The Year in LGBT History: 1996

Jan 18, 1996 - On Friends, Ross' ex-wife and her girlfriend get married. 

Jan 20, 1996 - Rudy Galindo becomes the first openly gay winner of the U.S. Men's Figure Skating Championship.

March 8, 1996 - The movie The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, opens and becomes a big hit.  It's also the only movie in which Gene Hackman appears in drag.

March 9, 1996 - Jonathan Schmitz, a recent guest on The Jenny Jones Show, murders another male guest from the show who had revealed he had a crush on Schmitz.

May 20, 1996 - The U.S. Supreme Court overturns Colorado's referendum that prohibited LGBT residents from attempting to overturn anti-gay leglislation.

Aug 4, 1996 - Amsterdam holds its first Gay Pride Parade.

Sept 17, 1996 - The ABC sitcom Spin City debuts and features the first openly gay character played by a person of color as actor Michael Boatman portrays Carter Heyward, the mayor's minority affairs liaison.

Sept 21, 1996 - President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law.

Oct 14, 1996 - Madonna gives birth to her first child, Lourdes Ciccone Leon.  The father, Carlos Leon, a personal trainer, is eight years younger than Madonna.

 

(To read about LGBT history from other years double click here.)