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Queers have a lot of history that goes back for, well, forever! So let's see some things that happened on this day, July 3rd, for our Throwback Thursday.
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Deborah Sampson Gannett (December 17, 1760 – April 29, 1827) was a woman who disguised herself as a male soldier so she could fight on behalf of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. She is one of the few women on record for serving in this war, serving seventeen months under the name "Robert Shirtliff." On July 3rd, 1783, during her first battle, she received two gun wounds to her leg and an injury to her head. Fearing she'd be discovered, she left the hospital with only her head being attended to. Badass that she was, she removed one of the musket shots herself with a penknife. The other remained, being too deep to reach. Later reassigned to waiter duties to a general, she became ill the following summer. The attending doctor discovered the breast bindings and respected her discretion, treating her at his home with his family. She was honorably discharged in October 1783. In 1792, she would petition for the back pay she was initially refused because of her sex, and it was granted. She would posthumously have a ship named after her during WWII, and Meryl Streep would mention her as a notable woman of history during her 2016 Democratic National Convention speech.
The US Civil Service begins to accept applications from LGBTQ+ persons on a case-by-case basis. They had previously been automatically disqualified.
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Andy Lippincott, a fictional character of the long-running Doonesbury comic strip, is hospitalized with HIV complications. The gay character, a first for newspaper comics, first appeared in 1976 as the best friend of core series character Joanie Caucus. After he comes out to her in response to her romantic inclination towards him, he comes in and out of the strip for the next 15 years. A lawyer, he serves the gay community in San Francisco and contributes to political runs and causes. It was the first time we saw a gay character navigating the life of a gay man in the 80s, eventually contracting and succumbing to AIDS. He is possibly also the only fictional character to have a NAMES memorial quilt panel.
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About three hundred men and women march in Argentina's first-ever Pride parade. Though same sex relationships have been legal since the late nineteenth century, no legal safety nets were ever in place. Petitioned by the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina, significant LGBTQ+ human rights have been gained in that country since the 90s. Argentina became the first Latin American country to grant marriage equality across the country.
Arthur “JR” Warren, Jr. (1974 – July 3, 2000) was murdered by his romantic partner. The 26-year-old, who lived with learning and physical disabilities, was beaten and run over by a car by another teen fearful of their relationship being discovered. When he came out to his family and church, he was accepted by both his pastor and mother. She insisted that Arthur's funeral be held with an open casket: “We want people to see what they did to my son.” His funeral was attended by hundreds, including hate group leader Fred Phelps.
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Spain becomes the third country, after Belgium and the Netherlands, to legalize same-sex marriage across the country. Above you see the first couple married after it was legalized, Emilio Menéndez and Carlos Baturín.
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