The Year in LGBT History: 2002

Jan 31, 2002 - Rosie O'Donnell guest stars on Will & Grace as a lesbian mother.

Feb 6, 2002 - The Boy Scouts of America adopts a resolution declaring that gay men and atheists are unsuitable role models to lead scout youth.

  

March 14, 2002 - On the ABC primetime news program Primetime Live, Rosie O'Donnell officially comes out in order to offer support to a gay male couple trying to adopt in Florida. 

March 16, 2002 - Liza Minnelli marries David Gest in New York, a wedding with a carnival-like atmosphere.

March 16, 2002 - Kylie Minogue is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. 

May 7, 2002 - Famed make-up artist Kevin Aucoin dies from complications due to a rare pituitary tumor at the age of 40.

May 22, 2002 - New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza calls a press conference to deny rumors that he is gay.

 

Sept 1, 2002 - The New York Times publishes it first announcement of a same-sex union.

Sept 5, 2002 - Take Me Out, a drama about the impact an openly gay baseball player has on his teammates, opens at the Public Theater.

Oct 9, 2002 - Lesbian serial killer Aileen Wournos (7 murders in one year) is executed in Florida.

Oct 15, 2002 - Cher is on the cover of November's issue of Good Housekeeping.

Oct 24, 2002 - Pioneering gay rights activist Harry Hay (Mattachine Society; Radical Faeries) dies at the age of 90.

Nov 22, 2002 - The movie Far From Heaven opens.  It stars Julianne Moore as a 1950's housewife who discovers her husband, played by Dennis Quaid, is a closeted homosexual.

Dec 8, 2002 - Washington's Gay Men's Chorus performs a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor at the Kennedy Center Honors (which airs on CBS at the end of the month).

 

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