January 5th

01-06-1798 – 05-20-1849 Marie Dorval – Born in France (place unknown). She was a popular French actress. In her thirties she was involved romantically with George Sand (real name Amantine Lucile Dupin) that fueled much speculation among Parisian gossips at the time, as well as historians. Letters written by Sand to Dorval made references such as “wanting you either in your dressing room or in your bed.” They would remain close for the remainder of Dorval’s lifetime. Abandoned by her father when she was five,  her mother died of tuberculosis when she was a teenager, Dorval learned to survive through protective alliances with men. She married twice and had two children. Upon her death, Sand was among the first to be notified and also assumed the financial support of Dorval’s grandchildren.

01-06-1942 Nancy Ruth – Born in Toronto, Ontario. She is a Canadian Senator for Ontario. She is Canada’s first out lesbian senator. Before being appointed to the Senate, she founded several women’s organizations, including the Women’s Legal Education,  Action Fund, the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and a women’s studies chair at Mount Saint Vincent University. She has been a benefactor of hospitals and art galleries throughout Canada, and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1994.

01-06-1951 Teresa Gutierrez – Born in Mexico, place unknown. She is an American politician and activist. She was the Workers World Party nominee for Vice President of the U.S. in 2004. Gutierrez is deputy secretary general of the International Migrant Alliance, an active member of the Chican@ movement, activist for immigrant rights, and a “proud lesbian.”

01-06-1954 Suzi Wizowaty – Born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Democrat. she was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from January 2009 to January 2015. She grew up in Europe, Texas, and Connecticut. She graduated from Princeton University (BA cum laude, 1977) and Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont (MA , 1985). Since 1985, she has lived in Burlington, Vermont. A published author, she has written two novels. Wizowaty was one of six out gay members of the Vermont Legislature.

01-06-1974 Danny Pintauro – Born in Milltown, New Jersey. He is an American actor best known for his role as Jonathan Bower on the American sitcom Who’s the Boss? and his role in the 1983 film Cujo. He came out as gay in 1997 in an interview with the National Enquirer. In April 2013, he was engaged to his boyfriend, Will Tabares, and they married in April 2014. In 2015, Pintauro revealed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he has been HIV positive since 2003. He also disclosed that he had previously been addicted to methamphetamine.

01-06-1984 Kate McKinnon – Born in Sea Cliff, New York. She is an American actress, voice actress, and comedian. She is best known for her sketch comedy work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and The Big Gay Sketch Show. McKinnon graduated from Columbia University in 2006, where she co-founded a comedy group, Tea Party, which focused on musical improv comedy. On April 7, 2012, she debuted as a featured player on Saturday Night Live. She is SNL’s first out lesbian cast member, as well as the series’ third known gay cast member (after Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance, the latter of whom’s sexual orientation was not made public until after her death).