Uranus68 - SoLittleTime - Tumblr Blog
Happy Birthday, SB—still missing you. Hope it’s better wherever you are.
💔💔💔
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”
~James Baldwin
I was in Berlin last week—it was nice to have some real summer and see some friends. Back in the lovely fog now though!
Blondie in 1979 - Dreaming
💖💖💖
Conversation with a Native Son: Maya Angelou and James Baldwin
56!
Remembering the fires in 2020.
I’m watching that documentary “Before Stonewall” 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 “known homosexual”. The “known homosexual” 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 there’s nothing wrong with him mentally and he’s never been arrested. When asked whether he’d take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows he’s gay, he says that they didn’t up until tonight, but he guesses they’re going to find out, and he’ll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like …why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says “I think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.”
1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.
Despite the pseudonym, Dale’s 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! He wrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudson’s 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 I’d make it. For Pride month, an unsung gay hero.
Jasper Johns, turning 94 today. Johns is the last survivor of the generation of gay white artists, that included Cage, Cunningham, Ellsworth Kelly, Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly and Warhol.
Jasper Johns & Rauschenberg were lovers for 6 yrs
I had a visitor for lunch today.
The latest addition! A Victorian fern stand that will let me eat while watching movies 🎥 🍝
Made a (gluten free/dairy free) meatball parm sub from scratch! It was DELICIOUS
Customizing my overalls with an image of Yogen no Tori.
A beautiful Saturday morning in San Francisco!
My new (to me) bar cart! Finding some great deals—second hand stuff has saved my apartment!
🏳️🌈 Ruth Ellis (1899 - 2000) was the daughter of former slaves. She came out as a lesbian when she was 16-years-old to the complete acceptance of her family. In 1937, Ruth and her longtime partner moved to Detroit from their hometown of Springfield, Illinois for the promise of higher wages. There, she became the first woman in Michigan to run her own printing business. She printed fliers, posters, and stationary in the front room of her home, which also quickly became a hotspot for Black LGBTQ social life. Before long, Ruth was helping those who came around in any way she could, including by paying for college tuitions. After the Stonewall uprising, 70-year-old Ruth began giving speeches in support of gay and lesbian rights all across the country. She remained an activist for the rest of her long life and even spent her 100th birthday leading the San Francisco Dyke March. At the time of her death at 101, she was recognized as the oldest out lesbian in the US. She is the subject of the documentary "Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100" and is the namesake of the Ruth Ellis Center, a shelter for homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth in Detroit.
Celebrate Ruth Ellis.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellis_(activist)
#Pride #BlackLivesMatter
Hung some wallpaper for the first time today!