15 Black Gay & Queer Men From History You Should Know

Contents:

• CALIFORNIA MAK HISTORY BY CONFIRMG FIRST GAY, BLACK MALE SUPREME COURT JTICE
• LIL NAS X MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK ARTIST TO W AT CMA AWARDS
• A GAY, BLACK MAN HAS NEVER SAT ON A STATE SUPREME COURT. THIS JUDGE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE THAT
• BILLY PORTER IS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK MAN TO W EMMY FOR LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA
• FIRST TWO OPENLY GAY BLACK MEN HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO CONGRS: 'THE HONOR OF A LIFETIME'
• LIL NAS X MAK GRAMMY HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY RAPPER NOMATED TOP TEGORI
• MONDAIRE JON JOS RCHIE TORR AS FIRST GAY BLACK MEN ELECTED TO CONGRS
• MONDAIRE JON, ONE OF THE FIRST GAY BLACK MEN CONGRS, TRAILS HOE RACE
• NEW YORK CONGRSMEN MAKE HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK MEMBERS

CALIFORNIA MAK HISTORY BY CONFIRMG FIRST GAY, BLACK MALE SUPREME COURT JTICE

" Beyond her LGBTQ activism, DeLarverie also anized and performed at fundraisers for women who suffered om domtic vlence and their Jam Baldw (Photo by Ted Thai)The LIFE Picture Collectn/GettyJam Baldw (1924-1987)A wrer and social cric, Baldw is perhaps bt known for his 1955 llectn of says, "Not of a Native Son, " and his groundbreakg 1956 novel, "Gvanni's Room, " which picts them of homosexualy and bisexualy. Baldw spent a majory of his lerary and activist reer tg others about Black and queer inty, as he did durg his famo lecture tled “Race, Racism, and the Gay Communy” at a meetg of the New York chapter of Black and Whe Men Together (now known as Men of All Colors Together) and playwright Lorrae Hansberry her New York Cy apartment April Attie / Getty ImagLorrae Hansberry (1930-1965)Hansberry was an activist and playwright bt known for her groundbreakg play “A Rais the Sun, ” about a stgglg Black fay on Chigo’s South Si. The inic work was then ma to a 1961 film starrg Sidney Poier and Ruby to “A Rais the Sun” fame, Hansberry — who never publicly acknowledged she was a lbian — joed lbian rights group Dghters of Bilis and ntributed letters about femism and homophobia to s magaze, “The Ladr, ” acrdg to LGBTQ historian Eric Marc, host of the “Makg Gay History” podst.

Now 79, Miss Major, known to many simply as “Mama, ” ris Ltle Rock, Arkansas, where she ntu to be a vol Sprg's mayor Ron On, April 18, Khan / LA Tim via Getty ImagRon On (Born 1950)When On was elected mayor of Palm Sprgs, California 2003, he ma history by beg the first openly gay Ain Amerin man elected mayor of an Amerin cy.

LIL NAS X MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK ARTIST TO W AT CMA AWARDS

He explored issu of sexualy and black inty his work, and his avant-gar story “Smoke, Lili, and Ja” is thought to be the first explicly gay story published by a black RUSTIN (1912-1987)Bayard Rt his Park Avenue South office New York Cy, April 1969. In 2013, Rt was posthumoly award the Printial Medal of Freedom, the natn’s hight civilian honor, for his tirels work promotg equal BALDWIN (1924-1987)Author Jam BaldwTed Thai / LIFE Picture Collectn/Getty“There isn't a sgle black gay wrer of lerary fictn or nonfictn that has not been fluenced by Jam Baldw on some level, " Charl Stephens, executive director of the Counter Narrative Project, told NBC News.

A GAY, BLACK MAN HAS NEVER SAT ON A STATE SUPREME COURT. THIS JUDGE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE THAT

A wrer and social cric, Baldw is perhaps bt known for his 1955 llectn of says, "Not of a Native Son, " and his groundbreakg 1956 novel, "Gvanni's Room, " which picts them of homosexualy and AILEY (1931-1989)Dancer and choreographer Alv Ailey.

BILLY PORTER IS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK MAN TO W EMMY FOR LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA

"RON ODEN (Born 1950)Ron On, April 18, Khan / LA Tim via Getty ImagWhen On was elected mayor of Palm Sprgs, California, 2003, he ma history by beg the first openly gay Ain-Amerin man elected mayor of an Amerin cy, acrdg to The Advote. Mart Jenks ma history on Tuday by beg the first gay, Black man nfirmed to a state Supreme Court U. Acrdg to the LGBTQ+ publitn Q Voice News, he is also one of jt 11 openly gay, lbian, or bisexual jtic to serve on a state Supreme Court the U.

