Aug. 19-25
1996
U.S.: A new study by Mulryan/Nash Gay Press Report finds that advertising in gay publications jumped nearly 20 percent this year over last, lead by big media spenders such as Tanqueray and America Online. From April 1995 to April 1996, advertising in gay print publications hit $73.7 million, a 19.6 percent hike over the $61 million spent in the year-earlier period. * Gov. Kirk Fordice signs an executive order banning recognition of same-sex marriages in Mississippi. * Network Q: Out Across America, a news omnibus that focuses on gay Americans, begins its second season on public-television stations in certain spots around the country. * Palimpsest, the autobiography of Gore Vidal, is now available in paperback. * The gay literary magazine Christopher Street celebrates its 20th year of publication. * The American Express Co., announces that beginning in January '97 it will offer health insurance benefits to domestic partners of gay employees.
1991
U.S.: In a ruling the ACLU calls "monumental," the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decides that the Army must prove it has a "rational basis" for its policy of discrimination against gay and lesbian soldiers. The ruling results from a lawsuit brought against the Army by Rev. Dusty Pruitt, a former captain in the U.S. Reserve who was discharged after revealing her sexual orientation during an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 1983. * The American Psychological Association announces it will take a "leadership role" in trying to persuade the military to drop its ban on gay and lesbian service personnel. * In New York, PBS cancels a broadcast of Stop The Church, a film by Robert Hilferty, about ACT-UP New York's 1989 demonstration at St. Patrick's cathedral, citing the film's "pervasive tone of ridicule" of the Catholic church. * A Republican election official in Dallas calls upon county commissioners to move a polling place away from a gay community center. Election judge Ross Brannian says the voters may fear for their safety and object to the fact that the community center was a gay establishment. * PFLAG elects Louis R. Mendonsa as the new Director of Development. Mendonsa, who has a lesbian daughter, has a background in fundraising for non-profit groups, including United Way and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
1986
U.S.: Former Washington Redskins football player Jerry Smith announces he has AIDS, but does not say how he got it. * Retired Marine Capt. Al E. Davis, 52, is denied heart bypass surgery in an Army hospital because he is infected with HTLV IIII. * Estelle Getty, star of TV's The Golden Girls, says she will promote "Stamp Out AIDS," a campaign to sell stamps similar to Easter and Christmas seals.
1981
U.S.: In Pennsylvania, Homophiles of Penn State celebrate their 10th anniversary by finally being fully recognized by the university. * The Association of Gay Psychologists meets in Los Angeles, as a part of the Convention of the American Psychological Association. * In Washington D.C., Mayor Marion Barry's office announces the appointment of openly gay political activist Frank J. Zampatori Jr. to a three-year term on the District of Columbia's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. * In Belfast, Maine, fundamentalists express disappointment over a 7-3 vote by the Board of Education to keep the feminist health book Our Bodies, Our Selves on the shelves of a local high school library. * Australia: The first formal meeting of the Australian Association for Homosexual Rights Lobbies takes place in Adelaide. * Brazil: Lampiao, the major voice of gay liberation, ceases publication. * Sweden: The 5th annual Gay Liberation week takes place in Stockholm.
