Here is Richard Burnett’s 28th annual column of the past year’s heroes and zeros.
ZEROS The Conservative government of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak which on January 16 announced it will block Scotland’s bill on gender recognition that allows trans people to change their legal sex without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Then on June 8, England’s National Health Service said it will restrict the prescription of puberty blockers to young people with gender dysphoria — that is, transgender youth — participating in clinical trials.
HERO France which on June 19 announced HIV-positive people are now allowed to join French army, following a similar move in November 2022 for police.
HERO The Netherlands which on January 17 amended its constitution to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
ZERO The right-wing government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni which on March 13 ordered Milan’s city council to stop registering same-sex parents’ children. Milan was the last major city to continue the practice. By July, Italy began removing the name of non-biological mothers from birth certificates of children born to lesbian couples.
HEROES The 100 trans men who entered the Miss Italy Pageant after pageant organizer Patrizia Mirigliani on June 18 said trans women are not eligible and the competition is open only to contestants who were assigned female at birth.
HEROES For criminalizing conversion therapy, the countries of Spain (February 16), Cyprus (May 25), and Iceland (June 9).
ZERO Russian President Vladimir Putin who on July 24 signed new legislation unanimously approved by parliament outlawing “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person” as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records. The law also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
HERO The Parliament of Estonia which on June 20 legalized same-sex marriage, overcoming opposition led by the far-right to make the Baltic nation the first former Soviet republic to legalize SSM. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2024.
HERO The Parliament of Latvia which on May 31 elected Edgars Rinkēvičs to be its next president and the first openly gay head of state in Europe. Rinkēvičs took office on July 8. Then on November 9, Latvia legalized same-sex civil unions beginning in 2024.
HERO Hungarian President Katalin Novak who on April 21 vetoed a law passed by the Hungarian parliament that would allow its citizens to anonymously report same-sex families with children to local authorities.
ZERO The Supreme Court of Cassation in Bulgaria which on February 20 banned gender reassignment.
HERO Slovenia which on January 31 officially began recognizing same-sex marriages, becoming the first Eastern European and Balkan country to do so.
HEROES The 400 Turkish LGBTQ activists who on June 25 defied a government ban on Pride and marched in Istanbul.
HERO Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who on February 25 became that country’s first sitting PM to march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade which also hosted WorldPride 2023. “This is a celebration of modern Australia,” Albanese said.
HERO The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly which on June 8 banned unnecessary and irreversible medical procedures on intersex people.
HERO The Cook Islands which decriminalized homosexuality, effective June 1.
ZERO The Egyptian police who, the BBC reported on January 31 (and confirmed by Grindr on March 20), are using fake accounts to entrap gay men. Same-sex relations are not illegal in Egypt but a law against “debauchery” is being used against LGBTQ people seeking sexual partners.
ZERO Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who condemned same-sex relations in a July 29 televised speech. A few days earlier he stated gay people “are to be killed.”
HERO The Supreme Court of Nepal which on March 20 issued an order to recognize same-sex marriage. A June 28 interim court ruling made Nepal the first South Asian country to recognize same-sex marriage, effective June 29.
HERO The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka which on May 9 approved a bill decriminalizing homosexuality.
ZERO The Supreme Court of India which on October 17 ruled against same-sex marriage, saying it is parliament’s job to legalize it. The ruling dashed the hopes of India’s LGBTQ population which numbers in the tens of millions, five years after the court decriminalized homosexuality in 2018.
ZERO The constitutional court of South Korea which on October 26 upheld the ban on same-sex relations in the armed forces.
HEROES For ruling the ban on same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional, the Nagoya District Court (May 30) and the Fukuoka District Court (June 8). In response, Japan’s Parliament on June 16 passed a controversial bill to “promote understanding” of the LGBTQ community. Japan is the only G7 nation that does not legally recognize same-sex marriage and civil unions.
HERO The Parliament of Taiwan which on May 16 passed a law allowing same-sex couples to jointly adopt children.
