his house under charges of indecent behavior.

Jennings, of course, was totally disheartened. If word of this got out, his dream of a career in screen writing would be totally shot. From jail, Jennings called Mattachine cohort Harry Hay.  Hay bailed him out of jail early the next morning, and it was then, over breakfast at the Brown Derby, that they decided to fight the charge in court, under grounds of entrapment. To this end, they founded the Citizens' Committee to Outlaw Entrapment. Long Beach attorney George Sibley took on the case.

After a dramatic Los Angeles court trial that lasted for ten days, Jennings won a jury acquittal in a rebuke of police harassment, intimidation, and entrapment of homosexuals. The acquittal energized other persecuted homosexual people into action throughout the nation and brought respect to the Mattachine Society, which had funded Jennings's defense. "The Love That Dared Not Speak Its Name" was now on its way out of the closet, and the infamous statutes of "Crimes Against Nature" on the law books in every one of the United States were targeted for eradication. By the year 2000, most States had removed those statutes from their laws, partly due to of the influence of Dale Jennings.

1961 - the American novelist DAVID LEAVITT was born on this date. He is the author of Family Dancing, Equal Affections, The Page Turner, Martin Bauman, or A Sure Thing, The Lost Language of Cranes, While England Sleeps, The Body of Jonah Boyd, and numerous short stories. His most recent novel is The Indian Clerk.  Interestingly enough, Leavitt wrote a nice book on another one of today's figures, Alan Turing, in The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer.  At the University of Florida he is the co-director of the creative writing program. He is also the editor ofSubtropics magazine, the University of Florida's literary review. Leavitt, who is openly Gay, has frequently explored Gay issues in his work. He lives between Florida and Tuscany (Italy), where he has had many of his books translated.

1972 - today's the birthday of Dutch-born ballroom dance champion LOUIS VAN AMSTEL.  Born in Amsterdam, the professional dancer, choreographer, and a dancesport  coach is known for his appearances on the U.S. reality television series Dancing with the Stars.  On that show Louis has partnered with with celebrities Kelly Osbourne, Lisa Rinna and Priscilla Presley.  In the tenth season Van Amstel was partnered with actress and comedian Niecy Nash where they performed a waltz depicting an interracial couple prevented to marry. In interviews shown before and after their performance, both expressed support for marriage equality, with the openly gay Van Amstel mentioning how he was "still in that boat" depicted in the dance.  He became a U.S. citizen in 2008 and resides in Salt Lake City,Utah.  In Summer 2009, Louis began appearing as a ballroom choreorapher on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance.

2001 - on this date JOHN HERBERT, drag queen, pioneering Gay playwright and "mordant gadfly" of the Canadian theatre scene in the 1960s and 70s, died at his Toronto home. He was 74 and had been ill for a month after undergoing a biopsy for prostate cancer.   Herbert wrote 24 plays, six of which were published, but was best known as the author of Fortune and Men's Eyes, his 1964 play that mercilessly exposed the homosexual reality of prison culture.The autobiographically based prison drama premiered in 1967 off-Broadway and from there went on to international success still unmatched by any other Canadian dramatic work. 

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