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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … April 10

Ogilvy's vinyards near Dresden

1750 – James Ogilvy, the 7th Earl of Findlater and 4th Earl of Seafield (d.1811), was an accomplished amateur landscape architect and philanthropist of the late eighteenth century. He promoted the English landscape garden in mainland Europe, where he spent lavishly on public works and "improvements of the scenery."

Ogilvy's decision to live abroad was a not uncommon choice of wealthy Englishmen and Scotsmen with same-sex sexual interests in the eighteenth century. In Europe his discreet practice of homosexuality was accepted by society as an unacknowledged quid pro quo for his sponsorship of public improvements. After his death, however, scandal erupted when he was outed by his own relatives in Scotland.

In 1770, after his father's suicide, Lord Findlater inherited his family's vast estates. The estates in Scotland yielded about £40,000 per year, an enormous sum that gave him the freedom to travel and to reside abroad.

In 1779, Findlater married Christina Teresa Murray in Brussels, but two years later, he left her and lived abroad for most of the rest of his life, especially in Dresden and Carlsbad.

Findlater's decision to relocate to Europe was no doubt strongly influenced by his homosexuality. He may indeed have been unofficially banished for his "unnatural transgressions." In any event, like his younger contemporary George Gordon, Lord Byron, among many others, Findlater realized that he could not live the life he desired in the United Kingdom.

In 1808 Findlater met the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Carlsbad. Goethe would still tell anectodes about him many years after his death in 1811.

Despite his association with Carslbad, Lord Findlater's primary investment abroad, however, were the vineyards at Loschwitz near Dresden. Initially motivated by his interest in wine, he managed to acquire five of the eight major vineyards in the region.

With the help of Johann Georg Fischer, his close companion, confidant, secretary, and lover, Findlater began, by the end of 1805, to turn this site into a beautiful landscape garden with precious shrubs and trees on its terraces.

Later, Findlater commissioned the architect Johann August Giese of Gotha to construct a magnificent palace in neoclassical style. It was subsequently replaced by the Lingner Palace, but in its time it was considered "the most beautiful residence in Dresden."

Lord Findlater died on October 5, 1811, soon after construction of his palace was completed. Findlater's sole heir was Johann Fischer, who had already received the Eckberg estate and the manor of Helfenberg from him.

Fischer, whose wife divorced him when she surmised the nature of his attachment to Findlater, was subsequently sued by the aristocrat's Scottish relatives. They went to court claiming that the bequest to Fischer had been made in pursuit of lewdness. Their suit, which created a scandal, was successful. They were able to keep the estates in Scotland as family property but at the expense of Findlater's reputation in the United Kingdom.

When Fischer died years later, at the age of 87, he was buried in Findlater's tomb at the cemetery around Loschwitz Parish Church.

1880 – On this date the eccentric English author and clergyman Augustus Montague Summers was born (d.1948). He is known primarily for his scholarly work on the English drama of the 17th century, as well as for his idiosyncratic studies on witches, vampires, and werewolves, in all of which he professed to believe. He was responsible for the first English translation, published in 1928, of the medieval witch hunter's manual, the Malleus Maleficarum.

Despite his conservative religiosity, Summers was an active member of both the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology, to which he contributed an essay on the Marquis de Sade, and of the Order of Chaeronea, a secret society which cultivated a homosexual ethos. Summers' Gay interests also show in his edition of the poems of the sixteenth century poet Richard Barnfield, which partly are openly homosexual.

1934 – Kin Hoitsma was an American fencer born on this date (d.2013); Hoitsma competed in the individual and team epée events at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He later became a teacher. He was a long time lover of photographer and designer, Cecil Beaton.

Kinmont Trefry Hoitsma was born in Cooperstown, New York, the son of a salesman in the paper trade, in turn the son of a cattle rancher in Wyoming who had emigrated from Holland. The family was peripatetic, moving between the East Coast and the Midwest. Kin graduated from Shaker Heights High School in Ohio, and went on to Princeton University where he studied Greek and majored in French.

In 1956 he competed in the Ivy League Fencing Championship. He went on to the collegiate finals, and in November that year, aged 22, fenced for the United States at the Melbourne Olympics. The men’s epée team did not make it beyond the first round, though in the individual men’s epée Hoitsma reached the quarter-finals.