ZERO Chinese authorities who on May 15 closed the Beijing LGBT Centre during an anti-LGBTQ crackdown by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government.
ZERO The Gay Games which were held in Hong Kong and Gaudalajara from November 3 to 11, despite China’s anti-LGBTQ policies and the U.S. State Department warning Americans about traveling to Guadalajara. Reuters reported 2,458 participants in Guadalajara and 2,381 in Hong Kong, the lowest in Gay Games history. Afterwards, Federation of Gay Games co-president Joanie Evans disingenuously said Hong Kong’s event was “the benchmark” for future events. “It has been the best Games ever,” Evans said at the closing ceremony.
ZERO The Supreme Court of Jamaica which on October 27 upheld that country’s archaic anti-sodomy law, claiming only Parliament can repeal it.
ZERO The Supreme Court of Panama which on March 1 ruled same-sex marriage is not a human right and the country does not have to recognize such unions. This ruling directly contravenes the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ 2017 marriage equality ruling, which is binding on Panama and 19 other nations.
HERO The Supreme Court of Brazil which on August 22 ruled that homophobia is punishable by prison.
ZERO Former Formula One star Nelson Piquet of Brazil who – after making homophobic and racist remarks about F1 driver Lewis Hamilton in November 2021 – on March 24 was ordered by 20th Civil Court of Brasilia Justice Pedro Matos de Arrudo to pay a fine of five million Brazilian Reals ($1.3 million).
HERO The Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice which on March 16 struck down the military ban on gay sex.
ZERO The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority who on June 30 ruled that Christian graphic artist Lorie Smith can refuse to design wedding websites that celebrate same-sex weddings.
ZERO The U.S. House of Representatives which on April 20 passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which prohibits those assigned male at birth from competing on female sports teams in K-12 schools and universities that receive federal funding.
ZERO Anderson Lee Aldrich who on June 26 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing five people in the 2022 mass shooting at gay nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
ZEROS The criminals entrapping gay men in Nigeria via dating apps, resulting in kidnappings, beatings and extortion, the BBC reported on May 15. Local human rights advocates estimate 15 to 20 people report being extorted over their sexuality each week.
ZEROS Police in Nigeria who on August 29 arrested 67 people celebrating a gay wedding in southern Delta state’s Ekpan town, then on October 23 arrested 76 people attending a birthday party in northeastern Gombe state where a same-sex couple were to be wed. Arrests of gay people are common in Nigeria where same-sex marriage is illegal and punishable by 14 years in prison.
ZERO Lawmakers in Namibia who on July 19 approved legislation banning same-sex marriage and punishing its supporters, reversing a May 16 Supreme Court ruling recognizing same-sex unions contracted abroad.
HERO The Supreme Court of Kenya which on February 24 reaffirmed the right to association and register organizations by the LGBTQ community.
HERO The Supreme Court of Mauritius which on October 5 ruled that country’s ban on same-sex intimacy was “discriminatory and unconstitutional.” The case was brought by Abdool Ridwan (Ryan) Firaas Ah Seek, president of that country’s LGBTQ organization Collectif Arc-en-Ciel, with support from the Human Dignity Trust in London.
ZEROS Authorities in Burundi who – as part of a security crackdown on “homosexual practices” – on February 23 arrested 24 people in the capital Gitega attending a seminar given by MUCO Burundi, a non-profit HIV/AIDS organization.
ZERO The Parliament of Uganda which on May 2 passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ. President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law on May 29.
ZERO The anti-trans women’s group Pour les droits des femmes du Québec, or PDF Québec, a group that Quebec Liberal MNA Jennifer Maccarone on March 16 revealed has received roughly $120,000 to $140,000 in funding from the CAQ government of Quebec each year since 2019. The CBC reports the CAQ government gave PDF Québec $143,000 for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
HERO The federal Liberal government of Canada which on June 15 committed $25 million to create the world’s first-ever LGBTQ entrepreneurship program which will be run by Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC).
