This Day in Queer History: October 16th

Well, it's yer boy Hank here's birthday! Honestly can't believe I made it all the way to (redacted). So for Throwback Thursday, let's see what went down on this auspicious date, besides the birth of this nutter Bear.

961

Al-Hakam II (January 13, 915 – October 16, 976) dies. As the Caliph of Cordoba, he ruled openly as a gay person, which led to some consternation, given the need for him to leave behind a male heir. He'd only been getting busy with his male harem! He got around this by taking on a female concubine, Sultana Subh, who dressed in male clothing and used the masculine name of Jafar. They had a son, Hisham II, who also kept a male harem. Like father, like son!

1793

Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was executed in France by beheading. Why is she included in this queer history? Because apparently one of her "crimes" was being a lesbian, or something. Maybe. She was accused of a lot of things throughout history, and as the last queen before the French Revolution took over, she holds a singularly significant place in history. Also, there was the beheading. But she's probably innocent of a lot of what has made her infamous. She never said "Let them eat cake," and she was most likely somewhat innocent of other deeds, conveniently rewritten by men to act as a scapegoat for their own misdeeds. Throwing blame to disguise their own sins. Every accusation is a confession. Sounds familiar? History never changes.

1856

Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) is born in Dublin. The gay writer published in many forms before finding fame in the early 1980s for his plays, especially The Importance of Being Earnest, and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. At the height of his fame, with ...Earnest still running in London, Wilde made the mistake of charging the Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. Evidence about Wilde's homosexuality came to light in the trial, forcing Wilde to drop his charges and be arrested himself for "gross indecency." Two trials resulted in the maximum punishment, two years' hard labor, served from 1895 to 1897. It was during this captivity that he wrote his final work, the long-form poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol. he would die a few years later in Paris, destitute.

1929

A Reichstag Committee votes to repeal Paragraph 175, which would have decriminalized gay sex between men. Unfortunately, the rise of the Nazis to power would not only prohibit the implementation of the ban, but it would also broaden the scope of the crime. Eventually, thousands of gay men would be hauled off to concentration camps wearing the pink triangle.

1987

AIDS and LGBT activist Cleve Jones was named “Person of the Year” by ABC anchorman Peter Jennings. Jones is the creator of The AIDS Quilt, the largest and most significant piece of community folk art known. It contains over 50,000 panels, each 3x6 feet, covering approximately 1.3 million square feet and weighing over 54 tons. In 1983, Jones cofounded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which has since grown to be the largest Persons with AIDS advocacy agency around.

1965

This idiot right here, yer boy Hank, is born. Here I am on the set of Drew Barrymore's film Whip It, being fondled by one of the derby girls who did stunts and appears in the film. My BF at the time thought this was hilarious.

1998

Matthew Shepard’s (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) funeral takes place at St. Mark Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyoming. Mourners wearing tall white angel wings shield the service from anti-gay protestors from Fred Phelps' church.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.