January 10th

01-11-1899 – 06-03-1991 Eva Le Gallienne – Born in London, England, to an English poet of French descent, Richard Le Gallienne, and a Danish journalist, Julie Norregard. She became a well-known actress, producer, and director during the first half of the 20th century. She never hid her lesbianism inside the acting community but was opposed to anything going public. During the early days of her career she was often in the company of bisexual actress Tallulah Bankhead. In 1918, she began an affair with the actress Alla Nazimova, who was at the height of her fame. Gallienne also had affairs with Tallulah Bankhead, Beatrice Lillie, Laurette Taylor, Mercedes de Acosta, and Josephine Hutchinson, who was married at the time. In 1964, she was presented with a special Tony Award in recognition of her 50th year as an actress and in honor of her work with the National Repertory Theatre. The National Endowment for the Arts also recognized her with the National Medal of Arts in 1986.

01-11-1953 – 11-02-2020 John Sessions – Born in Largs, North Ayrshire, United Kingdom. He was a Scottish actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as “Whose Line is it Anyway?”. He’s was a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and in Hollywood. Sessions appeared as Mycroft Holmes in the 2015 film Mr. Holmes. He was outed in a 1994 Evening Standard article, while starring in the comedy My Night with Reg. a play set in London’s gay community. Sessions died of a heart attack at his home at the age of 67.

01-11-1966 Marc Acito – Born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He is an American novelist, humorist, and screenwriter. Acito is openly gay and lives with his partner Floyd Skiaver. His comic novel How I Paid for College won the Oregon Book Awards for Best Novel. He is also the writer of the syndicated humor column The Gospel According to Marc, which ran for four years in nineteen gay publications. His humorous essays have appeared in many publications including The New York Times.

01-11-1966 Jackie Biskupski – Born in Hastings, Minnesota. She is an American politician and is a former member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1999 to 2011. She was Utah’s first openly gay legislature, elected in 1998,  where she was met with hostility by some legislators and political opponents. Attitudes toward her have changed and she finally got the respect and camaraderie of her colleagues. Biskupski, as of January 4, 2016, became Salt Lake City’s 35th mayor. She is the first openly gay mayor and the second female mayor of Salt Lake City. On August 14, 2016, she married longtime partner, Betty Iverson.