ZEROS The Conservative Party of Canada which at their September 7-9 policy convention in Quebec City took an anti-trans position: 69 percent of delegates voted to bar trans children from receiving gender-affirming care, while 87 percent of delegates voted to define “woman” as a “female person” and to demand that transwomen be barred from women-only spaces. The policy vote will become part of the Conservative Party’s official platform if current leader Pierre Poilievre decides to include it.
ZEROS The anti-trans Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick which effective July 1 requires children under 16 obtain “parental consent” to change their names and pronouns at school. Then on October 20, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and his centre-right ruling Saskatchewan Party used a constitutional override to pass Bill 137 which demands parental permission before students can use a different gender-related name or pronoun at school.
ZEROS The tens of thousands of Canadians who on September 20 attended anti-LGBTQ protests in more than 80 cities across Canada in what was dubbed the 1 Million March 4 Children whose organizers called for “the elimination of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum, pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms in schools.”
ZERO The township of Norwich, Ontario, which on April 25 voted to exclude Pride flags from being raised on its property.
HEROES The 200 participants and organizers who marched in Kahnawake’s first-ever Pride parade on June 24.
HERO Montreal Pride for bouncing back after their last-minute cancellation of their 2022 parade. Their 2023 festival and parade drew 450,000 people.
ZERO The City of Montreal for effectively abandoning the crime-ridden Village which was especially hard hit by the COVID pandemic. On June 18, Cabaret Expose GM Martin Barrette told La Presse, “Les clients ne viennent plus, ils ont peur.” During the summer, the owners of local businesses La Mie Matinale and Yamato Dumpling were even attacked by homeless people. Neighborhood residents and business owners say the measures in the city’s plan to revitilize the Village are insufficient.
HEROES The several hundred Montrealers who at the “J’aime mon Village” demonstrationon July 4 protested inaction by all levels of government as homelessness, addiction and crime consume the Village.
HERO The Espace LGBTQ+ organization which on September 1 announced the purchase of the 929 St-Catherine Street East building which will house Montreal’s new queer community centre slated to open in Spring 2025.
HERO The BBCM Foundation which on August 1 announced the closure of its Black & Blue Festival and Carnival of Colors. Founded in 1991, Black & Blue, alongside Divers/Cité (which ran from 1993 to 2015), put Montreal on the international LGBTQ map. Its closure marks the end of an era.
ZERO Former Parti Québecois leader André Boisclair who on March 15 was granted parole on his sentence of two years less a day he received in July 2022 after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two men.
ZERO Conservative Party of Quebec leader and out gay man Éric Duhaime who on April 12 launched a petition seeking “to protect children from drag queens.”
ZERO “Gay icon” Beyoncé who was paid $24 million for a January 21 concert to open the Atlantis the Royal hotel in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates where homosexuality is illegal and considered a crime punishable by death.
HERO Trans pop star Kim Petras who on February 5 won the Grammy Award for best pop or group performance with nonbinary duet partner Sam Smith for their song Unholy. Petras co-headlined Montreal’s Osheaga music festival on August 8 and the Olympia Theatre on October 15.
ZERO American trans advocate Rose Montoya who on posted a video on social media of herself topless at a White House Pride Month celebration on the South Lawn on June 10.
HERO Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney who with grace under pressure handled the transphobic backlash to her April 1 sponsored video drinking Bud Light and thanking Anheuser-Busch for “possibly the best gift ever.”
ZEROS Comedian Rosanne Barr who mocked trans identities in her Fox Nation comedy special Roseanne Barr: Cancel This! that aired on February 13, while comedian Dave Chappelle won a 2023 Grammy Award for his Netflix special The Closer which was widely trashed for being transphobic.
ZEROS KISS frontman Paul Stanley who on April 30 tweeted he believes affirming children’s gender identity is a “dangerous fad.” Other classic rockers who revealed their anti-LGBTQ biases include Twister Sister frontman Dee Snider who supported Paul Stanley in a May 1 tweet, Carlos Santana who in an August 19 concert video said being transgender “isn’t right” and that trans people should “stay in the closet” while rock icon Alice Cooper told Stereogum on August 23 that transitioning is a “fad” and questioned trans surgeries.
