July 18th

07-18-1940 – Lillian Faderman – Born in The Bronx, New York. She is a writer and educator whose books on lesbian relationships and romantic friendships in history have earned critical praise and awards. Her works include My Mother’s Wars (2013), Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, And Lipstick Lesbians (2006), To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done for America – A History (1999) and Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America. She lives with her partner of more than forty years, Phyllis Irwin. Her book, Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death, was released in 2018.

07-18-1948 – 01-10-2016 Jeanne Cordova – Born in Bremerhaven, Germany. Cordova was the second oldest of twelve children born to a Mexican father and an Irish American mother. She was an American pioneer lesbian and gay activist, a founder of the West Coast LGBTQ movement, and journalist. During the 1980s and 1990s, Cordova published the Community Yellow Pages, which was the first, and later the nation’s largest LGBT business directory (1981-1999). Her books include the award-winning When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution (2011), Kicking the Habit: A Lesbian Nun Story (1990) and Sexism: It’s A Nasty Affair (1974). Her life partner was Lynn Harris Ballen, a feminist radio journalist. Cordova died of cancer on January 10, 2016. Detail records of Cordova’s activist accomplishments are preserved in the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California.

07-18-1951 Elio Di Rupo – Born in Morianweiz, in Wallonia, Belgium. He was a Belgian politician and chemist. As the Prime Minister of Belgium from December 6, 2011, to October 11, 2014, he was the world’s second openly gay head of government in modern times. Di Rupo came out as gay in 1996 when asked by a confrontational “media pack” if he was gay, he responded. “Yes. So what?”

07-18-1970 Rigoberto González – Born in Bakersfield, California. He is an American writer and book critic. He is the editor and author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and bilingual children’s book. González self-identifies his writing as a gay Chicano. His Unpeopled Eden, a book of poetry, won the Lambda Literary Award in 2014. In 2015 he was the recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from The Publishing Triangle.