Today In Gay History THURSDAY, JUNE 13

/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\=/|\

Gay Wisdom for Daily Living

 from White Crane Institute 

    Exploring Gay Wisdom        

  & Culture for over 20 Years!   

      www.gaywisdom.org       

\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/=\|/

Today In Gay History

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013

1574 – RICHARD BARNFIELD, the English poet, was baptised on this date (we don't know his date of birth, but he died in 1620). There are, as everyone knows, certain inseparable teams: Gilbert & Sullivan, Cheech and Chong, bagels and lox, ham and eggs, Sodom and Gomorrah. In classical mythology, as in ballet, there are Daphnis and Chloë, the Greek shepherd and his lady love – Daphnis and Chloë, as inseparable as yin and yang, gin and tonic, Ron and Nancy. Not in Richard Banrfield, however. His Affectionate Shepherd (1594) scandalized Renaissance England by describing in florid detail the love of Daphnis and Ganymede, just a couple of guys, foolin' around. What the fuss was all about is difficult to say since, in the absence of Chloë, Daphnis never exercised his shepherdly option of making it with his favorite sheep, choosing a boy instead. "If it be a sin to love a lovely lad," wrote Barnfield, "oh, then sin I." He was not quite 21 when he wrote the poem. His obscure though close relationship with Shakespeare has long made him interesting to students.

1926 - the American author and comedian PAUL LYNDE, was born on this date (d. 1982). The Franklin Pangborn of our time, Lynde was an American comedian and character actor. He was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry McAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie.

Lynde was affectionately (and disingenuously) nicknamed "America's Most Eligible Bachelor" by the public. And we all know what that means. In 1966, Lynde debuted on the fledgling game show Hollywood Squares. Eventually he assumed a permanent spot as the "center square," a move which ensured that he would be called upon by contestants at least once in almost every round. It was here that Lynde was best able to showcase his comedic talents with short, salty one-liners. Many of these gags were thinly-veiled allusions to his sexuality. Others relied on double entendre, a fondness for deviant behaviors, or dealt with "touchy" subject matter for television. Even the more generic punchlines were often punched up by Lynde's trademark snickering delivery.  In 1972, Lynde starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom, The Paul Lynde Show, playing an uptight attorney and father at odds with his liberal-minded son-in-law. Watching a clip of it now, it's a testament to the cast-iron obliviousness of the American television viewing public that ANYONE would take Lynde seriously in the role.  He's positively (and wonderfully) phosphorescent in the role.  You can see the opening of this show on youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHiVKzDqEA

In 1965, Lynde was involved in an accident where a young actor and Lynde's long-term companion fell to his death from the window of Lynde's hotel room in San Francisco. The two had been drinking for hours before 24-year old Bing Davidson either jumped or fell eight stories. Even though the scandal did not ruin his career, this incident did offer insight into the precarious life of drinking and partying that Lynde enjoyed. Lynde was found dead in his Beverly Hills home by his friend Paul Barresi in January, 1982. Lynde is interred next to his brother Johnny and his long time love Bing Davidson at Amity Cemetery in Knox County, Ohio, some eight miles northeast of Paul's hometown.

1982 - the magazine Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui (AHLA) was first published on this date.  Translated from the French, the name of the magazine is Amazons of Yesterday, Lesbians of Today and the quarterly French-language magazine shared its name with a documentary film developed by a Lesbian collective in Montreal, Quebec in the early 1980s.

The film was developed from 1979-1981, and premiered on June 13, 1982 in Montreal, and the magazine followed, also in 1982, and by the same collective, Louise Turcotte, Danielle Charest, Genette Bergeron and Ariane Brunet.  AHLA was written from a radical Lesbian (Lesbiennes radicales) perspective, and aimed to offer analysis and reflection about political and philosophical issues affecting Lesbians globally as well as in Quebec.

The magazine's content drew heavily from francophone material feminism, and the ideas of French theorists Monique Wittig and Nicole-Claude Mathieu. The front page of every issue clearly stated that the magazine was intended "for Lesbians only".

1992 - on this date President Clinton named MARSHA SCOTT as the first Presidential Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian community.

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|