HEROES Vampyre Cosmetics which on August 24 cancelled its brand partnership deal with Alice Cooper; and San Francisco Pride which on May 3 cancelled a live festival performance by Dee Snider and dropped Twisted Sister’s 80s rock anthem We’re Not Gonna Take It as their official 2023 anthem.
HERO Writer Simon Boulerice who on September 17 won a Gémeaux Award for best script for the Noovo TV series Chouchou.
HERO Filmmaker Sophie Dupuis whose film Solo on September 17 won the Best Canadian Feature Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
HERO Montreal comic drag legend Mona de Grenoble who on April 2 won the third season of Big Brother Célébrités.
HERO Montreal drag icon Michel Dorion who celebrated his 35th career anniversary and whose drag queen management agency Midor was the subject of the fun TV series L’Agence.
HEROES Drag artists from Quebec and elsewhere who made possible the first drag convention in Canada — the Rendez-Vous de la Drag — held at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal on October 28 and 29.
HERO San Francisco drag legend and Oasis nightclub owner D’Arcy Drollinger who on May 18 was named the first drag laureate in America by San Francisco for running a “Meals on Heels” program in that city during the pandemic shutdown, when drag queens delivered food and drink to customer homes.
HERO DC Comics which on February 28 published issue #6 of Tim Drake: Robin in which Robin, the vigilante alter ego of Tim Drake, kisses his boyfriend Bernard Dowd on the cover.
HERO The 25-year-old Montreal conductor Francis Choinière – artistic director of the OPCM (Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes), Orchestre FILMharmonique, and Ensemble Classico Moderne – who on February 14 won the prestigious $125,000 prize Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer.
HERO Canadian filmmaker Bruce LaBruce who on June 17 received the Filmmaker on the Edge award at the 25th Provincetown International Film Festival from filmmaker John Waters.
HERO Tennis champion Carlos Alvarez just because he posed in a Calvin Klein underwear ad campaign launched on January 10.
ZERO Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas who postgame February 9 said on TNT that his team “already had good-looking guys, no homo.” The next day, the NBA fined Thomas $40,000 for using “derogatory and disparaging language.”
ZERO The Orlando Magic of the NBA which donated $50,000 to a super PAC backing Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential ambitions, according to a Never Back Down fundraising report released on July 31.
ZERO Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass who in a May 30 Instagram video called on Christians to boycott Target and Bud Light because of their recent LGBTQ partnerships. Bass apologized on May 31 but was still booed by Toronto fans at home games. When Bass told a group of media on June 8 that he stood by his “personal beliefs”, he was released by the Blue Jays on June 15.
ZERO AND HERO The Los Angeles Dodgers who on May 17 “uninvited” the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from their June 16 Pride Night at Dodger Stadium after awarding the Sisters a Community Hero Award for their 27 years of service to the LGBTQ communities. To the disappointment of many, there was no comment from queer icon Billie Jean King, a minority owner of the Dodgers. Following a media firestorm, the Dodgers on May 22 apologized to the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who accepted a new invitation to the team’s annual Pride Night on June 16.
ZEROS AND HEROES NHL commissioner Gary Bettman who in 2023 defended players and teams who refused to wear Pride warmup jerseys during their Pride Nights. Then on October 5 the NHL banned Pride Tape and Pride jerseys before Travis Dermott of the Arizona Coyotes bravely used Pride Tape on his stick during the Coyotes’ game against the Anaheim Ducks on October 21, forcing the NHL on October 24 to reverse its position, allowing the use of Pride Tape during warmups.
HEROES The 21 out athletes who competed among the 6,900 athletes at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games from October 20 to November 5.
HEROES The 96 out athletes or 13% of all players on 22 teams competing in the 2023 Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
ZEROS For banning trans women athletes competing in female categories, the World Athletics Council (March 31), British Cycling (May 26), the International Cycling Union (July 14), British Rowing (August 3), and Badminton England (August 11).
