11 U.S. Prints Who Might've Been Gay - 11 Pots

first gay president of the united states

As Edgars Rkēvičs be the first openly gay print Latvia’s history, here’s a glimpse at other openly gay heads of state om around the world.

Contents:

WHO WAS OUR FIRST GAY PRINT?

Was his close iendship wh William Ruf Kg jt that, or was evince that he was the natn's first gay chief executive? * first gay president of the united states *

It don’t take much longer to disver that the popular unrstandg of Jam Buchanan as our natn’s first gay print riv om his relatnship wh one man particular: William Ruf DeVane Kg of Alabama. ” In the November 1987 issue of Penthoe Magaze, New York gossip lumnist Sharon Churcher noted the fdg an article headled “Our First Gay Print, Out of the Closet, Fally. But as Jim Loewen at the History News Network would like to remd , even if Obama were gay, he wouldn’t be the first: more than 150 years before the Uned Stat had s first black print, had s first homosexual manr chief.

And while Loewen not that Obama’s stance on gay marriage is a wele parture om our recent past, to tout morn Amerin society as more tolerant than any our history is a claim that has yet to pass the tt of time.

The tete-a-tete found their letters is among the most tertg I have seen om policians of this you, as a scholar, have reason to believe or spect that eher Buchanan or Kg was gay or bisexual? By this lens, I don't see the evince for Buchanan beg eher gay or bisexual, and I generally read him as "straight-actg, straight-lookg, " spe the claims of others who thk him clearly to be gay. That this half of the rrponnce (Buchanan to Kg) do not survive is unfortunate, but has more to do wh Kg as a rerd keeper and the ravaged state of post-war Alabama than anythg "emotnally non-heterosexual, " I take that you mean homoerotic.

OPN AMERI HAS ALREADY HAD A GAY PRINT

You may have seen the other ntroversial newsmagaze ver this week, the one where Newsweek dubbed Print Obama “The First Gay Print". But as Jim Loewen at the History News Network would like to remd , even if Obama were gay, he wouldn't be the first: more than 150 years before the... * first gay president of the united states *

The Early Gay Rights Movement In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, found Chigo the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights anizatn the Uned Stat. Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group ’s small group published a few issu of s newsletter “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter. Ernment signated Gerber’s Chigo hoe a Natnal Historic Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

Addnally, 1948, his book Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey proposed that male sexual orientatn li on a ntuum between exclively homosexual to exclively Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group.

”Though started off small, the foundatn, which sought to improve the liv of gay men through discsn groups and related activi, expand after foundg member Dale Jenngs was arrted 1952 for solicatn and then later set ee due to a adlocked the end of the year, Jenngs formed another anizatn lled One, Inc., which weled women and published ONE, the untry’s first pro-gay magaze. Post Office, which 1954 clared the magaze “obscene” and refed to liver Mattache Society Mattache Foundatn members rtctured the anizatn to form the Mattache Society, which had lol chapters other parts of the untry and 1955 began publishg the untry’s send gay publitn, The Mattache Review. That same year, four lbian upl San Francis found an anizatn lled the Dghters of Bilis, which soon began publishg a newsletter lled The Ladr, the first lbian publitn of any early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr followg year, Print Dwight D.

WAS JAM BUCHANAN AMERI’S FIRST GAY PRINT?

The gay rights movement the Uned Stat began the 1920s and saw huge progrs the 2000s, wh laws prohibg homosexual activy stck down and a Supreme Court lg legalizg same-sex marriage. * first gay president of the united states *

In 1961, Illois beme the first state to do away wh s anti-sodomy laws, effectively crimalizg homosexualy, and a lol TV statn California aired the first documentary about homosexualy, lled The 1965, Dr. ”In fear of beg shut down by thori, bartenrs would ny drks to patrons spected of beg gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drks but force them to s facg away om other ctomers to prevent them om 1966, members of the Mattache Society New York Cy staged a “sip-”—a twist on the “s-” protts of the 1960s— which they vised taverns, clared themselv gay, and waed to be turned away so they uld sue. They were nied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Juli, rultg much publicy and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor Stonewall Inn A few years later, 1969, a now-famo event talyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall clanste gay club Stonewall Inn was an stutn Greenwich Village bee was large, cheap, allowed dancg and weled drag queens and homels the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn.

After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village. " This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad. ”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement.

Johnson is seen at a Gay Liberatn Front monstratn at Cy Hall New York, a large crowd memorat the 2nd anniversary of the Stonewall rts Greenwich Village of New York Cy 1971.

GAY RIGHTS

Jam Buchanan was the only US print who never married. Here's why historians believe he was also our first, and so far only, gay print." emprop="scriptn * first gay president of the united states *

1 / 12: NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagChristopher Street Liberatn Day Shortly after the Stonewall uprisg, members of the Mattache Society spl off to form the Gay Liberatn Front, a radil group that lnched public monstratns, protts and nontatns wh polil officials.

