1998
U.S.: Six hundred lesbian and gay journalists attend the 7th Annual Convention of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in Las Vegas. Lesley Stahl of CBS's 60 minutes, headlines the convention, and also speaking are David Lee, executive producer of Frasier, and lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel. * The Real Ellen Story airs on Bravo. * The CBS show Nash Bridges features cop stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin pretending to be gay detectives to recover a Cher impersonator's stolen wig. * Vatican: A red AIDS ribbon is given to Pope John Paul II by a delegation of PWA's.
1993
U.S.: Pussy Tourette in Hi Fi by San Francisco's most fabulous drag queen is in record stores. * Tennis star Martina Navratilova announces that she will retire from singles competitions in 1994. [Just last week she announced she will retire from all competition the end of next season.] * National Public Radio begin providing spousal, medical and dental insurance benefits to same-sex and unmarried heterosexual domestic partners of its employees. * The 4 CD box set Forever, Diana by Diana Ross is in stores. * The National Center for Lesbian Rights announces the appointment of Stephanie Smith as coordinator of NCLR's Lesbians of Color Project. * In Oklahoma City, the city council votes down an ordinance that would have authorized the city's human-rights commission to investigate complaints of job discrimination against lesbians and gays. * During the murder trial of the Menendez Brothers, LA County deputy district attorney Lester Kuriyama asks Erik Menendez: 'Mr. Menendez, have you ever had, uh, homosexual relations with anyone other than your brother and your father?' * Netherlands: 'I will always be a pastor in my heart, but there's no place for me in the Dutch Reform Church,' says Rev. Janine De Boer, announcing her resignation as minister of a church in Grouw, after the congregation discovers that she was once the Rev. Jan De Boer, a man.
1988
U.S.: In Milwaukee, Wis., Bob Moore, a well-known member of the gay community, is appointed to a three-year term on the city's safety commission by Mayor John O. Norquist. * Mitchell Grobeson, 29, a former Los Angeles police sergeant who said he resigned from the force because of anti-gay harassment, files a $5-million lawsuit against the department. * Kitty Dukakis, the wife of presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, tells the National AIDS Conference in San Francisco that if her husband is elected, people with AIDS 'will have a friend in the White House ... an ally who will provide leadership in the war against AIDS.' * The Human Rights Campaign Fund raises $95,000 at a New York dinner, emceed by Fran Lebowitz and keynoted by openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
1983
U.S.: In Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Isaac Asimov talks about openly gay science fiction writer Joanna Ross: 'These days, gaiety among the population is met with considerable aplomb. After all, driving them into the closet doesn't put an end to homosexuality, only to a certain amount of happiness.' * At a Human Rights fundraiser at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, the Rev. Jesse Jackson calls for the 1,000 gay-rights activists present, to push beyond their 'self-centered, narcissistic movement,' and join with civil-rights organizers to form a national coalition. * Popular dance hits: 'Band of Gold' by Sylvester, 'Holiday' by Madonna and 'Boys Come To Town' by Earlene Bentley. * Phillipines: After protests over the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Imelda Marcos, and other senior officials, begin a smear campaign against their other opponent Cardinal Jaime Sin, who they portray as a homosexual and a communist.