Although Jenks, who waed four days to rpond to Newsom’s offer of a California judghip, said that beg gay was “perhaps the greatt challenge of my life, ” he hoped his succs would spire others. (Matt Wkelmeyer / Getty Imag) Lil Nas X ma history Wednday night at the 53rd CMA Awards when he beme the first openly gay black mician to take home a w om the Country Mic h “Old Town Road, ” a llaboratn wh veteran untry sger Billy Ray Cys, was named the mil event of the year. 14, 2019An earlier versn of this article rrectly stated that Lil Nas X was the first openly gay artist to w a CMA Award.

He is the first openly gay black artist to do so. Country sgers Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, both of whom are whe and openly gay, shared the 2014 song of the year CMA Award wh Kacey Mgrav for “Follow Your Arrow. As the only out young gay kid at my school, I took the advancement of my sexual experienc to my own hands and I did what we all do: I bought a fake ID and h the gay clubs.

FIRST TWO OPENLY GAY BLACK MEN HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO CONGRS: 'THE HONOR OF A LIFETIME'

While I knew wouldn’t be like a gay llege eroti I’d read on (gay non, really), I rather naively wasn’t expectg the fall out.

I realize I fell to that old gay adage of placg my feelgs on a person who, for whatever reason, was never gog to vt them back me. Worst of all, though, the shame attached to the memori of those first tim marred how I would approach sex for was listeng to Years & Years’ new song “Sanctify, ” and seeg the band’s out gay sger Olly Alexanr talk about how the song was spired his sexual trysts wh straight men, that I realized that the feelgs are way more mon than people let on. Sure, I know all about gay guys havg sex wh straight guys, but felt reassurg to see him scribe the “sat and sner role” he embodied durg those experienc, and to hear the uncertaty and melancholy weaved to the than anythg though, was the repeated lyril mantra of “I won’t be ashamed.

LIL NAS X MAK GRAMMY HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY RAPPER NOMATED TOP TEGORI

Should Jenks’ appotment be approved, as is wily expected, the 66-year-old jtice will bee the first gay, Black man to be seated on the state’s hight acceptg his nomatn om Gov. But California lawmakers Todd Gloria and Stt Wiener, both of whom are openly gay, predicted that his likely nfirmatn would be a “major step toward a judiciary that reprents the entire muny.

Acrdg to the Victory Fund, a polil actn group that works to get LGBTQ+ people elected to office, no state has ever appoted a gay, Black man to s Supreme a handful of Black LGBTQ+ judg are servg at any level of the U.

Jenks noted that shatterg the glass ceilg for gay, Black men the judiciary wh a “signifint rponsibily” but said that the only way to meet that duty is to be “dog the work at the hight level I possibly n. ” The w ma him the first openly gay black man to receive the honor the tegory.

MONDAIRE JON JOS RCHIE TORR AS FIRST GAY BLACK MEN ELECTED TO CONGRS

Democrats Rchie Torr and Mondaire Jon earned themselv a place the history books as the first openly gay Black men elected to Congrs on Tuday night.

MONDAIRE JON, ONE OF THE FIRST GAY BLACK MEN CONGRS, TRAILS HOE RACE

In that primary, he bted fellow Cy Councilmember Ruben Diaz Sr., who has a history of homophobic ments, acrdg to the New York Daily News. Of possibly beg among the first gay Black men to jo Congrs, Jon told CBS News June that was “a lot of rponsibily.

NEW YORK CONGRSMEN MAKE HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK MEMBERS

The first gay person of lor, Rep. Award, makg him the first openly gay black male to do “Old Town Road” — which spent much of the year as the No. ” However, the album wasn’t regnized the rap genre, nor was “Old Town Road” nomated untry (Hill’s sgl also sred nomatns the rap sung and pop duo/group tegori) the time most of heard “Old Town Road, ” teenagers on the vio-sharg app TikTok had already been obssg over the tune, which fed together lo-fi trap and banjos lifted om a Ne Inch Nails sample, for as the rerd went om viral meme to cultural phenomenon — eclipsg a chart rerd that Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men set over two s ago — Hill was often dismissed as a novelty act: too rap to be untry, too untry to be nsired real Billboard ially cid to bump the rerd om the untry charts this sprg due to “not embracg enough elements of today’s untry mic s current versn, ” “Old Town Road” beme a lightng rod an ongog nversatn about untry mic’s relatnship wh black the unlikely foc of a raft of thk piec dissectg race, genre and thenticy, Hill’s cisn to e out as gay while “Old Town Road” ro the top of the charts was all the more powerful.

Seemgly overnight, Hill beme the biggt gay pop star the world and did so the orb of hip-hop and untry, genr that have historilly snubbed queer artists. Although he’s not the first queer artist to pete the major tegori at the Grammys (Sam Smh was the first openly gay artist to w rerd of the year 2015), Hill is the first gay rapper to be nomated.