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Pride Month Facts
On this day in…
1778 - Beau Brummell is born in London. He is credited with introducing and establishing as fashion the modern men’s suit, worn with a necktie. He claimed he took five hours a day to dress, and recommended that boots be polished with champagne. The style of dress was referred to as dandyism. He was the caricature of the gay male that persisted for generations. He lived in the poshest apartments, wore the most stylish clothes, and had an acerbic sense of humor. Brummell’s life was dramatized in an 1890 stage play by Clyde Fitch with Richard Mansfield as the ‘Beau’. This was adapted for the 1924 film Beau Brummel, with John Barrymore and Mary Astor. (Ronnie Sanlo, Ed.D.)
1954 - Computer scientist, mathematician and legendary World War II codebreaker Alan Turing died of self-inflicted cyanide poisoning. Turing was instrumental in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis and thus win World War II. In 1952, Turing had been convicted of indecency for conducting a romantic relationship with a man, and was sentenced to chemical castration. Turing committed suicide three years later. In 2009, 55 years after his death, the British government released a statement apologizing for the “appalling” treatment Turing had received, and in 2011, Turing was officially pardoned of the charge of indecency. (Arlington Public Library)
2012 - The Danish parliament legalizes same-sex marriage. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1933. Denmark was the first country in the world to grant legal recognition to same-sex unions, in the form of “registered partnerships.” On June 7, 2012, the law was replaced by a new same-sex marriage law, which came into effect on June 15, 2012, and Denmark recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was entirely prohibited in 2004. Same-sex couples are allowed to jointly adopt since 2010, while previously allowing stepchild adoptions and limited co-guardianship rights for non-biological parents. Gays and lesbians are also allowed to serve openly in the military. (Ronnie Sanlo, Ed.D.)