On his way back from the Games Hoitsma stopped off in San Francisco, and settled there, studying Architecture and Art History at Berkeley before taking a variety of jobs. It was during this period that he met Beaton.

Hoitsma met Beaton in 1963, when the photographer was in Hollywood creating costumes and sets for the film of My Fair Lady. One weekend in March, Beaton escaped to San Francisco, where he wound up at a bar called the Tool Box and met the handsome, 6ft 3in Kin Hoitsma.

An unlikely friendship formed, and soon Beaton was to be found hiking in Big Sur and camping out under the stars in the Yosemite Valley. Hoitsma was able to discuss art, but he had never heard of Chanel — or, for that matter, of Beaton. The relationship was greatly encouraged by Christopher Isherwood, and Truman Capote.

On his return to Britain, Beaton invited Hoitsma to move in with him. Hoitsma met Princess Margaret and became fond of Pauline de Rothschild and Countess Brandolini. But after a year he told Beaton that he had to leave: he was yearning for the hills around San Francisco.

Beaton, though devoted to Kin, was not cut out for domesticity; but he was still devastated. The two men remained friends to the end.

1968 – Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, better known as Larry La Fountain, is a gay Puerto Rican author, scholar, and performer. He has received several awards for his creative writing and scholarship as well as for his work with Latino and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

La Fountain-Stokes was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was adopted at birth by Donald and Ramona La Fountain, and is the brother of the ESPN newscaster Michele La Fountain. He has written about his childhood experiences in an essay called "Los nenes con los nenes y las nenas con las nenas" (Girls with Girls, and Boys with Boys). His essay "Queer Diasporas, Boricua Lives: A Meditation on Sexile" also discusses some of these early experiences.

La Fountain-Stokes is best known as an author of short stories, but he has also published poetry and received awards for his plays. He has also done some performing, specifically his 2004 one-man show Abolición del pato/Abolition of the Duck, which he did as part of the Casa Cruz de la Luna First Experimental Festival in San Germán, Puerto Rico, and later at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Out Like That Festival. The Village Voice described Abolition of the Duck saying "This is not Avenue Q" in reference to the artist's use of indigenous dolls as puppets to talk about Puerto Rican homosexuality.

His short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies such as Bésame Mucho: New Gay Latino Fiction (1999) and Los otros cuerpos: Antología de temática gay, lésbica y queer desde Puerto Rico y su diáspora (2007). He has also published in journals and websites such as Blithe House Quarterly and Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly. His first book of short stories is called Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails (2009) and includes 14 short stories written in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Most of La Fountain-Stokes's stories focus on gay Puerto Rican characters, and sometimes incorporate elements of science fiction and fantasy.

1980 – Sean Avery is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. During his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), he played left wing for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers, gaining recognition for his agitating playing style and controversial behavior both on and off the ice. He is also known for his eclectic interests, having worked in fashion, most notably as an intern at Vogue magazine; as a model; and as a restaurateur. He finished his 12-year career with a total of 90 goals, 247 points and 1,533 penalty minutes in 580 games.

In May 2011, Avery recorded a video for the New Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign, in support of same-sex marriage. Avery was believed to be the first athlete in New York to publicly voice his support for same-sex marriage. In an interview with the New York Times, he stated, "I certainly have been surrounded by the gay community. And living in New York and when you live in L.A., you certainly have a lot of gay friends." Avery also traveled to Albany, New York, to lobby politicians prior to the July 2011 legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State.

After retiring in 2012, Avery began working at advertising and creative agency Lipman in New York City.

In May 2012, Avery joined the board of directors of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit organization focused on ending homophobia and trans-phobia in sports by educating those in the athletic community and empowering them to take a stand against prejudice. Athlete Ally also provides public awareness campaigns, educational programming, and tools and resources to foster inclusive sports communities around the country.

1983 – Gabriel Arana is an American journalist. He is currently senior editor at Mic. He was previously a contributing writer at Salon and a senior editor at The Huffington Post and The American Prospect.

Gabriel Arana grew up in Nogales, Arizona, on the Mexico–United States border. He attended Yale University where he wrote for the Yale Daily News and graduated with a degree in linguistics. He then attended Cornell University, from which he holds a master's degree, also in linguistics.

His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Nation, The Advocate, and The Daily Beast.

