Jan. 21-27
1996
U.S.: Joseph De Rugeris, an opera conductor and administrator, dies from AIDS at 48. Rugeris conducted operas in the United States and abroad, including productions at the Washington Opera and at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. * Vermont State Senators reject, 22-7, an amendment to ban same-sex and other unmarried couples from adopting. * A committee of the California legislature passes a bill that would bar the state from recognizing gay and lesbian marriage performed legally in other states. * Robert James Acrement, the man accused of killing Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill, two lesbians in Medford, Ore., pleads not guilty, despite confessing to the crimes shortly after being taken into custody. * The U.S. Senate approves a $265 billion defense bill which includes a controversial requirement for service personnel carrying the AIDS virus to be discharged. * United Airlines is named the official airline for the upcoming display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C. * A longstanding disagreement over business strategy at Out Publishing Inc. leads to the resignation of Michael Goff, the founder of Out magazine. * Deneuve magazine changes its name to Curve, after being sued by actress Catherine Deneuve, who objected to the lesbian mag using her name.
1991
U.S.: General Motors issues an anti-discrimination policy which includes gays. * Aileen Wuornos, a lesbian with a lengthy criminal record, is arrested in Florida and charged with the murders of at least seven middle-aged men. * Tampa Bay's gay and lesbian community sponsors a parade float as part of the host city's celebration of Super Bowl XXV. * ACT UP/New York members invade CBS Evening News' anchor Dan Rather, as he begins coverage of the day's events in the Persian Gulf. One activist gets his face on the live program as all three shout, "Fight AIDS, not Arabs."
1986
U.S.: In Hanover, N.H., Black, female, gay, and Native American students end a 30-hour sit-in at the office of Dartmouth College's president after a faculty committee unanimously agrees to their request for a university symposium on racism, sexism, and toleration of dissent. * In Wisconsin, the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission dismisses a complaint by two lesbian lovers that the YMCA discriminated against them by denying them family membership in 1983. * The only Coors beer distributor in the Boston area, United Liquors, donates $17,000 to the Gay and Lesbian Counseling Services. * The Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League is now the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
1981
U.S.: American gay composer Samuel Barber, who twice won a Pulitzer Prize for music, dies at age 70. * Former U.S. Rep. Robert Bauman , R-Md., who lost a bid for re-election after being arrested for soliciting sex from a male hustler, is hired to help plot parliamentary strategy for House Republicans. * Lorraine Jacques of Denver forms a group called "The Moral Minority" to fight what she calls "born-again politics." * Clifford Flores and William Macias are found guilty in Santa Barbara, Calif., for the murder of an Austrian tourist who allegedly made sexual advances toward them.
