THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY JULY 24

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

JULY 24

1895 – ROBERT GRAVES, English author born (d. 1985) author of The White Goddess and I, Claudius. The White Goddess proposed the existence of a European deity, the "White Goddess of Birth, Love and Death," inspired and represented by the phases of the moon, and who, Graves argues, lies behind the faces of the diverse goddesses of various European mythologies. Graves argues that "true" or "pure" poetry is inextricably linked with the ancient cult-ritual of his proposed White Goddess and of her son. His conclusions come from his own conjectures about how early religions developed, as there is no historical evidence that the "White Goddess" as he describes her ever figured in any actual belief system. However given that the worship of the Goddess, as defined by Graves, took place in pre-literate and pre-historical times the lack of such evidence is not in itself evidence of lack. Graves described The White Goddess as "a historical grammar of the language of poetic myth."

1911 – HIRAM BINGHAM III re-discovers Machu Picchu "the Lost City of the Incas".

1920 – BELLA ABZUG, U.S. Congresswoman from New York born (d. 1998) In addition to her numerous accomplishments in the U.S. House of Representatives (She famously said, "This woman's place is in the House — the House of Representatives," in her successful 1970 campaign to join that body) she was an outspoken supporter of LGBT civil rights. She was one of the first members of Congress to support Gay rights, introducing in 1974, the first federal Gay rights bill, the Equality Act of 1974, with fellow Democratic New York City Representative, Edward Koch, the future mayor of New York City.

1952 – GUS VAN SANT, American film director, born. Openly Gay, he has dealt unflinchingly with aspects of Gay culture and other marginalized subcultures without being particularly concerned about providing positive role models. His filmography as writer and director includes an adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which features a diverse cast (Keanu Reeves, Roseanne Barr, Uma Thurman, and k.d. lang, with cameos by William S. Burroughs and Heather Graham, among others); and My Own Private Idaho, also starring Reeves as well as the late River Phoenix (Van Sant also planned to direct a biographical film about Andy Warhol with Phoenix in the lead role, but canceled the project after Phoenix's death). He is perhaps best known for directing Good Will Hunting. At one time he had an option on Tom Spanbauer's The Man Who Fell In Love With the Moon. He has been shooting Milk, a 2008 biopic about the later life and assassination of San Francisco city supervisor/Gay rights activist activist Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn).

1992 - ARLETTY, French singer and actress died (b. 1898); In 1945 Arletty appeared in her most famous film role, the part of Garance in Marcel Carnes Les Enfants du Paradis. Arletty was imprisoned in 1945 for having had a wartime liaison with a German officer during the occupation of France; it was this very liaison, however, that enabled Carné to film some of the brilliant street scenes of Les Enfants du Paradis. She allegedly later commented on the experience, "My heart is French but my ass is international."

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