Posts by Sofia:

On this day in queerstory: discriminatory Arizona Senate Bill 1062 is vetoed

On February 26, 2014, Governor Jan Brewer vetoed Arizona Senate Bill 1062, a measure that would have allowed businesses to refuse service on religious grounds—a proposal widely criticized by civil-rights groups as a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people. The veto letter, filed in the official records of Arizona, stated that the legislation was “broadly […]

On this day in queerstory: the death of playwright Tennessee Williams

On February 25, 1983, playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead in a New York hotel room, according to police and medical examiner reports filed that same day. The official records listed accidental death, closing the life of one of the most influential dramatists of the 20th century. Williams’ scripts, contracts, and correspondence—now preserved in theater […]

On this day in queerstory: sci-fi writer Octavia E. Butler dies

On February 24, 2006, acclaimed science-fiction writer Octavia E. Butler died at her home in Lake Forest Park, Washington, a fact recorded in county death registers and confirmed in publishers’ estate filings within days. Butler, one of the most influential speculative fiction authors of the 20th century, left behind manuscripts, notebooks, and contracts now preserved […]

On this day in queerstory: the US embraces marriage equality

On February 23, 2011, the administration of Barack Obama formally notified the U.S. Congress that it would no longer defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. The announcement came in a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder, a document preserved in Department of Justice archives and widely reproduced in legal databases. The […]

On this day in queerstory: Andy Warhol dies

On February 22, 1892, poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine, a date confirmed in municipal birth registers and later reproduced across publishers’ author files, passport applications, and copyright forms. Millay would become one of the most celebrated literary voices of the early 20th century, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in […]

On this day in queerstory: W.H. Auden is born and changes the face of poetry

On February 21, 1907, poet W. H. Auden was born in York, England, a fact preserved in parish registers and civil birth indexes that scholars still cite when mapping the chronology of 20th-century queer literature. Auden would become one of the most influential poets in the English language, and his personal papers—letters, drafts, marginal notes—now […]