May 20-26
1996
U.S.: Mike Siegel, a radio talkshow host, is suspended for airing unfounded rumors that Seattle Mayor Norm Rice had an affair with a male aide. The rumor—that Rice was shot by his wife while having sex with a former deputy mayor—had been circulating since 1993 in newsletters produced by a fired city worker.
1991
U.S.: In Denver, voters uphold the city's three-month old gay-rights ordinance by a margin of 55-45 percent. It is only the fifth time nationwide that gay/lesbian rights survived a voter's referendum. * Tim Curran, a former Boy Scout who wanted to become a Scout leader, loses his case in Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Sally Disco refuses to compel the Scouts to accept an "acknowledged homosexual" as a troop leader because it would violate the organization's 1st Amendment right to express its belief that homosexuality is immoral. * More than 150 lesbians gather in New York to discuss the National Lesbian conference held recently in Atlanta. The conference, "Forging Partnerships: A Lesbian Conference for Cooperative Strategies," was designed to continue discussion of issues such as visibility, power and diversity. * Germany: A group of 70 skinheads attack a gay/lesbian party in East Berlin and beat attendees with wooden clubs. Several people are injured.
1986
U.S.: "Cycle For Life," a cross-country bicycle rally to raise money for the AIDS 800 crisis line and local service organizations, departs from New York and arrives in San Francisco Aug. 3. * The American Civil Liberties Union names Nan D. Hunter, a veteran gay and lesbian rights attorney, to head a new national Lesbian/Gay Rights Project. The project will allow gays in states and cities without organized gay communities better access to the services of the ACLU. * Eldridge Cleaver, former Black Panther turned conservative Republican, said in a speech: "Homosexuality is a problematical lifestyle. There is some truth to saying gays are sick. But who isn't, man? You aren't going to go around saying there's no dysfunction or problem involved with it. You have to be open minded about this."
1981
U.S.: Billie Jean King says: "It's parents who get uptight, not children. Children all gravitate to people if they know you've got a good heart, if you're kind and good. Adults have this fear and transfer it to children. They assume if someone is a homosexual, they're bad. I don't think it makes a difference." * The 1st Annual U.S. Openly Gay National Tennis Tournament is held in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Tennis Courts. * In Clarkesville, TN., 12 men arrested on sodomy charges face harassment and job losses after their names, addresses, and places of employment are published on the front page of the Leaf-Chronicle. * California becomes the first state to hire a full-time officer to protect gay state workers from discrimination. Glen Brooks begins fielding complaints from state employees who believe they are victims of anti-gay discrimination. * After opening a women's clothing boutique in Alabama, Anita Bryant temporarily changes her tune when she says: "When you run a business, you don't go around asking people what their sexual preference is. I am not concerned with sexual preference." * Canada: In Ottawa, a special joint committee of Parliament rejects an amendment to include sexual orientation in the Canadian Charter of Human Rights. The vote is 22-2. * Sri Lanka: Three foreigners are found guilty of having committed "an unnatural sex act with a young boy" ( no age is given ) . They are sentenced to 18 months, and an additional five-year suspended sentence.
