On This Day in Queerstory: Cher is born

May 20th is a day dedicated to the longevity of the icon. In a culture that often prizes the “new and young,” today we celebrate the figures who have survived decades of shifting tides, proving that the most radical thing a queer person or ally can do is simply refuse to go away.

1946: The Birth of the Goddess—Cher

Born Cherilyn Sarkisian on this day in El Centro, California, the woman we know simply as Cher became the ultimate matriarch of the LGBTQIA+ community. Her career is a masterclass in queer resilience: she has been a pop star, a television pioneer, a serious actress, and a disco queen.

For the queer community, Cher represents the power of the “Reinvention.” She famously embraced her son, Chaz Bono, during his gender transition, moving from a place of initial confusion to becoming a fierce advocate for trans rights. Cher’s aesthetic—defined by her long-term collaboration with queer designer Bob Mackie—brought drag sensibilities to the mainstream long before it was fashionable. She didn’t just wear the feathers and sequins; she inhabited them with a deadpan wit and a “take-no-prisoners” attitude that gave generations of queer people the courage to be “strong enough.”

1977: The Death of a Southern Gothic Master—James Rosenberg

On May 20, 1977, we lost the playwright James Rosenberg, but his passing serves as a reminder of the “Hidden Theater” of the mid-century. Like many of his contemporaries, Rosenberg wrote about the stifling nature of the traditional family unit and the “secret” lives of those who didn’t fit in. On this day, we reflect on the writers who used the stage as a laboratory to dissect the American closet, proving that even when we couldn’t say the word “gay” on a playbill, our stories were being told in every hushed conversation and meaningful glance across a proscenium.

Image credit: Amy Strycula