March 7th

03-07-1964 Wanda Sykes – Born in Portsmouth, Virginia. She is an American writer, comedian, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999
Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named her as one of the 25 funniest people in America. In addition to her film and television work, she wrote Yeah, I Said It, a book of humorous observations on various topics. In November 2008, she publicly came out as gay while at a same-sex marriage rally in Las Vegas regarding California’a Proposition 8. Sykes had just married her partner Alex a month earlier, whom she met in 2006. The couple also became parents around the same time. On October 25, 2008, Alex gave birth to a pair of fraternal twins. Sykes came out to her conservative mom and dad when she was 40. They both had difficulty accepting her homosexuality. They declined to attend her wedding with Alex, which led to a brief period of estrangement, but have since reconciled and are proud grandparents to the couple’s children.

03-07-1900 — 08-18-1969   Leslie Hutchinson (known as “Hutch”) – Born in Gouyave, Grenada when it was part of the British Windward Islands. In 1916, he moved to New York City. In the 1930s he was one of the biggest cabaret stars in the world. In 1924 he moved to Paris, France where he became a friend and lover of Cole Porter. In 1927 he moved to England. He became a major star and was the highest paid in the country. In spite of his popularity, Hutch couldn’t escape racial prejudice. When he entertained at lavish Mayfair parties, his fee was high, but he was often made to go in by the servants’ entrance. He did marry and fathered a daughter. He also fathered seven other children with six different mothers. Hutch was bisexual. He also had an affair with Ivor Novello. In November 2016, Hutch was featured in episode four of the BBC series Black and British: A Forgotten History.

03-07-1877 – 1947   Bothwell Browne (born Walter Bothwell Bruhn) – Born in Copenhagen, he grew up in San Francisco, California. He was a Danish-American stage and film performer, best known as a female impersonator. In December 1919, Browne appeared as the headliner at the Palace Theater in New York, the most sought after booking in American vaudeville. He was supported on stage by the Sennett Bathing Beauties. His only film appearance was in Mack Sennett’s production Yankee Doodle in Berlin (1919). He is listed under LGBT male actors in Wikipedia.

03-07-1973   Andrew Haigh – Born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. He is an English film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. Haigh co-created and co-produced the HBO drama series Looking (2014-2016), about a group of gay men in San Francisico. His most notable works include Weekend, Looking, and 45 Years. He is married to author Andy Morwood.

03-07-1974   Darryl Stephens – Born in Pasadena, California. He is an American actor best know for playing Noah Nicholson on the television series Noah’s Arc. Stephens is also a singer/songwriter. In 2019, he stars in the film From Zero to I Love You. He is openly gay and his roles address issues of classism and sexuality. 

03-07-1902 – 09-07-1980 Bessie Allison Buchanan – Born in Manhattan, New York City, New York. She became the first African American woman to hold a seat in the New York State Legislature when she was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1954. As a young woman she had an interest in singing and dancing. She appeared in the original Shuffle Along in 1921, the first successful musical comedy with an all African American cast. She performed with the Show Boat road company and recorded for Black Swan Records. Allison also danced in the chorus line of the Cotton Club. In his biography of Josephine Baker, The Hungry Heart, Jean Claude mentions six of Josephine’s women lovers by name, Bessie Allison is one of them. In 1929 Allison married Charlie Buchanan and she retire from the stage. She served in the state legislature from 1955 to 1962. On April 30, 1963, Governor Rockefeller appointed Allison-Buchanan to be New York State Commissioner of Human Rights. She remained in office for five years.

03-07-1926 – 12-01-2011 Alan Sues – Born in Ross, California. He was an American comic actor best known for his roles on the 1968-1973 Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. He served in the U.S. Army in Europe during WWII. During his years on Laugh-In, Sues became the spokesman for Peter Pan Peanut Butter and appeared in numerous TV commercials and print ads in which he portrayed an outrageously flamboyant Peter. His long time friend, Michaud, said Sues was gay but not publicly because he feared it would ruin his career. “He had a ton of gay fans,” said Michaud. “They all said he was one of the very few gay sort of characters that they saw on television at that time. They identified with him, and they were thankful. As he got older, it meant more to him and he was appreciative of that.”

03-07-1967   Jean-Pierre Barda – Swedish singer, actor, make up artist, and hair dresser of Algerian descent. He was born in Paris, France, and moved with his family to Sweden. He is notable for being one of the founding members of the pop group Army of Lovers. Barda has done work in various fields of digital photography and entertainment. He starred as an actor in movies, television, multiple photo shoots, and worked in the presence of her majesty, the Queen of Sweden, while assisting mentor and teacher, Mr. Björn Asén. He is known to be bisexual.