History

This Saturday, October 11th, is National Coming Out Day. Coming on the heels of a historic week in which marriage equality spread to more than 30 states, some have begun to ask ‘Do we...

On May 17, 2004, history was made. Massachusetts became the first state in the country to honor legal same-sex marriages. And when one considers the ripple effect that had—catalyzing greater acceptance that permeated everything from pop culture to politics—it is no exaggeration to say that for gay men and women, America changed forever. And it happened because of “Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health,” the landmark court case argued by GLAD’s Mary Bonauto. Together, seven couples shared their lives with the world in the hopes that they might change it. And a decade later, we revisited each of them to reflect on the case, its impact, how it changed their lives.

Fifty years ago this month, on the afternoon of November 22, 1963, Lem Billings had just returned from lunch when he heard the news. He was an advertising executive at Lennen and Newell in New York and as he approached his office building at 380 Madison Avenue, Billings saw immediately that something was wrong. Waves of people rolled out of the building onto the street, some looked confused, others wept. According to David Pitts, author of Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, a face in the crowd approached Billings and said, “I’m so sorry about the president.”

He may just be the most influential gay rights pioneer you’ve never heard of Prescott Townsend may be the most influential Boston gay rights pioneer you have never heard of. If so, hang on; before we’re through, Townsend will cross paths with Andre Gide, 1960s hippies, John Waters and his star, Mink Stole. And that’s not counting the army of young men who lived with him on Beacon Hill and in Provincetown, as long as their waist sizes hovered very close to 30-inches.