June 24-30
1996
U.S.: Southern Baptist leaders react with dismay and anger after Disney chief Michael Eisner calls their threatened boycott of the entertainment giant "foolish." Meeting earlier this month in New Orleans, Southern Baptists voted to boycott Disney products if the company did not reverse its "anti-Christian and anti-family trend" within 12 months. * The Idaho Citizen's Alliance announce it failed to collect the signatures it needed to place an anti-gay initiative on the November ballot. * The partners of the three openly gay members of Congress are given "spouse" identification cards. The partners of U.S. Reps. Barney Frank ( D-Mass. ) , Gerry Studds ( D-Mass. ) , and Steve Gunderson ( R-Wisc. ) , are allowed to park in the Capitol Hill garage and move freely in and out of restricted areas. * President Clinton is interviewed in The Advocate.
1991
U.S.: The 5th gay/lesbian bodybuilding contest is held in San Francisco. * The International Lesbian and Gay Association were to hold their 1st World Conference in the developing world in Guadalajara, Mexico, but canceled after city officials threatened to arrest participants, close down any hotel that hosted the conference, and withhold police protection for the event. * After two years Outweek, the paper that started the outing trend, ceases publication. * In Oakland, Calif., Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Taber awards $5.3 million to Jeffrey Collins, an Executive of a Shell Oil subsidiary who was fired because he was gay. * Eight skinheads march into a Gay Pride celebration in Salt Lake City carrying a swastika and shouting "Heil Hitler." Jewish singer Lynn Lavner, who is on stage, starts singing a song about Anne Frank. The group tells the press they are the United White Working Class, and then leave to the cheers of 2,500 people.
1986
U.S.: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the state of Georgia's sodomy law in a 5-4 decision. The case, Bowers v. Hardwick, involved a 29-year-old man, Michael Hardwick, arrested in his own bedroom in Atlanta for engaging in oral sex with another man. He had based his appeal on his right to privacy. * The trial of Larry Eyler, a suspect in the killing of at least 20 men, begins in Chicago. Eyler is charged with the 1984 murder of 15-year-old Daniel Bridges. * Activist Harry Hay is barred from wearing a sign supportive of the North American Man-Boy Love Association at the Gay Pride Parade in L.A.
1981
U.S.: Florida Gov. Bob Graham signs into law the so-called "Trask Amendment," which prohibits the appropriation of any state funds to universities that grant recognition to gay student groups. The amendment is later struck down as unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. * Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights, a San Francisco-based medical organization of over 300 gay and lesbian physicians, sponsors a symposium entitled "Medical Issues in Sexual Orientation" at the San Francisco Medical Society. * The National Lampoon contains a spoof ad under the headline "National Association of Homosexual Beekeepers." The ad reads: "Many homosexuals today dress up as policeman, construction workers, sailors and cowboys. Almost none dress up as beekeepers. So if you are sexually attracted to persons of the same sex as yourself and to bees, why not be one of the first to adopt this novel style of dress."