January 22nd

01-22-1788 – 04-19-1824 Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) – Born in London, England. He was an English writer and poet, and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets, and remains widely read and influential. He traveled all over Europe, especially Italy where he lived for several years. He then joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire, for which the Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died one year later at the age of 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi, Greece. Often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics, Byron was both celebrated and castigated in life for his aristocratic excesses, including huge debts and numerous love affairs with both men and women.

01-22-1944 Elaine Noble – Born in Kensington, Pennsylvania. She is an American politician and LGBT activist. She is a former Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving from January 1, 1975 to January 1, 1979. Noble was the first out lesbian or gay candidate elected to a state legislature. In March 1977, she was part of the first delegation of gay men and lesbians invited to the White House under President Jimmy Carter to discuss issues important to the LGBT community. Noble had a relationship with writer Rita Mae Brown in the 1970s and has since retained privacy regarding her personal life. She lives in Florida. In 2015, she was named as one of the 31 Icons of 2015’s LGBT History Month by Equality Forum.

01-22-1946 Sdiane A. Bogus – Born in Chicago, Illinois. She is a poet, writer, and teacher. Her poetry has been nominatied for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry. Bogus’ poetry collections include, I’m Off to See the Goddamn Wizard, Alright, Her Poems, and Sapphire Sampler. She began her own publishing company in the early 1970s, called Woman in the Moon (W.I.M. Publications). Bogus not only published her own work, but promoted those of other women and men.

01-22-1970 Davina Kotulski, Ph. D. – Born in Gresham, Oregon. She is a notable, long-time same-sex marriage activist and leader daviin the LGBT Equal Rights movement. Kotulski began publicly advocating for same-sex marriage in 1999. She is a clinical psychologist, public speaker, life coach, and author of Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage and Love Warriors: The Rise of the Marriage Equality Movement and Why it Will Prevail. Kotulski was married to Molly McKay. In June 2011 the couple separated and began divorce proceedings. Kotulski has since spoken out about the right of same-sex couples to divorce as a part of the fight for same-sex marriage.