AMERI'S ONLY BACHELOR PRINT MAY HAVE BEEN ITS ONLY GAY ONE

Rumors abound on the 16th print's sexualy. Here is the historil tth which suggt why Abraham Lln may have been gay. * first gay president of the united states *

Siar groups followed, cludg the Gay Activists Alliance, Radilbians, and Street Transvt Actn Revolutnari (STAR) 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, New York Cy muny members marched through lol streets memoratn of the event. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pk Triangle to a symbol of gay Polil Victori The creased visibily and activism of LGBTQ dividuals the 1970s helped the movement make progrs on multiple onts. Addnally, several openly LGBTQ dividuals secured public office posns: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, Cy Council 1974, beg the first out Amerin to be elected to public Milk, who mpaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, beme the San Francis cy supervisor 1978, beg the first openly gay man elected to a polil office asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that reprents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pri.

WAS ABRAHAM LLN OUR FIRST GAY PRINT?

Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay Democratic ndidate for print of the Uned Stat to mount a major mpaign, emerged as one of the lears the Democratic Party’s early nomatn ntts * first gay president of the united states *

Baker signed and stched together the first rabow flag, which he unveiled at a pri para followg year, 1979, more than 100, 000 people took part the first Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn published a report about five prevly healthy homosexual men beg fected wh a rare type of 1984, rearchers had intified the e of AIDS—the human immunoficiency vis, or HIV—and the Food and Dg Admistratn licensed the first mercial blood tt for HIV 1985. Two years later, the first antiretroviral meditn for HIV, azidothymide (AZT), beme rights proponents held the send Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights 1987.

But after failg to garner enough support for such an open policy, Print Clton 1993 passed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, which allowed gay men and women to serve the ary as long as they kept their sexualy a rights advot cried the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, as did ltle to stop people om beg discharged on the grounds of their 2011, Print Obama fulfilled a mpaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12, 000 officers had been discharged om the ary unr DADT for refg to hi their sexualy. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was officially repealed on September 20, Marriage and Beyond In 1992, the District of Columbia passed a law that allowed gay and lbian upl to register as domtic partners, grantg them some of the rights of marriage (the cy of San Francis passed a siar ordance three years prr and California would later extend those rights to the entire state 1999) 1993, the hight urt  Hawaii led that a ban on gay marriage may go agast the state’s nstutn. The law prevented the ernment om grantg feral marriage benefs to same-sex upl and allowed stat to refe to regnize same-sex marriage certifit om other marriage rights backtracked, gay rights advot sred other victori.

IS AMERI READY TO ELECT A GAY PRINT?

* first gay president of the united states *

In 1994, a new anti-hate-crime law allowed judg to impose harsher sentenc if a crime was motivated by a victim’s sexual Matthew Shepard ActCourty of the Matthew Shepard FoundatnMatthew Shepard, who was btally killed a hate crime 2003, gay rights proponents had another b of happy news: the U. Gay rights proponents mt also ntent wh an creasg number of “relig liberty” state laws, which allow bs to ny service to LGBTQ dividuals due to relig beliefs, as well as “bathroom laws” that prevent transgenr dividuals om g public bathrooms that don’t rrpond to their sex at birth.

Gay Marriage Legalized Massachetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and the first legal same-sex marriage was performed on May 17, 2004—a day when seventy-seven other upl across the state also tied the knot.

Conservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn on June 2015. There has never been an openly gay print of the Uned Stat, but some historians have argued that Jam Buchanan, the only print who never shared the Whe Hoe wh a first lady, may have had feelgs for a member of the same sex. Loewen has argued that Buchanan's homosexualy is not often discsed morn tim bee Amerins do not want to believe that society was more tolerant of gay relatnships the 19th century than they are now.

WOULD BUTTIGIEG BE THE FIRST GAY PRINT? MAYBE NOT.

Democratic printial ndidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a history of repeatedly sharg unfound nspiraci that man-ma chemils the environment uld be makg children gay or transgenr and g the femizatn of boys and masculizatn of girls. * first gay president of the united states *

Although has long been mored that Richard Nixon had a homosexual affair wh his close iend Bebe Rebozo, Buchanan is still the most likely ndidate for first, and only, gay Amerin print. Ta Brown, edor--chief for Newsweek at the time, explaed the term and the ver photo of Obama wh a rabow halo superimposed over his head by tellg news se Poli, "If Print Clton was the ‘first black print’ then Obama earns every stripe that ‘gaylo’ wh last week’s gay marriage proclamatn.

For many years, a kd of gay-revisnist history has been wrten, which this or that historil figure is held up to tense scholarly scty and clared by one activist historian or another to have been gay, transgenred, or bisexual. It’s evable that virtually all of the proment homosexuals of the Victorian Age would go to extreme lengths to keep their affairs as private as possible, and this mak hont scholarship on the subject challengg at bt.

After readg about the evince about whether or not Abraham Lln was gay, vis our post on the fotten story of the Lln assassatn and tertg facts about Lln you’ve probably never heard before. On the mpaign trail, he speaks of beg gay terms of fay valu, emphasizg he is a lovg, mted same-sex marriage, and what his ndidacy says about cln and equaly Ameri today. “Pete’s succs so far this mpaign reprents an evolutn Amerin polics, upendg tradnal notns of electabily and provg that Ameri is ready to elect s first openly gay print, ” Ellt Imse, munitn director at the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said.

