PFLAG Founder Dies at Age 92
The world has lost a pathbreaker. Jeanne Manford, founder of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), passed away today, barely a month after celebrating her 92nd birthday.
in memoriam
Sally Ride Passes On, and Comes Out
She broke barriers, sonic and otherwise, when she flew into orbit as the first American woman in space. She broke another when she died of pancreatic cancer yesterday, at age 61, and her family let it be known that “Dr. Ride is survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaughnessy.”
He Sailed Off, Through Night and Day: Goodbye, Maurice Sendak
Acclaimed children’s author Maurice Sendak died yesterday at the age of 83. I love his books, both the words and the pictures, and their exploration of “the darker side of childhood,” as NPR puts it. Darker, yes, but never bleak or hopeless.
Adrienne Rich: The Passing of a Lesbian Icon
Adrienne Rich was a mother, a lesbian, and one of our country’s foremost poets and writers. Today comes the news that she has died at the age of 82. Below is one of my favorite quotes from her works, about invisibility and diversity.
In Memoriam: Paula Ettelbrick, LGBT Activist and Mother
Paula Ettelbrick, a long-time LGBT activist, died today at the age of 56 after battling ovarian cancer. Etteblrick was most recently Executive Director of the Stonewall Community Foundation in New York, but her former positions included executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, legal director at Lambda Legal, family policy director
In Memoriam
By way of further explanation for my blog absence this week: My father passed away on Monday. It was not unexpected, but no less difficult because of that.
In Memoriam: Christina-Taylor Green
Nine-year old Christina-Taylor Green “was very interested in going” to see her state representative speak “because she wanted to learn more about government so she could help out in the future,” said her mother, Roxanna Green, according to MSNBC. Now the girl is dead, killed by the same man who shot U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
In Memoriam
I posted this last year, but it seems appropriate to do so again. In honor of all the victims of the tragedy of September 11 and its aftermath, their families, and their friends. I will always remember, as will many of us, where I was the morning of September 11, 2001. A lucky change in
In Memoriam: Ina Mae Murri and Stella Lopez-Armijo
Via the Bay Area Reporter (BAR) comes the sad news of the deaths of Ina Mae Murri, 75, and Stella Lopez-Armijo, 76, a lesbian couple from Fremont, California, who were killed in a car crash in Idaho two weeks ago. The women had been together for more than 35 years, and were mothers, grandmothers, and
In Memoriam: Brendan Burke
Last November, I posted about Brian Burke, the gruff president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who very publicly supported his gay son Brendan, a hockey player for Miami University. Today I just learned of the sad news that Brendan was killed in a weather-related two-car accident in Indiana Friday afternoon. My deepest