1998
U.S.: The NBC comedy Will & Grace airs for the first time. * Becoming Visible: An Illustrated History of Lesbian and Gay Life in Twentieth-Century America, by Fred Wasserman and Molly McGarry, is in bookstores. * Ex-Husker Du, now solo singer, Bob Mould, tells Outlines Chicago: 'If I make a big deal about being gay, then that's what my work becomes. Some people are gonna get really upset; others are going to embrace it closer. But what it's going to do is skew it. I didn't think I was writing gay songs.'
1993
U.S.: Married With Children star Amanda Bearse 'comes out' in an interview with The Advocate, and says: 'My mother sent me to a psychiatrist when I was 15 because she thought I was a latent homosexual. There really wasn't anything latent about it.' * While England Sleeps by David Leavitt is in bookstores. * The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Hate Crimes Sentencing Act of 1993 by an overwhelming voice vote. This is only the second time in U.S. history that legislation specifically including lesbians and gay men has passed the house. * The Rev. Billy Graham tells a crowd of 44,300 people in Columbus, Ohio, that AIDS may be 'a judgment of God' for sin. A month later he apologizes for the remark, saying, 'I don't believe that, and I don't know why I said it. I remember saying it, and I immediately regretted it and almost went back and clarified the statement.' * Netherlands: In a survey conducted by De Gay Krant newspaper, 68.5 percent of Dutch Roman Catholic priests do not agree with the Vatican's condemnation of homosexuality.
1988
U.S.: Strip AIDS, a cartoon book etd. by Trina Robbins, Bill Sienkiewicz and Robert Triptow, with profits going to the Shanti Project, is in bookstores. * The defense lawyer for Marion Bordeaux, a lesbian convicted in Vista, Calif., of shooting her lover to death, says he will appeal the verdict because he believes two of the jurors took Bordeaux's sexual orientation into account when making their decision. * Marilyn's Daughter, the new novel by John Rechy, is in bookstores. * In Washington, D.C., 150 Black gay activists attend the 10th anniversary conference of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays. * In Texas, six members of the Montgomery County sheriff's department are fired for allegedly harassing Glenda Su Almond, a lesbian inmate. Almond described herself as 'an emotional wreck' after 18 days of incarceration, during which she was taunted with vulgar remarks and jokes, and given sedatives and a muscle relaxant.
1983
U.S.: New York Philharmonic pianist Paul Jacobs dies of AIDS at age 53. * Canada: Dr. Myre Sim, clinical director of the Forensic Psychiatry Clinic, in a letter published in the British Columbia Medical Journal, writes: 'We hear of homosexuals parading to coerce governments to spend more money on research for the treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, but would it not be a more helpful measure if all homosexuals pledged themselves to forego the practices that have brought this disaster to the world. There is something sinister when a minority group, which has opted out of procreation, should propagate a disease that can wipe out all society. In malaria control, the best results are obtained when the breeding grounds of mosquitoes are treated effectively. Is it not time for homosexuals to get back to the closet and discontinue their dangerous, unnatural practices?'
