On Losing Bob Smith
Bob [Smith], who broke ground as the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show, passed away on January 20th after a long battle with ALS.
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Charles Shively, Pioneer Activist and Author
At the 1977 Boston Gay Pride march, Shively became infamous for burning pages from the Bible—as well as his Harvard diploma and a teaching contract—as a protest against oppressive institutions. This act of incendiary and effective political theater—it nearly caused a riot—later obscured his work as an organizer, scholar, poet, and publisher.
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Honoring Those Who Left Us in ’17
IN KEEPING WITH this magazine’s annual tradition, we remember here the activists, writers, artists, entertainers, and other notable members of the LGBT community, and some allies, who died over the past twelve months.
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Kate Millett, Author of a Revolutionary Book
Millett was forced out of the closet by a woman—probably someone she knew—during a 1970 speech at Columbia. As she later wrote in her memoir Flying (1974), which details the ups and downs that fame had brought her, she proclaim her lesbianism …
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Robert Giard: Portrait of a Photographer
What Bob giard gave us was a wide-angle view of our literary community, manifesting our class, ethnic, and generational variety in his portraits.
More2002: A Year of Historic Passages
A number of prominent gay and lesbian writers, artists, and activists passed away in 2002, among them …
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Memories of John Ashbery (1927–2017)
Though he liked to drink (too much, truth to tell), John [Ashberry] didn’t frequent gay bars. People came to him. In Paris he was partnered with the poet Pierre Martory for several years and later provided translations of a volume of his poems.
MoreTwo Friends Recall Mark Merlis (1950-2017)
THE AUTHOR of four groundbreaking novels, Mark Merlis died at age 67 on August 15, 2017, in Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Hospital. The cause of death was pneumonia, related to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which he had been diagnosed with just a year ago.
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Of LA and Harry Hay: Stuart Timmons’ Times
What made [Stuart] Timmons unique was that he was never an academic historian—his work was profoundly experiential and had the vitality, humor, and honesty often so lacking in scholarly texts.
MoreHonoring Those Who Left Us in 2016
IN KEEPING with our annual custom, we remember here the lives of some notable GLBT activists, artists, and writers who passed away this past year. Please note that all deaths occurred in 2016 unless otherwise indicated.
In addition to those listed by name, we also mourn the loss of the 49 people who were massacred at Pulse, a gay club in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016.
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