April 18th

04-18-1918 – 10-11-2011   Roberta Cowell – Born in Croydon, United Kingdom. She was a racing driver, World War II fighter pilot, and a transgender pioneer. Cowell was the first known British transsexual woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery. She transitioned in 1951 (male to female). Quote: It’s easier to change a body than to change a mind.”

04-08-1918 – 04-25-1963 Sonia (Sonja) Sekula – Born in Lucerne, Switzerland. She was a Swiss-born artist know for her abstract expressionist paintings. From 1936 to 1955, she lived in the U.S. and attended Sarah Lawrence College. Sekula was also an out lesbian in the New York art world during the 1940s and early 1950s. She suffered mental health issues and on April 25, 1963 she hanged herself in her studio in Zurich. She is buried in St. Moritz as she had requested in a letter to her mother.

04-18-1989 Alia Shawkat – Born in Riverside, California. Her father is Arab Iraqi  and her mother is Norwegian, Irish, and Italian. She is an American actress best known for her role as Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom Arrested Development. From 2016 to present, she plays Dory Sief in the TBS series Search Party. Shawkat also likes to paint and has shown her work in galleries in Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Paris. She also likes to sing in jazz bars. Shawkat is bisexual.

04-18-1947 – 11-30-1997 Kathy Acker – Born in Manhattan, New York City, New York. She was an American experimental novelist, punk poet, playwright, essayist, postmodernist, and sex-positive feminist writer. She married twice, and though most of her relationships were with men, she was openly bisexual for at least part of her adult life. Acker died from complications of breast cancer.

04-18-1967 Maria Bello – Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in the movies Permanent Midnight, Coyote Ugly, A History of Violence, Thank You for Smoking, and The Jane Austen Book Club. On television, she is known for her role as Dr. Anna Del Amico on the NBC medical drama ER (1997-1998). She starred as Lucy Robbins on the Fox series Touch in 2013. In November 2013, she wrote about having a same-sex relationship with her partner Clare Munn. Bello has a son with former boyfriend Dan McDermott.

04-18-1972 Louise Pratt – Born in Kalgoorlie, Australia. She is a former Senator from Western Australia. In office from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2014. She was the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council, the second out lesbian to be elected to an Australian parliament, and the first to have a transgender man as a partner. In September 2012 Pratt, along with three other Labor Senators co-sponsored a Bill to amend the Marriage Act (1961) and enable same-sex marriages to be recognized. The Bill was ultimately defeated, however Pratt’s impassioned speech in support of the Bill received widespread national and international attention.

04-18-1976 Gavin Creel – Born in Findlay, Ohio. He is an American actor, singer, and song writer. He is best known for his work in musical theatre, for which he received two Tony Award nominations. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for originating the role of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon at Prince of Wales Theatre. Creel was on Out’s 3rd Annual 100 Most Eligible Bachelors (2013). He’s a respected advocate for the LGBT community.