February 5th

02-05-1914 – 08-02-1997 William S. Burroughs – Born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was an American novelist, short story writer, satirist, painter, and spoken word performer. He was a primary figure of the Beat Generation. He was married twice, and although Burroughs admitted his homosexual encounters, he never labeled himself as gay. He was a drug addict and his confessional first novel, Junkie (1953) was a success, but he is best known for his third novel Naked Lunch (1959), a controversial book that was challenged in court as being in violation of the U.S. sodomy laws. Burroughs died of a heart attack in 1997.

02-05-1960 Nayland Blake – Born in New York City, New York. He is an African-American artist. Born to an African-American father and an Irish-American mother at a time when such marriages were outlawed in many parts of the United States. Blake considers himself to be a black man even though he easily passes for white. His art work is in a variety of medias and reflects his preoccupation with his racial and sexual identities. Interracial desire, same-sex love, racial and sexualy bigotry, and the human body are all recurrent themes. His work is in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Whiteny Museum of American Art, among others. Through his work as an artist and teacher, Blake has been an important influence on LGBT art, art scholarships, and artists.