HERO Gay figure skater and Olympic medalist Adam Rippon who slammed Lance Armstrong after the disgraced cyclist said on the July 10 episode of the Fox reality series Stars on Mars that trans athletes should compete in a separate category. Said Rippon of his Stars on Mars co-star, “I don’t need to hear what the greatest cheater in American history has to say about what he thinks is an unfair advantage.”
HERO The European Court of Human Rights which on July 11 ruled South African champion runner Caster Semenya was discriminated against by track and field regulations that force her to medically reduce her natural hormone levels to compete in major competitions. Semenya has been barred by World Athletic regulations from running since 2019 because she has refused to artificially suppress her testosterone.
HERO Italy’s trans para athlete Valentina Petrillo who on July 13 became the first out trans woman win a medal at a World Para Athletics championship meet, winning bronze in the women’s T12 classification 400-metre race in Paris.
HEROES Respondents to a global survey conducted by Ispos which found that the number of adults who identify as LGBTQ is now 9 percent.
ZEROS Companies who reject resumés with ‘they/them’ pronouns. According to a Business.com study published on March 9, resumés with ‘they/them’ pronouns are more likely to be overlooked.
ZEROS The many U.S. states who proposed or passed more than 700 anti-LGBTQ laws in 2023, more than any other year in the history of the United States. The vast majority of bills passed in the 2023 legislative session targeted trans youth and gender-affirming medical care for trans minors. The Top 5 anti-LGBTQ states were Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota and Tennessee.
HEROES The performers – including Trixie Mattel, Jinkx Monsoon, Bob The Drag Queen and Alaska 5000 – at the Drag Isn’t Dangerous livestream telethon on May 7, who raised more than $600,000 USD for LGBTQ charities including GLAAD, GLSEN, Headcount, Black Queer Town Hall, The ACLU Drag Defense Fund, Trans Justice Funding Project and the Victory Fund to defend drag performers against anti-drag legislation in such states as Tennessee and Florida.
ZERO New York Rep. George Santos, the gay Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos. On May 9, Federal prosecutors charged Santos with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. On November 1, Santos survived a vote to expel him from the U.S. House of Representatives.
ZERO Outsports editor Cyd Zeigler who on March 30 tweeted that he registered as a Republican and endorsed Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis, architect of the “Don’t Say Trans or Gay” laws spreading across the U.S.
ZERO Out CNN anchor Don Lemon whom Variety magazine exposed in an April 5 investigative story for his history of misogynistic and unprofessional behavior, “malicious texts, mocking female co-workers and ‘diva-like behavior.’” CNN then fired Lemon on April 24.
ZERO The BBC who in a July 2023 memo told employees not to attend any Pride celebrations, warning, “Staff in news and factual journalism need to consider whether or not the particular Pride parade or march they would like to attend presents, or is likely to present, an overt protest or campaigning stance.”
HERO Montrealer Florence Gagnon whose lstw magazine won the gold Publisher Grand Prix prize at Canada’s 2023 National Magazine Awards on June 2.
HERO Pakistan’s first trans news anchor Marvia Malik who on February 24 narrowly escaped two armed gunmen who attempted to assassinate her. The unknown gunmen escaped.
HERO Toronto-based Proud FM 103.9 which signed off for good on September 1. Proud FM was Canada’s first commercial radio station targeting a queer audience when it began airing back in 2007.
ZEROS Social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter who on June 15 all got low or failing scores in advocacy group GLAAD’s annual Social Media Safety Index which stated all major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming. GLAAD also rated Twitter as the worst offender.
ZERO Technology giant META whose social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Thread on August 1 barred the news feeds of Canadian news media including LGBTQ media like Fugues and Xtra magazine, in a bid to avoid sharing a fair portion of advertising revenues generated from media content shared on social media networks, as mandated by Canada’s Online News Act, Bill C-18, which became law in June.
