March 4th

03-04-1969 Chaz Bono – Born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Sonny & Cher Bono. He is an American advocate, writer, and musician. Bono is a transgender man. In 1995, several years after being outed by the tabloid press, he publicly came out as a lesbian in a cover story in the leading American gay magazine, The Advocate. Between 2008 and 2010, Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition. Bono’s publicist said, “It is Chaz’s hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his coming out did.” A documentary on Bono’s experience, Becoming Chaz, was screened at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and later made its television debut on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. In September 2011, he became a competitor on the 13th season of the US version Dancing with the Stars. This was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.

03-04-1948 – o6-04-2005 Jean O’Leary – Born in Kingston, New York,. She was an American gay and lesbian rights activist, politician, and former nun. She had been a Roman Catholic Religious Sister before becoming an activist. She wrote about her experience in a 1984 anthology, Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence. She was the first openly gay person appointed to a presidential commission, the National Commission of the Observance of International Women’s Year by Jimmy Carter. She negotiated for gay and lesbian rights to be included on the discussion in a conference. She co-founded National Coming Out Day with Rob Eichberg in 1987. O’Leary died of lung cancer, aged 57. She was survived by her partner, Lisa Phelps, and their two children.

03-04-1970 Edward Gal – Born in Rheden, Netherlands. He is a Dutch dressage rider. He and his most recent mount, the stallion Moorlands Totals (nicknamed “Toto”), were triple gold medalists at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, becoming the first horse-rider partnership ever to sweep the three available dressage gold medals at a single FEI World Games. Gal is in a long-term relationship with teammate Hans Peter Minderhoud. He has been interviewed in several Dutch media outlets about being gay and his relationship with Minderhoud. Gal is considered the “rock star” of dressage.