Looking Back at LGBT History: 1993

 

Jan 6, 1993 - Ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev dies from AIDS complications at the age of 54.

Jan. 11, 1993 - Inspired by Rudolf Nureyev's death, Newsweek publishes a cover story titled "AIDS and the Arts".

 

 

Jan 16, 1993 - Madonna is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and performs two numbers from her Erotica album, Bad Girl and Fever.

Jan 20, 1993 - Rock guitarist/singer Melissa Etheridge comes out as a lesbian during the Triangle Ball, a LGBT-sponsored party to celebrate Bill Clinton's inauguration.

 

  

 

Jan 29, 1993 - President Clinton announces his intention to lift the ban on gay soldiers in the military.

Feb 11, 1993 - On a classic episode of Seinfeld, Jerry and George are mistaken as gay lovers ("not that there's anything wrong with it").

 

 

March 12, 1993 - Janet Reno is sworn in as the nation's first female U.S. Attorney General.

March 17, 1993 - New York mayor David Dinkins boycotts the City's St. Patrick's Day parade to protest its exclusion of a gay Irish contingent of marchers.

May 4, 1993 - Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Millennium Approaches opens on Broadway.

May 24, 1993 - The US Senate confirms openly gay Roberta Achtenberg to be a top federal housing official.

May 29, 1993 - Vienna holds its first "Life Ball", which becomes Europe's premier AIDS charity event.

 

 

June 8, 1993 - RuPaul's debut CD, Supermodel of the World, is released.

June 9, 1993– In the movie Orlando, which opens today, Quentin Crisp plays Elizabeth I, Tilda Swinton plays a man for the 1st half of the film and Jimmy Somerville plays an angel.

 

June 21, 1993 - This week's Newsweek cover story is "Lesbians".

July 9, 1993 - The U.S. military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy is announced.

July 15, 1993 - The cover of Vanity Fair's August issue shows supermodel Cindy Crawford shaving lesbian singer kd lang.

 

  

 

July 28, 1993 - Wedding bible Brides Magazine runs a one-page article about same-sex weddings.

Sept 11, 1993 - The acclaimed AIDS drama And the Band Played On airs on HBO.

Oct 21, 1993 - Twilight of the Golds opens on Broadway.

Dec 12, 1993 - Bette Midler stars in a made-for-TV version of the musical Gypsy.

Dec 24, 1993 - The AIDS drama Philadelphia opens in theaters, starring Tom Hanks.

 

 

(To read about gay milestones in other years, double click here.)