He is also known for writing a 2012 profile of the ex-gay movement in which psychiatrist Robert Spitzer repudiated his work supporting sexual orientation change efforts. After the article was published, Spitzer released a letter apologizing to the gay community, citing his interaction with Arana.In 2010, Arana was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Article for a feature story on the legal challenge to California's Proposition 8. In 2014, he was awarded the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's Excellence in Feature Writing Award for his profile of activist Dan Choi. He has been a guest on television and radio talk shows including The Dr. Oz Show, Rachel Maddow, Starting Point, and Talk of the Nation.

He married his same-sex partner in Washington, D.C. in 2011.

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

March 13

1884 – Hugh Walpole, English novelist, born in Aukland, New Zealand (d.1941); As a young man, the future dean of English letters who could make or break literary careers and reputations hero-worshiped Henry James, more than forty years his senior. Walpole called him "my very dear Master," and James responded with "darling Hugh" and "my belovedest little Hugh." Little Hugh, the story goes, once attempted to seduce the virginal James, who promptly broke into tears and cried, "I can't...I can't"

A discreet homosexual, Walpole spent much time and energy looking for "the ideal friend". Of the many he considered, Walpole's greatest loves were the Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior and a married Cornish constable named Harold Cheevers who had once been revolver champ of the British Isles. Like E.M. Forster's London bobby, Cheevers, often described as his 'chauffeur and companion', was brawny and masculine and stayed with Walpole until the day the writer died.

Walpole's first novel was The Wooden Horse (1909) and Fortitude (1913) his first great novelistic success. He worked for the Red Cross in Russia during World War I, an experience that fed his The Dark Forest (1916) and The Secret City (1919).

Walpole's commercial success enabled him to maintain an expensive lifestyle, with a flat in Piccadilly, London, and a large house, Brackenburn, on the slopes of Catbells overlooking Derwentwater in the Lake District.

Walpole was a prominent member of 1930s London gay literary society along with Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.

He died from a heart attack in 1941 while doing volunteer war work in Keswick in Cumbria where he lived and based many of his most enduring stories.

1950 – David Bergman is an American writer and English professor at Towson University, in Towson, Maryland part of the University System of Maryland. He was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, grew up in Laurelton, New York, and graduated from Kenyon College (1972) and earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1978). He is openly gay and Jewish.

Bergman is the author of Gaiety Transfigured: Gay Representation in American Literature and the editor of Camp Grounds: Style and Homosexuality.

He received the George Elliston Poetry Prize for his work Cracking the Code. With Karl Woelz, he won a Lambda Book Award for editing Men on Men 2000. The Men on Men series showcases the remarkable talent of gay literary writers. These venerable collections of short stories have become a gay literary institution, launching the careers of several writers.

1960 – John Greyson, born in Nelson, British Columbia, is a Canadian filmmaker, whose work frequently deals with gay themes. Greyson is also a video artist, writer and activist; he is currently a professor at York University, where he teaches film and video theory and film production and editing.

He directed several short films, including The Perils of Pedagogy, Kipling Meets the Cowboy and Moscow Does Not Believe in Queers, before releasing his first feature film, Pissoir, in 1988. Pissoir is a response to the homophobic climate of the period and, particularly, to police entrapment of men in public washrooms (toilets) and parks and police raids on gay bathhouses.

Greyson's next film was The Making of "Monsters", a short musical film produced during Greyson's residency at the Canadian Film Centre in 1991. The film deals with the 1985 murder by five adolescent males of Kenneth Zeller, a gay high school teacher and librarian, in Toronto's High Park. The film is a fictional documentary about the making of a movie-of-the-week, entitled "Monsters," in which the young murderers are depicted as psychopathic monsters, rather than 'normal' teenage boys. The film features Marxist literary critic Georg Lukács as the producer of "Monsters," with Bertolt Brecht (played by a catfish) as director. Greyson's film was pulled from distribution when the estate of Kurt Weill objected to its use of the tune of Mack the Knife. Greyson had originally received copyright permission to use the tune, but it was withdrawn, apparently because Weill's estate objected to the film's gay theme. Although copyright is no longer an issue, having lapsed in 2000, fifty years after Weill's death, the film has not yet been re-released by the Canadian Film Development Corporation.