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

Pete Buttigieg said gay men have already occupied the Wt Wg. Lookg at the printial facts, we'd have to agree. * first gay president of the united states *

“If Ain Amerins were sort of disproportnately cled to not vote for somebody who is gay, you would thk that would have shown up there as well, ” said David Barker, director of the Center for Congrsnal and Printial Studi at Amerin Universy Washgton.

Alexanr Gardner / APPerhaps the most equently mentned name discsns of homosexualy and the princy is one-term Print Jam Buchanan, elected a young man, Buchanan was engaged to Anne Coleman, the 24-year-old dghter of an iron magnate, but she died before the two tied the knot. Buchanan was reported to have never openly urted a woman after Coleman’s ath and died a bachelor at the age of observers suggt that Buchanan may have been gay, potg to his relatnship wh Alabama Senator William Ruf Kg.

”“The notn of beg gay is brand new ncept that don’t [emerge] until the late 19th, early 20th century, ” and, he add, was only a sexual inty that uld be claimed proudly the s after the 1969 Stonewall uprisg. “The kd of answer we want is elive, ” Balcerski admted, but he argued to make a statistil argument based on ntemporary surveys of sexual and genr inty, or to e the term “gay” to refer to timate same-sex iendships or same-sex romance is to impose a ntemporary worldview on 19th century social also downplays the signifince of Buttigieg’s ndidacy. "Hoover thought many left-leang Amerins posed a threat to the natn, and he thought the same of gay people -- even though there's reason to believe Hoover was gay himself and a long-term relatnship wh ai Cly Tolson.

A PROCLAMATN ON LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER PRI MONTH, 2021

"Many loyal Amerins, by reason of stabily, alholism, homosexualy, or prev tennci to associate wh Communist-ont groups, are untentnally secury risks, " Ike himself wrote, although he also admted feelg guilty over his treatment of Vannberg. Civil Service Commissn lifted the orr 1975, and the Department of Defense, which had ed to ny secury clearanc to gays and lbians, gradually ceased s "tensive qutng of gays...

JohnsonKennedy and Johnson may have never thought their civil rights law would be terpreted as protectg LGBT people, but Kennedy, at least, would probably approve -- his bt iend was a gay man, Lem Billgs.

" Its Office of Civil Rights will therefore vtigate such claims, offerg a means of relief for transgenr and, to some extent, lbian, gay, and bisexual CarterCarter, who intifi as a "born-aga" Christian, is proof that ep relig fah need not go hand hand wh homophobia.

PROCLAMATN 7203—GAY AND LBIAN PRI MONTH, 1999

In 1976, as a ndidate, he had ma clear he would sign a gay rights bill, and 1977, durg his princy, the first-ever gay and lbian legatn vised the Whe Hoe to discs policy issu wh admistratn officials. He has famoly said, "I never knew of any word or actn of J Christ that discrimated agast anyone, " and has endorsed marriage ReaganReagan's greatt effect on the gay populatn was undoubtedly his rponse, or lack thereof, to a disease that took the liv of many gay men.

11 U.S. PRINTS WHO MIGHT’VE BEEN GAY

Although the former actor was apparently personally fortable wh gay people, he drew much of his support om the antigay relig right, such as Jerry Falwell and his so-lled Moral Majory, and officials his admistratn clud such notor homophob as Gary Ber and Pat Buchanan.

Latvia swore the first openly gay print of a Baltic natn Rkēvičs, who sce 2011 was the untry’s foreign mister, was elected by Parliament May after Print Egils Levs did not seek re-electn. She is thought to be the first openly gay prime mister the was an active unnist her nearly 10 years workg as a flight attendant, acrdg to the Council of Women World Lears, a work of female heads of state.

THE FIRST GAY PRINT: 18 SEXUAL SECRETS OF US PRINTS

”Xavier Bettel Prime Mister of Luxembourg (2013-prent)Luxembourg Prime Mister Xavier Bettel at a news nference Belgra, Serbia, on July Vojovic / APBettel was first elected prime mister of Luxembourg 2013, and 2018 he beme the first openly gay prime mister the world to be re-elected for a send marriage beme legal Luxembourg 2015, and the same year Bettel beme the first servg European Unn lear to marry a same-sex partner, the BBC recently cricized a Hungarian law that bans school tnal materials and TV shows for people unr 18 that are emed to promote LGBTQ ntent, Rters reported.

“To be natnally blamed, to be nsired as not normal, to be nsired as a danger for young people — ’s not realizg that beg gay is not a choice, ” Bettel said, acrdg to Rters. “Hopefully this will blow over three or four days, and then I won’t be known as the gay mister, ” she told The Associated Prs at the Varadkar Prime Mister of Ireland (2017-20, 2022-prent)Irish Prime Mister Leo Varadkar Bssels on June 30.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* FIRST GAY PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

A Proclamatn on Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer Pri Month, 2021 | The Whe Hoe .

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