November 3rd

11-03-1889 — 12-09-1984   Amelio Robles Ávila – Born in Xochipala, Guerrero, Mexico. Assigned female at birth, Robles fought in the Mexican Revolution, rose to the rank of colonel, and lived openly as a man from age 24 until his death at age 95. From a young age, Robles showed an interest in activities that were considered masculine. He learned to tame horses and handle weapons, becoming an excellent marksman and rider. After the revolution, he settled in Iguala where a group of men attacked him wanting to reveal his anatomy; he killed two in self-defense. In 1948, Robles received the medical certificate required to officially enter the Confederation of Veterans of the Revolution. The medical record confirmed that Robles had received six bullet wounds. In the 1930s, Robles met Ángela Torres in Apipilulco. They later married and adopted a daughter. According to author Horacio Legrás, both his wife and daughter became estranged from Robles. In 1970, the Mexican Secretary of National Defense recognized Robles as a veteran of the Revolution. According to historian Gabriela Cano Ortega, Robles adopted a male identity not as a survival strategy but because of a strong desire to be a man. Robles’ male identity was accepted by family, society, and the Mexican government. According to a former neighbor, if anyone called Robles a woman, he would threaten them with a pistol. Historians describe Robles as transgender.

11-03-1895 – 07-26-1981 Jeannette Howard Foster – Born in Oak Park, Illinois. She was an American librarian, professor, poet, and researcher in the field of lesbian literature. Her years of groundbreaking data collection culminated in her 1956 study Sex Variant Women in Literature, which has become a major resource in LGBT studies. Howard was the recipient of the 1974 Stonewall Book Award. She also contributed fiction and reviews to The Ladder. The first national lesbian writers conference in the United States, founded by Valerie Taylor and Marie Kuda, in 1974, was dedicated to Foster. In 1998 she was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. When she retired, she moved to Pocahontas, Arkansas with two other women. She died in 1981. In 2008, a biography of Foster, Sex Variant Woman, by Joanne Passet, was published.

11-03-1938 –  03-24-2020 Terrence McNally – Born in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. His career has spanned six decades and his plays, musicals, and operas are performed all over the world. He received the Tony Award for Best Play, Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class. He also received the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime. In addition to his award-winning plays and musicals, he has also written two operas, many screenplays (for film and television), and a memoir. He is married to Thomas Kirdahy, a Broadway producer and former civil rights attorney for AIDS organizations. The couple had a civil union ceremony in Vermont in 2003 and subsequently married in Washington D.C. in 2010. In celebration of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, they renewed their vows at New York City Hall with Mayor Bill de Blasio officiating on June 26, 2015. On March 24, 2020, McNally died from complications of Coronavirus disease during the pandemic.

11-03-1943 – 08-27-2006 Tee Corinne – Born in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was a photographer, author, and editor. According to Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia, “Corinne is one of the most visible and accessible lesbian artists in the world.” In 1980, she was one of the ten invited artists whose work was exhibited in the Great American Lesbian Art Show. In 1966, Corinne married the man she described as her “best friend.” She came out as a lesbian in 1975. In 1991, Lambda Book Report chose her as one of the fifty most influential lesbians and gay men of the decade. One of her best-known works is for the 1993 album cover for the English alternative rock band Suede. Corinne died of liver cancer on August 27, 2006. Her collection of correspondence, literary manuscripts, artwork, photographs, and other material, can be found at the University of Oregon’s library, Special Collections unit

11-03-1949   Dame Anna Wintour – Born in Hampstead, London, England. She is a British-American journalist and editor. Since 1988, she has been the editor-in-chief of Vogue and since 2013, she has been the artistic director as well. She is a straight ally for LGBT rights and has raised over $10 million for AIDS charities since 1990, by organizing high-profile benefits.

11-03-???? Sara Bettencourt – Place of birth unknown. She is a television personality. Bettencourt was on Showtime’s third season of The Real L Word, an American reality television series that followed a group of lesbians in their daily lives. The third season took place in Brooklyn, New York.