in 1994 when green day first became famous, they invited pansy division, an openly gay punk band, to open for them for the entire dookie tour knowing full well the responses would be mixed. in 2016/2017, on their revolution radio tour, green day chose only female led punk bands to open for them to help create recognition for these artists in a male dominated scene. this band has always been using their voices for the right reasons and i love them so much for that.
And Against Me! Is opening for them too! A band fronted by a trans woman! Fuck yeah Green Day
If Iām not mistaken, there was a prom somewhere that was cancelled one time because a lesbian couple wanted to go, so Green Day rented a venue and had a prom for them. Not sure about accuracy, my mom told me about that
yes this is true as well!! green day helped to fund and organize this second prom when the first one was cancelled. the second prom was actually open not only to the students of the school, but also to any other lgbtq+ students as well as supporters in the state of mississippi who wanted to attend as well!!
This exemplifies how do to representation right. Being a straight ally doesnāt mean creating things for LGBT+ people. Its about giving those who are already creating a better stage.Ā
Iām watching that documentary āBefore Stonewallā about gay history pre-1969, and uncovered something which I think is interesting.
The documentary includes a brief clip of a 1954 televised newscast about the rise of homosexuality. The host of the program interviewed psychologists, a police officer, and one āknown homosexualā. The āknown homosexualā is 22 years old. He identifies himself as Curtis White, which is a pseudonym; his name is actually Dale Olson.
So I tracked down the newscast. According to what I can find, Dale Olson may have been the first gay man to appear openly on television and defend his sexual orientation. He explains that thereās nothing wrong with him mentally and heās never been arrested. When asked whether heād take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows heās gay, he says that they didnāt up until tonight, but he guesses theyāre going to find out, and heāll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like ā¦why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says āI think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.ā
1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.
Despite the pseudonym, Daleās boss did indeed recognize him from the TV program, and he was promptly fired the next day. He wrote into ONE magazine six months later to reassure readers that he had gotten a new job at a higher salary.
Curious about what became of him, I looked into his life a little further. It turns out that he ultimately became a very successful publicity agent. He promoted the Rocky movies and Superman. Not only that, but get this: Dale represented Rock Hudson, and he was the person who convinced him to disclose that he had AIDS! Hewrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudsonās disclosure had a very significant effect on the national conversation about AIDS in the U.S.
It appears that no one has made the connection between Dale Olson the publicity agent instrumental in the AIDS debate and Dale Olson the 22-year-old first openly gay man on TV. So I thought Iād make it. For Pride month, an unsung gay hero.
wouldnāt it be cool if sylvia rivera or marsha p. johnson were still alive and you could see what kind of activism they were doing now, and support it, and follow them on social media?
āIt sure would!ā
Gosh, imaginary reader, I agree! And you know what?
MISS MAJOR IS *ALSO* A TRANS WOMAN OF COLOR WHO WAS AT STONEWALL, AND SHEāS STILL ALIVE AND AMAZING AND I ALMOST NEVER SEE ANYBODY MENTION HER
And yes, thatās her Instagram, @missmajor1. (Image is her holding issue 1 of The September Issues, open to a picture of herself; caption mentions that it āhas a feature on House of GGs (and me)ā. And yes, you can look her up on Facebook under Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and she even follows back š®
(Screenshot of her Facebook page. Her header is a picture of Ursula (who was based on legendary drag queen Divine) with the text āmy dears – I have reached my Facebook friend limit so please ālikeā my public page: www.Facebook.com/MissMajorGriffinGracy and I will catch up with you there.ā It also mentions that she lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she retired after living in Oakland, CA. In addition to the sites mentioned here, it also listed missmajorfilm.com and tgijp.org.)
Looks like sheās even on Twitter, @immissmajor.
From missmajor.net:
āMiss Major is a veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion and a survivor of Attica State Prison, a former sex worker, an elder, and a community leader and human rights activist.
Miss Majorās personal story and activism for transgender civil rights intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960s to today. At the center of her activism is her fierce advocacy for her girls, trans women of color who have survived police brutality and incarceration in menās jails and prisons.
Miss Major is formerly the long-time executive director of the San Francisco-basedĀ Transgender Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), which advocates for trans women of color in and outside of prison. She is also the subject of a new documentary feature film currently showing around the country,Ā MAJOR!ā
She even has a GoFundMe, where people make one-time or recurring monthly donations to support this activist legend through her retirement:
wupacing 