sofia
Posts by Sofia:
On this day in queerstory: existence is resistance
December 19 doesn’t come with one neat headline moment—no single court ruling or presidential signature—but in queer history, it marks something just as important: the growing realization, especially in the United States, that being seen could be a political act powerful enough to change institutions. By the late 20th century, visibility itself had become a […]
On this day in queerstory: DADT dies
December 18 marks a rare and beautiful moment in U.S. queer history: the day Congress actually did the right thing. On December 18, 2010, the U.S. Senate voted to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), the policy that had forced LGBTQ+ people in the military to choose between serving their country and telling the truth […]
On this day in queerstory: American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from DSM
On December 17, 1973, the American Psychiatric Association publicly announced that it would remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM). In plain terms: being gay was officially declared not a mental illness. About time. To understand how radical this was, you have to remember what came before. For decades, […]
On this day in queerstory: House of Representatives votes to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
December 16, 1999 — a date that flickers quietly in the archives but echoes loudly if you know where to listen. On this day, South Africa’s Constitutional Court issued one of the landmark decisions that would ultimately lead the country toward becoming the first nation on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. The specific […]
On this day in queerstory: US moves to prohibit sexuality-based discrimination in schools
December 15 sits quietly on the calendar, but its historical footprint tells a louder story. Across decades and continents, it has been a day when queer communities pushed institutions to change, challenged cultural boundaries, and made their presence impossible to ignore. From courtrooms to cinemas, from activism to the arts, December 15 weaves together a […]
On this day in queerstory: US Department of Health acknowledges the impact of HIV/AIDS
One of the most significant took place on December 14, 1984, in Washington, D.C., when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a much-debated internal memorandum acknowledging, for the first time, the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on gay and bisexual men and calling for targeted federal education campaigns. The memo, dry in tone […]