October 3rd…

1847: Hans Christian Andersen wrote to the Hereditary Grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, “I love you as a man can only love the noblest and best. This time I felt that you were still more ardent, more affectionate to me. Every little trait is preserved in my heart.”

1872: Bloomingdale’s department store opens in Manhattan. YES, this is gay history, just ask any gay man from New York City over 40 about the ever popular men’s room in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Well, some places just become notorious, like the Bloomingdale’s bathroom or certain train cars during rush hour. For those spots, it’s the thrill of danger that IS the appeal. It’s like a form of exhibitionism, the idea that you might get caught.  –  posted by sexyrobot at 3:53 PM on February 17, 2015

Shopping and sex all in one place?  Who could ask for anything more? (And when they were done many a shopping queen didn’t. (Tap…tap….tap.) 

1973: Dr. Howard Brown, former New York City Health Administrator, made history when he came out of the closet in a speech in front of 600 colleagues. He later became the director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force back at a time when it actually had a “task”

1980: Conservative Republican U.S. Representative Robert Bauman was arrested for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old male prostitute.  The arrest came in the midst of Bauman’s reelection campaign, occurring after the deadline for withdrawal from the contest, and thus handing the election to Democrat Roy Dyson, who hadn’t stood a chance before Bauman’s arrest. Prior to his arrest, Bauman was a member of both the Moral Majority the American Conservative Union.   Bauman said he was suffering from alcoholism and entered himself into a court-supervised rehabilitation program, which, upon successful completion, resulted in the charges being dropped.

Bauman left politics for good and now writes books about offshore banking and the creation of tax havens. He is currently the legal counsel for Sovereign Society , a group that works at creating such tax havens. And does not support same-sex marriage

1998:  Prolific actor Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude “Roddy” McDowall passes away from lung cancer at age 70 in Studio City, CA.

McDowell made his first well-known film appearance at the age of 12, playing “Huw Morgan” in How Green Was My Valley (1941), where he met and became lifelong friends with Maureen O’Hara. The film won an Academy Award for Best Picture, and made him a household name. He starred in Lassie Come Home (1943), a film that introduced a girl who would become his lifelong friend – Elizabeth Taylor.  McDowall continued his career successfully into adulthood, a rare event for any child star  and  also became a film director, photographer and voice artist. and is probably best known today for his roles in Fright Night, The Poseidon Adventure, and as Cornelius, Caesar, and Galen in the original Planet of the Apes films and television series.

Although Roddy McDowall made no public statements about his sexual orientation during his lifetime, it was a well known fact in Hollywood that he was gay

2005: This week’s TIME cover story is titled “The Battle Over Gay Teens”. TIME’s cover story in 2005 touched on the effort to eradicate anti-gay speech in schools and to set up clubs and advocacy groups to support gay teens. But the story also underscored the ongoing tension between religion and homosexuality that still continues today.

2012: Orlando Cruz became the first out gay professional boxer when USA Today broke the news of the athlete coming out. Cruz said in a statement: “I’ve been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself. I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.”