Greyson directed the feature length films Zero Patience and Lillies.

Greyson's other films include Un©ut (1997), The Law of Enclosures (1999) and Proteus (2003). He has also directed for television, including episodes of Queer as Folk, Made in Canada and Paradise Falls.

Greyson is popular with film critics but controversial with some audiences because of the flamboyant theatricality and thematic complexity of his filmmaking style, and the frank depiction of gay themes in his work. His feature works have all been commercially unsuccessful.

In summer 2013, Greyson traveled to Egypt, where he and fellow Canadian, Dr. Tarek Loubani, were detained without charges, in a cell with 38 other people. Reports indicate the two were on their way to Gaza to carry out medical relief work, but were forced to remain in Cairo as the crossing was closed. They remained in detention from August 16 to October 5, 2013.

Greyson's union, the York University Faculty Association, ran a campaign via LabourStart in an effort to force the Egyptian government to release him. Greyson and Loubani began a hunger strike on September 16 to protest their treatment.

The Canadian government announced on October 5 that Greyson and Loubani had been released, however they were unable to board a flight to Frankfurt due to remaining on a no-fly list issued by government prosecutors. On October 10, Greyson and Loubani were cleared for departure and left Egypt for home the next day.

1984 – Noel Fisher is a Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Mickey Milkovich on the Showtime series Shameless, as well as his portrayal of Cael Malloy on the FX series The Riches. He played Ellison "Cotton Top" Mounts in the Emmy Award–winning miniseries Hatfields & McCoys as well as Vladimir, a 1500-year-old vampire in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, and Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. He also has had a substantial number of roles in shows such as Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Lie to Me, Bones, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Fisher was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He began his acting career at the age of 14 in the television movie, The Sheldon Kennedy Story. During his time as a young actor in Vancouver, he was encouraged to "take many different classes" and "fell in love" with piano, which he studied for eight years.

He debuted in 1999 with The Sheldon Kennedy Story, a sport drama movie on the ice hockey player Sheldon Kennedy. His performance landed Fisher his first Gemini Awards nomination. He gained a second nomination with the TV series Godiva's in 2005. He played Brian Gibbons in Final Destination 2 in 2003, one of his first roles in an American movie. From 2007, Fisher became more known by public due to the critically acclaimed FX series The Riches, portraying Cael, the conniving and clever son of Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver.

Fisher has received many accolades for playing Mickey Milkovich, a gay thug character on Shameless. Though Fisher is straight, his sexuality is often questioned in interviews. He has responded to the controversy as such,

"I don't look at Mickey as a gay character. I look at him as a person, who happens to be gay. I think it's weird how we, as a society, try to put the LGBT community in a box, when in fact, they are just people. They have the same complexities as you and me. That's how I look at Mickey, as a complex person."

1991 – "Paris is Burning" premieres in the U.S. It is a documentary that shows New York’s drag scene in the 1980s, directed by Jennie Livingston. It chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in it. Some critics consider the film to be an invaluable documentary of the end of the "Golden Age" of New York City drag balls, and a thoughtful exploration of race, class, gender, and sexuality in America. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

2009 – Shawn Woodward is charged with aggravated assault after physically attacking 62-year-old Ritchie Dowrey in Vancouver's Fountainhead Pub, allegedly because "He's a faggot. He deserved it." Although Dowrey survived the assault, he suffered brain damage serious enough that he will likely remain in intensive care for the rest of his life.

In November 2010, Woodward was sentenced to six years in jail for what the judge described as an "unprovoked attack, driven by virulent homophobia." Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Jocelyn Palmer rejected Woodward's evidence that Dowrey had touched his crotch before the assault. She said the evidence showed that Dowrey — who was celebrating his retirement that night — had twice approached Woodward and asked if he could buy him a beer and had merely touched his shoulder. However, Woodward responded: "'I'm not like that,' meaning 'I'm not gay,'" said the judge.

As he was leaving the pub, Woodward sucker-punched Dowrey and then stepped over him to get to the door, Palmer said. "Mr. Dowrey had no opportunity to defend himself," the judge said.

The judge said sentencing should reflect circumstances that showed the crime was fuelled by bias, prejudice or hatred based on such things as race, religion or sexual orientation. Palmer found there were aggravating homophobic factors in the assault and noted Woodward had shown no remorse for his actions.

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