HEROES for coming out in 2023: Netflix Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp, Heartstopper’s Joe Locke, President of Andorra Xavier Espot, Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens (who co-created the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack) and Greta Van Fleet lead singer Josh Kiszka all came out as gay; Chilean Olympic gymnast Tomás González, 23-year-old Chicago White Sox minor leaguer Anderson Comas, Spanish pro soccer player Alberto Lejárraga of Marbella FC, and Czech Republic footballer Jakub Jankto all came out as gay; six-time U.K. national champion shot putter Sophie McKinna came out as lesbian;
American UFC mixed martial artist Jeff Molina, rapper Yung Miami, Brazilian telenovela star Rodrigo Simas, singer-songwriter Lauv and Oscar-winning actress and stand-up comic Mo’Nique all came out as bisexual; YouTuber Kris Tyson and Drag Race star Adore Delano came out as trans women; Dancing With the Stars celebrity Gabby Windey revealed she’s dating Emmy-winning Montreal writer Robby Hoffman; Let’s Make a Deal host Wayne Brady came out as pansexual; and actor Ncuti Gatwa of Doctor Who and Barbie came out as queer.
HERO Legendary 76-year-old Montreal photographer Camille Maheux who documented Divers/Cité during the 1990s. Maheux was killed in the five-alarm blaze that destroyed the Édifice William-Watson-Ogilvie in Old Montreal on March 16. Her entire archives were also lost in the fire.
HERO Montreal legend Louise Villeneuve who in the 1990s handled security for Divers/Cité, Montreal’s original Pride organization, as well as LGBTQ nightclubs K.O.X. / Katakombes / K2, Bilitis and the original Sky Pub, after years battling homophobia as a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces. On March 17, Villeneuve died of cancer at age 62.
HERO Celebrated Canadian landscape architect Claude Cormier, the creative force behind such Montreal landmarks as Place Ville Marie’s The Ring, as well as the city’s famed “Boules Roses” (Pink Balls) and iconic “18 Shades of Gay” Rainbow Balls installations. Cormier died on September 15 at age 63 following complications from Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.
OTHER LOCAL HEROES who passed away in 2023 Artist-ceramist Léopold L. Foulem, Maison du Parc Director of Development Monique Drolet, former Fondation Émergence communications director Richard Rancourt, famed Montreal artist and street-art icon Zilon a.k.a. Raymond Pilon; RG magazine publisher Alain Bouchard, Roger Thibault of the first gay couple to enter into a civil union in Quebec, and Denis Le Page – who with his wife Denyse Le Page formed half of the famed Montreal disco duo Lime, and also recorded under the name of his female personae Nini No Bless – died of cancer at age 74.
HEROES who passed away in 2023 British entertainer Paul O’Grady who rose to fame as iconic drag queen Lily Savage in the 1980s; British filmmaker Terence Davies, age 77; bisexual Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein who signed Madonna, the Ramones, Talking Heads and the Pretenders; famed Las Vegas Diana Ross impersonator Crystal Woods; legendary gay pornographer David Hurles whose Old Reliable Studios featured rough trade models he found on the streets of 1970s San Francisco; trailblazing author Michael Denneny who was a founder of the gay literary mag Christopher Street; Australian comedian Barry Humphries who found global famed as Dame Edna Everage; drag and gay icon Tina Turner, age 83; experimental underground filmmaker and Hollywood Babylon author Kenneth Anger, age 96; French filmmaker Paul Vecchiali, age 92;
beloved Canadian sex educator and broadcaster Sue Johanson; Paris is Burning ballroom icon Carmen Xtravaganza of the House of Xtravaganza, age 62; Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens, age 70; U.S. senator and LGBTQ ally Dianne Feinstein who became acting mayor of San Francisco in November 1978 when Mayor George Moscone was assassinated along with Supervisor (city councillor) Harvey Milk, after announcing their deaths to the public; and psychologist Dr. Charles Silverstein, an author of The Joy of Gay Sex whose speech (along with other panelists) to the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 – arguing that homosexuality should not be considered a mental illness – led the APA to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a guidebook used in the U.S. and Canada to diagnose mental illness.
