ON THIS DAY On this day in 1982, while serving a warrant for a minor traffic
violation, Atlanta police enter the home of Michael Hardwick, age 28,
and find him fellating a male companion. Hardwick is arrested on sodomy
charges, and his case makes it to the Supreme court -- over the
constitutionality of the state's sodomy laws.
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1855 - Author H. C. Brunner, editor of "Puck"
* 1887 - "Great War" poet Rupert Chawner Brooke
* 1916 - Gordon Merrick, who was among the first authors to gay themes
in books intended for a mass audience.
Q.UOTE
"You know life is about labels. Some you create; model, actor,
reality star, fashion stylist, TV host. Let's not talk about the ones
that arefoisted upon you. Some you are born with; African American,
male, homosexual. It took a long time for me to get to the place where
I could admit to being homosexual. Then it took a long time to accept
that this is my truth. This is who I am. And after this weekend I now
fully, truthfully can say I embrace it. That no matter what other
people say or do, that I am gay and I love who I am. My sexuality is
not who or what I am. It's a part of what makes me who I am. And I am
PROUD of that part of me. I'm proud to be out in the media and in the
world. To be able to say I'm homosexual. Not better or worse than
anyone else. I just am." -- stylist / art director / reality star ("Big
Brother") Marcellus Reynolds
THE BEDSIDE TABLE Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians V. the Supreme Court by
Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price
Since 1958, twenty-five men and two women have forced the Supreme
Court to consider whether the Constitution's promises of equal
protection apply to gay Americans. Here Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price
reveal how the nation's highest court has reacted to these cases -- from
the surprising 1958 victory of a tiny homosexual magazine to the 2000
defeat of a gay Eagle Scout. A triumph of investigative reporting, Courting Justice gives us an inspiring new perspective on the struggle
for civil rights in America.
